Best Gifts for Football Coaches: Avoid These 4 Terrible Gifts!

Are you hunting for the perfect gifts for football coaches to show appreciation?

Finding a novel, meaningful, practical gift for your football coach is challenging. After all, what do you get someone who is likely tackled (see what I did there?) by the football lifestyle and probably has everything he needs today that is football-related?

I’m a coach myself.

I know first-hand what is and isn’t a compelling expression of appreciation from your athletes and their families.

To make things as easy on you as possible, I’ve compiled a list of gifts for football coaches ranging from “funny but bad choices” through thoughtful gifts on any budget to creative ways of saying thank you.

As always, The Appreciation Company can reduce stress so that your gesture is one your coach will never forget.

Table of Contents

Gifts for Football Coaches: What Not to Give

The Best Gifts for Football Coaches: Make Them Feel Appreciated

The Power of a Group Gift From Parents

An Easy and Effective Group Gift Solution

Recap of Takeaways About Gifts for Football Coaches

Final Takeaway on Gifts for Football Coaches

Gifts for Football Coaches: What Not to Give

You are approaching the end of the football season and want to show your appreciation for the coach with a thoughtful gift.

But not all gifts are created equal. Here are the ones to avoid.

Expensive Gifts

Expensive gifts put unnecessary pressure on the recipient and can make him uncomfortable. Your coach may worry about how much money was spent on him.

Worse yet, an expensive gift could invoke thoughts of comparison to other gifts he received from other parents.

Please don’t do this. Instead, stick with something more affordable.

Personalized Items

Personalized mugs, t-shirts, or keychains seem like good football coach gift ideas. But they don’t always come off as intended.

The message could be misinterpreted or taken out of context. Avoiding these gifts is best if you don’t know your coach well. 

In addition, our research and interviews with coaches (and teachers) tell us they don’t want another mug, shirt, keychain, or picture frame because they already have enough of these items from past gifts or personal purchases. 

Gift Cards

Here is an entire blog post on gift cards. For now, just note that without the proper context and knowing your coach well, gift cards may seem like an easy and effective solution.

But they can come across as impersonal.

I’ll show you how a handwritten note expressing your gratitude combined with a gift card balance is more meaningful to your football coach.

Alcoholic Beverages

Alcoholic beverages should never be given as a gift, no matter who the recipient is.

Not only does it send the wrong message, but it could also potentially cause problems.

Therefore, it is best to stick with non-alcoholic options when selecting a present for your football coach.

The Best Gifts for Football Coaches: Make them Feel Appreciated

My team and I know this because we have interviewed hundreds of coaches, teachers, nurses, first responders, camp counselors, and others about their gift preferences.

Everybody says the same thing:

1. They love being recognized with a personal note in writing (digital or paper notes) with a message about how they made a unique impact AND
   
2. They would love to choose their gift.

Combined, this is the most impactful and meaningful gift you can give your football coach. 

Knowing his efforts had a purpose seeing and feeling your appreciation is what he loves. LOVES!

If this is an appealing solution for you, look no further. You can appreciate your football coach right now!

Reminder of What Coaches They Don’t Want

This includes sports-related home decor, personalized mugs and t-shirts, and just about anything that is ‘clever’ and football-related on Amazon.

By the way, teachers tell us they don’t want another scented candle or lotion, apple-related anything, coffee mug, or hazelnut chocolate. 

Coaches also ask me to remind others that they are almost always parents and spouses with tastes and needs as varied as the days are long.

Therefore, a gift from Amazon or Etsy, while nice, isn’t what they need, and those items don’t make them feel appreciated. 

So, what do you have left? What is the best gift for football coaches that makes them feel appreciated?  

1. A note of appreciation expressing what the coach did that made a difference during the season, and
2. A gift card balance.

Get Started Now: Appreciation is The best Gift for Football Coaches.

The Power of a Group Gift From Parents

You might think that when it comes to a gift card balance, “more is better,” but that isn’t the case. Your coach doesn’t care about the gift card amount. 

Rather, your coach wants to read how he impacted the team and made a difference for the group.

Football is both an individual sport and a team sport. Given that he is coaching a team, bringing the other parents together to appreciate his efforts reinforces his purpose for coaching. 

Written notes from parents show that the children talk about their experiences with them, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or others.

Football means more than just having fun. It is also a reflection of what the coach is teaching the players. 

Just one note of appreciation impactful. Now think about the immense meaning that personal notes from multiple athletes and parents provide.

Since coaches bond with the team and the players, seeing the group’s messages creates a collective emotion that reinforces her purpose. 

If you’re thinking, “Great, a group gift. Who has time to organize that?” Not to worry.

We created a done-for-you solution here.

An Easy and Effective Group Gift Solution 

The Appreciation Company solves gift-giving stresses for busy parents, for both gift organizers and contributors. 

Organizing a group gift is easy and only takes a few clicks. Here’s how it works:

1. First, create your individual appreciation yourself and contribute. You can include up to 5 people in each Appreciation and write each of them a personal note, offer a personalized video or photo, and provide each their optional monetary amount.
   
2. After you contribute, you’ll see a screen for a link to “Make it a Group Gift.” Just grab that link and send it to the other parents with a little note.
   
3. A coach can see all those personalized notes as albums AND convert that balance into gift cards from merchants of his choosing. He chooses his gift, which our research and firsthand experience show is what he actually wants.

Simple.

There is no cost to organize an appreciation event. You can use The Appreciation Company to recognize coaches, teachers, instructors, and anyone who leads a group experience. 

Start group-gifting—and sincerely appreciating—your coaches with ease and in the way they want to be appreciated.

Sign up in just a few clicks

Recap of Takeaways About Gifts for Football Coaches

What gift should I get my football coaches?

Give your football coaches the feeling of appreciation.

Express your gratitude in a carefully written note telling her that he made an impact and give him a gift card balance that he can convert to a merchant of his choice. 

Finding the perfect gifts for your football coach can be a challenge. However, our online service makes organizing group gifts with other parents easy, so you don’t have to worry about finding something on your own. 

How do you say thank you to the football coach?

Thanking your child’s football coach is a great way to show appreciation for their hard work and dedication. Here are some sentence prompts:

• Was there a unique skill or technique taught that made a difference? 
• Did a specific lesson, practice, or meet stand out for your player?
• Was something said that was meaningful or stood out?
• How did the coach make your player feel?
• What is different at the end of the season compared to the beginning of the football season?

Sending a note to a teacher? Check out our sentence-starters.

What do you get for a coach’s gift?

Give the gift of feeling appreciated.

Our online service makes it easy for busy moms with school-aged children to organize group gifts.

With our convenient online service, you can organize a gift, write a personal note and contribute to a gift balance. This meets the expectations of any budget.

Final Takeaway on Gifts for Football Coaches

Regarding gifts for football coaches, there is only one thing your coach wants: to feel appreciated.

The Appreciation Company’s approach is outside the box and will make the impact you intend while requiring only minimal effort on your part.