Better Rugby Coaching / Better Rugby Coaching / The Huddle / End of season awards / Latest Posts

RE: End of season awards

Tacticalwithdrawal — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:32:48 GMT

[quote][b]timaru69 (07/06/2012)[/b][hr][quote][b]Tacticalwithdrawal (06/06/2012)[/b][hr]End of season, change of convenor and the debate is on in our minis section as to how we do this - majority seem to be against pure awards but want to give something.

I'll let you know what happens[/quote]

Medals for all of the players is best way to go. For my U9 I agve them a medal with the logo "Born to tackle" engraved on the back of it.

They really liked them

[/quote]

Would be great but would cost the club about £500 to do which they'd baulk at. Also, the kids tend to pick up a lot of medals during the season so they cease to have an impact.

I think we may head towards a certificate for each kid with a picture of the year-group on it, we gave them to the U8's this year and they (and their parents) were really thrilled.

RE: End of season awards

timaru69 — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 13:22:02 GMT

[quote][b]Tacticalwithdrawal (06/06/2012)[/b][hr]End of season, change of convenor and the debate is on in our minis section as to how we do this - majority seem to be against pure awards but want to give something.

I'll let you know what happens[/quote]

Medals for all of the players is best way to go. For my U9 I agve them a medal with the logo "Born to tackle" engraved on the back of it.

They really liked them

RE: End of season awards

Tacticalwithdrawal — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:34:05 GMT

End of season, change of convenor and the debate is on in our minis section as to how we do this - majority seem to be against pure awards but want to give something.

I'll let you know what happens

RE: End of season awards

Snow86 — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:01:12 GMT

My congrats to all the winners of the End of Season awards! Well done,guys! Way to go!

RE: End of season awards

KA — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:19:31 GMT

Make it about Core Values not Best anything. Most improved brings other members of the group in.

Player's Player is the worst idea, promotes cleeks and voting for their mates, not inclusive at all

RE: End of season awards

RobNis — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 07:00:19 GMT

Be careful not to fall into the trap of to many awards!!! Little Jonny will get left out!!!

RE: End of season awards

RhodyRed — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:43:41 GMT

Tough call. Kids like closure as much as adults. And yes they know who is the best and if you spread awards around like peanut butter they become so thin that they are meaningless. But if our mission is to develop each player to the best of their potential how do we not recognize excellence - if only so they'll have a goal to strive towards? Ultimately it is a balance that you have to be cognizant of - be careful over-recognizing the best players simply because they are better now, and make sure to recognize those that have made tremendous strides in how they are playing. Also I'm a big fan of the #16 award for the best player off the sideline - there is honor is supporting your teammates and always being the first one to sub in.

For the awards to mean something not everyone can get an award - but that doesn't mean only 2 or 3 people can get an award. I think recognizing play by both forwards and backs in important, i think recognizing defense and offense is important. Also some players will never be great athletes but they always give you 100%, no questions asked effort during training and games. They should be recongized as well. It's a team sport, all 15 players on the pitch are needed as are those standing by on the sidelines. Also remember some of the scrawniest kids now - barely suitable to be wings can someday grow-up to be massive tight-heads props. At the U-8 level it's very hard to predict who'll became a great U-23 player because so much potential has yet to develop, but if a kid stops playing we know he/she will never be great. Keep that in mind whatever you do.

RE: End of season awards

d_a_h — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:01:00 GMT

Just getting to the end of the minis section and the awards for our group are split into 2. There are 5 club awards with shields that get returned at the end of the year (best player, scrummager, tackler, most improved and Best attitude) and then there are about 10 other awards that we as coaches have sponsored, including Players Player, Parents player, Red Cross etc. Most are picked by the coaches, with a rule that the previous years winner cannot win it again. To outsiders surprise, the "best" awards are evenly split between the A's, B's and C's The top 5 in each category are then called out, given a club certificate and medal and the winner gets a small shield. This way they are all involved and the club is kept happy! So far no complaints from either children or parents.....

RE: End of season awards

andytm — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:12:12 GMT

We have

Every child get a trophy for representing the club and taking part

Clubman of the year 'the child that has turned up the most! If a tie the one that tries the hardest'

Player of the Year 'coaches choice, never been the same one yet and we have awarded four times before'

Most improved 'coaches choice, new comers normally however last year is was a child that suddenly came alive!'

