Better People make Better ...

In James Kerr’s book “Legacy” there is a phrase used repeatedly that has stuck with me: “Better people make better All Blacks”.  The original context inferred this was about populating the All Blacks with the right kind of people.  Be it administration, coaches or players: better people makes better All Blacks.  Common sense, right? Weed out those who don’t buy-in and replace them with those who are all-in. As I finished reading the book I came to realize it’s so much more than that.

I have been working at a high school that has some truly outstanding educators on staff yet the school is not viewed favorably on state report cards. This has been on my mind for much of the last two years. Why doesn’t the school perform better on state tests than it does?  I can ask the same about the schools soccer program I have led. A common theme (in my mind) is that the best and brightest students (/athletes) do not make those around them better. In a general sense, they tend to settle for and into the norm.

Why is that?

I do not profess to have all the answers, but that phrase from the book keeps rattling around my brain: Better people make better ...

A public school system pretty much takes any student and it can be very difficult to cull the student population.  I’m walking a slippery slope here and so I want to be clear that there are truly quality people in this school - adults and students alike.  But could they be better? And should a stronger focus be on improving the people? Not exchanging them for others, just improving on what is here. Invest in and take care of the people in your organization for better people make better ...

This, then, is what I believe James Kerr’s message is. At least in part. Invest in the people for better people make better ...  students, better athletes, et al. If students lack social graces and are rude, inconsiderate towards both peers and adults, can we not make an effort to help them improve in these areas.  For instance, as players report to practice there is an expectation, a standard, that they will greet each of their teammates and coaches with a handshake and small talk.  Could this not be carried over to each classroom each period? It would take but a couple of minutes ... time invested in the people. For better people make better ...

I have proposed starting a Gentlemen’s Club at the school modeled off successful programs at other schools. Basically a club that focuses on social graces, how to tie a tie and other things that can impact self-esteem and confidence ... improving the people.  Would this then positively impact state test scores?

Better people make better All Blacks
Better people make better students
Better people make better soccer players.

If we improve the people, raise their self-esteem and confidence they become better people and by extension better students, better soccer players and so on.  This seems a simple formula and one easily implemented.  Seems likely to be worth the effort, does it not?  What say you?

Still learning after all these years.

I have a stated goal to learn something new every day.  In pursuit of this I often try to look at things from different perspectives. That's never been more true than this off-season.  Immediately after the conclusion of the season I wrote a self-evaluation / status of the program review.  I have often debated if taking on this endeavor so close to the conclusion of the season is wise or whether waiting on the passage of time to reflect more objectively might be a better course of action. Of course, I wind up doing both.

I firmly believe in preparation being the key to succeeding on and off the pitch. I spent from November 2016 through early June 2017 preparing for the Lima Senior soccer season. Due to real world job considerations I ended up changing coaching jobs and found myself being introduced as Fairlawn's new soccer coach in mid June 2017. I balanced my need to work with my desire to coach. In retrospect, I am unsure how wise a decision this was.

We laid a great foundation for a successful 2017 season at Lima Senior,  I followed the Spartans from afar this fall and was surprised they struggled.  And at Fairlawn our struggles were just as mighty.  Both programs struggled with having adequate time under new direction to prepare for their respective 2017 seasons. 

I suffered an on-the-job knee injury in May of 2017 that greatly limited my mobility throughout the summer. I bring this to light because it impacted my ability to properly prepare for the season. Hindsight tells me I should not have coached this fall. I just wasn't physically prepared to do so. 

There were an inordinate amount of obstacles to overcome in pursuit of a successful soccer season.  

The knee injury suffered in May.

Being hired in mid-June.

The person I contracted with for summer camps backing out at the last minute.

The person the previous coach had contracted with for summer camp backing out.

Low attendance at the summer activities we held.

My wife's hospitalization which drew my attention and energies away from soccer.

It was a recipe for the disaster the 2017 Fairlawn soccer season came to be.  My self-confidence convinced me I could overcome these obstacles. I was wrong.  I was wrong in part because many of these obstacles were beyond my control. 

Even as I have reviewed the recently concluded season I have begun preparations for the 2018 soccer season. Very much on my mind have been distinguishing between the things I can and cannot control.  The most concerning to me has been attendance at necessary off-season workouts, weight training, conditioning and small group work. And attendance during the 10 days of contact I will have with the team during June and July of 2018. Player attendance at these activities is in the purview of the players. I can exert some modicum of outside influence on their decision making process, but ultimately it is their decision whether to attend, to prepare, or not. 

This is where my personal decision making process is as it concerns returning to Fairlawn as head soccer coach.  Player attendance. Player willingness to prepare for the 2018 season.  Their decisions on attendance will directly impact my decision on coaching.

To be perfectly honest, we got out of the 2017 season exactly what we put into it. Due to time constraints and my knee injury I was able to put into the 2017 off-season but a small portion of the time and energy I typically devote to preparing for an up-coming season.  A majority of players put in less effort and time than I was able to. We got what we earned.  Meritocracy in action. 

I am determined to prepare for the 2018 season with the best effort I have. I am already champing at the bit to get started. I have an unquenchable thirst to be better at what I do. I need to be better for the players who will be the 2018 soccer team at Fairlawn. I must be better before I can expect them to become better. This is what motivates me. Drives me. I am determined to build a proper foundation through preparation and execution of the season-long plan I am working on. 

The perspective of time, both backwards and forwards in contemplation, has sharpened my focus. I have used reflection of the past to glean useful insight to the present and future. I will control those things I can in preparation for the 2018 season. I will exert what influence I can over the players to prolifically prepare for their 2018 season. A meritocracy simple means we will get out of the 2018 season exactly what we are willing to invest into the 2018 season. I am hopeful our investment will be significant.  

Confidence

Confidence allows Talent to Shine!

The Game is My Test.

I saw a former player this past week and while reminiscing he mentioned how much he appreciated my approach to coaching in games. He was thankful that I was not one of those coaches who paced the sidelines constantly yelling instructions and / or berating players for every mistake made. "I don't know if you appreciate the confidence you instilled in me by just silently standing there watching us play."

I almost laughed out loud for many others have commented that I am too quiet and don't coach enough during games. Without directly saying so those people have hinted I don't do enough to motivate players during games. Then it occurred to me the people offering these criticisms have all been adults.  Parents, an athletic director and even my own wife, lol. 

