Building Character,

Excitement &
Camaraderie for Football
Jeremy Plaa
Thomas Downey High School
Modesto, CA
plaa.j@monet.k12.ca.us
What are the things that build
character in kids?

Academic achievement
Good role-modeling by coaches.

Giving up themselves- school & community

service.
Knight Readers

Knight Under the Lights

Youth Camp (Pop Warner or Flag)

Leadership training

Constant Accountability of Actions

Theme of the Week

Building Character…
Academic Achievement
Require Friday grade checks during 4th
Quarter
Give“Pride points” for every one turned in.
Require tutoring for two bad grade checks in a
row.

Reward Grades & Citizenship at end of 4th

Quarter.
Helmet award decals for good grades, before
season starts.

Require Game day grade checks in Season.

Theydon’t play without a grade check.
Mandatory tutoring for two bad grade checks in a
row.
Building Character…
Good Role Modeling by
Coaches
Be a good Father & Husband.

Show kids that treating women well is not being
“whipped,” but being a good leader of a family.
Show kids how important fatherhood is.

Use positive language.

Avoid profanity.
Spin the “PIE” wheel for F-bombs.

“Putups or Pushups”- Coaches follow the rule

also.

No Tobacco.
Chewing tobacco sends the wrong message to the
kids.
Building Character…
Giving Up Themselves
(Service)
Pick a needy project on campus and improve
it.
Painta building, pull weeds, pickup garbage.
Make it a one-morning project.

Do a Neighborhood Walk day.

Bring lawnmowers, rakes, shovels, garbage bags,
etc.
Go door to door and offer free services.

Deny all donations.

Give out a football schedule to every person who

answers the door.

Senior Project
Building Character…
Knight Readers
Setup a date in the Pre-Season that works for Team
and feeder Elementary Schools.
Splitup Varsity team (cheerleaders optional), and
have coaches take a group to each of the elementary
feeder schools.
Each athlete takes his favorite children’s book, his
football helmet, and wears his jersey.
Each athlete is assigned a classroom, grades K-3, and
they read their book, talk about how important school,
show and tell their helmet, and take questions.
Afterclassroom sessions, athletes should go out to
“recess” with kids, and play responsibly with the kids.
Pass out flyers and invite all kids to Knight Under the
Building Character…
Knight Under the Lights
Community Outreach Program
Pick a Thursday that works for most elementary
schools, with an event time of 5:30-7:30pm.
Invite kids ages, 5-12 to participate.

Charge kids $1, and give them a t-shirt to wear at

the event.
Solicit one or two sponsors to pay for t-shirts.

Divide the football field into 8 areas.

Put a group of football players in charge of a game

in each area- it does not have to be a football
game.
Wheelbarrow races, Red Rover, Balloon/Egg
Toss, Field Goal Kick, Target Throw, etc.
Divide kids up by 8 age groups, and put them on
the field.
Building Character…
Youth Camp
Flag Football Camp
Pick a Thursday & Friday night, and Saturday
morning during the Summer.
Clinic the kids (ages 7-12) on proper passing,
catching, defense on Thursday & Friday.
Divide up teams and play 3-4 games on Saturday,
so parents can come watch.

Pop Warner Camp

Invitelocal pop warner programs to your site, for
a 4-6 hour camp.
Teach them proper tackling & blocking skills,
defensive pursuit, and teamwork drills.
Building Character…
Leadership Training
Team Senate
Pick 5 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, and 3 Freshmen in
December, to serve on a weekly Team Senate.
Meet once a week to discuss the football team,
and give them input.
Give them information like “Be an 11” or John
Maxwell materials, to read about good leadership.
Discuss scenarios where leadership is needed.

Also talk about bad leadership.

Building Character…
Constant Accountability of
Actions
PIE Wheel (Personal Improvement Exercise)
Create a wheel with 8-10 spaces.
Reserve 1 space as a “Get out of Jail Free” space.

