I'm a big fan of Players Tribune series of articles called "Letter to my younger self" . I've read them all and there are many thoughts expressed in these publications to which I can really relate. For those of you reading this post who are not familiar with the series, take the time to google it and read through them. In essence the articles are by selected athletes in different sports sharing thoughts and knowledge acquired over time that they share with a younger version of themselves. There is a varied cross section of athletes that I think any sports fan can find one or some they will enjoy.
In my own case, the recent months as I've sought out topics to blog about, has made reflect on my coaching career and involvement in sport through a new perspective. I've shared about this on various occasions but I thought to myself " what would I tell a younger Jorge given the chance " . So here is my attempt ..... in the spirit of " A letter to my younger self ". Dear 25 year old Jorge You've been asked by your friend and former teammate Dave if you could be his assistant coach with Lakeshore's Sr women's soccer team. He figures you know and are friends with most of the players, not to mention your fiancé plays on the team so being the coach might be weird but being just the assistant will help him without making it awkward. It's 1991 and women's soccer isn't yet big or mainstream but trust me it will grow. It will become an Olympic sport, World Cups will take place, games will be televised and some players might even become professionals. You know you love the sport and you attend so many of the team's games, so don't even hesitate saying yes. There will be a day when coaching soccer will be a big part of your life and who you are to the point that you can't imagine not being a coach. You know the game and as a player you've worked hard for everything you've earned. However coaching is very different. Be confident in your knowledge but humble in your actions. Don't defer to anyone but seek out and listen to those that can help you learn the craft of coaching. Some will tell you that you aren't coaching real soccer or that you coach women because you aren't coaching good enough to coach men. You are going to hear sexist comments about being lucky to coach sexy women athletes , sweaty in shorts. Don't be afraid to answer back. You are at the beginning of something new, part of the growth of women's sport in general and soccer specifically.. Be confident , be bold and stay true to yourself but always making sure you are creating a positive and rewarding environment for your athletes. Coaching soccer is going to provide you with some exciting experiences and some frustrating moments. Don't let the highs cloud your focus on improving yourself and always seeking to give your players the best of experiences and don't let the lows make you forget your love of the game and motivation to continue. Take nothing for granted and understand that while you are perhaps helping pave the way for the growth of women's soccer, it existed before you and will continue to exist once you are done. As your experience accumulates and confidence in your coaching ability increases you are going to realize there is a bigger picture in play but never forget you remain a male involved in female sport. Regardless of any bias or stereotyping you will come across you can never fully understand what it is to be a female and experience it firsthand. Fight for what you believe, coach with respect for your players and never lose sight that without players , there is no need for coaches. They don't exist for you, you are there for them. Share your passion for the game, lead by example and accept that some of your players won't understand your decisions or even like you very much. You can only do your best. As you move through your coaching career, the reasons you stay involved will change, you are going to become invested in something really important to you and I implore you to be a positive influence and role model for your athletes. The efforts you make might help them beyond the playing field. Enjoy the ride my younger self , it's going to be fun, challenging , frustrating , rewarding , tiring , disappointing and so much more both good and bad. As for the fiancé you currently coach, she's going to be alongside you during your coaching so don't take her for granted and always make time for her Enjoy
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The news in recent days is full of stories about professional athletes using their platform and audience to bring attention to certain situations going on in present day society. It has taken on a significant wide reaching place in news coverage and discussions. Sports has always been involved in pushing for social change and unifying people of different beliefs, backgrounds, nationalities etc.