I have explained my in-game coaching philosophy to many of those people in five simple words, The game is my test.

Overcoming Adversity on the Path to Success

This article will continue my evaluation of the most recent high school soccer season.  We had a good year, one of the best in the program's recent history going 10-4-3 overall. On the face of it, that's not too shabby.  Closer inspection reveals the three ties and one of the losses all resulted from allowing goals with under 3:00 minutes left on the game clock.  In fact, one occurred when a goal was allowed with just :03 remaining in the match.  Allowing late goals in these matches produced a strikingly negative impact on our record.  Even more disturbing is the fact we completely and totally failed to compete in two of our losses, How can a team with 10 wins lose games by scores of 0 - 8 and 0 - 9?

MENTAL TOUGHNESS

More accurately a lack of mental toughness was behind those two lopsided losses and allowing late goals that robbed us of favorable results. This is what has been constantly on my mind these past few weeks. How do I help the student athletes develop better mental toughness?  I will explore this in today's writing.

I know where we stand and I have a clear vision for where we need to go.  The journey between the two points is the off-season's undertaking. I'm going to identify specific areas where our team is lacking and attempt to set a course that will develop or enhance each of these areas.

For me, mental toughness begins with COMMITMENT.  The more committed one is, the more difficult it is to relinquish one's goals.  In other words, the more invested one is in a process the more difficult it becomes to give up on the process until achieving what you set out to do. This process calls for a clear vision of what the desired result of a process is and a well defined plan to achieve the desired result.

I recognized the lack of commitment early on with this group.  It manifested itself in a variety of ways some of which I will identify today beginning with off-season opportunities that were missed by most of the team.

Sunday afternoon open gym futsal.  We had a small core group who attended all or nearly all of these sessions.  Sunday afternoon was chosen so as not to interfere with other extracurricular school activities. These were completely voluntary workouts and therefore an excellent indicator of an individuals commitment to the 2016 season.  The day and time of the weekly event were consistent and well established in advance so as to allow student athletes to plan ahead to attend.  Those who made an investment in a 2 hour weekly opportunity to improve would prove to be committed to the team. That group was much smaller than I anticipated with a few would-be key members of the team not showing to any of the opportunities afforded to them. I was alarmed by this and my concern would prove to be well founded.

As winter weather began to break and spring advanced upon us we began small group training. Again, Sunday afternoons were the day and time of choice so as not to conflict with other extracurricular activities. I also offered alternate times as participation lagged making myself available at their discretion instead of mine. Attendance at these voluntary workouts was so poor we eventually abandoned the process entirely.  This near total failure raised a huge red flag about the commitment level of the individuals who would comprise our team that next fall.

Recognizing a lack of commitment to the team was of concern, I set about establishing a visual commitment metric to encourage and promote greater participation and deeper commitment.  This came in the form of a "money jar."  I went to a local discount store and purchased a one gallon plastic jug with a lid.  Each time we gathered as a team each individual player was to deposit one penny into the jug.  As the jug filled with pennies it would provide a visible measure of our commitment to the TEAM and one another.  The proceeds would go to a needy family or be donated to a local charity. This project began well and initial momentum carried us through 10 days to two weeks before participation dropped off significantly and eventually stopped altogether.

I want to be clear, we never did have 100% participation in this endeavor. From the start some made the conscious decision to not participate.  Others wanted to participate on a limited basis preferring to donate a lump sum to cover a week, month or the entire season.  Obviously, these individuals completely and totally missed the point of publicly renewing their commitment to the TEAM on a daily basis. By the end of the second week even the captain in charge of the money jug had fallen off course as he quit bringing it out of his car and into the presence of the TEAM so people could add a penny each day.

Towards the end of the season, after the two devastating losses mentioned earlier, I made a point of the missing money jar. I drove home the concept about lack of commitment to the team - more precisely to the underclassmen on the team for the seniors had already squandered their opportunity, and therefore their season  The money jar made a brief reappearance although few if any actually contributed. First another senior took the money jar with a proclamation that he would bring it to every team function. He failed to bring it to the very next team activity, I kid you not.  Next another senior took charge of the money jar and to his credit he did bring it to every team function the rest of the season and even to his exit interview.  One player, allow me to repeat that, one player brought a penny to their end of season interview to be placed in the money jar,

So, obviously our commitment to TEAM and one another must be strengthened before we can even begin tackling mental toughness. We must change how we think about TEAM before we can change our approach to preparedness and eventually change how we confront adversity and define who we are.

RATIONAL THINKING

I have questioned myself concerning the level of commitment I am asking for from the members of our team.  Am I asking for too much? I do not believe so as past experiences have proven to me what it takes to be a successful program. Obviously a significant number of players believe other wise and that difference of thinking is where the challenge lies.

The question I will put forth to each individual team member concerning their commitment level is this; how will continuing to approach soccer and the soccer team as you have in the past help you to feel good about yourself, your performance and to achieve our stated goals?  Were you satisfied with the season just completed? If not, what changes are you willing to make so as to achieve more success?  Of course, in asking this question I will run the risk of individuals acknowledging they were quite satisfied with the season just completed.  That is a risk that must be taken if only so the answer more precisely defines the challenge being faced.  For a program that had not won 10 games in one season in many years, it is quite possible the players rational thinking is that what they did in preparing for last season is good enough. It wasn't, but focusimg on 10 wins over six poor results could cloud their thinking.

This is where RESPONSIBILITY and ACCOUNTABILITY come into play. Part of being mentally tough stems from taking responsibility for our approach to the TEAM and the game of soccer. Are we accountable for our thoughts, words, deeds and the rewards or consequences that stem from them? We will encounter adversity. That is a fact. To survive adversity we need to focus on things within our control. Elimination of adversity is not a possibility. We will face adversity, so the key becomes how we handle adversity. Nothing and no one can bother, distract or upset us without our granting them the ability or permission to do so.  This is, in part, the reasoning behind my mantra of Next Play! Whatever the adversity we encounter we must focus on our RESPONSE to it.

