Your expectations?

Anyone who coaches knows the off season can be even more hectic and stressful than the regular season. Amid scheduling scrimmages and matches, planning for camps, summer tournaments, fundraisers and the like I have also been considering the current state of our program and how to take the next step forward. The evolution of our culture must continue and to be perfectly honest this is the one facet of our program that concerns me the most. I keep coming back to one word -

EXPECTATIONS

In the context of sports we often see expectations framed in the idea of a team being able to handle high expectations for a coming season.  Will they rise to the occasion or crumble under the pressure? But expectations come in many forms. For me, the most disconcerting moment of last season was hearing core players express their belief an opponent would kick our asses while they were still in the locker room before a match. Their sentiment about that day's match was in stark contrast to my own expectations which were to come out, compete and just maybe get the win!

This has been very much on my mind as I plan for the 2017 season. Some of these players might be back with us next fall. If they are, will their defeatist attitudes be back with them?  Will their expectations have changed? Or will they continue to be a drag on the program?

What do they expect of themselves?                                 What do I expect of them?

What will their teammates expect of them?                      What will they expect of their
                                                                                           teammates?

Is there common ground to be found?

If not, is progress in the process of establishing a winning culture even possible?

This is a very serious question to consider for it has been my experience both individuals and teams usually get exactly what they expect.

I desire a team of individuals who expect to win every time they step onto the pitch. It might be the single most important characteristic I look for in an individual. This must be our expectation from the Head Coach through the coaching staff to the Captain(s) and extending throughout the team to the very last player on the bench.

For these reasons, the selection of Captains carries more importance this coming season than usual. Sometimes a strong culture can prop up a weak captain.  This coming season my expectation is for a strong captain to advance the culture of the program.

Another consideration is, if I do not get what I expect from returning players, do I look to new players with the same expectations I have for the program? That would be a drastic short-term step, but one that might be necessary to advance the program in the long-term.

Let me be clear, my expectations are to be competitive in every match. I expect to win every time we step onto the pitch.  I expect greatness. I expect championships.

Culture can win OR lose games.

I have not written much these past few months as I have returned to coaching high school.  I find it difficult to write in-season for a couple of reasons. One, I just don't have a lot of free time. Coaching high school soccer is a full time job in and of itself.  Secondly, most of what I would write about would be about the team I am coaching and because there would exist a need to be critical I do not believe it would be productive to do so.  Today I am going to tackle the broad subject of culture. And, yes, I will be using my current team to illustrate some of the points made.  I will also be using former teams to tell this story.

Some years ago I became a member of an email group of coaches from around the country. This group has been a wonderful resource for me. They have been mentors to me and perhaps I to them as well.  Upon joining the group one of the first things that struck me was how much of the discussion was devoted to team culture.  I will admit I found this a bit of a turnoff at first as I was looking for tidbits on technical and tactical issues. As I read through the discussions on culture I began to understand the importance of team culture and the reason this group of successful coaches devoted so much time to it. I have since become a student of team culture and advocate of working to develop a strong positive one in the teams I coach.

It doesn't happen overnight.

I took over a club team a few years ago. They had not had much success in terms of won / loss record and were looked upon as a team whose players could not make the team of the best club in the area. That first season we went .500 and most were ecstatic with having achieved that.  The parents attributed it to my coaching. While grateful of their acknowledgement of my contributions I knew I had made some difference but not enough. And so the transformation of that teams culture begun.

I knew from past experiences in college, club and even high school that when a coach recruits players to the team it can be difficult to find the right mix for team chemistry.  Most coaches select team members on talent alone and give little consideration to how team members interact with one another, with coaches, with referees and others in general. This is the lesson I was learning through interaction with the email group of coaches.

The second year with that club team saw about a 30% turnover in players. We held "tryouts" and found a few players who were both more talented than the ones they replaced and were better fits to the team culture I was striving to develop.  The team improved their on-field results that year actually winning a league title.  It was a lower level league, but a title nonetheless.

This is where things began to get very interesting.

It was apparent to me our culture needed strengthening.  We would need to lose some players who did not fit with what we were building. I put it to the team to recruit teammates they thought could raise the team to another level. A very interesting thing happened.  The players recruited some of the very best players from the region. They also refused to recruit some of the very best players from the region.  They were very discerning about who they wanted to join the team. Even beyond that, they recruited players to certain and specific positions with the intent of replacing soon to be former teammates who were not interested in buying in to the rapidly developing team culture.

