Designed Alliance

Tap the ones you want to practice. They stay marked on this phone.

1. 1Most relationships arrive pre-assembled, with rules nobody ever said. A designed alliance builds the terms on purpose, together, and you come back to it when it needs adjusting.
2. 2It is not a contract and not a one-time agreement. It runs in both directions so both people get the most out of it. You still make the calls.
3. 3Coaches can list what they expect from players in seconds, but rarely what players can expect from them. Decide that first, then say it out loud.
4. 4Say it in both directions. Outward: what they can expect, like "I pick the lineup, you'll see it when I post it," plus whether and how you'll talk about it. Inward: ask how your decisions and feedback should reach them.
5. 5Aim the alliance where the relationship will rub: role, position changes, how feedback is delivered, selection, and whether the experience is what they were sold.
6. 6Name a real channel with a time and a place. "My door is always open" has no address. "Ten minutes before Thursday practice is yours" does.
7. 7Try the two-and-two: tell each player two things they do well and two things that, if they changed, would move them. It is a mechanism, not a promise of minutes, and it hands them the work.
8. 8Leave room for what you don't script: ask what would make this a good season for them. The alliance is a living document, and revisiting it is not confrontation.
9. 9Match the level. With young kids, one sentence, said with the parent present. With teens, the first time it gets tested decides everything. At college, be more explicit, because honesty costs players something. And build one at your own kitchen table.
10. 10How you receive the first hard feedback decides whether the alliance is real. Thank you first, then breathe, then say back what you heard, then respond or come back tomorrow (and actually come back). Respect is about tone, not content. Drop the "but."