We might blame officiating or bemoan poor performance by teammates or coaches, but the ultimate responsibility will always remain the domain of each individual player or coach and by extension the collective of the TEAM. The referee misses a call or makes a poor decision - do we respond by arguing with the referee or by staying involved in the game and moving on to the next play!? When a teammate makes a mistake that adversely impacts the game do we chastise him continuing a chain of negativity or do we "pick him up" and help him to refocus on the things still under his control?

Dealing with adversity often involves ADAPTABILITY which is in and of itself about our response to the adversity encountered.  Adversity, by nature, removes us from an established comfort zone. We have certain expectations for how things will play out and when they don't go exactly as planned we need to be adaptable. This is true in soccer and in life.  Change is uncomfortable as it removes us from an established comfort zone, but we must accept some level of discomfort and pain in order to learn, adapt and advance. If we fight change we will soon be left behind which is exactly what happened in each of our poor results last season.

RESILIENT people do not see themselves as victims of adversity or change. They do not complain "why me" and lament their "bad luck".  Resilient people recognize bad events as a normal, if unwanted, part of life then adjust or adapt to the new reality of the situation. Dynamic individuals and teams are relentless in their adaptability, creativity and ingenuity to not just survive adversity, but to adapt and overcome adversity in continued pursuit of their vision.

An individual or team vision is defined by goals set.  What does the individual and or TEAM seek to accomplish. Again, I had encountered adversity in coaching last seasons team when the seniors set their goals both during the summer and once again when goals were revisited just before the regular season began. Almost all conceded losses to the "big three" of our conference and established a goal of winning the remaining 13 regular season games and at least one post season tournament game. We were defeated in 3 matches weeks before we actually played those matches. We had no chance to be resilient in losing to these teams for we never allowed ourselves the opportunity to engage and overcome the expected adversity.

Having goals and being resilient in overcoming adversity, difficulties and setbacks in pursuit of said goals means we will persevere while tolerating short-term frustration, discomfort and pain for long-term success.  Persistence and Resiliency are key; many people decide to simply give up and seek an easier route to a lesser goal or result. Due to a lack of commitment, most people lack the ability to be adaptable to setbacks that force an adjustment to the process  they have defined to achieve the goals established for themselves and their TEAM. In short, CONFIDENCE is missing.

The words confidence and belief are inseparable; you can't have one without the other. Our confidence will endure certain ebb and flow according to different circumstances or events (adversity) we encounter. Mental toughness or our resiliency depends on our ability to remain steadfastly focused on the goals we seek to achieve. These goals are not always tangible as in the number of wins we seek to accumulate in a season or the winning of a championship. In fact, the most important goal to focus on is a simple one - to improve every time we step on the field. This will allow our confidence to continue to grow and expand.

I have often spoke and written of comfort zones. I firmly believe the game (and life) begin at the end of your comfort zone. In speaking with a fellow coach recently I remarked that some our athletes seem afraid of success.  Individual athletes and or their collective teams come to the brink of real success only to fail to achieve said success. When faced with the prospect of persevering to actually overcome adversity and claim success / achieve their goals they crack under pressure and retreat to a previous comfort zone. Their established comfort zone becomes a comfort trap.

I have given this deep consideration and believe a failure to accurately assess the threat to our comfort zone inhibits the ability to establish new comfort zones. If we look upon the challenges adversity presents as unrealistically dangerous or threatening to the establishment of a new comfort zone we choose to remain where we are.  In a sense, it is amazing what we can become comfortable with when we choose a course of unchanged action.

IF WE AVOID FAILURE, THEN WE ALSO AVOID SUCCESS.

I have described this avoidance as a fear of success. Each degree of success brings with it new challenges. If we think of each degree of success as a newly established comfort zone we can begin to sense the amount of work involved in being committed to success.  Our Rational Thinking in pursuit of success (or living life to its fullest) must focus on taking calculated risks designed to purposefully move us up the comfort zone ladder. We will likely fail before we succeed. Through our adaptability, our ability to adapt to and over come circumstance and events, new confidence is found. Being resilient is about being accountable and responsible in facing failure, learning from our failures and moving forward from our failures.  We must shrug off the shackles of self-imposed limits and our restricted views of reality to open our minds to ever greater possibilities and ever greater success. This is what being mentally tough is all about.

The Four Elements. No, not a rock band.

As I have conducted camps and clinics this summer a theme has developed during question and answer sessions - What can I (the coach or parent) do to help players develop properly.  I have settled into a somewhat standard response that I will share with you in today's writing.

There are five basic elements that need to be given attention in properly developing soccer players. Yes, I realize I titled this article The Four Elements. I will list the four elements with brief descriptions in a moment, but first we need to concentrate on the most important and sometimes overlooked element - the passion for the game a player must have. 

The Four Elements

Technical
Tactical
Physical
Psychological

A good coach will have at least a basic understanding of these four elements and know enough to incorporate all of them in each training session.

A players technical ability references the ability to perform fundamental skills or the quality of mechanics in the skills being performed.

For example: When executing a "push pass" are the athlete's toes up, heel down and does he strike through the ball with the ankle bone?

The tactical element refers to the decision-making involved in playing the game. The who does what, when and where in game. And maybe most importantly why and how it is done. This includes both decisions made "on-the-ball" and of at least equal importance the decisions made when not in possession of the ball.

For example, before a player receives the ball he should already have made a decision based on data gathered via scanning the pitch. He then decides how to properly position himself to execute that decision before his first touch on the ball. The amount of space he will have to play in will impact the decision he makes. Shoot, advance into position to shoot, pass to a teammate in position to shoot, advance the attack, maintain possession for his team possibly by dropping the ball back to relieve pressure or by executing a switch of fields to change the point of attack. It's a complicated yet simple process that requires constant attention in training. These are all components required to achieve a fast pace of play.

The physical or fitness element of the game is exactly what it sounds like.  Physical speed, explosive strength, quickness, agility, flexibility and balance are all necessary to performing at peak ability. 

Unlimited substitutions in youth and high school soccer might diminish the importance of being properly conditioned to some small degree, but if you want playing time and a lot of it physical fitness is paramount.

For a lack of a better description the psychological element refers to the intangibles a player can bring to the game. Attitude, confidence, mental toughness and other controllable emotions or mindsets that result in an even keel or stability in the athletes approach to the game.

