Create Your Football Cards - End of Year Banquet Winner!
Posted: Thursday, July 23, 2009
by Erik Saunders
Union County Sports Academy
Over the years I have had some really fun banquets and I am always looking for new ways to thank my kids for their efforts. I have found that one of the most rewarding things I can do, is to give the kids on my team customized football cards of themselves and their teammates. They can be fun to make and if you do them yourself they won't cost an arm and a leg. Here are a few tips for making the cards
- Assign two or three parents as team photographers at the beginning of the season and ask that they send you pictures each week from the games. Be sure they use a good digital camera with the setting on the largest file size possible.
- Keep a checklist of players that you still need pictures for each week so your photographers can be sure to focus on those players.
- Download or purchase a picture editing software and create a template for the cards well in advance of the end of the year. Try to do a few cards each week so you don't have to do them all at once.
- Have the picture printed at WalMart. You can use whatever size you want but I use the 4x6 size for the kids. The whole teams with everyone getting one of all their buddies will set you back about $150 bucks. If you want to save some dough, just give the player his own card in 4x6 and then use wallet size for the rest.
- You can glue the pictures to card stock and paste a laminated stat sheet on the back if you are overly ambitious. (WARNING - that's a lot of work)
- Be sure not to show anyone any of the cards until the banquet. It's kind of like Christmas; you don't want to ruin the surprise.
This has been a very rewarding experience for me over the years and you would be amazed how many kids still thank me for the cards when I see them later in life. It's really a great gift and I always keep a set for myself. I now have hundreds of cards of all my players posted in my office and it's nice to see all the kids that I helped to develop.
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great season,
Coach Saunders
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