The result of their efforts was a group of 40 players trying out for one team.  We quickly made a decision to form two teams - an "A" team and a "B" team.  After some realized they would no longer be a member of "the" team they had been playing on, they sought greener pastures elsewhere.  Not surprisingly these were the players who were disruptive to the team culture being established.  They were offered spots on the second team but declined because they viewed themselves as better than that.  Within a years time most either sought to rejoin our program or had given up the sport of soccer,

This brings us to present day.

I am now coaching a high school team that has experienced some modicum of success in past high school season. One of the things that has blunted or perhaps even stagnated the changing of culture is the fact the seniors of this group won a recreational state championship when in middle school.  To call it a state championship is even a bit of a misnomer as only a portion of the state was represented at these championships. Nonetheless, this is what they have hung their hat on and have stubbornly refused to embrace advancement of culture that could take them to the next level.  As a high school team they are as physically gifted and technically talented as any I have been associated with. Tactically they still have proclivity to play as they did in 8th grade which consisted to being bigger faster stronger than other teams their age.  I know because I watched them play when they were in middle school.

While we have made some advancements in play this season their old comfort zone beckons frequently. Against a weaker team they will goal hunt reverting to playing dump and run with little to no regard to actually doing so in a constructive and productive manner.  Our center midfielders become forward as do our outside backs. Players almost completely and totally abandon positional responsibilities in search of goal scoring opportunities. As a result, we have struggled in games we should have dominated and had some unexpected, even unpleasant results.

One the other hand, we did find out early in the season that this team was capable of playing with some of the very best in the state. Although excited about this at the time I am now not sure this was such a good thing.  After playing with the eventual league champions for the entire game early in the season we took a huge step backwards against the other two perennial league powers getting blown out by both. All the brilliant play from early in the season completely disappeared in those two matches as players reverted to a previous comfort zone.

Team culture can win games for you.

Team culture can lose games for you.

Both of the above statements are abundantly true.  It was a three to four year process with club team to develop a strong culture of like-minded athletes capable to facing adversity, sticking together with one heartbeat and overcoming that adversity as a united team. My current high school team is not remotely close to having this type of string positive team culture.  Seeing this senior class graduate will be a good thing overall for our program.  That's not to say I dislike this class or any of its members.  They are good kids by and large.  I like each of them.  They have just been resistant to change. I consider them stuck in their ways with little interest in changing even if it were of benefit to them to do so.  I understand this.  This team's culture has cost them results this season. I'm not sure they realize this and if they do realize it, they don't seem to mind. They are comfortable with who they are and what their culture is.

The challenge from a program standpoint is to make incremental improvements in the programs culture moving forward. Can we develop a stronger positive team culture with next years team? This is the key to making progress in the process. Some refer to it as getting a program over the hump or taking a team to the next level. I am confident that with the right attitude, the right team culture, next seasons team will be better than this seasons team has been.  The 2017 team can achieve to greater heights than this years team dared to dream of provided the team culture makes advances,   If the team members are devoted to making team culture work for us instead of against us great things await.

Culture eats strategy for breakfast.

I saw this quote on twitter a couple of days ago and it struck a chord with me. Culture does indeed eat strategy for breakfast provided the team culture is healthy, positive and strong.

Every team has a culture.

It is most unfortunate that many coaches do not recognize the importance or full impact a team's culture has on its performance. The culture of a team defines who the team is and permeates every aspect of the program.  The culture is the standards the team adheres to, its attitude and commitment level. The culture is found in the teams degree of competitiveness and resiliency.  As such the team culture needs to be defined and nurtured on a continuous basis. It is a process.

The process begins by honestly and accurately evaluating where your team culture currently stands. The next step is to set a goal for where you want your culture to be.  Finally, establish a plan that will take you to there. 

Here's a secret, your captains must embody the team culture you seek to establish.  Contrary or negative leadership can destroy team culture before it has a chance to blossom.  It can be better to purge contrary or negative leadership from the roster than attempting to bring such into the fold... unless of course you prefer a corrosive, self destructive culture to be representative of your team.

