How to Get Your Team Excited for the Next Game: 6 Ideas

Is your team in a slump? A series of losses can leave your squad feeling low, which translates into lackluster efforts on the field — and so the cycle continues.

Fortunately, you can get your team excited for the next game, and it doesn’t matter if you have a smaller budget. Here are six ideas for how to motivate your players.

1. Watch an Inspiring Movie

This idea is ideal for folks on a shoestring. Even if you don’t have a player, you can investigate your local library — many now feature curbside pickup for your convenience.

What should you watch? Why not start with one of the top 10 soccer movies? Your players can rejoice along with the stories of folks like Santiago Munez, who achieves his dream of going pro despite his migrant status. It’s a marvelous reminder that your team can overcome any obstacle.

2. Pump Up the Jams

The beauty of this tip is that you can use it whether you are on a shoestring or have a hefty expense account. Songs like Queen’s “We Are the Champions” never fail to stir the blood and make the mind dream of victory. The magic of music isn’t fluff — research by the Journal of Positivity Psychology discovered that people who jam out were able to improve their mood and overall happiness.

You can make do with any old speaker, but why not go a step further if you have a larger budget? Coaches who drive their teams to games in the van can improve their speaker system so that the bass drowns out even the rowdiest participants. Plus, you make quite the entrance when you pull up, blasting “We Will Rock You.”

3. Share a Success Story

Another way to get your team excited for the next game without spending a dime is to share success stories. No doubt you have a ton in your war chest, but don’t stop with your example.

Nor do your stories all need to entail sports — although they’ll capture your team’s attention. You can also include people who have overcome other adversities. Few people would peg someone who spent 27 years in prison to emerge and lead a nation, but that’s how Nelson Mandela triumphed.

4. Remind Them of Famous Underdogs

The year was 2004. The ALCS playoff was three games into a 7-game series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees — and it didn’t look like things would last longer than four or five. The Sox were down three to zero. With “The Curse” still hanging over their heads, they nevertheless went on to win their division — and, at long last, the World Series.

While the sport involved was baseball, not soccer, the principle remains the same — no matter how down you are, you can get back up. Plus, victory tastes ever-so-much sweeter when no one expected you to make it for dessert. Everybody loves a comeback, and it doesn’t cost a cent to remind your team of this.

5. Do Some Team-Building Exercises

If you have more money in your expense kitty, why not take your players on a team-building retreat? From escape rooms to adventure games, you can find activities that engage and excite your athletes.

While COVID-19 remains a threat, please ensure that your team takes all required precautions. Mask mandates are in effect, and your players may need to sign waivers. You’ll need parental permission slips and all the chaperones you can recruit.

6. Provide an Incentive

Finally, if you have the money, there’s nothing like the promise of an old-fashioned pizza party to get the gang psyched. However, you have to use discretion — you don’t want to add insult to injury when your team is already smarting from defeat.

Instead, why not tie the reward to their behavior instead of the game’s outcome? Teach sportsmanship by treating them to ice cream or your other agreed-upon “carrot” if they conduct themselves well and concede with genuine congratulations to the winner.

Get Your Team Excited for the Next Game with These 6 Ideas

As a coach, it’s challenging to get your players pumped after suffering a series of setbacks. Use the six ideas above to get your team excited for the next game, no matter how big or small your budget.

Author Bio:

Oscar Collins is the managing editor at Modded. He writes about cars, fitness, the outdoors and more. Follow @TModded on Twitter for more articles from the Modded team.