This Week’s Playbook. Three weeks in, the program you designed is meeting the families who have to live in it, and the gap between the two decides your season. Right now it is small enough to close. This week is about seeing it before the season sets around it.
“That's one of the things I love most about youth sports. It has a way of bringing people together in ways that go way beyond the game itself.”
— Chad Henry, Signature Locker | Read more →
THE GAME PLAN
Why Some Families Stay for Only One Season, and How to Design for It
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You marked the family that did one season and left as churn, and moved on to the ones you could keep.
Most of them were never staying five years, and the season they got was the opening stretch of an arc built for somebody else.
The fix is not a better renewal ask. It is designing every season to finish something for the family that stops here while it still sets up the next rung for the family that stays.
Here is the test that turns one calendar into a program that serves both.
More from The Game Plan:
THE HUMAN FACTOR
Why the Nicest Thing Families Can Say About You Is "It's Convenient"
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Ask a happy family how it's going and they say it's convenient, the coaches are nice, it's close to home.
None of that is a complaint, which is exactly why it should worry you.
"Convenient" is a family describing you as adequate, and adequate loses the deciding parent to the flashier club every time.
Here is how to hear what your families actually say about you, and turn "it's convenient" into a sentence that wins.
More from The Human Factor:
THE TOOLKIT
Should You Check In With Families After Team Placement? Here's Who to Watch
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Teams are set, the roster is posted, and the part of the calendar you dreaded is finally behind you.
It is behind you. For your families, it is just starting.
The parent who becomes a problem is rarely a problem on day one; the placement curdles into a grievance over the next three weeks, in car rides you are not in.
Here is who to watch in the first weeks, and how to check in before the doubt hardens into a decision.
More from The Toolkit:
Have a question or want to share what's working
at your program? We want to hear it.
Have a great sports week,
Chad Henry and the Signature Locker Team
Thought Leaders
Follow our sport parents and athletes building the future of youth sports.
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