Best attacker 'coaches choice, never has been for the one who scored the most tries, best attacker needs more than that'

Best defender 'First couple of years for the best tackler, last year for the player that tried to organise the defensive line'

Before each award I will mention players that have come close to an award before naming the award. In this way every child will get a mention. I don't agree with it being elitist but more a recognition for effort. We shall be keeping it.

I think tacticalwithdrawl was on about kangeroo courts, at what age can they understand irony, sarcasm and humour?

RE: End of season awards

didds — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:39:40 GMT

[quote][b]Tacticalwithdrawal (14/03/2012)[/b][hr]Only problem is club hierarchy is completely against it and insisting we have to pick 'best of' awards. [/quote]

make it their problem.

Ask them to define "best of" so you can ensure you fit their stringent requirements.

Feel free to use my arguments given above :-)

didds

RE: End of season awards

Tacticalwithdrawal — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:52:41 GMT

Well, this thread got me thinking, I can't honestly say who would win either of our three rewards (best player, best tackler, most improved) this year as each of them has at least 5 players who fully deserve it.

So, I knicked Spike's idea and emailed my coaches and all of them have come back in agreement - we should be rewarding all the kids not just three.

So this dinosaur may be changing his spots :P Only problem is club hierarchy is completely against it and insisting we have to pick 'best of' awards. If it comes to it we may get the coaches to pick a shortlist of 5 for each one and get the kids to vote (secretly) for the winner. On the other hand, that puts pressure on the kids which I don't like (they will be voting for one 'award' but its a fun one) so I think all the coaches may head for a pub and get creative..........

As an aside, we're aiming to give each player a unique award (eg. 'Ankle Biter' for a small kid who tackles like a looney) and the award will then be a team photo with the kid's name and personal award on it. Should be a lot of fun coming up with them :D

RE: End of season awards

LToni — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 05:06:17 GMT

You have written the subject of awards, but when it's supposed to know who are the nominees?

RE: End of season awards

spike — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:27:45 GMT

Personally hate the trophy things at the end of the season. My experience as a coach was initially to follow those who went before with the;

- Best player

- Most improver

- Coaches player of the season

But the issue is how do you compare players in different positions and what are the criteria. I was also leaft with the joy of coaching one of my sons and regardless of how good he was I didn't feel I could put him forward for any of these as was concerned on how it would be perceived. In the 14 years of coaching him I've given him man of the match once - he's fine with that but it was probably deserved more often but I wanted to reward others.

Anyway after a couple of uneasy end of season awards I changed our team's approach. As coaches we give praise to players after matches, coaching points are left to the next training session. We make sure that players are aware of others contributions in the games and at training by including team discussions as part of training. This initially took a little bit of guidance but the lads are now focusing on positives and learning opportunities (I know this sounds guff but it works well).

As for the end of the season we normally have a fun match (fancy dress or similar), a BBQ, end of season court and over the last 4 years or so all the players have been awarded a training shirt with names printed on them.

These they then use for the following season as warm up kit on match days etc. It has created a nice tight knit group of lads, happy in each others company on and off the pitch but equally happy to welcome new talent into the group.

I think I have been lucky as a coach as the bunch of lads I have are great and want to improve both individually and as a team.

RE: End of season awards

gravelly — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 22:53:16 GMT

[quote][b]Tacticalwithdrawal (12/03/2012)[/b][hr][quote]but why should they have something above the average middle ones that just do a decent job each week[/quote]

Simply put, because the core of what we do, even as minis, is to develop talent and promote excellence. If your whole ethos is based on 'average middle ones are good enough' and concentrate your recognition on them while ignoring the 'best', you're promoting mediocracy not meritocracy. It is a simple fact of life that some people are better at things than others and, in the right circumstances, that should be celebrated. The kids then have things to aspire to and targets to aim for and we end up celebrating excellence not mediocraty.....

[/quote]

Sorry, but that is not what I meant. I was trying to point out the whole range of problems with various awards, some of which find their way to the less able for reasons such as 'most improved'. The 'pretty good every week' players tend to get just overlooked altogether. It's not that we should be bringing everyone to the middle level and be happy with that - what on earth has that got to do with a trophy presentation discussion? We should concentrate on issues like excellence and improvement when we are actually coaching. At the end of the season we should be celebrating very young children participating in a fun physical and social exercise.

