Getting Athletes to Come to Programming (When You Can’t Make It Mandatory)
Day 5 of the 12 Days of Player Development
One of the hardest realities in player development is this:
You can create great programming
You can bring in great speakers
You can design sessions that genuinely help athletes
And still… nobody shows up.
That was the question Jessie Martinez asked me on LinkedIn.
Jessie works with high school athletes at IMG, where sessions aren’t allowed to be mandatory. Her question was simple and real:
How do you get athletes to actually show up when they don’t have to?
This is something every player development professional will face at some point. And the answer isn’t guilt, pressure, or complaining about buy-in.
The answer is strategy.
Stop Programming for What You Want to Teach
The first mistake most of us make is programming from our own perspective.
“I think this would be great.”
“I think they need this.”
“I think this session would help them.”
That mindset rarely works when attendance is voluntary.
The shift that changed everything for me was this:
Stop programming for what you want to give. Start programming for what they want to receive.
That doesn’t mean abandoning your standards or your foundation. It means embedding your goals inside their interests.
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One Simple Truth: Food Works
Let’s be honest.
Food works.
If sessions are voluntary, food becomes an incentive, not a bribe. You’re not tricking athletes. You’re respecting their time.
The language matters.
Instead of:
“We have programming Thursday night.”
Try:
“Thursday we’ll have lunch together, then a short session on something you asked about.”
Now it’s:
Relational
Practical
Worth showing up for
Food opens the door. Value keeps them there.
Tell Them You Heard Them
At the University of Houston, we leaned heavily into player feedback.
Not surveys that never get filled out. Real conversations.
“What do you want to learn about?”
“Who do you want to hear from?”
“What’s something you feel unprepared for?”
Then we followed through.
When you say:
“You asked for this, and we brought it to you.”
Everything changes.
Athletes don’t feel talked at. They feel heard.
That alone increases attendance.
Make It Player-Led, Not Staff-Pushed
One of the best lessons I ever learned came from a high school coach.
When he took over a program, he fed everyone and watched.
Who did players gravitate toward?
Who were the natural leaders?
Those people became the gatekeepers.
Pull them aside and say:
“What programming would you actually show up to?”
“But if we do this, I need you to bring people with you.”
Now it’s ownership, not enforcement.
Work Through Coaches, Not Around Them
Coaches can be your biggest allies if you bring them in early.
Instead of mass emails to athletes, communicate directly with position coaches.
“Coach, you mentioned budgeting has been a pain point for your guys. We’re covering that Thursday. Lunch will be provided.”
At Houston, Tom Herman turned attendance into friendly competition between position groups. And suddenly, showing up mattered.
Not because it was mandatory, but because culture made it visible.
Don’t Forget Parents and Alumni
If you can involve parents, do it.
A simple parent newsletter explaining:
What the programming is
Why it matters
How it supports their athlete
builds trust and reinforcement at home.
Former players matter too.
When athletes hear:
“I wish I had this when I was here.”
That hits differently than any staff presentation.
Focus on the Middle, Not the Resistant
Here’s a mindset shift that changed everything for me.
You don’t need everyone.
There will always be:
10 percent who are all in
10 percent who don’t want anything to do with it
80 percent in the middle
Your job is not to chase the red.
Your job is to influence the yellow.
Language matters. Framing matters. Who delivers the message matters.
If you can move even half of that middle group, your programming works.
The Biggest Mistake to Avoid
Never point the finger at athletes.
Never say:
“You never show up.”
“We do all this work and nobody comes.”
Pull them in instead.
Through language
Through relationships
Through shared ownership
That’s how you build sustainable engagement.
Final Thought
Not all programming should be mandatory.
Sometimes the athletes who want to be there are the ones who grow the most.
Your role is to create an environment that makes showing up make sense.
That’s how you get buy-in without force.
This was Day 5 of the 12 Days of Player Development.
The 2026 Player Development Summit
The Player Development Summit is not a conference.
It is a gathering of people who take the responsibility of athlete development seriously.
The 2026 Player Development Summit will take place in Detroit, bringing together professionals from high school, collegiate, and professional sports who are committed to enhancing the athlete experience beyond the field.
This summit exists to:
Share real world strategies, not surface level ideas
Connect practitioners who are doing the work
Elevate the role of player development across sports
Equip programs to create sustainable impact
Attendees can expect:
Practical sessions led by experienced professionals
Honest conversations about what is working and what is not
Networking with people who understand the role
Tools that can be implemented immediately
The summit is built for those who believe athlete development is not optional.
If you are interested in attending, sponsoring, or partnering with the Player Development Summit, additional information is available through the official summit channels.
Check out our website: 2026 Player Development Summit
Want the Full Player Development Framework?
If today’s conversation around getting athletes to show up resonated with you, this is just one piece of a much bigger system.
In The Player Development Guide, I walk through the exact frameworks, language, and strategies I used in the player development role at the University of Houston, the University of Kansas, and Baylor University.
This book goes beyond theory. It breaks down how to:
• Build programming athletes actually engage with
• Increase buy in without making everything mandatory
• Work effectively with coaches, parents, and alumni
• Create intentional systems that support athletes on and off the field
• Design development that leads to long term impact
If you’re responsible for athlete development, culture, or off the field programming, this guide was written with you in mind.
📘 The Player Development Guide is available now on Amazon.