Sports has also been very involved in community outreach and supporting charities and organizations. Many professional athletes have foundations or organizations whose aim is to raise funds for causes they believe in. This is also the situation with many professional teams and leagues. On a personal note, I am a huge supporter of the Right to Play and have supported them in various fashions in past years. Today's blog topic is motivated for our game from this past Friday. For the 12th straight year, we held a game in memory of Erica Cadieux, a former Stinger soccer player who was killed when hit by a car while walking her daughters along the Lakeshore. The game initially started as former teammates and friends of hers asked the athletics department if we could hold a game in her name and collect donations and gifts for the Montreal Children's Hospital. The event started out as a way for family and friends to come together to celebrate Erica's life anchored around something she was very proud about, being a student-athlete. We certainly didn't plan to make it an annual event but it has remained and become a staple of our season. The friends who initially suggested the game have moved away but the game continues. Each fall the family returns to the field to remember Erica and collect donations in her name. This year was the first that her daughters who moved away to Ontario with their father were unable to attend. Few of the players on the team today were even born when Erica Cadieux wore the maroon and gold but each year, they take pride in raising money to purchase gifts for the children and our team leaders reach out to captain from other Stingers teams to collect donations. It truly is a team effort in the real sense of the word. This year's event had an added caché to it as we held an alumni reception. Thirty or so former players returned to Concordia to reconnect with teammates and interact with current members of the team. It was a great evening with close to $1200 raised in donations and gifts. It is a small gesture in athletes going beyond play on the field and actively participating in community support but it shows how sports can reach out and play their part. The benefits of youth sports are numerous. Kids and young adults learn the value of hard work, the importance of improvement, how to win and lose graciously, and how athletic pursuits can also be fun. A couple hours every week participating in a sport can lead to skills that translate into every aspect of a person’s life in adulthood.One amazing benefit that is often overlooked is that youth sports generally turn kids into better citizens, more willing to volunteer to their communities. Study after study has shown this correlation, not just for high school or university student-athletes, but for younger children as well. Rather than wait for this spirit of volunteerism to emerge later in life, team sports can provide community outreach opportunities for their teams and players. The skills players can learn from these efforts are extraordinary. Plenty of outreach opportunities outside leagues are available for teams and players. Many of the other Stingers teams participate in activities planned to provide support for great causes, anything for our annual shoot for the cure activities, pitching in at shelters, reaching out to high school and elementary schools and so much more. ports promote teamwork, but adding a community outreach opportunity takes that teamwork to another level. Many rosters are filled with players who do not interact with each other outside of practices and games; sure, you might have a few kids who are friends on the same team, but rarely is a team a whole group of friends outside the sport. Volunteer events give these teams a chance to work together and interact without worrying about drills and final scores. Friendships are strengthened—perhaps into relationships that last beyond the season and beyond their years playing sports. As already stated, a great benefit of youth sports are the life skills that are imparted upon players. Volunteering also imparts life skills as well—that working toward the well-being of others is worthwhile, that community is important, that sacrificing time and energy for seemingly nothing return is a valuable experience, and so on. Connecting both creates wisdom that is normally not seen in kids, who learn the value of hard work not only for themselves, but also for their teammates, their league, and their community. Moreover, community outreach can lead to fantastic memories as wonderful as, hopefully, the actual sport will. So anytime you see athletes and more importantly ( shameless plug) student-athletes being involved in community outreach and fundraising activities to support different organizations, take the time to support them. One of the most important jobs as a coach is to develop and foster a team culture. This culture, or identity, is really the foundation of all effective teams. As a coach this culture is your vision or philosophy put into action. As you think back to teams on which you have coached or played, the team culture probably was a main ingredient in your success or failure. So, what are some ideas for developing an effective team culture?
Once a team identity has been established, make sure the players are on board and can actively and continually participate to maintaining the identity. Your athletes will always be the best communicators of a positive team culture. It will draw others to the group and maintain the standards of performance that you wish to reach as a coach. Anyone who might be following our results and standings might see that we have had a tough start to the season. After 4 games, we sit tied for last with a record of 2 ties and 2 losses. What makes the start of the season seem worse than it actually is, happens to be the fact that our two losses came back to back this past weekend, both by 3-0 final scores. However, the reality is that we played the two top teams in our conference and one that is arguably the best team in the country and has been for the last 3 years. Regardless of our current record, the reality is that 4 points separate 3rd from 8th. A run of good results will move us quickly into playoff contention but the challenge is now how to rebound from the two losses and regroup in time for our game this Friday. There are ten games remaining with plenty of points on the table and realistic chances to go grab them if the results by and between the teams directly ahead of us are any indication.