RE: End of season awards

Tacticalwithdrawal — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:17:36 GMT

[quote][b]dcrobertson68 (12/03/2012)[/b][hr]Your job as a minis coach is to ensure every kid reaches their full potential not to focus on excellence. Your in the wrong age group if that is what's at the core of your coaching philosophy. Long-Term Player Development is the core; the crap kid at 9 could easily be the great player at 16 but if you focus on the excellent ones at Minis then most of your team will probably either give up rugby before senior level or never turn out as good as they could have been. [/quote]

Completely agree that has to be a given or why are you bothering, that's what I was saying in the second paragraph....... [quote]However (and it is a huge however) that only works if it is done as part of an overall recognition framework which focusses on recognises kids for reaching their potential. [/quote] and [quote]This is especially important at minis as the 'best' player this year will almost certainly not be the best player next year as they grow and develop[/quote]

What I'm asking/challenging is why you can't celebrate excellence at the same time?

RE: End of season awards

dcrobertson68 — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:55:52 GMT

Your job as a minis coach is to ensure every kid reaches their full potential not to focus on excellence. Your in the wrong age group if that is what's at the core of your coaching philosophy. Long-Term Player Development is the core; the crap kid at 9 could easily be the great player at 16 but if you focus on the excellent ones at Minis then most of your team will probably either give up rugby before senior level or never turn out as good as they could have been.

RE: End of season awards

Tacticalwithdrawal — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:41:18 GMT

[quote]but why should they have something above the average middle ones that just do a decent job each week[/quote]

Simply put, because the core of what we do, even as minis, is to develop talent and promote excellence. If your whole ethos is based on 'average middle ones are good enough' and concentrate your recognition on them while ignoring the 'best', you're promoting mediocracy not meritocracy. It is a simple fact of life that some people are better at things than others and, in the right circumstances, that should be celebrated. The kids then have things to aspire to and targets to aim for and we end up celebrating excellence not mediocraty.

However (and it is a huge however) that only works if it is done as part of an overall recognition framework which focusses on recognises kids for reaching their potential. In that case the 'best of' becomes the pinnacle of the whole process not a stand alone 'look how brilliant this child is' event. This is especially important at minis as the 'best' player this year will almost certainly not be the best player next year as they grow and develop. The whole recognition programme has to be structured to celebrate all their successes, not just focus on 2-3 of them. As an aside, the best tackler this year looks like going to a kid who wasn't tackling at all but decided at the start of the year he wanted the award.

So for us, like you, we have a session where all the kids contributions (and bloopers) are recognised publically in a training session. As you say, it does get emotional and is also a great laugh. But kids are kids and they want to know who is the 'best' just like they all hate sportsdays with no competitive races. Anyway, that's my view, I suspect this subject is like religion or politics and there are very strongly entrenched sides neither of which will move (and both of which are mainly correct).

RE: End of season awards

dcrobertson68 — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:38:16 GMT

I coach U10 and considered end-of-season awards but eventually decided against them. I keep track of tries scored after each game and write match reports routinely, but am conscious that every kid should get a mention. The idea of having an award for top try scorer was binned fairly quickly as the boy who was top only became an even worse ball-hogger than he was before, thinking there was a stats table and he wanted to be top of it. Coaching minis at this age level is all about long-term player development and my only concern is ensuring all the kids enjoy the game and want to come back next season; give them all awards and leave it at that. Once the game gets competetive officially (U15 in Scotland) then awards might be appropriate but they can drive the wrong behaviour on the pitch and make coaching more difficult. I give a small reward after each training session for the best effort, never for the best player.

RE: End of season awards

gravelly — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:52:51 GMT

[quote][b]Was_quite_good (10/03/2012)[/b][hr]Help needed for U8s................

As we approach the end of the season, the subject of awards has cropped up:

1. Best Newcomer
2. Team Player
3. Player of the Year
4. Champagne Moment
5. Most Improved Player
6. Player's player of the year

The first five are all coaching awards. Given that the usual suspects have dominated this season (tries scored, most effort in defence) as well as last last season (most were recognised last year), do we reward them because they are the best or do we engineer the awards so that we acknowledge the contribution of the other lads?[/quote]

I know this type of thing is well meaning and time will be spent trying to do the right thing. But, frankly, I think it is horrendous. I'd never be able to easily deal out any of these awards. I'd not be able to pick the best player or even the best tackler. Do I pick the big strong lad who is a great tackler, but has the weight to put behind it, or the tenacious little one who never shirks a tackle. I have no idea who makes the more tackles, why should I pick between them? New player - an award chosen between 2 or 3 new ones! Improved player - from what baseline? Player's player - at 8? Are you joking? Most junior teams have the odd friendship tensions running through them (kids from different schools for example) so now you want them to vote and publicly declare the most popular? You make sure something goes to less able players too (a 'most improved' or 'champagne moment for the time they caught the ball'), but why should they have something above the average middle ones that just do a decent job each week. And I have not even got into my stride on this.

