Sport Team Fundamentals help coaches shape team culture and build athlete character for optimal performance on the journey to the summit–in sport and in life!

Sport Team Fundamentals

is a series of team workouts that focus on building team leadership, culture, and character needed to pursue the highest levels of performance without burning out or blowing up.

The framework and resources have been developed from nearly 30 years of our grounded theory, applied research, and implementation. We have been working in multiple sport environments: from competitive youth (scholastic, clubs, associations) to Division I, II, and III departments, teams, and coaches.

Building Champions in Sport and Life: Our Philosophy

Excellence and integrity are foundational, integral, and integrated in the STF approach.

The greatness we pursue (our goals) is inseparable from how we pursue it (our way). To ensure effective, impactful, and lasting human development, excellence with integrity must be integrated into everything we do as coaches and teams.

Inherently competitive and performance-driven, sport is experiential education for success in life.

We embrace the process and preparation for success in sport, believing that all the imperfections, excesses, and human development traps and tests found in sport are also waiting in life beyond sport.

Team culture must be approached like strength and conditioning—with intensity and intentionality.

It takes targeted and repeated practice, accompanied by sustained and consistent monitoring, mentoring, and accountability to develop the essential strengths of culture and character.

Mastery and expertise come from thoughtful and continuous in-person coaching.

Coaching for character and culture cannot be replaced by a screen, a book, a poster, or a presenter. Coaches must be active shapers of their team’s character and culture, and we equip them with the tools and strategies they need.

STF target core strengths of team culture and character:

setting and achieving process and outcome goals;
leveraging strengths and addressing weaknesses;
establishing team norms and team unity;
putting integrity into action;
responding to challenges, mistakes, and feedback with a growth mindset;
defining leadership roles and expectations;
developing stress resilience;
adjusting to pressure through reflection and connection;
giving and receiving winning feedback;
controlling focus and responding to failure;
striving for flow, and overcoming choking and panicking;
looking back and learning forward.

Download Base to Summit Series Table of Contents

Acclimatize Your Team Culture to Summit

Pre-Season: Visualize your what (goals) by your how: your culture norms and expectations.

In-Season: Build and reinforce the strengths of culture and character needed for resilience and adaptability.

Season Summit: Forge strength and unity as you pull forward all the learning, growth, and capacity developed from the journey and go all-in for your summit goals.

Post-Season: Win or lose, bring closure to this journey and use the learning gained to help in future journeys to future summits.

WHAT THEY SAY

“Our culture development work was transformative for our team’s success and helping me become a better person and teammate. I learned how to put the team’s success first—being the best teammate, encourager, and energy-giver—while working to excel in my own role. When I faced setbacks, we developed a mindset that allowed me to reframe obstacles as challenges to overcome and handle adversity in stride. This approach requires vulnerability, authenticity, and an all-in mindset to reap the rewards—but it is well worth it!”

Jason Smith

Chattanooga Red Wolves, USL1 Golden Gloves Winner, Red Wolves Young Player of the Year, SU Men’s Soccer Alum

“I’m a huge fan of Sport Team Fundamentals and teaching kids character and leadership skills through athletics. The STF platform is really easy to navigate and the content is clearly laid out. I can jump in, grab a workout (lesson), and use it with my athletes that day. I work with a wide-range of age groups, from 5th grade through high school athletes… This helps me become a better coach and teacher. I’d love to see more coaches in our district have access to this.”

Casey Glenn

Athletic Director, St Paul’s School

Tulare County Schools

Visalia, CA

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a team culture workout?

A culture workout is a guided team session that gets team members to think, talk, and act focusing on a specific culture muscle (e.g., confidence, feedback, choking, unity) needed for optimal team performance. The goal is for team members to commit to what we’ll do better or differently as we move forward. Workouts are timed to specific points on the journey, so that the culture strengths are targeted before the pressure points fully hit.

What do you mean by “acclimatizing” team culture?

Sport Team Fundamentals uses a mountaineering metaphor: the journey of a season is like climbing from a base camp to the summit. To be able to handle growing demands as they progress teams must be acclimatized—gradually adjusted to the increasing demands of a season. In this metaphor, coaches are expeditionary leaders who are responsible not just for getting to the summit, but getting there and back safely.

Is STF a prescriptive program?

Sport Team Fundamentals is structured around a typical season but allows for flexible implementation. The Base to Summit Series is a set of 12 workouts than can be implemented sequentially, moving from Pre-Season to In-Season to Season Summit to Off-Season. However, coaches can adjust implementation: change the order or adapt workout content based on the current challenges experienced, the time available, and where the team is on the journey.

Why do coaches need to add culture workouts to what they’re already doing?

Team culture is an essential factor contributing to a team’s success. STF culture workouts target and develop what is needed in teams when there is a clear weakness that needs strengthening, an obvious strength that needs supporting “muscles”, or when the current culture is not strong or resilient enough for the pressure or circumstances that are coming.

Is STF mental skills training?

STF is designed as strength and conditioning for team culture, not just an individual athlete sports psychology program. While it will develop mental skills, they will be built through the team environment. Working through team culture workouts, team members will develop both inner– and inter-excellence, moving from isolated self-help to a community of practice.

Is there training available for the STF materials?

Training is available and can take place in-person or online: it is designed to be short, efficient, and practical. In as little as 90 minutes, we help coaches understand the resources included and help them begin adapting and adopting them immediately for their teams.

To subscribe

Email or call us at 315-692-8054.

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