When I took over the Lima Senior boys soccer program I knew there were things that needed to change if we were to advance to the next level. As is the case when change is encountered I also knew there would be resistance to the changes I wanted to bring to the program. I anticipated there would be excitement for a new approach and new direction and there was. These are all accepted dynamics that will be present anytime a new coach takes over.
All in all, the first season went about as expected. That is, we were able to begin the process of redefining the program. That process met with resistance from some. Some embraced the new approach and were eager to pursue a new direction. We had the best season in perhaps 12-15 years and some said ever although I think that might be a bit ambitious.
(Hit the jump for the rest of the article)
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 process. Show all posts
Showing posts with label process. Show all posts
Monday
Thursday
Leadership 101
This is not the first time I have set about teaching leadership to high school aged student athletes. Even with past experience, this is not an easy task. The teenage years are often more about fitting in than standing out, more about following than leading. And leaders, be they good or bad, positive or negative, tend to stand out. It takes a certain level of confidence to lead and developing confidence through the teenage years can be a gradual, even slow, process. Often times, in the mind of a typical student athlete, the rewards of being a leader are outweighed by the perceived risks of being a leader. How we learn to develop and teach the confidence necessary to overcome powerful emotions such as doubt, fear, trepidation and uncertainty that will determine their effectiveness and success as leaders is a process that all too often gets short shrift.
Team sports are a natural environment for developing leadership skills.
In having played, coached and observed team sports over the years one thing stands out about successful teams - that being the quality of leadership. It stands to reason then a primary responsibility for a coach should be on developing quality leaders.
I think it fair to say a majority of coaches appoint team captains based on some type of arbitrary criteria grounded in both how much control they wish to relinquish to the players and the role they wish for their leaders to fill. Seniority and popularity are often determining factors when appointing captains. It is as though being a captain is about winning a popularity contest or a senior year entitlement. In truth, being a leader can place the student athlete in unpopular positions and is most definitely not an entitlement.
I recently wrote of the difference between Champions and Championships.
A similar distinction must be drawn between Leaders and Leadership.
Champions / Leaders are people and Championships / Leadership are processes.
Leaders need Leadership Opportunities from which to learn and develop leadership skills. I would suggest, if you find yourself yearning for better player leadership you should evaluate the process for developing leaders that you have in place.
Player leadership begins with the coach.
There are innumerable opportunities in team sports for developing leadership qualities in student athletes. The most difficult step a for coach in the process of developing leaders might well be consciously deciding to alter their coaching style to allow for student athletes to experience these opportunities. How does one learn about leading if the opportunities to lead are not adequate to provide experience in leading?
I would also suggest the quality of opportunities provided for developing leadership skills is of utmost importance. Leadership opportunities exist in any team environment. If your team is plagued by toxic or negative leadership it might be opportunities for toxic leadership have been present and seized upon. This is where the quality of coach / player relationships comes into play.
A key aspect of leading is the ability to establish, develop and maintain relationships. This has been a primary focus in our Leadership Class sessions to date. I have asked our student athletes to summon up 20 seconds of courage when tasked with completing the interview sections in each chapter. I have asked them to step outside their comfort zones, introduce themselves to new people and conduct short interviews with these people. We have gone from blowing off these assignments entirely to interviewing parents to interviewing people in our extended families and finally tp interviewing people who are relative if not actual strangers before the interviews begin. The confidence being gained through this process, through these opportunities is palpable. So too is the transition from leading by example to being vocal leaders. Classroom participation has steadily improved. We have even had players volunteer to LEAD classroom sessions! Progress in the Process.
Wednesday
Ted. No, not the movie. Ted, A soccer coach.
I received a call from Ted recently. He was down in the dumps and thinking of getting out of coaching. I had been expecting this, but still wasn't fully prepared to discuss this with Ted. A little background may serve to bring things into focus for the purpose of this article.
I have known Ted for years. He was a very good high school player who went on to play in college. He was hired into a good school system, but one that did not allow first year teachers to coach. They wanted their teachers to get a foundation in the classroom before branching out into extra curricular activities. When the head soccer coach position came open a couple of years later Ted applied and ultimately was awarded the job.
Now, Ted is one of the most enthusiastic people I know. To say he was excited about this opportunity would be an understatement. He knew how he had been coached as a high school athlete and also how he had been coached at the college level. His intentions were to bring what he had learned as a college athlete to the high school level. He wanted to reverse engineer the college athlete and bridge the gap between levels of play. This is a notion I highly applauded as I believe too often high school athletes are under-coached in the sense that too little is asked of or expected from them. Even so, I cautioned Ted to be realistic. I counseled Ted to take stock of where the athletes were and then look to the vision he had for how they could play. In between the starting point and his vision was where all the work would need to take place.
