Loyalty is of greater value than prestige.

If you will be loyal to the coaches and athletes on their worst days, you’ll have their hearts on their best days. They won’t be impressed with your resume’, your programs, ideas, money, friends or anything else you may think builds your prestige.
They’ll be impressed if you hang in there with them through losing streaks. They’ll trust you if you are loyal to them when their character is called into question.

I believe I won a great deal of loyalty points the season before I began traveling with the football team. During a painful, 1 win vs. 10 losses season, I drove up to the school to meet the team upon their arrival after winning that first game of the season. My wife, son and I listened to the game on the radio in eager anticipation of a desperately needed victory. It must have been well after midnight when the bus arrived, but just to be there to say, “Congratulations, we’re proud of you,” made it worthwhile for all of us.

The players will value you greatly if you make time for them when it’s terribly uncomfortable in preseason and you’re at practice. They’ll believe in you when you meet them upon their arrival after a rough road trip. When you display loyalty, you build deeply your bank of relational assets.