Commitments - Ein Thema, drei Meinungen

One topic, three opinions

Whether a management tool, orientation aid or team-building instrument - the suitability of commitments is demonstrated in practice. A coach, a top athlete and an association official take a stand.

A commitment with oneself

In my coaching work, I am confronted with young people who are making the step from amateur to competitive athlete. It is important to me that each person on the team feels like they are being taken seriously. Working out commitments helps to involve all members - via the players, the coach, the physiotherapists, etc. - in the responsibility and to address values and basic attitudes. This ultimately defines the "team culture". In this way, the entire team agrees to comply with the described rules of action and conduct. Those who agree to do so take responsibility for their actions and help to develop a sense of togetherness.

So for me, commitment is a commitment with myself and with the team. Secondarily, it is also a leadership tool. Punctuality, reliability, goal setting are all content that needs to be clarified and adhered to. The consequences of violating these rules must also be known. In my opinion, a member of a national team must be able to subordinate himself to certain conditions and rules. These are set by the association and the coaches. In other areas, the players should be able to have a say and also take responsibility for tasks. For example, the team treasury, the material or internal team events can be organized by them. "What can I do to help the team?" is the important question.

When working out a commitment, I confront my players with their attitude and motivation towards (competitive) sports. Why do I play competitive sports? How do we appear and how do we want to be perceived from the outside? Where necessary, I set the framework, but leave it up to the team to work it out in detail. At most, I intervene if I can't identify with individual proposals from the players. The discussion is also useful for working out individual target agreements with the players. By determining short-, medium- and long-term goals, reviewed and adjusted at regular intervals, personal commitments are created for the player.

David Egli is J+S head of handball and coach of the U17 national team

Taking the same path

In beach volleyball, there are two of us on the field. Finding a common denominator is therefore a lot easier than in a football team, for example. When we step onto the sand as a team, we naturally want to win - but not at any price. With a shakehand at the beginning of the game, we make an unspoken commitment with our opponent that we respect and respect each other and that we will behave fairly. Shared core values ensure fair competition where everyone fights on equal terms.

In my athletic career, I have found commitments to be a guide and a team-building tool. When my partner also sticks to the agreements made, it creates a winning situation for both of us. "To commit" also means "to entrust." We trust each other to stick to the agreements. These concern training input, sleep, punctuality, behaviour on the field, but also doping abuse, nutrition and much more. The agreements help us to train more efficiently and to reach our goal. This way, my partner and I are sure that we are both on the same path.

True commitments only come from dialogue. The ideas of all parties in the conversation must be taken into account. An authoritarian leadership style excludes these criteria. In order to enter into a dialogue, the coach must be able to take his athletes' point of view and be willing to listen to them. For their part, these processes of joint elaboration strengthen team-building. the coach must be able to take the athlete's point of view and be willing to listen to them. This is the only way to create binding commitments to which all participants will adhere.

Nicole Schnyder-Benoit was a 2004 Olympian in beach volleyball.

Lighthouses lead the way

Coaches and leaders are faced with a wide variety of tasks in their club work. They have to train the athletes and players both technically and tactically, as well as develop them conditionally and coordinatively. Unfortunately, one aspect is all too often forgotten: the development of social skills. In sport in particular, this often involves questions of ethics, especially fair play, or behavioural issues, for example in dealing with addictive substances. Commitments are a good instrument for defining and recording agreements in a squad, club, team or school. These agreements can be compared to lighthouses. They make orientation easier. It is crucial that the commitments emerge from a process with the team or the individual athlete. Because experience shows that directives are not very sustainable and just invite transgression. It must also be discussed in the group what happens when "the light of the beacon" no longer burns or is overlooked, the agreements made by all are no longer kept by some. All these processes of working things out together strengthen team building.

In a presentation, I reflected on the 2004 sports year with ice hockey coaches. They had to spontaneously name appropriate terms for the given major events "Olympic Games Athens", "European Football Championship" and "Tour de France". The answers - "doping and emotions", "Frei spitting affair" or "Armstrong and doping" - show that the topic of "fairness" is more topical than ever. The federations are therefore called upon to take a clear stand in these areas. The task of Swiss Olympic is to support the sports federations and to provide them with suitable and simple tools - for example with "cool and clean", "sport.smokeless." or with measures against sexual exploitation in sport. As coach of the U18 national fistball team, I work with these tools myself. They enable me to form a strong and homogeneous team. My players are aware of their role as role models and as a result also radiate more self-confidence on the pitch.

Hanspeter Brigger is the "cool and clean" project manager of Swiss Olympic Talents.

source reference:

content: Youth+Sport, mobile 1, Dec. 2004, COMMITMENTS

copyright: www.mobile-sport.ch

image: www.juropa.net