All these grand ideas and an overflowing fountain of practical knowledge Ted wanted to share with the high school players never really came to fruition. Ted came away convinced high school players were incapable of what he was asking of them. In fact, Ted called because he was thinking of resigning from the high school position. He thought maybe he would be better at coaching college athletes. I called B.S. on this entire idea.
Let's back track just a bit. When Ted was contemplating becoming a high school coach and sharing his collegiate experience with younger players I applauded the notion. I also suggested Ted evaluate where the high school athletes were and where he wanted to take them. The process of progressing from point A to point B could then be defined. I think what happened with Ted was he noted what he wanted to change but didn't take into account all of the details of process that would be necessary to effect that change.
Another young high school coach told me last fall that my approach with club athletes would not work with a typical high school team. Again, I called B.S. on this theory. It has worked with a high school team. In fact, a high school team were my original "guinea pigs" for our current coaching methodology and system of play. I took a team that in 11 years had never had a winning season, was a sieve on defense and dominated on offensive by one player and turned them into a regional qualifier behind a strong defense and balanced scoring in our second season.
I did so in part by defining where the program / team / players were while knowing where I wanted to take them. From our starting point we built a foundation in all aspects of the game that allowed the transformation to take place. We worked on changing a losing culture into a winning one while simultaneously implementing gradual changes to how we played the game and most importantly how the game was thought. The critical element to this was empowering the athletes to make mistakes ... and learn from them. We did not pick apart their decision making process that led to mistakes. Rather, we challenged them to think differently, to find alternate solutions to the problems they encounter. And maybe most importantly in this regard was the possibility of redefining the problem or obstacle they encountered to allow for a broader spectrum of solutions to be entertained.
That first year was brutal for me as a coach. We lost games we should not of lost. Or more precisely, we lost games that first year that we easily won the second year. I was confident the transformation would take place while knowing the learning curve would be steep. This is where Ted is at this moment. His season was a difficult one for him. Progress did not come quickly enough. There was resistance to some of the changes he implemented. I don't think Ted realizes how close to a break through he might actually be with this high school team. I encouraged Ted to once again evaluate where the program is and where he wants to take it. Could he identify progress? Then once again identify a process to take the team from current point A to the point B he envisions for them.
When a process breaks down I have found one of the best solutions is to back track a bit. Identify the problem and then identify the problem for the team. Discuss it with the team. Break it down to the smallest detail and begin reconstructing what it is you want them to achieve. Build understanding right along side of technique and tactical application. Give them the small picture - all the little details - so they gain a fuller appreciation of the large picture or grand scheme of things through poise and confidence in the smaller setting.
For my teams, learning patience when playing out of pressure that we might be able to then counter with speed has been a focal point. When I first introduce the idea of being a counter attacking team everyone thinks "win the ball and go!" when there is actually so much more involved if it is to be done effectively and efficiently.
I think Ted is going to give it another go with the high school team. As we talked I could sense Ted beginning to understand he needed to define the process better not only for himself, but for the players as well. The proverbial wheels were churning and enthusiasm seemed to be creeping back in as well. For Ted the process seems back on track with a better appreciation or perhaps a deeper understanding of the necessity to TEACH the process of how to get from point A to point B. I am confident that should Ted stick with it, he will guide the program ever closer to his vision for it.
I have known Ted for years. He was a very good high school player who went on to play in college. He was hired into a good school system, but one that did not allow first year teachers to coach. They wanted their teachers to get a foundation in the classroom before branching out into extra curricular activities. When the head soccer coach position came open a couple of years later Ted applied and ultimately was awarded the job.
Now, Ted is one of the most enthusiastic people I know. To say he was excited about this opportunity would be an understatement. He knew how he had been coached as a high school athlete and also how he had been coached at the college level. His intentions were to bring what he had learned as a college athlete to the high school level. He wanted to reverse engineer the college athlete and bridge the gap between levels of play. This is a notion I highly applauded as I believe too often high school athletes are under-coached in the sense that too little is asked of or expected from them. Even so, I cautioned Ted to be realistic. I counseled Ted to take stock of where the athletes were and then look to the vision he had for how they could play. In between the starting point and his vision was where all the work would need to take place.
All these grand ideas and an overflowing fountain of practical knowledge Ted wanted to share with the high school players never really came to fruition. Ted came away convinced high school players were incapable of what he was asking of them. In fact, Ted called because he was thinking of resigning from the high school position. He thought maybe he would be better at coaching college athletes. I called B.S. on this entire idea.