For any minor (but annoying) items- cursing,

forgetting equipment, poor teacher comment- make
them spin.

Weekly Duties
Divide team into 5-6 man teams.
Each week, each team has a duty: water jugs,
clean locker room, getting out equipment, stocking
med kid, etc.
Each week the duties switch.

Not completing duties result in PIE wheel.

Building Character…
Theme of the Week
Each week during the season, a theme is
incorporated.

The theme is used as an undercurrent in

practice planning, locker room quotes, and
pre-game talks.

Examples of Weekly Themes:

Enthusiasm, Confidence, Discipline, Courage,
Perseverance, Poise, Respect, Honesty, Initiative,
Work Ethic, Loyalty, Responsibility, and Reflection.
What are some things that
generate excitement with
kids?
Pre-season movie trailer
Achieving monthly goals (grades, weights,
speed)
Clean & updated facilities

College Passing Tourneys

Weekly Highlight Film

Technology (Website, iPods, DVD’s)

Media Day & Media Guide

X-Games

Drum Line on Game Days

Generating Excitement…
Pre-Season Movie Trailer
In Hollywood, directors cut a short movie
trailer, a year in advance of a blockbuster
release.

Use football players, coaches,

administrators, and parents, to create a 30-
60 second movie trailer; of how you envision
the best possible ending to the upcoming
season.

The team must believe they can accomplish

greatness, in order to have a chance to do so.
Generating Excitement…
Achieving Monthly Goals
On the last day of every month, we measure
our Speed & Explosion- 40 yard dash, Shuttle,
Vertical.
Our monthly goal in these three events is to show
any type of improvement.

On the first day of every month (usually the

next day), we measure our Strength in Bench,
Squat, and Clean.
Our monthly goal is to increase by 10 pounds,
every month.

To start the new year (in January), kick off

the importance of Goal-Setting by combining
it with the “Goal-A-Thon” fundraiser.
Generating Excitement…
Clean & Updated Facilities
The Team Room should be one of the most
prized locations on campus.
Paint the walls. Paint a mural if possible.
Clean or replace carpet (& vacuum it everyday).

Hang pictures of pass All-League players.

Clean & paint lockers.

Have plenty of seating.

Install speakers around room with an iPod dock.

Practice Field
Pick a morning before practice starts, stripe the
field, and divide it into sections so the team can
check for gopher holes, gopher mounds, etc.
Generating Excitement…
College Passing Tourneys
Takethe team to any and all Passing
Tournaments held at nearby colleges.
It allows their coaches to see your kids.
It allows your kids to see a college campus.

Allow time for kids to walk the campus and see the
football facilities.
Talk to the team on how near “college life” is for
them, and what it could mean to them to go to
college (with or without playing football).
Gives you a chance to work on pass game timing,
defensive base coverages, and defensive pursuit.
Generating Excitement…
Weekly Highlight Films
Every Friday after school, show the team a
3-4 minute highlight reel from the previous
game.
Show the film regardless if the previous game was
a win or loss.
Permit different kids to pick the most popular, and
newest music out there (no profanity and no bad
messages).
Put it on a big-screen.

Turn the music up!!

Invite other teachers, staff members, etc., to

watch.

Create a DVD at the end of the season, that

Generating Excitement…
Using Technology
Team Website
Create a website that showcases the football program.
Dedicate a page for “Seniors to be” that lists their
height/weight, GPA, strength/speed.
Send an e-mail out to college recruiting coordinators,
with a link to that page- to help get your program
recruited.

iPods
About ¼ of our team has video iPods.
Allow them to upload the weekly highlight video, to
keep.
Allow them to plug it in before or after practice in the
team room, on weeks that their “duty team” has locker
room duty.

Scout DVD’s
Generating Excitement…
Media Day & Media Guide
Media Day
Designate day after your first scrimmage as Media
Day.
Do Team Pictures in full uniform on this day.