We can't change anything about any of the first 4 games but yet players will always look back and think about missed opportunity, errors they made, try and find explanation and sometimes fault with other as to why things didn't go the way. This is where coaching comes in, yes the players need to focus, but players will take a cue from how the coaches deal with the loss(es) and how they prepare moving forward. The most important thing to remember when handling a loss is that you have to be very careful. Choose your words and actions wisely because if you handle a loss poorly then you could easily lose respect from the team. For example, do not reprimand or punish the team if their heart was in the game and they do not deserve to be punished. Losses are a big part of the game so dealing with them appropriately is really important. The worst thing you can do is to overreact. People are very reactionary, so coaches must never react spontaneously. After a big loss all coaches should have a cooling - off period. When we bring too much emotion into the game we have a tendency to make bad decisions. So, as a coach, if you are feeling emotional after the game, then take the time to analyze the game, maybe watch game film and discuss with your assistants. Try to figure out where the mistakes came from and how different mistakes might have impacted the game or result. There are situations that are always very evident as to their impact on a game, a missed breakaway, a goalie blunder that causes a goal, however there are often more subtle, harder to detect mistakes which although they might have had led directly to a goal or missed goal, they might just have a significant impact on their own. If the mistakes were mostly physical, those can easily be corrected. For example, defensive errors, placement of players, errors of technical execution etc. These errors you can work on in practice. It’s the mental errors, the lack of hustle that typically hurt more than physical errors. I recommend that these be addressed in a classroom manner. You can do this by dissecting film, having a tactical walk through where the players discuss the game and provide their perception of what happened, what worked and didn't. As a coach you might know the answers but in order to get buy in from the team, it is important that they see it for themselves. If there is a lack of desire to win then that is the rotten apple that can spoil the bunch. It is important to really take control of those issues before they get out of hand. With this in mind, it is crucial that you pay attention to whether or not they were focused and their heart was in the game. If your players were invested in the game you must make sure you do not berate or discourage them. This could make them lose their confidence. A team lacking confidence or trying to find their identity will never be a successful team. One thing that is crucial is not to dwell on past games, use them to identify what needs to be worked on and corrected but focus on what lies ahead, Each new game is a new chance to perform up to potential, to rebuild confidence and achieve short term goals. As a coach, it is important to ensure that they players buy into the plan. Make them invest their efforts into finding the solution, demand their accountability for their part of the solution but as a coach, best to lead from the front than push from the back. eI have previous written about how I got into coaching and my progress through the various teams and environments, as well as the importance it holds in my life and has held in my own personal development. I want go into those aspects again but I do invite anyone scrolling through this article to visit earlier posts to know a little more about me if you haven't read them previously.
