My brother is coaching!!!

I found out this weekend my brother Anthony is helping to coach the U9 boys for nearby Pelham Soccer Club.  His youngest son was on that team last year.  His oldest son will be U10.

Anthony is a very intelligent and personable man.  He has a lot of experience dealing with people and being organized.  His playing days are over after a knee injury during one of our adult games last summer and he required a bit of minor surgery for that.

Anthony has played youth travel, high school and adult league soccer.  He was also a respected basketball player in Welland and played hoops well into adulthood as well.

He was a little slow growing and his presence on the field was hit and miss but he was effective when he had the ball.  He then grew into his present self starting in Grade 7 and is now 6'1".  The last half of his youth days and into adulthood, he was a tough defender with good vision.  Hopefully he adopts a desire to engage in some form of coaching education.

As a side note, the other assistant on that team is his central defending partner on our Adult team for many years, Pat.  The two of them made a fearsome pair in front of our goal. 

Anthony is going to make a good coach and I am excited to see how he does.

OSA's LTPD link

The OSA has a link to access their information on Long Term Player Development.  The "Parents Frequently Asked Questions" section is very well done.  Check it out.

The questions I am fielding about LTPD are incredible.  Some are informed and detailed questions, but others are rooted in conspiracy theories and deep suspicion.  I am not sure why, but that's what I am finding.

The biggest surprise for me are new Canadians who are involved in soccer who start every sentence with "Back in my country...".  Well, this is what they are doing back in your country, we just had to give it a name so it could be implemented.

People are wary of change and that's understandable.   Here is what everybody can agree on:

1. Coaches of entry level players are unsure of what to do with these young players.
2. A lot of player quit soccer by the time they are 14 years old.  
3. The path to the top level of play is confusing, and being made moreso by the arrival of more independent leagues.
4. For the number of players we have playing the game, we aren't very good at it on a national level, nor do we produce many professionals.

Do your players trust you?

There is a side to trust that I don't understand.  If players do not trust a coach, why do they stay?

What I am referring to is not a level of trust where you are revered like a cult leader.  That is not healthy.  I am referring to a healthy working relationship.

I can honestly say that parents/players have trusted me for the most part over all these years and they've stuck around.  And they made the right decision.   I've had a few that didn't trust me and left.  And they made the right decision too.
 
Should a parent expect their child to have a coach they can trust?  YES!  Learning something new requires players to step out of their comfort zone for a short while.  If they do not feel the environment will allow them to safely expose themselves while learning, they will never develop.  By "safely exposing" I mean putting themselves in a position where they might make a mistake and receive constructive encouragement and feedback to achieve success.  An environment that eliminates the fear of failure is what you want.

A player who trusts you will work harder and extend themselves into areas unknown with less apprehension.  If you have a team of players who trust you and they all work harder and support each other ... guess what?

What are your motives when you coach?  Do the players believe what you say and believe IN what you say?

There is another aspect to being a trusted coach.  Are your assistants comfortable supporting your philosophies at training and games?  Is your club comfortable referring prospective players to you or defending you?  Are your parents comfortable referring you to other parents?

What if somebody shows doubt?  Is that a lack of trust?  I say NO.  People will have doubts, but every time you prove the doubt wrong you raise the level of trust.

Put the soccer, sports and coaching aside for a second.  Think of what it does to a child's impression of the world every time they meet an adult they can't trust.  If you coach at school and are trusted, think of what it does for a student's receptiveness in class if they discover that their teachers are trustworthy. 

For me, I need players and parents to trust me.  I've converted struggling players to positions where they excelled well into adulthood.  I've made some mistakes, but not enough to lose trust and confidence in myself when trying to help players succeed.  I've had 2 teams in 24 seasons where the group, as a whole, did not trust me and I removed myself at the end of the season.  There was no friction or broken relationships, but there was not a sufficient level of trust either.

My goal is simple: I want every player to have success in soccer when they play outside of my program (school soccer, high school, winter league, college/university, adult, another club or as a guest player).  I need players to believe that is my motive when I try things to make them more successful as an individual.

Why is trust important?

• For your program to supported by club/community
• For your program to be supported by parents
• To keep players interested in coming
• To lower as many of the players' learning barriers as possible
• To make coaching more enjoyable

What builds trust?

• Share your philosophy 
• Staying true to your philosophy
• Communicate and answer questions promptly
• Be empathetic
• Be organized
• Make sure everything you do is for the players' benefit
• Be sincere in your willingness to adjust for the betterment of the players
• Be prompt in supplying information to stakeholders  (players/club/league/parents)

Every coach needs to ask themselves "Do the players trust me?" If not, why not?

U10 Boys - Coach John at it again

Our second team coach, Coach John, is also coaching the U10 boys.  It's enjoyable watching/hearing him think his way through doing this a second time.  We talk about his new adventure all the time and I like how he is approaching the season.  Get as many players as many minutes as possible ensuring they are all moving in the same direction.

John is an elementary school teacher and has a good handle on young athletes.  He is a well known goalkeeper and has played local club and University level soccer.  It's a small world because John played with my brother in their youth club days.

John has been with the 1999 boys since we started their program at U9 (his fifth year).

The 2002 boys team experienced a coaching change this season with Coach John going from the parent side to the bench.  Last year's coach took his boys to another club in another city.

Hopefully the 2002 parents understand that John has been through this process already and they trust him to do what he feels will make them all better players. 

It's difficult having Coach John as the 1999 second team coach.  The boys really like him and some are A-OK with being on the second team, even if we select them for the first team.  That is a tongue-in-cheek comment as it only cements his reputation as a good guy and good coach.  Some parents left last year because they felt he wasn't coaching with enough venom, going for the "big win".  I hope they found what they were looking for.  Be careful what you wish for ... because you might get it.

I hope John has a fun season with his new team.  It's a great age-group to coach and I look forward to watching their progress.

As a side note, Coach John and his sons have EXCELLENT soccer hair.  You can't coach that.

U13 - Week off after tryouts

After running tryouts for 5 weeks we decided to give the boys a week off.  The season starts the last week of May, tryouts are over, a lot of boys have hockey playoffs and basketball tournaments so we thought a break would not hurt anybody.

To be honest, I am always emotionally drained after the tryout process and the break isn't hurting me either.

Our first and second team will train together when possible and we will use those sessions to work on individual skills.  I think our first few sessions will be just our team so they can get a feel for the group.