- Nov 11, 2011
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You have a much bigger issue if something as simple as a sticker chart is enough to cause strife within the culture of your program.
Tell them you’re going to do the progression chart for both teams, but allow each team to choose the form of their own. Maybe one team wants to make it a grid, and the other wants to do a bar graph, etc. This will allow some unity between the two teams while also giving each group their desired bit of individuality.
You might also consider taking responsibility for “stealing it” on yourself. “I thought this was such a great idea, I told JV you guys were doing one and they should too. They’re going to make theirs a “skill ladder” though because they don’t want to steal your grid.” You might find that taking this approach results in the original team just saying “they can have a grid, we don’t care.” Sometimes it’s all in the presentation.
We also have a slight divide too, and the kids don't want it but the culture of the programs has been a divide. We now have a male coach and he is always coming up with ideas but I flat out said to him, if you have an "idea" for varsity, please let us all know so we can try to bridge the gap. The kids noticed the little stuff and question it, they would not even think about it otherwise. We do not have to "copy" but as an example, the one team had quotes on their shirt and the other did not... things like that... so then the other team feels different... both teams are successful, both go to nationals, both cheer friday night lights... I would just communicate as a program to see what is the best for the entire program, we all want to bridge the gap.