Communication and sports: a well-managed organization has everything to win!

In everyday life, communication is essential and it’s no different in sports. Communication is defined as the transmission of a message between two people through different channels.

The different methods of communication used must ensure a good exchange within your sports organization because the more efficient it is, the better the club will perform.

To promote a positive atmosphere during practices and games, it is necessary that all members develop a good relationship with each other.

Verbal communication, facial expressions, drawings, gestures, emails and videos are means that allow good communication between different members of an association.

See here why good communication within a sports club is important and get some tips on how to improve it if necessary!

Communication in sports can be found in the explanation of rules, different techniques and tactics, the definition of objectives, strengths and weaknesses of the players and the team.

The coach must be clear and concise when giving recommendations. They are the ones who set the dynamics of a team. A coach who yells at his players will not create the same atmosphere as one who leads with patience.

There are a variety of solutions that a coach can use to build good communication with his players.

For example, he can explain a new game idea from a drawing, a video or a staging. The important thing here is that the coach promotes ways of communication that will be best received by his players.

Don’t hesitate to be creative to promote the retention of instructions by players.

It’s always very important to keep a close eye on your team throughout the season. In a period of isolation, as social contacts become more rare, it is even more important to keep in touch with your players.

They will be very grateful to see that you go out of your way to keep up with their personal evolution, to make sure that they are healthy and doing well or to give them new exercises.

Organize a weekly virtual meeting via Zoom, inviting players to recreate the atmosphere in the “locker room”. Ask them to log in earlier before their training session so that they can interact with each other as if they were getting dressed before practice.

While it is important for a coach to communicate well with their players, the opposite is also true. A coach needs to be transparent, open and responsive to his team’s ideas and opinions. Players need to feel that their opinion’s matter and that they are taken seriously.

Plan a moment after practice or a game to ask your players for their comments and impressions.

Positive communication between a coach and his players will improve the team’s motivation and performance.

Communication is also very important to avoid conflict between teammates.

Of course, even if you have the best communication system within your team, there will always be small clashes between some players. On the other hand, by focusing on an open relationship where everyone is involved, there will be less room for conflict.

By developing communication techniques between them, the players will be able to better understand each other when the time comes in games. It will be easier for them to quickly identify each other’s actions in a game context.

Players need to help each other, during practices and games, but also outside the field. They need to recognize their individual and team strengths and weaknesses in order to work together. Under normal circumstances, you shouldn’t hesitate to organize pre-match meetings.

Do team building activities at a distance. Encourage your players to interact with each other by asking them to create a Facebook group or a messenger conversation.

Give them tips in order to motivate them to train remotely together. This will make them interact and take them out of their usual routine, which can become demotivating.

The relationship between coaches and parents should not be overlooked either.

Before the beginning of a season, plan a meeting with the parents, so that the coaches can share their vision and expectations for the upcoming season.

Parents must be able to count on coaches to provide them with the necessary information. They need to feel that they are available to answer their questions. Parents like to know that their kids are progressing and it is up to the coach to follow up with them throughout the season.

If you do not use a sports team communication app to communicate with parents, coaches can still create a monthly newsletter.

In the newsletter, you can include technical skills, changes to practice or game schedules, or information about practice sessions or upcoming tournaments.

If you are unfamiliar with newsletters, ask parents if they would prefer to receive their communication by email, phone or text message at the beginning of the season, to avoid any kind of ambiguity.

The more informed and involved the parents feel, the more supportive they will be of their children.

How the use of a sports team communication app can help communication in your team?

If you find that communication within your teams could be improved, there are solutions to make your job easier.

Using social networks and virtual meeting platforms can be very helpful to improve communication, especially in times of isolation.

You can also use a sports team communication app like MonClubSportif to help you manage your different teams. It offers many features to make your job easier and help you ensure good communication between coaches, parents and players.

With MonClubSportif you can :

• Manage attendance
  Track attendance directly from the application to know which players will be present or absent.
• Provide documentation
  Share documents and photos. This option is ideal for sharing different tactics with players.
• Track statistics
  Follow the attendance and performance statistics of your players. It will be easy to evaluate them on their involvement and reward them if necessary for every game during a season. Yes, this option is for you statistic fans!
• Communicate
  Communicate easily with players’ parents and coaches by using the chat option, which allows you to send emails directly from the application.
• Follow-up on the health status of members
  MonClubSportif is not afraid of Covid-19 and offers you its brand new “health” module, to track the health status of your players in less than 5 minutes, and this, before each event.

Building a good communication system in a team is a long process, which requires a lot of tests, but can be extremely beneficial in the long run.

Using an application like MonClubSportif makes you save a lot of time and offers a communication solution that is easy to use. Focus on youth development rather than micro-management.

Bad communication can lead to a negative atmosphere. People play sports for the sake of socializing and to feel as part of a team. It’s important to take care of those aspects!