When I take over a program or a team the first thing I do is stress timeliness and punctuality. The next thing is to make it mandatory to dress appropriately.  All required equipment will be worn. Standards for what is considered appropriate training attire will be established and this always includes having shirts tucked into the waist band of shorts. From here we can begin establishing standards for training and playing the game. It is a daily process that must be nurtured and cared for in order to take root, grow and blossom.  And deviation, any sign of weakness in your steadfast adherence to the goal for the teams culture can set things back to square one.

In short, establishing a winning team culture is built around truth, trust and belief in one another. Winning team cultures see players playing for one another. The team, is greater than any individual. No one is irreplaceable. Resiliency is found in a next man up attitude.  Expectations are for positions on the field and for the individuals in their comportment always.

It's not always the most talented team that wins the match, but it is rarely the team with the best culture that loses a match.

More Soccer (and a basketball) Memories - Tim II

A few more of my favorite memories from coaching

These first two revolve around young players with disabilities.   Both were such neat kids from loving homes wanting to play sports like their siblings, friends and classmates. I was blessed to be able to coach Eric and John.

Eric played soccer for me one season. If I recall correctly the team was a group of U12 boys. Eric might have been slightly older. I don't know the correct term for Eric's disability. Suffice it to say he was mentally challenged in some ways. Eric was also very bright in some ways and could be a bit of a prankster. One of the challenges I faced were complaints from a couple of players / parents of how Eric's presence on the team and especially in the game put our team at a competitive disadvantage. My approach with those people was to cheerfully reply "Of course, it does!  But it also makes us a make stronger team!"  It was enough to defuse potentially ugly situations if only because it stunned them into silence.

I made no exceptions for Eric, expecting him to attempt everything his teammates did. I worked with Eric the same I would with any other players.  I acknowledged and cheered his successes and when necessary corrected his mistakes. I did notify opposing coaches and referees that we had a special needs kid on our team, but asked no favors on his behalf.  If Eric were offside, call it. If Eric committed a foul, call it.  If Eric handled the ball, call it.  I even played Eric in goal a bit.  I, and his teammates, strove to treat Eric as we would any other member of the team.

Eric, for his part seemed to have a great time. The kid was always smiling and often times I spotted a twinkle in his eye that belied a mischievous streak.  For instance, we sometimes finished practice with an exercise known as butts up! This usually involved the coaches or a birthday boy standing in the goal with hands on knees and their back to the field. Players would each have a turn to "shoot the ball" at the coaches butt.  If they hit the coach, no running. If they missed the coach, they ran half a lap.  Eric didn't have much luck hitting the coaches butt until late in the season. I had seen that twinkle in his eye before we started butts up that evening but was unprepared to actually be hit by the ball when it was Eric's turn!   He had picked up the ball, snuck up behind me, threw the ball and hit me in the butt!  Much laughter ensued!   I pretended to be upset that he had "cheated" but Eric didn't care, he had hit coach in the butt!  Secretly I beamed at his ingenuity.

And there's the lesson to be learned.  Soccer is a game about solving problems encountered on the pitch.  That's exactly what Eric had done!  In his own unique way and to the best of his ability he solved the problem.  Love, Love, LOVE that kid.  Such an inspiration to the rest of us.  I cannot begin to remember what our record was that season, but I will always remember Eric was on our team.

John was a sports aficionado.  His special needs were both physical and mental in nature.  Great kid who smiled a lot. I was privileged and honored to coach John in 7th grade basketball. Anyone that has been around 7th grade boys knows their competitive nature really begins to emerge in middle school. Having a special needs kid on your team can be a difficult situation.

I made no exceptions for John. I expected him to attempt everything his teammates were asked to do. To John's credit he dribbled and shot fairly well all things considered. Certainly not at a competitive in-game level but competently nonetheless.  He wasn't much of a defender and playing man to man defense with John on the court was never  a consideration .  Of course, there were one or two players / parents upset about the competitive disadvantage John placed the team in when he was on the court.

My solution with John was to play him in the middle of a 2-1-2 zone whenever he was on the court.  On offense he played "high post".  As I recall we actually had one player / family become very frustrated and leave the team over John's presence. We were struggling through the season, losing games we "should have" or at least "could have" won except for John.  An amazing thing happened as the post season tournament began - the team went on a winning streak that carried them to the championship game!  And yes, John was involved in each of those games.

