Soccer Story: Know When to Bring in a Sub

How to Get your Newsletters into the Net

I’ve been kicking around this idea for a while now. And since I’ve been on the soccer field three times in the past week and told this story at least two times, I’ll take that as a sign that it’s time to write it down and share it with all of you.

Last fall, I attended two days of soccer training. The instructors gave me a packet, a shirt and a certificate. They said I was ready to coach soccer to 2nd grade girls.

What I wasn’t ready for was how much of the game had nothing to do with the feet!

I distinctly remember a crisp fall day about mid-season. It was one of those quintessential New England days when the leaves are spectacular golds and oranges. The girls were happy to chase after the balls or each other or the leaves dancing around the field. After 45 minutes of soccer games, like "messy backyard" and "sharks and nemos", the girls were positively giddy. Smiles were everywhere. We divided the girls up into two groups of five. I took a handful of the little Mia Hamms and we skipped over to play a scrimmage with another group of 2^nd grade girls.

My team put on a collection of yellow pinnies and then I herded the bouncing girls onto their side of the field. Second graders don’t use goalies and don’t keep score for scrimmages. So, it’s all good, right? Well, it was. Almost. The players were ready to start. I  dropped the ball at the midfield line. Natalie, a player on the other team, quickly took control of the ball, dribbled it down field, and scored.

Good play. Claps. Cheers. Smiles. That’s OK, I told my girls and they trotted back to the centerline.

Everyone was ready for action, so I held the ball up again and dropped the ball on the line. At first Sarah kicked the ball and moved it toward the other goal.  Then, with ease, Natalie came closer and took possession of the ball. She changed direction and made a bee line for the goal. She shot. She scored.

This happened one more time and our little girls were no longer sunny or bright. They were deflated like a ball that had been run over. One of the girls actually laid down on the field and whined about how tired she was. She said, "I’m done."” We had to think quickly, so we moved one of the girls from Natalie’s team onto our team. Great idea. Change up the sides. However, we quickly discovered that with deflated egos even adding more 2^nd graders didn’t help. We now had six depressed girls. O.K. time for a new idea.

Water break!

During the break, I coaxed my 5^th  grade daughter off the side lines and into the game. We added a yellow jersey for the tour de football. She was a full head above the 2^nd graders, but they didn’t seem to mind. In fact, they cheered when she walked on the field. “Yahoo,” they beamed.“"Jacqueline is on our side.”  I told Jacqueline that she was not allowed to score. In addition, she could only possess the ball for 3 seconds and then she had to pass it.

As soon as she stepped onto the field, I could see a difference in the other canary-colored girls. Their posture perked up. Their heads were looking out at the field- not at their cleats. There was more spring in their step and they were actually back to zipping around the field enthusiastically. All the bodies were up off the ground.

Major attitude adjustment.

Same girls, same skills. Different attitude.

They scored!

Yeah!

Everyone on both sides of the field cheered.

If your newsletter is not getting into the net

(or you want to test the waters to potentially improve your read rates)

1)      Add another player

• Add a guest writer/guest speaker for your newsletter
• Bring in a new type of article/tip/link etc. (even if its “taller”)

    2)      Swap out a player

• Try reducing your content, swap out a regular feature and swap in something fresh

    3)      Change the player’s positions

• Change up the order of your articles
• For example, if you always lead with a feature about your company in the news and then follow with a new service and then talk about your employee of the month – consider putting the people story first.
• Mix it up a bit
  

Even if no one’s keeping score, it is important that you get your newsletters into the net. Sometimes that will mean pumping up your play a bit or taking a coach’s creative suggestions. It’s ok to play by the 2^nd grade rules. Feel free to call in reinforcements.

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