How Do You Motivate 8 and 9 Year Olds - Repost for Knowledge Base

I think you've got a tough situation there. Trying to motivate players at that age is a challenge. There's no "bull" in those boys yet. A few boys will actually come motivated. You can see it their eyes when you get them in their first three point stance. They came to win. They're ready to hit you now. Others came because their parents thought you were cheap daycare. Still others hope you'll run a few pounds off their Frito-Lay loving Nintendo player. Others hope you'll turn their sissys into men because they've given up. So about 75% of your team could care less if they win. Most expect to lose because they're used to doing it (They didn't win at soccer either). To make it even worse, kids are not TEAM oriented. They are ME oriented. They all want to be the star or they're not interested. This is because they've never actually worked within a group to achieve a goal. So how are you going to solve these problems? First, you have to make it fun and, second, you have to make them like you. There's more to motivation than this but you can't even begin to motivate players if you don't accomplish those two goals first. The easiest way to make it fun is to actually let them play the game in a small area so that everyone has a chance to get into the action, especially on defense (so that they either make a tackle or get into a dogpile). On offense you want a lot of kids to carry the ball and you want to fool the defense with reverses. The defense loves to be fooled and the offense loves to see them get fooled. So the kids are having fun and, more importantly, they see you as the source of it. So now you have their attention ("What's the next fun thing we're going to do, coach?"). Next, make your drills fun, too. Make practice interesting and not a job. Next you need for them to like you. I don't know know how you do it, but for me, it's easy. Kids crave regimented discipline. Most of them would love to go to military school. So I act the part of the tough drill sargeant. I am not their friend. I am their GOD. I have the power to dish out pain (laps) or pleasure (running the ball, team captain, helmet stars, etc). But I am a just, caring, and fair God. They have to know that too. Now they will listen and follow.

So now we can finally begin to motivate them to win. The first step in that is to let them experience winning on an individual basis. Create competitions in practice for the best blocker, tackler, etc. When a kid does something right, make a big deal of it. Example: Tonight I was trying to teach a group of 6-8's how to hike a ball and step at the same time. No simple feat for a 12 year old let alone the little tykes. Of course, they were all getting it wrong (no step, snap too low). So I just grabbed one kid that had it halfway right and announced, "We have a winner!" I then took the kid and brought him out front to demonstrate to the others his success. He did it and, within seconds, a second kid had it right too. So I brought him up front and he demonstrated too. Within two minutes I had two more kids who could snap and step at the same time. Why? Because their motivation was to stand up in front of the rest of the group and show off. Teachers do this same thing when they ask kids to raise their hands who know the answer. Those who know immediately raise their hands (some waving them in the hopes of being chosen). Why? Because they want to show off what they know. So let your players show off to the rest of the group what they can do. One of those four kids was so pleased with himself that he volunteered to be the team center for the rest of the season. And we then made a big deal out of his volunteering in front of the others. The other kids learned from this that if we want to make a big deal over them in front of the others, that they should volunteer or excell too. So now they're charged up for their opportunity too. Remember! At their age, it's all about ME! They will then take that desire to excell with them into every drill and, more importantly, into every game. Here's something most coaches don't think about. Why do all the kids want to be running back or QB? Most want to be the star. They crave recognition (It's all about ME) and those are the positions that get recognition. So if recognition is important, give it to them. Give some glory to each position and the kids on the line will get to star. MAKE EVERY KID A STAR AT WHAT HE DOES IN FRONT OF THE GROUP. Another form of recognition is helmet stars. Kids love to stand up in front of the group and receive their awards. Why? Because it's all about ME! If you do this though, you should avoid giving stars to running backs for yards gained, first downs, TD's, etc. Running backs do that kind of stuff on their own anyway. Instead, helmet stars should go to the offensive line for first downs and TD's. Let that running back make tackles on defense to get his stars. At the end of the season, we hand out an MVP trophy to the player with the most stars. If your league doesn't allow helmet stars, then put the stars on poster board by the player's name and mount it by the water jug so all the kids can see who's "ahead" in the race. Now with the kids keeping score you can play child psychologist and start rigging the results. Make certain that every kid, going into the final game, is in the race for that trophy. Don't be stingy with the stars. Let one or two kids stand out ahead of the others each week, but make it a different kid each week. That way, things tend to even up towards the end. We set the trophy by the water jug in practice as a reminder of what they're playing for. Believe me, every kid there is imagining that trophy with his name on it. There are some kids who will kill for a trophy. Why? Because it's all about ME! Other little tricks you can do is have everyone on the defense "high five" the guy who makes the tackle on gameday. That's an instantaneous reward for the tackler (It's all about ME) and very demoralizing to the other team's offense that's watching. Your own offensive line should always "high five" themselves for first downs and TD's. Again, the other team is watching. Last, but not least, is your halftime motivation talk for a close game. Your kids are hot, thirsty, and tired. You have to overcome that. So you point out that the other team is also hot, thirsty, and tired and basically halfway beat. It's up to us to put them away. Generally speaking, you can always rely upon the other team's coach to take his team into the endzone at halftime. Why? Because he doesn't want his parents to hear what he's about to say to their kids. You can use that to your advantage. I always let my kids know that the opposing coach is chewing his kids out because WE are doing such a good job against them. They are DOWN. Let's finish them off. Their coach is going to get them to try harder but it won't work. Because we're going to try harder too - And they're the ones who are DOWN - not us. Advantage ours. All we have to do is take the kickoff and ram it right down their throats and they'll fold.

What you want to avoid is talks where you stress the importance of winning. That's okay if you win but your kids will label themselves as failures if they lose. What are they supposed to do then? Commit Hari-Kari? So steer away from that kind of talk. How do you handle a loss in a close game? You simply say, "I guess they wanted the win more than we did." That's all that's necessary. Because the message that sends your players is that they need to try harder than the other team if they want to win. So what will they do next time they're in a close game? Try harder? Sounds good to me!

Now! For the benefit of other coaches, motivation is only a factor in a close game. If you're kids are outclassed by the opposition, you need more than just motivation to win. Motivation should be used to encourage your kids to improve their play in practice and to give them the inner strength and desire to win the close games. Trying to use motivation to attain impossible goals is a waste of time and probably psychologicaly damaging. Motivation should always be used to attain achieveable goals because, after all, kids who achieve their goals are winning.