As our regular readers will appreciate, I have a strong affinity for the University of Michigan - academics and athletics alike. With head football coach, Jim Harbaugh and his satellite camp tour in nearly every news cycle I have had plenty of reading material to occupy what little free time I have. Undeniably, Harbaugh's antics hold pure entertainment for me - what a great graduation speech he gave at New Jersey's Paramus Catholic? His Twitter account is gold, Whose jersey will he wear at today's camps? But let's not kid ourselves, these satellite camps are about recruiting first and foremost and it is in this area that soccer coaches should pay particular attention.
Every day I am reading or watching interviews one recruiting service or another has conducted with high school student athletes being recruited by the University of Michigan. There exists a common theme through these interviews as the athlete describes the process. They all want to establish and build relationships with the head coach, position coach and overall staff of he schools recruiting them, Those being recruited by Michigan almost always state how football is actually only a small part of the conversations they have with Michigan coaches. It seems that Harbaugh and his staff speak about academics, the student / athletes family, hobbies and especially life after football,
I have had success in increasing participation numbers in whatever program I coach in. I field questions about how I do this. The answer is simple - I build relationships with the players I coach. That's how I went from 17 participants in year one at Lima CC to 26 the second year and getting dressed down by the athletic director about the need to "share athletes" with other sports at the small private school, This is also how I ended up with two true U19 club teams in an area that has always struggled to field one in any given year, And this is why the numbers at my current school are beginning to grow at a rate quicker than even I anticipated. (hope I didn't just jinx myself there!).
Here's another little secret, Coach Harbaugh has won everywhere he has (played and) coached because he understands winning is all about quality relationships, Sure, he and his staffs know the game of football, but that is not enough. Football is only a small part of who a student athlete is. Hence the Michigan staffs interest in a recruits family, hobbies and life after football.
Jim and his brother John recently referenced reading the Bible on a daily basis. They stressed building their relationship with God to a group of over 650 young men and thousands of on-lookers at a football camp.
When our sons were playing people used to say your life is all about soccer." No! Soccer is something we do, but it does not define who we are. I define myself as a believer in God first and foremost, I place my family and friends next. A whole cornucopia of varied interests follow after that with soccer falling in there somewhere, As passionate about and committed to coaching soccer as I am, it's not about the sport itself. It's not about winning or losing matches, It's all about the people. And because it is, our teams do find quite a bit of on-field success. Remember this always, coaching is all about the relationships.
Welcome to the web home of Conceive Believe Achieve Soccer. We specialize in conducting high school team camps. This website began as a means to promote our camps and keep campers informed of upcoming opportunities. There are now over 650 articles archived here. Use the search function in the right hand column below to find ones on topic for you. You may contact us at coachtjbrown@gmail.com or 567-204-6083 Thanks for visiting!
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Tuesday
Choosing a high school for education and athletics.
Four times in the last few days I have been asked about local school systems and in three of these instances there was an athletic angle to the questions being asked. This brought back memories from several years ago when the family of a young man was attempting to decide which of three schools he would attend. The young man in question was a very skilled soccer player and representatives of each school put their best foot forward. When the young man's mother asked me my opinion I never spoke of athletics. I asked her which school would provide her son with the best education. This is the same counsel I have given for years. When a high school senior is contemplating which college to attend I urge them to make a 40 year decision instead of a four year decision. The education is more important than the athletics.
As my youngest son prepares to graduate from high school I find myself questioning this train of thought. I still believe the primary consideration should be education, but athletics play a very important role in the lives of young people and their families. As I spoke with the families of eighth graders who must choose which high school they will attend I considered my own sons high school athletic experiences and found myself offering similar advice as to those families selecting a club team to play for - it's all about the coach.
If I had it to do over again, I would likely place my own sons in a different school system. They did receive quality educations and were/are well prepared for college. Their head soccer coaches in high school left a lot to be desired. The negatives in their player / coach relationships made high school soccer more struggle than fun, at least on the varsity level. It's not supposed to be like that.
Sure, lots of life lessons were learned through experiences both positive and negative in their high school soccer careers, but I think if they were asked each son would say their overall experiences with high school soccer were less than satisfactory due mainly to the poor quality of player / coach relationships.
So it was that when asked about high school athletics these last few days I encouraged the families to investigate the coaches at each school under consideration. This is something I had never before done. I encouraged them to give almost equal consideration to the coach their children would play for as to the quality of education each school would provide.
This is difficult counsel for me to provide in light of my stressing academics over athletics. I have always considered that very few youth soccer players will eventually make a living playing soccer. My reasoning has been to prioritize education. I find myself reconsidering this train of thought. After all, if high school soccer is the last organized soccer playing experience shouldn't it be the best experience possible? Even if a student athlete is fortunate enough to go on to college to play it will never be the same as their high school experience.
So it is, I have changed my mind based largely on the experiences of my sons. While education will always come before athletics whenever possible who your child will play for and the quality of the player / coach relationship should also be given strong consideration. Playing high school athletics should be a fun experience not a stressful event the athlete is glad to be done and over with. Choose wisely if you have the opportunity to select which school to attend and the coach you will play for.
As my youngest son prepares to graduate from high school I find myself questioning this train of thought. I still believe the primary consideration should be education, but athletics play a very important role in the lives of young people and their families. As I spoke with the families of eighth graders who must choose which high school they will attend I considered my own sons high school athletic experiences and found myself offering similar advice as to those families selecting a club team to play for - it's all about the coach.
If I had it to do over again, I would likely place my own sons in a different school system. They did receive quality educations and were/are well prepared for college. Their head soccer coaches in high school left a lot to be desired. The negatives in their player / coach relationships made high school soccer more struggle than fun, at least on the varsity level. It's not supposed to be like that.
Sure, lots of life lessons were learned through experiences both positive and negative in their high school soccer careers, but I think if they were asked each son would say their overall experiences with high school soccer were less than satisfactory due mainly to the poor quality of player / coach relationships.
So it was that when asked about high school athletics these last few days I encouraged the families to investigate the coaches at each school under consideration. This is something I had never before done. I encouraged them to give almost equal consideration to the coach their children would play for as to the quality of education each school would provide.
This is difficult counsel for me to provide in light of my stressing academics over athletics. I have always considered that very few youth soccer players will eventually make a living playing soccer. My reasoning has been to prioritize education. I find myself reconsidering this train of thought. After all, if high school soccer is the last organized soccer playing experience shouldn't it be the best experience possible? Even if a student athlete is fortunate enough to go on to college to play it will never be the same as their high school experience.
So it is, I have changed my mind based largely on the experiences of my sons. While education will always come before athletics whenever possible who your child will play for and the quality of the player / coach relationship should also be given strong consideration. Playing high school athletics should be a fun experience not a stressful event the athlete is glad to be done and over with. Choose wisely if you have the opportunity to select which school to attend and the coach you will play for.
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