The most important standards to set are character standards, not skill standards. Bruce Brown calls them core covenants: a short list of values — work habits, unselfishness, class, discipline, mental toughness, a team-first attitude — that your team agrees to live by in every situation. A covenant is more than a promise or a slogan. It is a binding agreement whose actions are visible: this is what we believe, so this is what you will see. Pick a few covenants you will never compromise. Then define exactly what each one looks like when you win, when you lose, in practice, in school, and away from the team. Preset standards built on character outlast any season's record.
Why character standards instead of skill standards?
Most coaches' first instinct is a physical identity — a tough defensive team, a great shooting team. Bruce Brown pushes character instead. A team that chooses work habits as a covenant and practices with complete attention and full effort makes natural skill improvement. Character standards drive every team decision; skill goals do not.
How do you choose the right standards for your team?
Start with Bruce Brown's questions. What will you never compromise? What are your "for sures" — the things anyone watching your team is guaranteed to see? Involve your captains, because what leaders help create they more willingly support. Then put the covenants in writing, teach them like skills, and make them public.
How do you make team standards stick?
Standards stick when they are visible and enforced. Leaders model them first — players may listen to what you say, but they believe what they see. Reward the smallest actions that demonstrate them. And confront violations: Bruce Brown warns it is better to have no covenants than covenants that are only words.
Which standards show up on championship teams?
Bruce Brown's Championship Standards team study works through work, motivation, loyalty, pride, mental toughness, purpose, service, teamwork, and will, among others. Real programs pick a few and define them. One high school basketball program built its identity on three — work habits, unselfishness, and class — and spelled out what each looks like in action.
That is the what — Bruce Brown's Core Covenants: Building Great Teams teaches the how, step by step, and membership — $180/year opens the full library with a 7-day free trial.
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