Pessimists and Optimists ... as coaches

I was talking with a young man today about his senior year soccer experiences and in the spirit of our Soccer Memories feature I asked him what his lasting memory of this season would be?

"That I never got a chance."

Now, I felt I had really stuck my foot in my mouth having asked this question of him. Before I had a chance to extricate my proverbial appendage from my oral orifice the young man went on to state his belief his coaches only focused on what he could not do and neglected the things he did do well that could have helped the team. "But it wasn't just me. They treated most of us that way. They were all rah rah in pumping us up, but it was all a show. They were fake optimists but really pessimists."

Out of the mouth of babes...

Long time readers of this blog know I love to channel my inner Jimmy Buffett and look at things from different points of view.  It's a great way to learn, imo.  Here was a golden opportunity dropped right in my lap.

I learned long ago the value of looking at the positives a player can bring to a team.  It's not that weaknesses should be ignored, but more so that positives or strengths should be accentuated. 

I remember another young man who made a varsity basketball team despite having only one real skill - he could shoot and make the outside shot. He was out of shape and too slow a foot to be much use as a defender. He did not handle ball well at all. He wasn't a very good passer either, but he could shoot from the perimeter.  In complete honesty I figured the kid would never get off the bench even in "scrub time" as we called it back in the day. 

Then there we were playing against a team who threw a triangle and two defense at us. The played man on our two best players and a triangle zone around the lane.  Enter the shooter.  Seven straight 3 point shots made from the corners.  Gimmick defense destroyed and ball game won.

While I had never thought of coaches in terms of optimists and pessimists I can acknowledge this perspective or point of view as being very valid.  In speaking with the young man today my thoughts went immediately to his strengths as a soccer player - passion, vision, a decent skill set.  These were indeed overshadowed by what could only be described as an unorthodox athletic style of playing - the guy is all arms and legs that flail in multiple directions at once making his nickname of Gumby somehow appropriate.  He just doesn't look the part on the field... much as the basketball player I referenced earlier did not look the part. 

I firmly believe once a coach decides to keep a player on the team, the coach accepts a responsibility to promote that athlete, to accentuate and incorporate that players strengths into the teams philosophy and system of play. Obviously Gumby felt betrayed by the coaching staff.  He did not understand why he was kept on the team if he would never be given the chance to show what he could do. The coaching staff obviously took a very pessimistic view of a player they decided to keep on the roster. That really is not fair to anyone involved.

I would think any compassionate coach would not want a players lasting impression of his senior year of high school soccer to be "that I never got a chance"  or "I'm just glad it's over"  as another player recently proclaimed to me.  Something is seriously amiss when the lasting impressions of a senior year of high school soccer is so negative, so pessimistic.

To paraphrase Julius from Remember the Titans, "Attitude reflects leadership, coach"

This brings us to a point of this writing.  The player / coach relationship is the cornerstone of successful teams.  In Gumby's situation the coach quite obviously failed to provide optimistic or positive leadership in dealing with Gumby.  The message Gumby received was one of constant negativity. A constantly and consistently pessimistic message from the coach to a player.

Coach, any seed of negativity left unattended will result in decay of the teams chemistry. 

And do not underestimate your players.  They can spot a fake from the length of the pitch. Disingenuous actions and words are received as such. If you play favorites, you will lose those players not counted among your favorites as they will perceive that no matter what they do it will never be enough to raise themselves to "favorite" status.

From this perspective it is easily understood why the best coaches either have a team of favorites or a team with no favorites at all.  The really good coaches treat everyone equally and fairly if not exactly alike. Again from Remember the Titans Coach Boone says, "Now I may be a mean cuss. But I'm the same mean cuss with everybody out there on that ... field"  And that's the way it should be.  If you keep a player on your team it is your responsibility, your duty to that player, to promote him and build him up.  You utilize his strengths to the benefit of the team or you risk being responsible for a cancerous growth that will hold your team back or even ruin a season... not just for the affected player, but for everyone.