The athlete can train for these things as well. This often includes asking or forcing an athlete to step beyond his established comfort zone to redefine a new comfort zone.  It involves problem solving  and overcoming obstacles the game or opponents present in  successful manner. In that regard it is very much about developing and maintain confidence.

A sound understanding of these elements of the game will help the player (and by extension the coach and parents) enjoy the game to the fullest extent possible. 

Good training session will address all of these elements of the game. That holds true whether the session is an organized team activity or simply an athlete working on his own.  The role of coaches and parents to provide the athlete with the opportunity to experiences all elements of the game as a set as often as is reasonably possible. It is then up to the fifth element of the game, the athlete himself, to decide whether to take advantage of the opportunity he is presented with.  If the passion is present in the athlete he will embrace the opportunity.

I firmly believe the game remains the best teacher. This is when athletes demonstrate their technical proficiency by passing, receiving, executing a move to defeat a defender or tackling the ball away. It is also when they make the decisions that impact the pace of play, possession and general flow of the game - the tactics of playing soccer. Physically they walk, jog, run, backpedal, shuffle, change directions, jump and play the ball. And psychologically they learn to deal with both success and failure with failure often preceding success when failure is handled appropriately,

 

In conclusion, it takes a team environment to help an athlete develop - the parents and coach play critical parts secondary only to the athlete himself. Understanding the four elements will help the parent and coach understand a players strength and weaknesses enabling them to help the athlete address these.

 

If I had to choose one word to focus on in developing players it would be confidence. It is the parents and coaches role to help instill confidence in the athlete.  I often refer to the necessity of coaches to give their confidence to the player. This is accomplished with honesty to praise and critique.  The same holds true for the role of parents. Give a realistic assessment of your child when and only when your child asks for one.  Otherwise, cheer the efforts of your child and his teammates... even the opponents. Do not coach your child from the parent sidelines or when you play with him in the backyard. Enjoy the experience of watching your child play, compete and grow as a player and more importantly as a person.  Remember, soccer is something your child does, but is only a very small part of who he is in the grand scheme of life.

 

 

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Team Culture in Soccer

Culture: the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time.

Philosophy:  a set of ideas about how to do something.

The culture of a particular team will be reflective of it's leadership. A coach's philosophy will go a long ways toward determining the team's culture. Player leadership will also impact a teams culture. Great team culture sees player leadership buy into the coach's philosophy.

Establishing a productive team culture is so important I write about it often.  Most recently I authored the article Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast based on a quote I found on Twitter.  The title says it all. We have all seen teams with great talent lose to "inferior" teams with great culture.

Every team has a culture be it great, good, indifferent or toxic. 

Just think about that for a minute.

A great culture enhances and magnifies a teams technical, tactical, physical and psychological abilities. Perhaps most importantly a great team culture manifests itself as passion to participate with teammates and play the game together as many working towards a common goal.

The foundation of great team culture is Honesty.

A soccer team is a group of people who develop, nurture and grow relationships based around a common interest - soccer. Trust is the foundational principle that holds all relationships together. Trust is dependent on honesty, on truth, to exist. Trust is the glue of life, the most essential ingredient in effective communication. Healthy relationships are all about effective communication.

Belief takes root in the ground prepared by Truth and Trust.  When a team believes, when a team buys in to the coach's philosophy, the potential for success increases exponentially.  The momentum created can be palpable. Confidence can be felt exuding from vibrant athletes who are eager to test themselves against opponents. 

When I scout a team the first thing I try to determine is its culture.

When I observe an opponent warming up, the first thing I try to determine is its culture.

Why?

Whatever problems an opposing player, their team or their teams tactics present can be dealt with and solved to the best of our ability.  The opponents culture?  If it is stronger than ours, we will face a difficult battle because there is virtually nothing we can do to counteract an opposing teams strong culture. We must match or exceed the opponents team culture.  This being the case, it is of utmost importance to establish a strong team culture and intentionally work on strengthening it every day.

Coaches,

 

Be Strong enough to stand alone

 

Smart enough to know when you need help

 

And Confident enough in yourself

 

to ask for help when you need it.

Mr. Magorium's Soccer Emporium

The movie Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium was on TV several times this past week and is one of my favorite movies of all time. How does this movie relate to soccer?  The Congreve Cube, of course!

One might think the movie is about a magical toy store and it's rather quirky owner, the 242 year old Mr. Magorium. It is not! No, it is about his 23 year old assistant Molly Mahoney and her need for an
opportunity to prove to herself that she was something more than she believed. Enter the Congreve Cube, a block of wood.

Mahoney mistakenly thinks the block of wood has magical powers that will help unlock her creativity and enable her to finish her first concerto for the piano. She was a child prodigy, a musical genius,  who in her own mind never fully developed the talent she once displayed. 

Okay, now you might be beginning to relate this story to the world of soccer, but wait just a minute. Clear those thoughts from your mind, for while a worthy path to follow it may not be the path we will travel today.

After Mr. Magorium's death it appears the toy store has died as well.  The magic is gone. A once vibrant and very much alive toy store is now ordinary. Mahoney is depressed and has decided to sell the property.  That is until the Mutant accountant catches glimpse of a sparkle in Mahoney's eye.  The magic just might live! 

And so it is that Mahoney discovers the answer to her dilemma is not contained in a block of wood called a Congreve Cube, but in the relationship she has with that block of wood.  She need not do anything to the Congreve Cube except believe in it.  Once Mahoney lends her magic, her confidence, to the block of wood it begins to do wondrous things on its own. It moves of its own accord and begins flitting and flying about exploring both the toy store and itself.  The results are ... magical.

And slowly, with Mahoney directing as if in front of an orchestra, the toy store also comes back to life.  A magical and melodious cacophony of sight and sound is awakened and springs forth about her as each toy follows the same path of the Congreve Cube in coming to life and exploring its surroundings with child-like wonder and delight.  In doing so the toys, the toy store, the Wonder Emporium, re-ignites the sparkle in Mahoney she thought didn't exist or at last had been lost to her.

I have encountered coaches like Mahoney.

They have a roster full of wunderkinds who seem to plateau early.  The talent present is obvious yet it just doesn't seem to work for some reason.  The team and it's individual players underachieve and there exists a general feeling of unsatisfied expectations that permeates the team environment. 

It's not magic that is needed.

