What Are Your Pillars?
What are your player development pillars?
What will your program be known for?
When I received these questions early on in my player development journey, it was hard for me to answer immediately. So, I began doing research, I researched any and everything that defined their pillars. Athletic departments, companies, individuals. As I was doing this research, I began identifying things I liked and things I knew to be extremely successful. After self-reflecting the pillars, I initially began with just did not feel like something I would identify an entire player development program with. They were not my own.
One day during this time of defining the pillars of the program I heard a podcast where someone said there is power in doing things in threes. He talked about setting goals and guidelines in threes because the human brain remembers things more easily when they are paired in threes. Think of the NIKE slogan, “Just Do It.” So, I went back to the drawing board and emptied everything and put down the three things that mattered to me the most. They were personal growth, community involvement and career development. I HAD FOUND MY PILLARS. I reworded them and they became: personal wellness, community impact and career development. These would be the nonnegotiable pillars in place to create impact in the lives of the athletes I served in the player development role. To this day they are the pillars of Beyond The Field and guide all the work done.
Now you may ask why I took time to write this, and you would be fair in asking. I wanted to write this because as with all the resources created through this company, I do not want anyone to be in the place I was in in 2016. So, with that said, here are my tips for pillars:
1. Pick what you are passionate about. There will be hard days and the purpose behind these pillars will keep you going.
2. Do three pillars. They will be easy to remember and will allow creativity.
3. Put all programming and aspects of the programming under your pillars.
4. Integrate your pillars into the culture of the program, team, or organization you serve. This will go a long way with the Coach and will provide you with some great brainstorming sessions of creativity.
5. Do not be afraid to tweak some. When I first started my community pillar was community service and I changed it not to get it confused with community service hours some athletes in sports may have gotten for decisions made. The new name became community impact.
6. Stick to the mission of those pillars. You will be surprised at how much you can build from sticking to the pillars.
You got this. Those pillars will create immense impact in the lives of the athletes you serve.
If you would like more guidance in the player development role, email info@btfprogram.com and let me know how I can champion your player development journey.
If you are interested in the Player Development Guide Course, click here: https://forms.gle/5KgcujWqPgq8eNYq6
Listen to The Player Development Pod here: https://linktr.ee/btf_program
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