I have had the privilege of coaching in the sport I love for almost 30 years. Looking back, it doesn't matter how I got into coaching, it is just a great outcome that I did. With every different team or level I have coached at, the position came with expectations and responsibilities. With hindsight and with the benefit of experience and a greater sense of self-awareness, I can honestly say that I probably did not fully appreciate all the responsibilities that came with being a coach of teenagers or young adults. I covered this topic from the point of view of advocated for women's soccer and the who idea of eliminating gender bias and pushing for more substantial gender equity, but these are larger picture and philosophical issues and it is important to remember the impact that a coach can have directly on the athletes right in front of you. As I enter my 16th year at Concordia, working with student-athletes transitioning from teenagers to young adults and beyond, I try and keep in mind that while my role is to coach them as soccer players, my actions and the way I interact with them, can impact their lives in different ways. Coaching is so much more than teaching student athletes how to play a sport, it’s also an opportunity to help develop a young person’s character. I can’t think of more important work than someone influencing young people, The influence that we can sometimes have on our athletes is exponential. because it’s meaningful and has a huge impact. How we contribute to an individuals development can lead to how they in the future as they progress through their lives, will interact with others and hopefully might motivate them to give back. As coaches, we get to share a passion about using the games we love to make a significant difference in the lives of others by hopefully teaching our athletes to be responsible and dedicated individuals who have the tools to make good life decisions and excel in whatever endeavors they pursue. We can use sports to teach leadership, perseverance, diligence, determination, and build character and confidence. Coaching is about helping young people be something more than what they think they can become. It’s about building human beings and helping young people become better citizens. Coaching while for many can't be a profession, on my opinion is definitely a vocation. If you lose sight of the privilege you have in being able to coach, when it becomes about you and your success and not about the athletes you are tasked with leading, then is it time to move on. Now, at this point, let me interject a moment of reality and clarity. If someone were to poll all the athletes that I have come in contact with during my time at Concordia, I am quite sure that you would get a varying degree of feedback as to the impact or perceived impact each of them feel that I had on their lives. It would be easy to dismiss their opinions under the guise that they it was all on them, that they didn't understand the opportunity and privilege they were getting etc. However the reality is that like with any type of interpersonal interactions, it can happen that two people simply don't connect. Yes of course, some of the student-athlete's frustration stem from the frustration of not feeling they got sufficient playing time, or were recognized for their true ability but the fact is that the student-athlete experience is not always a positive one for everyone. As a coach and as a person, I am always disappointed when I see someone that has been a member of the team, quit before they graduate or even if they remain a student-athlete throughout their university years, leave with a feeling of frustration or sense of having wasted their time. Of course we always hope that everyone we have the chance to coach, loves the experience, thinks we have a great positive impact on them and most important is convinced that we have given them tools that will help them be successful in the next chapters of their lives. However, reality is that we can't please everyone. As coaches, we can only do what we feel is best, but should always been open to adapting and changing. Even after 27 years in coaching, I am always open to new ideas, new ways of interacting with my athletes. The good news is that often, years after they have moved on, when I have had the chance to cross paths with former athletes and they have had some life experiences away from the sport and university, many have overcome their resentment or disappointment and luckily in many cases they realize with hindsight that it wasn't as bad as they believed.... it happens, but there remain those that are still bitter and always will be. When I took my first coaching certification course, they instructors first words to the group were " remember, without athletes, there is no need for coaches, you are there for them, not the reverse. You will need to adapt your ways to their needs" . These are words that I have tried ( sometimes successfully sometimes not so much ) to guide my actions by. As I get older and the age gap between myself and my athletes continues to grow, I need to be very aware that things chance, expectations and behaviors today are very different than when I was in university and it is important that as coach I make sure to keep the environment around the team relevant, motivating and relate-able for the athletes. Thinking that athletes should follow the coach simply because he or she is the coach is a recipe for failure. My time as a coach is coming to and end, I still love it but realize that the years are numbered. All I can do is remain true to myself, offer the student-athletes the best possible experience and hope it provides them with something they can take with them into the rest of their lives. Today marks the start of the second week of university for students across the country. As frosh week activities subside and class work and assigned readings ramp up, students will start to feel the grind of university studies. Being a university student on its own is a huge challenge and burden. There is the actual academic demands of course but other issues like cost, meeting new people, bigger class sizes than they are used to and in many cases having to take on part time work to pay for school. Add the challenge for those students who leave home at 18 or 19 to start university, being away from family and friends, living on their own even if it is a residence, and in the case of students from outside Quebec, coming to a province where the language and culture is completely different. All this would be a tough undertaking for anyone, but now add the extra commitments involved with being a student-athlete and the task is huge. Ironically, many of the student-athletes I have coached over the years have often said that they actually find is easier to time-manage themselves during the competitive season once classes start. They put together a routine where every task is slotted in and the chance to procrastinate is reduced. Classes also mean a reduced training schedule as what they face during training camp.