Let's back track just a bit. When Ted was contemplating becoming a high school coach and sharing his collegiate experience with younger players I applauded the notion. I also suggested Ted evaluate where the high school athletes were and where he wanted to take them. The process of progressing from point A to point B could then be defined. I think what happened with Ted was he noted what he wanted to change but didn't take into account all of the details of process that would be necessary to effect that change.
Another young high school coach told me last fall that my approach with club athletes would not work with a typical high school team. Again, I called B.S. on this theory. It has worked with a high school team. In fact, a high school team were my original "guinea pigs" for our current coaching methodology and system of play. I took a team that in 11 years had never had a winning season, was a sieve on defense and dominated on offensive by one player and turned them into a regional qualifier behind a strong defense and balanced scoring in our second season.
I did so in part by defining where the program / team / players were while knowing where I wanted to take them. From our starting point we built a foundation in all aspects of the game that allowed the transformation to take place. We worked on changing a losing culture into a winning one while simultaneously implementing gradual changes to how we played the game and most importantly how the game was thought. The critical element to this was empowering the athletes to make mistakes ... and learn from them. We did not pick apart their decision making process that led to mistakes. Rather, we challenged them to think differently, to find alternate solutions to the problems they encounter. And maybe most importantly in this regard was the possibility of redefining the problem or obstacle they encountered to allow for a broader spectrum of solutions to be entertained.
That first year was brutal for me as a coach. We lost games we should not of lost. Or more precisely, we lost games that first year that we easily won the second year. I was confident the transformation would take place while knowing the learning curve would be steep. This is where Ted is at this moment. His season was a difficult one for him. Progress did not come quickly enough. There was resistance to some of the changes he implemented. I don't think Ted realizes how close to a break through he might actually be with this high school team. I encouraged Ted to once again evaluate where the program is and where he wants to take it. Could he identify progress? Then once again identify a process to take the team from current point A to the point B he envisions for them.
When a process breaks down I have found one of the best solutions is to back track a bit. Identify the problem and then identify the problem for the team. Discuss it with the team. Break it down to the smallest detail and begin reconstructing what it is you want them to achieve. Build understanding right along side of technique and tactical application. Give them the small picture - all the little details - so they gain a fuller appreciation of the large picture or grand scheme of things through poise and confidence in the smaller setting.
For my teams, learning patience when playing out of pressure that we might be able to then counter with speed has been a focal point. When I first introduce the idea of being a counter attacking team everyone thinks "win the ball and go!" when there is actually so much more involved if it is to be done effectively and efficiently.
I think Ted is going to give it another go with the high school team. As we talked I could sense Ted beginning to understand he needed to define the process better not only for himself, but for the players as well. The proverbial wheels were churning and enthusiasm seemed to be creeping back in as well. For Ted the process seems back on track with a better appreciation or perhaps a deeper understanding of the necessity to TEACH the process of how to get from point A to point B. I am confident that should Ted stick with it, he will guide the program ever closer to his vision for it.
Sunday
Liberty Center 10 Evergreen 0
I like to check in with the teams I conduct camp for during their regular seasons to see if what we worked on has translated to their games. Saturday morning found me making the trip to the Widewater Retreat Center to see the Lady Tigers of Liberty Center take on Evergreen Lady Vikings. I have conducted camp for Liberty Center the past two summers and was anxious to see if the progress made in camp would show itself in an actual game setting.
This is a young program, in their 4th year of varsity soccer, I believe. When I first camped with them in the summer of 2013 I found a group with little actual playing experience, but very eager and willing to learn. This summer I returned to find a group who had obviously worked hard under the guidance of head coach Billy Daniels.
The Tigers began the match in a 1-4-1-4-1 formation with striker Lexi Noll on top and attacking mid Candace Sayers in support. The Vikings countered with a 3-5-2 formation played a bit unconventionally with the center defender advanced of two outside backs split wide. This aggressive attacking formation put the Tigers back on their heels initially as Viking forwards broke through time and again. Great pursuit angles utilized by the defenders and outstanding play in goal provided by Libby Ball kept the Vikings off the scoreboard.
Beginning at about the 10 minute mark the Tigers were able to begin exploiting the center of the Vikings defense mixing in attacking flank play for variation. Once the first goal went in the Tigers pounced repeatedly on other scoring opportunities. I was pleased to see the ideas of penetration, depth, width and mobility in the Lady Tiger's attacking play. I was also pleased to see the sequences of two touch play we had worked on in evidence. Overall there was marked all round improvement from when I last saw the Liberty Center women play late last season.
