As a coach, it’s frustrating when athletes don’t listen… we have to repeat ourselves over and over again. I’ve watched coaches burn out when it’s hard work just to keep the team’s attention.

It goes both ways: the #1 reason why athletes leave a sport is because they don’t feel engaged - up to 40% each year!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4aG_2hMKKG0

<aside> <img src="/icons/exclamation-mark_gray.svg" alt="/icons/exclamation-mark_gray.svg" width="40px" /> The good news? With the right approach, communication through an effective channel is straightforward.

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Communication should:

1. Meet the athletes where they’re at - on their phones - and use short messages with images and links
2. Remain transparent & SafeSport compliant (unlike the texts and emails some coaches currently use)
3. It should really be in the same place as all the other team activity to keep them focused

It sounds like a lot, but here’s how it works for my team on CrewLAB:

• It’s Friday and i want to shout out some athletes on their training this week… they love that.
• I’ll also put in a link to a mobility video I want them to watch over the weekend, asking them to like that message once they do so they’re accountable.

The whole team sees the chat in the context of our team schedule and activity, and they’re reminded of the daily check-in and training journal if they haven’t done it yet. On CrewLAB, communication is just the start.