What is your perception of a university student-athlete? For some, for some, student-athletes are seen a privileged, receiving scholarships and support that only the athletes get, are entitled and receive unearned benefits because of their status, and overall popular. Of course their is a significant difference when we compare the US university sports model and the one in Canada. For the major US sports ( primarily football and basketball) these student-athletes are in many cases professional athletes going to school but that is not the case for the majority of student-athletes whether in the US or Canada. Of course in Canada, the coverage and investment of sports is no where at the same level as our southern neighbors. Football and hockey do get more coverage than the others but overall, many student-athletes go unnoticed and yet the commitment level that is required to succeed in balancing academics and sport are enormous. What many don’t often see is the undercover struggle of the student-athlete. The attitudes from professors when many classes have been missed due to practice and competition schedules, the constant demands from coaches and parents, the strain of trying to be everything to everyone and not knowing who to confide in when things get tough, and the fluctuations in self-esteem when injuries (emotional or physical) as identity has been formed primarily around sport participation. This post isn't meant to have anyone feel “badly” for student-athletes. They have a great privilege to be able to play a sport that they are likely passionate about and receive certain benefits and privilege that is not available to the general student population. However, the person behind the title of “student-athlete” can sometimes be forgotten, dismissed, and invisible. This is the person who is often hiding behind a curtain of their title and sport, and who is sometimes afraid to come out to say they are tired, depressed, anxious, and don’t know how they can go on. These are the athletes that need help, yet sometimes are hesitant to share their feelings and do not know who to reach out to. All this is sometimes made worse by the perceptions and stereotypes that people not fully familiar with university athletics have which leads to certain judgements being made. When we see student-athletes on the playing field, we need to remember that they are human beings. Athletes from any team can come a very varying background, from big cities to smaller rural areas. Most have been the best athletes among their peer groups but as they step up to another level, they might now being lower on the pecking order which can play with their self-esteem. We need to see them for the performer that they are, but also the human that is underneath their cloak of player, athlete, and teammate. The modern student-athlete is struggling because living up to the expectations around them is all consuming and exhausting with little preparation spent on how to manage academic and sport demands at a high level. The university years are a challenging time for someone not participating in sport as I mentioned above, add all the additional factors that might be happening in their lives and it can get overwhelming all the best of times. The life stages of separation and individuation are occurring, and for some, they have never been “on their own” before. Some may have struggled in academics prior to university, and now with the demands of athletic participation, they are struggling even more (though there are resources for many athletes that are assisting with this type of support). There is also body image concerns. For the average female student, they might experience dissonance when they do not meet the standards of our society prescribed thin-ideal. For athletes, there is an additional “ideal” called the “sport body ideal”. Thus, student athletes feel pressure to maintain a body type that can sometimes be ideal for their sport, but it may be opposite of the culturally prescribed thin ideal. This enhances body dissatisfaction places these athletes at an increased risk for body image disturbances and disordered eating patterns. Finally, there are also team and coach pressures. Conforming to team and coach demands can feel threatening because your team is your family, and there is little room to go against spoken (and unspoken) standards. While some pressures can be positive, other pressures can feel as though you have no control and no choices, both of which can make an athlete feel depressed, hopeless, and stuck. I am but one cog in the huge wheel of university student-athletics. I try to manage my teams and athletes prescribing to certain fundamental principles that are both consistent with my personal beliefs but withing university and Usport policy. As I enter my 16th year of coaching at university, there are a few constants I feel are important to helping student-athletes succeed. 1. Recognize the student-athlete as a HUMAN first and student-athlete second. When there are messages that you care about the person for who they are (and not how they have performed or not performed), they will be likely to compete better, stronger, and with less burnout. They will also be more likely to feel like they can share if they have struggles and get support with whatever they might be dealing with because they know others have their back and truly want what is best for them, even if this means having conversation about dropping out of sport. 