I was talking recently with somebody who owns a business working with kids… similar in nature to ours but not training… my friend has a lot of issues with parents wanting their kids to have success and to be rewarded with out doing the pre-requisite work and meeting expectations… Kind of like the participation trophy thing…

The whole time I was thinking to myself that I’m glad I don’t have to deal with his problems here at BT…

The expectation of our athletes at BT is that they will be committed to becoming a better athlete by show up consistently (1-2x/wk in season and 3+ off season), working their ass off, being coachable, and bringing something to the culture of our gym by encouraging, spotting, and setting a positive example to the athletes below them.

I know for a fact that if athletes meet these expectations they will have success in our program and this will set them up for more success on the field, mat, court, or track.

Years ago when we first opened I had more problems much like my friend does because I wasn’t clear to our kids (and parents) what was expected of them… and because of this I had a bunch of kids who didn’t fit with what I was trying to build here.

I quickly learned that I don’t want to train every athlete. I don’t want to be a babysitting service. I do give everybody a shot. We offer a free trial to everybody to see if this is where they want to be (but also to see if they are going to meet our expectations)…

I know that not every kid is a super star stud athlete and I pride myself of building the underdog.

Not every kid is a “model” student in the beginning.. sometimes I will tell them they need to be here more or they need to bring more intensity and I remind them what is expected of them and it fixes itself quickly! When they are around other athletes in this culture that are meeting expectations and having success they either buy in or they drop out.

I can proudly say that I enjoy coaching 100% of our athletes…

The point I want to make is that success will start with expectations. You have to know what is expected of you to know whether or not you are on track.