Everyone knows who the MVPs are. In a junior club environment there is no need to parade them around at the end of the season. They have their large share of attention, and time on the ball, week in week out during the season. They will also be picked up and 'recognised' in representative and district rugby at some point. But that is not our role within a club. It is the team you should be celebrating at the end of the season. Not a proportion of it. FWIW our coaches divide out the boys and do an individual summary of their contribution during the year, with many 'champagne moments' (that are not ranked according to their merit) after which they get a big round of applause and a team photo. Many of these can be quite emotional. And don't need to be stamped onto a trophy.

RE: End of season awards

Tacticalwithdrawal — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:00:18 GMT

we have 3:

Best Player,
Most Improved Player - in my mind the most important trophy
Best tackler

We then have a 4th which is the person who takes the jersey home. At each training session the most deserving player from the previous week gets to wear a (very lurid) 7's jersey. Most deserving can be anything but usually equates to someone who has raised their game. For example, 3 weeks ago it went to a kid who suddenly started tackling even though the same week another kid scored 15 out of 21 of the team's tries at a tournament (we kinda expect him to do that).

The players will all vote at the end of the season to decide who gets to take the jersey home.

RE: End of season awards

OmarLittleAndAssociates — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 19:07:50 GMT

we have the following

MVP
MVP- Forwards
MVP- Backs
Rookie
Most Improved
Castro (this goes to not necessarily the best or most skilled player, but the one who shows the most dedication and hard work) [named after the club founder]

RE: End of season awards

didds — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 20:14:12 GMT

you've hit the nail on the head with the concept of a "player of the year".

For what?

Scoring most tries? Making most tackles? Attending most training sessions? Always smiling?

Unless you have decided the criteria back in September and informed everyone (players, parents and coaches as a minimum) then how can anyone try and "earn" it? If Bertie has magnanimously stepped down in the final match to let Fred play as it his first week then finds out he didn't get it cos he missed out by scoring one less try than the winner, how does Bertie feel about his decision? Will he do it next time?

And how do you make it fair across the board? Not so important maybe at 7/8/9... maybe... but once players start getting pigeonholed into positions at older age groups, how likely is your prop or winger to score as many tries as your fly half... or make as many tackles as your centre/back row?

Be more creative with your awards... after 5 season of Jeff or Max always winning the "best player award" for the usual reasons, the award becomes meaningless - except possibly to Jeff or Max. So you may as well call it the "be named Jeff or Max award".

didds
PS who to be perfectly clear doesn't like end of season awards!

RE: End of season awards

Was_quite_good — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 12:20:01 GMT

Sorry ...................... should have mentioned, they will all get a commemorative trophy to mark their year in the team, plus an RFU Player Proficiency Certificate and a night out at a local restaurant.

RE: End of season awards

Duncan Parker — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 12:08:21 GMT

These are 7 & 8 years olds, give them all something, and an award to the whole squad for turning up/being positive/enjoying rugby. Try not to single anyone out if possible - put on a party as a thankyou to them all for being there and for them showing you and their parents that they are enjoying it.

A possibility is an end of season T shirt or medal for all of them, encouraging them all to come back next year. When they move in to Youth rugby you can see how many have attended each season by the number of annual T shirts (different colour each year) that each of them has collected.

End of season awards

Was_quite_good — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 10:48:26 GMT

Help needed for U8s................

As we approach the end of the season, the subject of awards has cropped up:

1. Best Newcomer
2. Team Player
3. Player of the Year
4. Champagne Moment
5. Most Improved Player
6. Player's player of the year

The first five are all coaching awards. Given that the usual suspects have dominated this season (tries scored, most effort in defence) as well as last last season (most were recognised last year), do we reward them because they are the best or do we engineer the awards so that we acknowledge the contribution of the other lads?