Written By: Jonathan Kaplan
Welcome back to The Office folks! Last month we discussed how to make the most with what you’ve got as we have continued on this road trip together towards building a successful program from the ground-up. This month is a fun one because we get to take that sweet ride of ours and give it a major boost through the power of celebration.
Think back on the most influential people in your life. This could be your parents, a coach, teacher, mentor, friend or loved one, right? Now close your eyes and remember how they made you feel. Why were they so impactful and powerful when it came to helping form you into the person and leader you are today? Next, close your eyes again and try and remember all of your best swimming times from when you were 10 years old. Or if you were more of a soccer player or other team sport athlete during your formative years, how many goals did you score every single year? Do you remember your team’s win/loss record every year?
Chances are, we are significantly more likely to remember the fun experiences in our lives, in particular our athletic careers, than we are the statistics that we and our athletes crush ourselves for in hopes of achieving each season. Years after your swimmers are done swimming circles around that black line, they are going to look back on their careers and the first thing they are going to remember is how the influential people in their lives made them feel. It is my hope that on this part of our journey together, “The Office” is going to help give you a few ideas on how we can celebrate all levels off success with our athletes to help them feel good about becoming a better version of themselves.
Let’s take a look at some of those ideas, shall we? Get out a pen and pad (always way better than a computer) and takes some notes. Remember that not all of these ideas will work perfectly for your program, swimmers and system. But it could help spark an idea of your own that could transform the way your athletes view themselves.
Recognition in front of peers: This works for both swimmers and coaches. (Don’t forget that your staff deserves recognition for their accomplishments also!) Hearing from a coach that they did a great job feels amazing. Hearing it with all of their peers around to clap and cheer for them is transformative.
Celebrate all levels of accomplishment: Even if your philosophy and team is built around the success of the most elite swimmers, I strongly encourage this. I’m the last person in the world that thinks everybody deserves a trophy. However, when someone does something that helps them improve themselves, at any level, it is worthy of celebration because it could change the course of their life in a profound and positive way.
Consider an incentive program: Keep is simple, keep it fun, make it valuable. Take it from me that you don’t want it to be complicated because it loses its value and becomes too tedious for the coaches to keep up with. But having an incentive program that awards both the highest levels of competition while also being one that all athletes have a shot at earning awards for, is the best way to go. Email me if you want to hear how we’ve done this over the years.
Have a meet write-up or news article: It’s easy to simply put down the winners only and celebrate those athletes. And they absolutely deserve it! However, if you have the time and can celebrate various levels in a meet write-up after the competition is over, it’ll empower the athletes of all levels to work harder to see their name on their next time. It also helps you share cool stories and highlight athletes who may not always get that moment in the spotlight.
Keep up with team stats and records on website: With every program I’ve coached, I started the “All-Time Top 10” list. This helps athletes see how they compare to other stars they may hold with high regard from when they were the same age. I also recommend that you have a single age Top 10 list so your 9, 11 and 13 year-olds can see how amazing they are while being at the bottom of their age group.
Survey your athletes to find their “why”: Take the time at the beginning of the season to ask the swimmers why they swim and work so hard in the first place. If you find out the “Why” and learn what motivates them, it’ll make it easier to decide how you want to go about celebrating their accomplishments.
Consider sacrificing a little practice time for celebrations: This is a tough one for coaches to get past because they often do not want to miss valuable time in the water. However, if you can take 15 minutes every 2 or 3 weeks to celebrate the accomplishments of your athletes from the previous meet, you may have lost 500-1200 yards or so that day, but will absolutely have an insane increase in effort from those same athletes throughout every yard of every workout after that!
Share a blog from National Level & Travel Competitions: This is not the easiest thing to do because it can be time consuming if you plan to type it. However, it is worth it! If you want to inspire athletes to want to achieve the highest levels, share the stories that make those trips amazing. Don’t just share the results of the meet; write-out the funny thing that happened at the airport, or the van ride, or at the restaurant and send it back to your team. Want to make it more interactive? Do it as a video and tell the stories! You’ll be surprised which parents and families want to hear these stories and how much it’ll inspire others to want to be there next year.
Remember that energy in a program comes from the top down in most cases. If this is something that is important to a head coach, then it becomes important to the rest of the staff. When that happens, and your staff is in the habit of celebrating the accomplishments of all athletes in front of their peers, you will see a tremendous increase in the level of success your swimmers reach. Children who were once part-time swimmers, get bit by the bug and turn into hard-working stars. Great swimmers start to see a path towards becoming elite. And most importantly, all of your young student-athletes learn how to believe in themselves, thus showing them the way of how to continue the quest for self-improvement throughout the rest of their lives.
