Inspiring Today's Players
“Inspiring Today’s Players” by Tracey Leone addresses some of the challenges facing coaches in of youth sport today. The article offers suggestions on how to increase communication, motivation, accountability, and challenge. Below you will find an excerpt from Tracey’s Article.
Excerpts from
INSPIRING TODAY’S PLAYERS
By: Tracey Leone
“Coaching is about inspiring players.”
- April Heinrichs, Head Coach U.S. Women’s National Team.
The longer I have the honor of being in this wonderful field of coaching, the more I see the absolute truth of this philosophy.
Today’s Coaching Environment
There are different challenges today regarding inspiring players than there were generations ago. Just a short decade ago, the opportunities for players to play in soccer events and/or tournaments and on different teams in a variety of sports were not as readily available. Today, players can be seen running from one soccer team to another, from one sport to another, or from one tournament to another on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. The calendar used to be fairly empty of organized activities, and now, there isn’t enough room for everything.
 One benefit is the multitude of competitive opportunities offer invaluable experiences, both on personal and athletic levels. Decades ago, players were begging for this. The downfall, though, is that the balance has been tipped to the far extreme in that there is almost too much programming.
One of the negative effects of today’s sports environment is that players have become more dependent on the coach and having an organized, structured environment established for them. Rather than seeing a young boy or girl at a park, training by themselves or with a friend or group of friends playing pick-up soccer, most athletes are waiting for the coach to organize their training sessions. The tremendous opportunity for experience is being counter-balanced by the huge loss of creativity that can be gained by players setting up their own training regimen, spending time with the ball, and playing on their own. The ideal is a compromise, but this is a challenge we all face as we coach players today.
Meeting Today’s Challenges
So, how can one cope with today’s challenges and inspire their players to reach new heights?
Amidst all the ambition, the goals, and the areas to improve upon, the simple acts of smiling and laughing are critical. I think a team needs to know, without doubt, that the coach has an undying passion, love, and excitement for their team and for coaching, and that they enjoy meeting its challenges.
Coaching the Person
Along those lines, regardless of whether it’s males or females, or whether it’s a club team or a national team, players want to know that you care about them as people, students, and athletes. Examples of actions that exemplify this might include: phoning when a player is injured or has a rough day of practice; sending flowers and calling when a player has surgery or a family/friend illness has occurred; utilizing e-mail to the team or players to stay in touch, to share news about a teammate, to motivate them for their next game, or to brighten their day; being available and offering individual help for players before or after practices; and being in constant communication with them about areas in their lives outside of soccer.
Communication
Constant communication is important in every relationship, including that of the player-coach. I’ve already mentioned e-mail. Other types of meetings such as a short five-minute individual meeting on the day of the game can also be great avenues to improved dialogue
Of course, we all have our team meetings, where we set team goals, and at times, we also set game goals. Another tradition we had was to have a team meeting where we divided into small groups, and the players devised and eventually voted on a team motto, such as “USA: Unity, Strength, Attitude. In it to win it.”
Providing Player Challenges
I think one of the greatest ways to inspire today’s players is to challenge them. It’s important that the coach spends time organizing varied practice sessions that move and flow and are generally an enjoyable hour and a half to two hours in duration. For youngsters, these might only be an hour. I don’t believe in a lot of standing around. The player’s run to water and back and then the next exercise begins.
Tournament Competitions
Another wonderful coaching instrument that should be implemented often is organizing tournaments. A coach can stage a variety of tournaments. With the U19 National Team we organized what we called “Competition Days.” The coaches picked two or four teams (however many they’d like), and the whole session is devoted to competing in pre-determined games – some technical, some tactical, some problem-solving, some small-sided – where you conclude by identifying a winner. The players are in charge of their own teams. These proved to be the U19 National Team players’ favorite days of training.
Setting Standards
One of the highest rewards of competition is that you and your team establish standards. In my opinion, setting, meeting, and raising standards is critical for a development of a team and individuals. Without standards, you have nothing to shoot for and no measure of where you are and where you want to be. Standards also challenge and motivate players. The balance of being positive and demanding has to be found, and when it is, you will inspire your players to reach the next performance level.
Accountability
In regards to challenging today’s players and developing standards, the fostering of accountability amongst players can help as a collective motivational tool. If I were a youth coach, I would require every player to bring a ball and a water jug to every practice. This is a beginning. Another way to teach responsibility is to give the players “homework” and “test” them.
|
