Do you play fair with your team?

We’re all familiar with the principles of fair play and sportsmanship. From an early age, we’ve been told that we shouldn’t be sore losers, that we should respect our opponents and, above all, that violence has no place in sport. It’s all about how we behave towards those we play against. But what about our own team? How can we show sportsmanship to our own side? Or as a coach or manager, towards our players?

It’s important to respect your commitment to your club. If you decide to skip a few training sessions, you penalize yourself, but you also penalize your teammates, who rely on you to get ahead. Respecting your commitment also means making the necessary efforts to ensure that the training session or competition runs smoothly. Everyone gives 100%, so it goes without saying that you should too. We can all be tired or have difficulties, but we also have to think about the people we’re playing with.

For the coach, this means arriving on time and being present at practices. It also means establishing good communication with the players. When a practice or appointment has to be rescheduled, or if the coach expects to arrive late, he has to make sure everyone knows. Good schedule management is therefore essential, and can be greatly facilitated by the use of a team management application like MonClubSportif. With up-to-date contact details for all team members, it’s much easier to reach them quickly with any important messages.

You can’t win alone. No matter how capable or talented we are, it’s the whole team that leads to victory. You have to be able to trust your team-mates and inspire confidence in them too. You have to know how to support other players, create bonds and feel concerned when there’s a drop in motivation. It’s when you can rely on each other, and when you’re able to set up group tactics and apply them, that the team benefits the most.

As a coach or manager, this means fostering this team spirit and leading by example. You have to support your players at all costs and encourage them to get along well together. The last thing you want is too much tension in the team, as this could actually get in the way of the game’s tactics.

Consideration for players also means respecting their abilities and limitations. A field hockey player who is injured because too much pressure has been put on his shoulders is certainly never good for team morale or performance.

Sometimes it’s important to issue this kind of reminder. We often tend to forget that, in order to respect our opponents, we must first learn to act impeccably towards our own team-mates.

By using MonClubSportif, each player is responsible for indicating his or her presence at games and practices. The coach will be able to plan training or game strategies according to who will be present.

Be fair to your team-mates, and your team will find it easier to succeed.

MonClubSportif is a practical, user-friendly sports team management tool that centralizes all information related to sports club logistics in one place. Launched by and for sports enthusiasts, this web and mobile application enables players and coaches to modify their schedules, confirm their attendance, send a message to all players or simply share photos at their fingertips.

Now you don’t have to spend hours on the phone to manage a sports team – the app does it for you. Register now to find out more.