This is powerful stuff folks! We think we are in the business of teaching athletes how to be better swimmers and get up and back a pool faster than everyone else. But in reality, we are in the business of removing barriers that keep awesome young PEOPLE from setting goals, working harder than ever to achieve them, and enjoying the journey they go through to become a better version of themselves. If you do this well, you will start to see better retention from season to season because your parents & swimmers will make sure they stay in that environment at all costs. I hope you will join us next month in “The Office” as we explore “Growth Through Retention.”
Jonathan and the Rapids are entering their 4th season together after an incredible freshman and sophomore campaign. During those two seasons, the Rapids have managed to change the landscape of swimming in the Greater Richmond area by providing accessibility and flexibility to families while also swimming at the highest levels. The relationships his coaches are building with the athletes are personal and life-changing. As a result, in just over two seasons, the Rapids have grown from 0 swimmers to over 500 athletes! In addition, the Rapids have grown from 3 to 16 coaches, helping us focus on developing character skills that have allowed us to become one of the Top 8 teams in the state (out of 45) and Top 185 teams in the nation (out of 3,000)! Prior to SwimRVA Jonathan got married and moved back to the Richmond area where he went on to enjoy a very successful two years as the head coach at the Dolphin Club in Richmond. In two years he grew the club from 63 to 183 athletes. Jonathan believes in each child's potential and growing relationships one swimmer, one family at a time. While at Dolphin Club, the team improved in USA Swimming's virtual club rankings from 31st to 23rd in the state and 1955th to 958th nationally. At Virginia Swimming's age group champs the team improved from 30th (27 points) to 15th (291 points) and his girls team finished 9th overall, while also having a Top 15 team finish (Top 10 Girls) at Senior Champs for the first time in team history. Prior to Dolphin Club,Jonathan served as the assistant director of competitive swimming at YMCA of Triangle Area. As head coach of the Gold group he tutored 50 YMCA National qualifiers, 5 YMCA national finalists, 12 NCSA Junior National qualifiers, 2 USA-Swimming Winter Junior National and 1 USA-Swimming Winter National qualifier. Jonathan helped YOTA grow to 600 members and earn Top 25 rankings in USA Swimming's Virtual Club Championship. While at YOTA, Jonathan worked with over 130 athletes with video instruction and stroke analyzation. Before heading to Raleigh, Kaplan coached in Richmond for NOVA of Virginia Aquatics as the head coach of the Senior Silver group and assistant coach of Senior Gold. Jonathan's Senior Silver group included 16 NCSA Junior National, 6 USA Swimming Winter Junior National and 1 USA Swimming Winter National Championship qualifier, 1 National Age Group Record participant, and 14 Virginia State Records. While at NOVA the team earned a 3rd place overall team finish at the 2014 Spring NCSA Championships, an overall Virginia State Championship and a 6th place overall team ranking in the USA Swimming Virtual Club Championships. Jonathan help in the organization and create of the first ever Henrico County high school swimming program. From 2006 to 2013 Jonathan was the head swim coach of the Panama City Swim Team. While head coach the year round membership grew from 65 to 250 members. PCST earned bronze medal club status for USA Swimming Club Excellence. In 2012, PCST had its first ever swimmer compete at the USA Swimming Olympic Team Trials. In addition, Kaplan tutored 3 swimmers who qualified for USA Swimming's Summer National Championship, 3 qualifiers to USA Swimming's Summer Junior National Championship, 11 NCSA qualifiers, 1 USA Swimming Junior National Runner Up, 1 US Open Finalist, 5 SES Champions, 2 LSC records, 3 HS All-Americans and 6 Florida High School State Champions. In 2011, PCST won Southeastern Swimming Medium Team Championship. 17 of Kaplan's swimmers went on to compete in the NCAA. One of Jonathan's greatest accomplishments includes the fortune of coaching a high school valedictorian in 6 consecutive years while at PCST. Jonathan is a graduate of Florida State University where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Sport Management and his Master of Science in Sport Administration. He resides in Richmond with his wife, Jessica, and their three sons Rowan, Finlay, and Crew. Needless to say, he and his family are excited for the Rise of the Rapids here with SwimRVA!
Learn More About SwimRVA Rapids and their programming HERE!