Invite local newspaper to come for photos &

interviews.
Invite parents to come and photo their sons and their
friends.
Take mug shots in Suit & Tie for Media Guide. Make
them smile.

Media Guide
Produce a media guide that players’ parents will keep
forever.
Generating Excitement…
X-Games (Excitement Games)
X-Games give the kids 10 minutes a week in practice to
have fun.
Use the “duty teams” every week, for consistency sake,
and come up with games.

The main X-Game is 4 x 4.

This is a 4 on 4 game, similar to rugby. It happens in
a 5 x 10 yard box, no passing, no snaps.
Developing plays (Trap, Wedge, Power) is
encouraged.
Any defensive front can be used.

Play this as a single-elimination tourney.

Losers go to a consolation bracket, using different

games.
Consolation games could be: Towel Fight, King of the
Generating Excitement…
Drum Line
With 5 minutes to go at the end of the school
day, have a Drum Line snake through campus.
5 minutes is usually enough time to make it
across most campuses.
Have the band drum the school fight song, and
allow classes to follow the drum line out to the
school exit.
What are some things that
build camaraderie on a team?

Fun Fundraisers
Senior Dinner

Team Knight

Team Trip (Adventure Training)

Team Sacrifice (Pride Points)

Building Camaraderie…
Fun Fundraisers
Fundraisers
can and should do more than just make
money. Some ideas are:
Goal-A-Thon: On March 1, kids make academic, strength, and
speed goals. They take pledges for each goal. At the end of March,
they see if they’ve achieved their goals, and they collect their
pledges.
Bowling Tourney: The Team Senate picks teams, and a bowling
tourney is organized. Each athlete is asked to collect $25 in flat
pledges in order to bowl.
Team Poster: Get your Seniors to pose in their jerseys, with a
theme, and put your schedule on it. Solicit sponsors to pay for
printing, and keep the sales of the posters. Use Team Senate to
compete for whose team sells the most posters.
Kickoff Dinner: Host a BBQ dinner the night after a scrimmage,
pre-sell tickets, and smooze with parents, boosters, and fans.
Taco-Eating Contest: Have kids take pledges. Any food item will
work.
Building Camaraderie…
Senior Dinner
Hosta Senior Dinner at a coach’s house, the
Sunday night before the first day of practice in
August.

Treat them well to a good home cooked meal-

not all kids have this luxury.

Afterdinner, have a conversation on what they

would like their Senior season to be.

Talk to all of them about what their future

plans and dreams are, once football season is
Building Camaraderie…
Team Knight
Host a night in the Gym, after the first week of
practice, that will be football-free and bring the
team closer together.
The more kids know about one another, the more
that trust is built, and the more they will not want to
let each other down.
Get together with your coaches, and script
everything.
Sandwich “breakout talks” in between each
activity.
Breakout talks divide the team up into small groups, with
one coach leading the discussion. Rotate coaches on each
breakout.
Activities should be fun and competitive.
Building Camaraderie…
Team Trip (Adventure
Training)
As extra motivation during Summer Workouts, pass
out brochures on camping.
Examples: How to setup a tent, how to catch a fish, how to
clean a fish, how to make a camp fire, how to clean camp,
etc.

Pass out one brochure every week, to educate the

kids, and to build excitement for the trip.
At the end of July, take the team camping for a
couple of nights. Have each kid bring certain food,
fishing, or cooking supplies.
Preach safety first!!
Building Camaraderie…
Team Sacrifice (Pride Points)
Pride points are given to measure the amount of
sacrifice in the Off-Season and Pre-Season.
Points are awarded for:
Playing other sports, winter/spring workouts,
attending team or individual camps, passing tourneys,
passing league, good grades, community service, etc.
Priorto Team Camp, and the Equipment handout, the
players are given equipment choice prioritized by their
Pride Points to that point- not just being a Senior,
returning Junior, etc.
Priorto practice beginning in August, Jersey numbers
are assigned priority by Pride Points.
Assign a certain number of Pride Points, just to make the
team.