While today's score was lopsided Evergreen had some good runs of play, especially early on. They threatened the Liberty Center goal on numerous occasions but just could not get one in. Coach Daniels slowed the attack early in the second half seemingly calling for the Tigers to work on their possession game before looking to go to goal. It was good to see the Vikings continue to work the full 80 minutes of play. That type of spirit will pay off as they build their program throughout this season.
Today's scorers were Candace Sayers and Lexi Noll each with a hat trick (3 goals a piece) while Courtney Taylor, Julianna Crockett, Davina Fredrick and Kris Keller each contributed a goal. Lexi Noll was also credited with 3 assists. Kirstin Daniels had 2 assists and Courtney Taylor 1. Libby Ball was credited with 11 saves and Lexi Noll with 2.
I am looking forward to returning to Liberty Center later on this season. Coach Billy Daniels and this young team are moving in the right direction in establishing a solid foundation to grow the program upon.
Best of Luck!
This is a young program, in their 4th year of varsity soccer, I believe. When I first camped with them in the summer of 2013 I found a group with little actual playing experience, but very eager and willing to learn. This summer I returned to find a group who had obviously worked hard under the guidance of head coach Billy Daniels.
The Tigers began the match in a 1-4-1-4-1 formation with striker Lexi Noll on top and attacking mid Candace Sayers in support. The Vikings countered with a 3-5-2 formation played a bit unconventionally with the center defender advanced of two outside backs split wide. This aggressive attacking formation put the Tigers back on their heels initially as Viking forwards broke through time and again. Great pursuit angles utilized by the defenders and outstanding play in goal provided by Libby Ball kept the Vikings off the scoreboard.
Beginning at about the 10 minute mark the Tigers were able to begin exploiting the center of the Vikings defense mixing in attacking flank play for variation. Once the first goal went in the Tigers pounced repeatedly on other scoring opportunities. I was pleased to see the ideas of penetration, depth, width and mobility in the Lady Tiger's attacking play. I was also pleased to see the sequences of two touch play we had worked on in evidence. Overall there was marked all round improvement from when I last saw the Liberty Center women play late last season.
While today's score was lopsided Evergreen had some good runs of play, especially early on. They threatened the Liberty Center goal on numerous occasions but just could not get one in. Coach Daniels slowed the attack early in the second half seemingly calling for the Tigers to work on their possession game before looking to go to goal. It was good to see the Vikings continue to work the full 80 minutes of play. That type of spirit will pay off as they build their program throughout this season.
Today's scorers were Candace Sayers and Lexi Noll each with a hat trick (3 goals a piece) while Courtney Taylor, Julianna Crockett, Davina Fredrick and Kris Keller each contributed a goal. Lexi Noll was also credited with 3 assists. Kirstin Daniels had 2 assists and Courtney Taylor 1. Libby Ball was credited with 11 saves and Lexi Noll with 2.
I am looking forward to returning to Liberty Center later on this season. Coach Billy Daniels and this young team are moving in the right direction in establishing a solid foundation to grow the program upon.
Best of Luck!
Thursday
Why?
When our son's were young and learning to think critically and write extended response answers my wife and I came up with a little call and response game to help them remember the questions that need answering when solving problems. It goes like this,
Call: Who?
Response: What?
Call: Where?
Response: When?
Call: How?
Response: Why?
Call: Because.
Response: I
Call: Love
Response: You
Okay, the last parts are obviously an expression of our family's love for one another, but the first parts are the key to problem solving. I share this with you today because a coach of a team I conducted camp for this summer asked me for help in identifying why his team struggled to possess the ball and build an attack.
Why?
In analyzing play most coaches can identify areas of the game their team struggles with. However, many coaches end up addressing symptoms of the problem they identify instead of focusing on the root cause of the problem.
For example, this particular team struggled mightily with their first touch. As we watched the film together their coach described to me how they worked on first touch constantly. One of the activities was to pair up facing one another with one person serving to the other. In this manner, they worked on every conceivable form of receiving or trapping the ball. Even though their technique was improving it didn't seem to be translating into better possession play in games.
I didn't have to wait :15 until I paused the film. What we saw was a perfect in-game example of the drill work he had just described to me. The technical execution of the first touch wasn't bad, but still possession was lost.
Why?
Anyone who has ever parented a toddler knows they typically go through a period of development that sees them ask "why?" constantly. It can drive the best of parents to the point of covering their ears and sing "la, la, la, la, la" to avoid having to hear the question repeated yet again.
We should all pay closer attention. Kids are way smarter than we give them credit for. In my opinion, "Why?" is the most important question we can ask in problem solving and a primary consideration when analyzing game film. From the mouths of children ...