It is belief  that is required!

Just as Mahoney found belief in the Congreve Cube and empowered the block of wood to move of it's own accord and live its life with gusto and zest. Players need to be given their coaches confidence to play and explore the game of soccer to its fullest. 

*********************************************************************************

Mahoney talking to the Congreve Cube:

Move.

( The Congreve Cube rolls onto its side)

Come on, you can do better than that. Move!

(The Congreve Cube moves about a counter top)
 
All right, don't worry. If you fall, I'll just pick you right back up. Move!

(And the Congreve Cube does! It falls from the counter top, but only to correct itself, to right its path and begin a magical tumbling flight around the Wonder Emporium!)

**********************************************************************************

The players will give back to the game everything they find and so much more.  The Coach, in return for the confidence he has instilled in his players, receives more back than he could have ever dreamt of conjuring up on his own accord.  Good coaches understand that great teams are the ones free to explore the wonders of the game without fear of making mistakes. The great players are the ones who are not coached to stay in position or given rigidly defines roles they must adhere to - like a block of wood - that destroy confidence and limit potential, but are allowed to explore and discover all they might become! 

Confidence is

 

Belief in

 

your Technique

Pyramid of Success

I have seen several versions of this including one a coaching colleague, Paul Lee, shared with me on Hudl from the high school program he coaches in. I like the concept of using a pyramid as it emphasizes the necessity of a strong foundation required to build upon. This is the version I have adapted from Paul's for use with camps, clinics and teams I work with. To be honest, it is still evolving.  What might yours look like?

 

 

Success

Passion         Humility

Teamwork     Commitment     Trust

Courage         Intensity       Discipline       Perseverance

Enthusiasm     Respect      Belief     Confidence     Intelligent Effort

 

 

 

Dealing with Expectations

A valuable lesson I have learned concerns expectations placed on players, teams and coaches.  I am not sure there was a specific point in time when I realized addressing expectations was a coaching technique, but there is a necessity to train on how to handle expectations.  If we accept there are four basic facets to the game - technical, tactical, physical and psychological, - then handling expectations falls in the psychological category.

Recruiting often brings a lot of hyperbole to athletes and builds expectations for them to an unrealistic level.  When an athlete does not live up to expectations he is them considered a "bust".   One need not be a highly recruited athlete to have expectations thrust upon him. Consider the best player(s) on a high school team. These are the athletes expected to lead their team to victory, a winning season, a league title, a state championship even. 

Similar expectations can follow a coach. Successful coaches tend to be upwardly mobile and are recruited to new positions after having success in their current situation. Some coaches move every couple of seasons while others remain in the same position for years seeking to build a dynasty.

Just because an expectation exists does not mean it is based in reality.  In fact, many expectations are more hopeful in nature than they are grounded in reality. In the construct of today's youth sports where big, strong, fast can be valued over technique and tactic in pursuit of wins this is ever increasingly a truth.  Time and again I have witnessed the dominant player in U12 fade away and abandon the game entirely as other players catch up to him (or her) physically and surpass them technically and tactically. And it's not peers alone who can surpass once dominant youth players but the game itself can leave them behind.

This is where managing expectations comes in. And let's be honest about this, very few youth coaches actively seek to manage expectations.   Youth coaches tend to ride the best player for as far as that player can take them. They may seek to put a better supporting cast around the dominant player or recruit other dominant players to play along side him.  Our local youth sports organization has followed this path for the last 10-12 years to disastrous results. 

A one time well-oiled feeder program that regularly produced 10-15+ athletes for the high school teams has in recent years has produced 4 or 5 each fall.  Why the drop in numbers?  A change in philosophy that produced initial results that proved to be false in the long run.

When my sons began coming through the SSA teams were randomly selected each year. Those WCOSA league teams were not always successful against teams from opposing school districts.We put together all-star teams comprised of the best players from each team to play in local tournaments and generally had very good success. During this time the high school team was the dominant program in the area.

The change in philosophy was to begin placing all the best youth players of an age group on one team and leave them there from year to year as they progressed toward high school.  At first glance, this may appear like a good idea and while the SSA WCOSA league teams initially fared better, the high school program began a sharp decline both in terms of numbers and competitiveness.

Some of the best youth players are leaving the sport. And not necessarily to play another sport either. Those youth teams (regardless of the sport) that enjoyed so much success coming up through the system cannot achieve a .500 record on the varsity level of play. Obviously there is a short in the system somewhere.  In my opinion, this short can be found in a general category I term "Dealing with Expectations."

We need to go back to the idea of big, strong and fast (BSF) youngsters dominating youth sports physically to produce wins. There will come a time when your best BSF is not as good as an opponents BSF is.  This is adversity.  The expectation was for your BSF, your "best" player to carry your team to victory and now that has not happened. 

What now?

I remember a young lad by the name of David.  Now, David was BSF to an extreme extent. As a 10 year old he was physically capable of playing U14. He scored at will and when in goal, no one scored against him.  I coached David as a U8 and recommended that he be moved up an age group or two, It didn't happen and we never lost a game. Only one team came close to competing with us (David).   I coached David again as a U12 on a tournament team and quickly realized the need to adjust my own expectations.  In a close match I had turned to David and said something like, "We need you to bring your "A" game today. Put us on your shoulders and carry us to victory."   Yeah, definitely not one of my better moments as a coach.  I was young and dumb coaching my eldest sons team and wanting the win. I placed unrealistic expectations on David who failed to live up to them leaving everyone dissatisfied with the experience. I messed up BIG time.

I learned the lesson though. 

From that point forward my teams had no "stars" in terms of expectations.  More importantly I learned even the best players need to learn to deal with adversity and the expectations that can lead to adversity.  This is where our local youth program, the SSA, is failing kids and thusly failing the high school program as well.

As I stated earlier, when my eldest came through the youth ranks teams were randomly selected each year.  This lead to a competitive imbalance against teams from other local associations who stacked their best players all on one team.  Let's also remember that it was our local high school that was the dominant program in the area while the high schools those other teams fed into were weaker. Although the transition was slow, those roles have now entirely reversed.

My contention is that by placing all the best players on a single team and leaving the remaining teams in the program with the "leftovers" many of the important lessons necessary for eventual success were denied to players who would have benefited greatly from those experiences when they arrived to the high school program. 

