Takeaways from REV - Three Tips to Improve Player Retention
Sprocket Sports hosted REV: The Conference for Youth Sports in Chicago with successful clubs from across the country sharing ideas and best practices. If you missed REV, be sure to check out the key takeaways and video recording below from our Player Retention panel.
Three Tips to Improve Player Retention:
Put the experience first.
Focus your club and coaches on some basic questions: Are the kids having fun? Do they look forward to practice? Do they feel a sense of improvement?
Make individual connections – with players and parents.
Show you care about every player as a human being, not just a number. Check in to make sure that every kid is making friends and feels a sense of belonging. Make phone calls to each family at risk of leaving the club. Hire coaches that can truly connect with the kids and place them with the right age level – some are great with teenagers but not with young kids and vice versa.
Send kids to their cars happy.
Research shows that people remember the end or the finish of an experience. Make the last 10 minutes of practice fun and give only positive coaching feedback during that time. You can be tough on kids for the first 70 minutes, but if the last 10 are fun and positive, that’s what they remember.