The film showed one teammate passing the ball to another teammate at a distance of approximately 15 yards. The receiver was lightly guarded, the pass was to feet, weighted properly and accurate. So, why did this sequence of play result in a turnover? It was a text book example of the drill work they did in practice.
That was the problem.
The teammates, passer and receiver, were facing one another. This meant the options for play the receiver had, without turning into pressure on the reception, were in the general direction the ball had just come from. Why was the ball being passed to him in the first place? Because the passer was being pressured.
We discussed how the now identified problem could be solved. On the most basic level, what needed to be addressed was the receiver's preparation to play. There were other facets of play that would need to be addressed as well, but proper positioning to receive the ball was the first priority. How could the receiver have been better positioned to receive the pass?
By being sideways on and receiving the ball across his body to the back foot. This would position the receiver's hips open to the field of play and provide him with many more options for play while avoiding the one option for play most dangerous to his team - playing the ball back into the pressure it was just passed from. Receiving sideways on was the technical issue to address.
So, once we identified the problem and then identified why the problem existed, we were able to design a camp experience that would help equip the players to solve the problem. By the end of camp, the players were much improved in their possession play. Receiving sideways on was not the only correction we made in their play that week, but it was the starting point that we built all else upon.
Coaches, when analyzing play to identify problems remember to ask all the pertinent questions,
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
How?
And most especially, Why?
Knowing what to correct is not enough. You must identify why it must be corrected and then design a proper activity for how to correct it. Falling short in any of these areas might result in exasperating the problem more so then helping with it.
Call: Who?
Response: What?
Call: Where?
Response: When?
Call: How?
Response: Why?
Call: Because.
Response: I
Call: Love
Response: You
Okay, the last parts are obviously an expression of our family's love for one another, but the first parts are the key to problem solving. I share this with you today because a coach of a team I conducted camp for this summer asked me for help in identifying why his team struggled to possess the ball and build an attack.
Why?
In analyzing play most coaches can identify areas of the game their team struggles with. However, many coaches end up addressing symptoms of the problem they identify instead of focusing on the root cause of the problem.
For example, this particular team struggled mightily with their first touch. As we watched the film together their coach described to me how they worked on first touch constantly. One of the activities was to pair up facing one another with one person serving to the other. In this manner, they worked on every conceivable form of receiving or trapping the ball. Even though their technique was improving it didn't seem to be translating into better possession play in games.
I didn't have to wait :15 until I paused the film. What we saw was a perfect in-game example of the drill work he had just described to me. The technical execution of the first touch wasn't bad, but still possession was lost.
Why?
Anyone who has ever parented a toddler knows they typically go through a period of development that sees them ask "why?" constantly. It can drive the best of parents to the point of covering their ears and sing "la, la, la, la, la" to avoid having to hear the question repeated yet again.
We should all pay closer attention. Kids are way smarter than we give them credit for. In my opinion, "Why?" is the most important question we can ask in problem solving and a primary consideration when analyzing game film. From the mouths of children ...
The film showed one teammate passing the ball to another teammate at a distance of approximately 15 yards. The receiver was lightly guarded, the pass was to feet, weighted properly and accurate. So, why did this sequence of play result in a turnover? It was a text book example of the drill work they did in practice.
That was the problem.
The teammates, passer and receiver, were facing one another. This meant the options for play the receiver had, without turning into pressure on the reception, were in the general direction the ball had just come from. Why was the ball being passed to him in the first place? Because the passer was being pressured.
We discussed how the now identified problem could be solved. On the most basic level, what needed to be addressed was the receiver's preparation to play. There were other facets of play that would need to be addressed as well, but proper positioning to receive the ball was the first priority. How could the receiver have been better positioned to receive the pass?
By being sideways on and receiving the ball across his body to the back foot. This would position the receiver's hips open to the field of play and provide him with many more options for play while avoiding the one option for play most dangerous to his team - playing the ball back into the pressure it was just passed from. Receiving sideways on was the technical issue to address.
So, once we identified the problem and then identified why the problem existed, we were able to design a camp experience that would help equip the players to solve the problem. By the end of camp, the players were much improved in their possession play. Receiving sideways on was not the only correction we made in their play that week, but it was the starting point that we built all else upon.
Coaches, when analyzing play to identify problems remember to ask all the pertinent questions,
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
How?
And most especially, Why?
Knowing what to correct is not enough. You must identify why it must be corrected and then design a proper activity for how to correct it. Falling short in any of these areas might result in exasperating the problem more so then helping with it.
A PROCESS must be
EXPERIENCED before
a PRIZE can be WON!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)