If your BSF never experiences adversity, how will he know how to overcome it when it does arise?  Splitting up the best players during their youth years almost guarantees those BSF players will meet with adversity, aka losing or failing.  And if you have talent divided among multiple teams with each team having a dominant BSF of it's own (relative in nature, of course) then more players will learn how to lead through adversity.  Spreading the wealth (talent) in the youth ranks serves to develop better leadership depth.  It also serves to prepare a larger group to deal with the hyperbole of expectations.

Then when you bring everyone together on one team in middle school or freshman soccer the pecking order amongst players can sort itself out.  But now when the best player, no longer necessarily the BSF, meets adversity there is depth behind him (or her) to help guide the team through and on to victory.  The phrase used to describe such players today are "outliers", those kids for whom expectations are moderate at best, but who are capable of stepping to the fore when necessary to carry their team. They give "surprise" performances that catch opponents off guard,  The confidence necessary for such performances are rooted in their experiences in youth soccer.  At some point in time, they persevered in the youth ranks. They had that one game when they got "hot" or were "in the zone" and carried their team. The seed for the expectation that they could do so again was planted in that youth game.

So too were the realization that the BSF or best player cannot carry the day each time out.  These players need to realize they are not expected to do so each time out. The expectation is for them to be consistently good each time they take the pitch but the realization is that some days they will perform below average.  This is when other teammates need to understand the expectation for them to step up. They need successful experience in order to do so and that type of experience is found in youth sports.

I harp back to recent articles I have written where I recounted one coach's lamentations about being unable to scout our club team the last couple of springs.  "We played you 3 times this season and watched you several more. Your team is impossible to scout.  It's a different player having a big game every time we watch. You generate goals differently every time we watch.  How do you coach that?"
   
Expectations have a lot to do with it.  I consciously sought to lower the expectations for some players and raise the expectations for others.  I did not want one or even two dominant goal scorers. I wanted a team full of players capable of scoring goals.  Take the pressure, the expectations, to score off the best goal scorer and make him even more productive by doing so.  Raise the expectations for outliers to score goals by giving them the confidence to do so and enabling then to explore the game to it's fullest extent in pursuit of doing so - we raised the bar for these players and they strove to meet the expectations. Some might say we had certain players over-achieve, but not based on our expectations for them.

This past fall, the new high school coach set very low expectations for the team in general and many players specifically.  He just did a terrible job of managing the expectations in general.  The results were the worst season in decades for the program.  Many players and the team as a whole lived down to the expectations he set for them.  There was emphasis placed on BSF when such really did not exist on the team.  Too little emphasis was placed on tactical and technical considerations when a solid foundation was present to be built around.  Everything was topsy-turvy and as a result individuals and the team as a whole underachieved even to lowered expectations.

There is a very real need to establish expectations for each position on the team and for the players who will be playing those positions. Matching players to positions in this manner is important, but not necessarily the end-all for positioning.  Do not sell players short, but also do not place unrealistically high expectations on them.  Watch closely how players respond to situations. Their (re)actions will often indicate whether you need to raise or lower expectations.  And please watch how players interact with one another.  Do not mislabel an outlier nor the star - this past high school season saw the coach do both leaving a confused, disappointed and largely directionless group of players.  The players absolutely know when a coach does this.  Dealing with and managing expectations for the individual and the team is not something normally found in textbooks or coaching courses, but it should be.  It can make or break the individual, the team, the season. 

Successful Programs have Goals

The goal for your program should be to have

 

both a tradition and a future and

 

to be able to look with pride and confidence

 

in both directions.

 

 

Lack of confidence is born

from lack of preparation.

 

 

After a bad result.

One of my weekend soccer conversations was how to help a team rebound from a bad result.  First of all, "bad result"  is a relative term. The team of the coach I was speaking with was coming off a 1-2 loss to a team he felt they should have beaten, easily. That's one end of the spectrum.  On the other end of the spectrum we would find both Van Wert and Bath.  So, a bad result really is a matter of perspective, but the way to move on remains a consistent - focus on positives.

Coaches of teams on the losing end of a bad result must find positives to hold onto. They need to examine the details of the process for positives to motivate and inspire their team to improve. These positives should hopefully be found in the outline of your season plan.  What are the points of emphasis you identified for your season?  Find positives there and identify them for your team. Discuss the improvement in these areas. Re-energize your commitment to continuous progress improvement in these areas. Then get to it with enthusiasm!

The mistake coaches will make is being disheartened and focusing on all the negatives they have perceived in their teams play. "Where do I start?"   I have been there. It's definitely not my "happy place."  It is a place fraught with danger for coaches.  If we allow ourselves to be swallowed by our frustration over poor play we have lost the battle ... and have probably lost our team as well. 

I walked off the pitch after our first match at the Galaxies College Showcase this past spring (a 0-2 loss, IIRC)  with "Where do we start to put this right?" racing through my head.  I had to go off by myself to calm down and think things through because we had two more games to play in the next 18 hours. I had a roster full of all-state, all-district, all-league players. These young men were highly skilled, intelligent soccer players.  Even so, my 3 points of emphasis in the season plan for them were fairly simplistic and focused entirely on the transitional phase of play moments:

1) When we lose possession, 3 players press and 8 get behind the ball ASAP.  We fill from the back forward regardless of what position an individual player was assigned to.

2) When transitioning to attack, we play to the targets feet.

3) Ball movement is predicated on player movement.

Within those three ideas we worked on technical aspects of the game that directly applied. When we came back for the second game I emphasized specific points in our play from the first match where what we had been working on was in evidence. We may not have executed well in those moments, but I applauded the attempt, the thought, the effort.  I gave the players positives from what we had worked on in training to boost their confidence, to motivate them to continue working hard in these areas and to inspire in them belief in our system of play.

The second match went much better.  Although we didn't, we certainly could have won it. It was one of those games where you walk away thinking "Dang, we were the better team out there, but it just didn't go our way."  In our third match we defeated a team that had previously beaten the first two teams we played. The keys to the turn around were two-fold.  First we were gaining experience playing together as a team.  Secondly I got a hold of my frustration, cleared my mind and stayed with our season long plan. We did not abandon all we had worked on indoors for the past 3+ months and go off on some other path. We stayed the course.

