Athletic Mind / Field guide
Internal operating playbook · 01

Pilot renewal
strategy.

Build the evidence. Keep the buyer involved. Turn a promising pilot into a clear, funded next step.

Explore the renewal process ↗
Every 2 weeksCoach + school coordinator
3 buyer momentsKickoff · midpoint · decision
12 measuresOne living Proof Package
01 / The operating process

Renewal starts
at kickoff.

Lead with a proposed definition of success. Refine it with the school, then keep evidence, actions and the purchasing timeline connected.

02 / The meeting rhythm

The right people.
The right frequency.

Coaches shape the day-to-day experience. The AD or budget owner joins when objectives, value and the next investment are being decided.

Every two weeks · 25–30 min

Working review

In the room: your pilot lead, the school coordinator and one coach representative. If the coach is the coordinator, keep it to that coach and your lead.

  • Review participation and feedback.
  • Understand friction and missing data.
  • Choose one or two adjustments.
  • Assign an owner and a due date.

Beforehand: refresh the Proof Package and collect Coach Check-Ins.

Pilot midpoint · 45 min

Value review

In the room: you, the AD or budget decision-maker, school champion and coach representative.

  • Assess the evidence against agreed targets.
  • Surface concerns that could block purchase.
  • Confirm possible paid scope and budget source.
  • Confirm procurement steps and decision date.

Include the relevant care lead for aggregate support-pathway discussion.

Before the budget deadline

Renewal decision

In the room: you, the AD, school champion and budget or purchasing owner.

  • Present a clear recommendation.
  • Review results and unresolved gaps.
  • Decide scope, price and responsibilities.
  • Record the decision and contracting steps.

Start planning 4–6 weeks before the purchasing deadline; allow longer when procurement requires it.

5 min · changes since last review10 min · evidence + obstacles10 min · decisions + owners5 min · next checkpoint
Two extra rules: run a brief launch check after week one. Individual care concerns follow the established response process immediately, independently of these business reviews.
03 / Work backward

Protect the
buying window.

The budget deadline can arrive before the pilot ends. Use interim evidence transparently and give procurement enough time.

Decision timeline

Choose the school’s purchasing deadline to see a suggested planning sequence. Confirm the actual lead times with its purchasing owner.

Dates are planning prompts. No meetings are booked.

  1. Confirm deadline with the school Start here
  2. Review evidence gaps 6 weeks before
  3. Deliver priced proposal 4 weeks before
  4. Hold decision meeting 2 weeks before
  5. Complete purchasing steps By deadline
04 / The living Proof Package

Twelve measures.
A defensible story.

Update before each working review. Show the reporting window, denominator, response coverage and missing data alongside every result.

Agree the success rules before reviewing outcomes. Three check-ins weekly is an athlete benchmark; the school-level target is the share of eligible athletes or athlete-weeks meeting it. Agree that share explicitly. Counts and wellbeing trends stay descriptive. Overlapping participation measures do not count as three independent proofs of benefit.
Collection readiness: verify live data for all twelve measures before making commitments. Coach usefulness, continuation intent, scheduled Coach Check-Ins and confirmed care connections need their collection workflows confirmed or added. Starting Point completion and annual mental-health screening are separate records.
05 / Turn evidence into a recommendation

Choose the next
right commitment.

Lead the package with the recommended decision and its reasons. Include scope, pricing, staffing needs, limitations and a decision date.

Continue at paid scope

Evidence supports value at the current scale, with a willing buyer, funding route and workable delivery plan. Define the paid term and responsibilities.

Expand deliberately

Current teams demonstrate value and implementation capacity supports more teams. Explain why the proposed expansion size is feasible.

Run a bounded extension

A specific unanswered question blocks the decision. Name the evidence needed, owner, cost, end date and decision rule. Avoid open-ended extensions.

Close and learn

Value, fit, funding or delivery conditions do not support continuation. Record the reason, agreed closeout responsibilities and lessons for the next pilot.

No automatic pass score. Zero flagged incidents means no qualifying flags were recorded. No incidents needing care means connection to care is not applicable. Neither earns a success or failure point.
06 / Meeting preparation

Make the decision
easy to evaluate.

A short readiness checklist for the person leading the renewal. Checkmarks stay on this browser when storage is available.

07 / Apply it across pilots

One process.
Different starting points.

Starting positions reflect your planning discussion. Confirm dates and ownership with each school before scheduling.

SchoolStarting positionNext operational step
Clark AtlantaActive pilotEstablish the next working review and buyer checkpoint. Separate historical results from newly agreed targets.
UMESPreparing to launchBring the proposed scorecard to kickoff. Name the coordinator, agree targets and book the review cadence.
University of South CarolinaJanuary start plannedCarry forward lessons from the earlier pilots. Confirm kickoff, collection readiness and purchasing timeline.
Maintain one commercial record per school: buyer, champion, stage, proposed paid scope, price, funding source, budget deadline, evidence gaps, next meeting, decision and reason. Track first paid conversion separately from renewal of an existing paid agreement and expansion. Report counts with the number of pilots that have reached a decision.