We didn't win the championship, but I'm not sure anyone aside from John really cared. As I said, John is a sports aficionado.  He recognizes his limitations but that makes him no less competitive. I remember overhearing him talking with his father about if he had only done "this or that" a little bit better. Never blaming his disabilities, only lamenting that perhaps he had not played as well as he was capable of playing.

My own son said something to the effect, "If it weren't for John we could have won, but I think we got a better prize than a trophy by having John play on our team."  And he was absolutely correct.  The lesson here is about making the most of what God has blessed us with.  John certainly did this on a daily basis. His positive attitude was contagious to the point that he was inspirational to his teammates.  I myself don't know if we would have won that championship or not, but I do believe firmly that we would not have played for one without John leading the way.

When I took over the Lima Central Catholic girls program I knew we had to change a culture of losing.  What I did not realize was how deeply ingrained the culture of losing was. That first summer with the girls I remember getting incredibly frustrated with teaching the girls to give intelligent effort.  The idea of less physical exertion in favor of more mental exertion was struggling to find a foothold. It seemed at some point in the past a coach had told them they were not as talented as opponents and the only way they could compete was to outwork the other team.  I took the team off the pitch and we sat in the shade along the St. Gerard's school building. I told the girls they were a good team and it was time to start playing like it.  ...  there was a collective look on the players faces ... I'm not quite sure how to describe it.  I recall looking over my shoulder because I thought something might be seriously wrong. I thought back over what I just said to ascertain if I had somehow been out of line in my speech. I finally asked what was wrong and Sarah spoke up. Of course, it would be Sarah.  She is one of my all-time favorite players. A royal pain in the butt and her own worst enemy, but nonetheless one of my all-time favorites and likely in part because of her response that day.  "No one has ever told us we are a good team."   I was incredulous.  I know my mouth gaped open and I asked "What?!"  Sarah responded with "You're the first coach to ever tell us we are a good team." As I looked around at the girls I saw heads nodding in agreement, but there was something else visible as well.  There was a physical transformation and a changing of attitude happening right before my eyes.  In 60 seconds we changed the culture of the program.  I gave them my belief, my confidence in them and they knew I was sincere. One of the truly unforgettable moments in my coaching career.

The last memory I will share today is actually a product of the saddest experience I have ever had in sports.  A good friend and volunteer assistant to me committed suicide in mid-season. It happened on a Friday night.  I spent much of that night with Justin's family and especially his son, Kaleb who was on our team. The next day Lance and I took Kaleb with us to a tournament in Glandorf.  Kaleb wanted to be with us and it seemed like the thing to do.  Scott Bentz was the coach for the team Lance was guest playing for and when he learned of the circumstances he graciously allowed Kaleb to come along and play that day as well.  The next day our own team was scheduled to play the ISC Storm in Botkins, Ohio and I just didn't know if Kaleb and his family would be up for it. I called to warn the ISC Storm coach, Terry Paulus, of what we were dealing with and he graciously said he would go along with whatever we thought would be best.  We decided to go ahead and play that Sunday.  The sun shone through cloudy skies but there was a bitterly cold wind blowing.  We scored first and I began to think of how good it would be to win that day. The Storm tied the game late and, oh, I don't know ... the result just didn't seem to matter much at all.  Unbeknownst to me, Terry and the parents from the ISC Storm team had taken up a collection for Kaleb and his family.  Now, the first time I ever spoke with Terry Paulus was the day before when I informed him of the tragedy that had struck our team.  I didn't know the guy from Adam. It wasn't just a few bucks they collected either. It was a sizeable amount given to complete strangers. ... now good friends. Both Kaleb and Lance have guest played for Terry and the ISC Storm on numerous occasions.  This is of course a bitter sweet memory, but Terry Paulus and the ISC Storm made a lasting impression on us that day and provided a memory that will last a lifetime. The money, while a wonderful gesture, is not the memory though.  The memory is of others in the family of soccer stepping in to do what they could when it was most needed..  Scott, Terry, all the kids who played in those games that weekend let Kaleb know they had his back and were there to help as they could.  Can you imagine having over a hundred people, many whom you never knew before that weekend embracing you with their love?  That's a pretty special memory, in my book