Interesting side note to that weekend was we found ourselves in reversed roles the next weekend at the Early Bird Classic. We played the Croatian Eagles from Wisconsin. They came south to get out of the snow. Our match was their first outside last spring.  They came out and went up 2-0 on us by virtue of two of the best goals I have ever seen from high school aged kids. Absolute lasers from 35-40 yards out. I found myself thinking the rout might be on and just wanting to get to halftime without any further damage being done.  Our kids kept their poise and we got on the board just before half time to make it 2-1. Still, I held no illusion about who the better team was - that Croatian Eagle team was the best collection of teen aged athletes I had ever seen on a soccer pitch.  Our half time, run pretty much by the players, was as usual calm, confident and productive. We identified areas we had to shore up. Then we identified our successes. We then went out and scored two more goals to win that match 3-2.  The points of emphasis the kids brought up during that halftime were what we had been focusing on throughout winter training.  Their confidence was based in our training. They found their motivation in the successes that training was beginning to deliver to them.  They found their inspiration in being able to execute our system when down 0-2 and being on the verge of getting blown out.  That goal just before half time was the single most important goal of the season. It cemented the course our season long plan set for us.

Not every team, not every program, can measure success the same way our Grand Lake United team did. Not every team is going to win the vast majority of their games as we did.  Every team can improve upon their season long goals. Success can be measured by improvement made. In fact, this must be the cornerstone for building your teams platform for success.

Progress or Regress?

Like so many of the articles I write the impetus for this one was a conversation with a coaching colleague. When Barry called the frustration was clear in his voice. He was struggling with what he interpreted as a lack of progress with his team. I think it a generally accepted idea that all teams progress through the course of a season. Some to a higher degree than others, but does any team actually regress? I suppose one devastated by injury or suspensions might? Even then the players who remain will continue to progress won't they?

Barry ended up sending me 3 video clips of his high school team for me to review. I have done this and somewhat to my dismay ended up agreeing with Barry. His teams first game was their best game and its been a backslide ever since.  Now, quality of opponents might factor into things, but from what I could discern that isn't the case here.

I have access to a few different teams Hudl accounts so I have gone back to take a look at segments of an early season and mid-season match for a few of these teams.  I discovered that Barry's team is not the only team who it could be said has regressed from their early season play. I do not believe this depicts a complete picture of what is happening though.

A few thoughts ran through my mind as I considered this idea that a team might actually regress instead of progress as a season proceeds.

1) Because many high school teams will see stretches of playing 3 games in a week, practice time is at a premium. Recovery becomes the primary focus with maintaining skill and tactical awareness a secondary consideration.  Many teams will do nothing more than stretch on the day after a match. Perhaps get a few touches on the ball.

2) The mental grind of playing 3 matches in a span of 6 days is grueling.  How many teams allow for mental recovery between matches?  And how do they manage mental recovery?  I actually think wears on young teams more so than older experienced teams, but it is a consideration for any team.

3) Do teams peak too early?  I can remember certain teams at Shawnee where I was an assistant coach that certainly did. One team in particular comes to mind. They secured the teams first ever league title and that was it. The last 3 weeks of the season were terrible. 

4) So, setting goals might be a consideration. Set them too high and have them realistically out of reach due to a couple early season losses might see a drop off in quality of play. Or setting them too low and meeting the goals too early in the season might leave a team without a clear path to move forward on.

5) Team chemistry or lack thereof might be a consideration. Maybe to start the season everyone buys in, but as the season progresses and adversity is encountered that togetherness falters.  It might be friction between players. It might be a loss of confidence in the coach. It could be any number of things that cries out for something to reunite the team.

I imagine there are other reasons as well. As I stated earlier, these are thoughts that quickly came to mind. And frankly, reviewing film in the wee hours of the morning when I should have been sleeping doesn't lend itself to completely cognizant or cohesive trains of thought.

Today I have reviewed segments of game film from the matches of my son's team. Yeah, they looked really good that first match. Decent in their second match against a very good opponent. Then there has been some slippage in their play. Missing starters in one game was certainly a factor. Their most recent game... maybe it was just a bad game. Those do happen from time to time.

6) And I think that has to be a consideration here.  We are talking about 14-19 year old young men.  Consistency is something they strive for, but in truth performance actually often more closely resembles a roller coaster ride.  Nothing new or startling to see here. This is a teenagers life. Sometimes they are 16 years old going on 26 and other times they are 16 years old going on 6.  It's who they are ... and what they do.

7) This is why consistency in the coach is so very important. If the coach is prone to inconsistency - in his practice planning, game management, player relationships - he really cannot expect consistency from the players, can he?

This was the foundation of my advice to Barry - Be consistent with your team. Be consistent in planning practices. Do not stray from your season plan.  Be consistent with players.  Be consistent in your game management. Be that beacon your players can look for in troubled waters.

That's not to say you should not make necessary adjustments. No, what I caution against is making unnecessary adjustments. Do not panic for if you do your team will follow your lead. Trust yourself. Trust your plan.  Believe... in yourself and your team.

I have written before about the necessity of a coach to give his players his confidence. If a player knows you believe in him, he is much more likely to believe in himself.  When a player senses a coach's frustration or comes to believe the coach no longer trusts him to play, that players performance will reflect this.

Bad games... like mistakes... are opportunities to learn, to grow, to improve and become better.  Do this and then put the poor performance behind you moving forward with confidence to the next match. 

 

Confidence is contagious.

 

This is but one reason why it is so important for coaches to give athletes their confidence in them.

 

 

Think about this for a minute. If a majority of the communication you have with an individual centers on correcting mistakes the individual has made, this can be a very negative message you are delivering. It is important to appreciate and remember always this simple fact...

 

 

 

Lack of confidence is also contagious.

 

 



Work diligently to break the chain of negativity as soon as possible.  One example is of how our teams replace "my bad" (an acknowledgement of a mistake made) with "next play!" (an encouragement to immediately move on.)


 

 

Lack of confidence

is born from

lack of preparation.

 

 

 

Regarding line up changes

Over the years when I have made personnel changes to line ups invariably players who are displaced want to know what they have done wrong. Many times changes are driven by faulty decision making. What players fail to realize is the decision making being questioned is that of the coach as much or even more so than that of the player.

As I contemplate line up changes for our Grand Lake United BPL team today I can most definitely say they are coming about because I, as their coach, have failed to get it right.  I thought my decision making process was sound, but this past Friday's match proved otherwise.  Strange thing is, we won the match against a rival club on their home pitch.  I should be happy, right?

We won the match in spite of ourselves.  Some individuals really struggled to conform with our system of play in their decision making. Collectively we struggled to find a proper rhythm because we were not on the same page in our decision making.  It would be easy to single out certain players as the root cause of our problems. It would also be foolish to do so.

Consider for a moment that it is the coach's responsibility to place players in positions and situations in which they have a reasonable expectation for success.  This is true with individual players, in combining players in units and in the collective 11 man side. 

I put considerable time into deciding line ups. I attempt to find the proper position for individual players and the right combination of players and skills.  Sometimes what looks good on paper just doesn't work well on the pitch. Then another round of decisions must take place. Is patience required? Does a player or combination of players simply need more time to sort things out?  Was it simply good intentions gone awry?  Is there a better position for an individual player or a better combination of players?

These are questions I have been pondering.  I have asked a handful of people for input and others have offered unsolicited input. I have concluded the quality of my decision making left something to be desired.  Now I need to put it right.  Direct and honest communication with the players involved will be vital.  Some will be happy with the changes. Others will not and perhaps even become angry. My hope is all involved will embrace the changes in recognition they are being made for the good of the collective. For the good of the TEAM. 

Confidence is often the difference between a win and a loss.

A proper skill set and functional soccer IQ are certainly important ingredients to success on the pitch. Comparing and contrasting events of this past spring season and those of this fall season has led me to realize that the third point of the triangle would be confidence.

I was prompted to write of giving players your confidence as I watched player confidence eroded by negativity stemming from a coaching staff. I had long thought that no one could steal your confidence unless you allowed them to, but it has become clear that if the majority of the feedback a player receives from his coaches is negative - being substituted for after a mistake instead of having the opportunity to correct it or being constantly yelled at instead of encouraged - a players confidence can and will erode.

Today I read a Carl Lewis quote while taking a break from breaking down high school soccer film.

If you don't have confidence, you'll always find a way not to win.
 

A lot of pieces to a puzzle fell into place upon reading this. The film I was reviewing saw Team A absolutely dominate their opponents for the first 15 minutes of a match. No less than 8 quality scoring opportunities for Team A in those first 15 minutes but not a single goal to be had. One player could have and perhaps should have had a hat trick in the first 4 minutes of the game. For all intents and purposes this game should have been over at the 10 minute mark. Instead, Team A lost this match by a 0 - 3 score.
 

Why?
 

While the opportunities being generated were of very good quality it is obvious in watching the film that the attempts at finishing are not executed with confidence. I can state his with a fair degree of certainty because I know most of the players on both teams involved. I have seen them play with confidence, with swagger as the kids say... and this was missing from many on Team A during this game. The difference in finishing, and the game in general, was confidence. Team B played with great confidence even as Team A pounded them in the first half.
 

Team A played well but with hesitancy and restraint, as if they feared making a mistake. Team A looked to be trying to play perfectly, to fit a certain pattern or vision of play that they were not permitted to stray from without repercussions from their own coaching staff. The coach of Team A abandoned his normal rotations and inserted a little used player who proceeded to play a lot of minutes despite not playing particularly well. The message sent.... lack of trust, lack of confidence the coaching staff had in the players that had gotten them to this point. It was a demoralizing decision by the head coach at a point when his team needed to know he had confidence in them.
 

Team B just played. They made mistakes but adjusted, adapted and overcame them. They went with a 14 man rotation until the game was secured and then played everyone on their roster. Such is a luxury often afforded to a confident team.
 

There is another quote that comes to mind when pondering all this.
 

Experience tells you what to do; confidence allows you to do it

 

My own personal experience tells me there is truth in this quote, but it also tells me the quote does not hold true in every instance. I have been in situations where I knew the prescribed method or way of doing something simply did not make sense given the facts encountered. I also knew that if I deviated from the prescribed methodology I was risking reprimand for doing so including the possibility of losing my position. I followed orders despite my better judgment. I did not execute the orders with much enthusiasm or confidence. Perhaps that made the less than desirable results a self-fulfilling prophecy or simply the inevitable failure it was destined to be.
 

This is where the coach has to realize that if the team does not have confidence in what they are being asked to do, he risks losing the confidence of the team. When this happens, teams under perform or underachieve. They lose games they should win. The sum of the parts represents something less than the whole. No one is satisfied. Many feel under appreciated.
 

Negativity is contagious. Once it establishes a toe hold it can be difficult to root it out. Players who are constantly admonished more than they are praised become resentful and disenfranchised.
 

Positive Energy is also contagious. Sometimes a coaching staff, in its own frustration can lose sight of the fact Appreciation is the Currency of Success. Players tend to know when they have made mistakes, when they are not playing well. What they don't need is a coach yelling at them about the mistake they just made or being substituted for having made a mistake. No, what they need is to have their confidence built back up, to know that teammates and coaches have their back.
 

 

As I type this my thoughts are on a team that played a 1-4-3-3- formation despite a large contingent of team members believing they were better suited to playing 1-4-4-2. Of course, the players played the 1-4-3-3 prescribed by the coaches, but I wanted so to ask the coaches if they truly believed the players put all their hearts into playing 1-4-3-3 when they so obviously preferred 1-4-4-2. Was coaching stubbornness eroding team morale?
 

A significant part of coaching is the coach / player relationship. It is important that players listen to their coaches but wise coaches know it is of equal value for coaches to listen to their players. It should not be a one sided relationship. If it becomes one sided, chances are high that people will be disgruntled, unsatisfied and generally unhappy. That is not a recipe for success.
 

Bill Cosby once said,
 

In order to succeed,

your desire for success

should be greater than

your fear of failure.

 

I believe there is truth in this statement but it doesn't go far enough as it does not address the role confidence plays in success. A confident player plays freely and with great enthusiasm... with a pure joy for playing. They possess a passion for the game. A coach who gives his confidence to his players adds fuel to that fire making it burn brighter... making the player play harder, with more enthusiasm and more ....

Confidence