2. Develop interests outside of sport. For many of the athletes I have worked with, they have spent many years perfecting their sport, investing massive amounts of time and energy to develop, refine, and excel in their sport. As more and more time is invested (from the athlete and their families), their identity has become completely immersed with their sport participation. Then, when something occurs (injury or otherwise), the athlete significantly struggles because they feel like they have lost everything. It is important to remind the athletes that there is more to live than just the sport. That playing the sport they have loved since childhood should be a compliment to their lives and not a burden. They should seek a balance with other interests so that the athlete does not feel like their world is falling apart when something happens on or off the field. In the end, the sport is a game and by definition, games should be fun. 3. Encourage your student-athlete to flex their creativity muscle. Many student-athletes feel pressure to conform to expectations about what they should major in prior to school (some of it parent-guided) and start down a path that takes them to this end goal. The problem is that their end goal is not always what they want. Start conversations early and set up opportunities (if possible) to evaluate and check out other careers that could be fulfilling even if it is different than what you want from them. Have them daydream what would be fun and lead with a “why not” attitude versus a “that won’t work” attitude. Allowing them expand their horizons and get out of their comfort levels might also actually make them better athletes. It permits them to problem solve situations as they arrive. 4. Be realistic about post athletics career reality. Many athletes often think their dream job is to be a professional player in their respective sport. The reality is that VERY FEW will actually get to this level. If not pursuing their sport as a pro, they feel they will continue to play for many years after they finish university. Not that we want to dismiss dreams, but we need to be realistic and have some back-up plans in mind as early as possible. Planning ahead will help buffer some disappointment when there could be a recognition playing at that the university could be the peak of their athletic careers and that life may take a different path once they start working. Remember, they are student-athletes. There is a reason the student comes first, the time they put into their studies with have longer lasting benefits than the sport... at least in the case of the majority. 5. Address mental health concerns. When we don’t normalize the experience of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and other mental health concerns, we are not giving them PERMISSION to talk about it either. Try to normalize the experience of going to university, playing on a team, and the reality that there can be huge pressures. If they have excessive worries, sadness, low self-worth, body image concerns, or disordered eating, IT IS OK. Just know that they can get help and people all around them truly care for their well-being (again, outside of their status as an athlete). 6. Set up systems. This is probably one of the most important parts I want to share about protecting our athletes. It is important that the student-athletes know what resources are available to them. It is important for them to know that they can reach out for help as needed and that if you don't have the answer, you will work to find it for them. Too often, an athlete feels embarrassed, doesn’t know who to talk to, or is afraid that it will “look bad” if anyone finds out they need help. This is not the sentiment we want to send and this primary message about mental health acceptance needs to come from the top. Licensed and qualified support staff should be readily available and systems should be in place to be able to take care of student-athletes, no matter how big an athletic department or university. 7. Create injury support groups. Many athletes who become injured feel depressed and anxious once they become injured, and feel very lonely and isolated from their team. IAnd within the school systems, make sure there are appropriate resources for the athletes so they know they have people they can talk to about their injuries, both during and after. Many Sport Psychologists use mental skills training that can facilitate the emotional healing of the injury that empowers the athletes, gives them tools to thrive when they feel the most out of control, and provides them with connection with others who understand. 8. Normalize and embrace mental health. When we don’t talk about mental health, adjustment, and performance pressures, we do not give our athletes permission to ACCEPT and express themselves when they struggle. This is not OK. If we are not advocating for them, who will be? Overall, the experience of the student-athlete can be an amazing one, full of excitement and success. But, we also need to remember that they are just young adults living an experience that is not common to the majority around them, who need support and are not always likely to ask for it. If we are not looking out for and taking responsibility their best interests, who will? This mornings post is in large part motivated by the results of our first two games and the reality involved with being a student-athlete.
In terms of the realities, last night the team traveled to play Bishops University, located close to 2 hours away from Montreal for those unfamiliar with the school. It was a Thursday evening, players rushing to the departure point from class, we had an 8.15 pm kick-off and made it back to the athletic complex for 12.30 am. Most players probably didn't get home until 1am or later and many have school or work this morning. On top of this, they will be expected back on the training ground this evening for practice. In terms of our first two games, both ended in ties, but both have a very different feel to them. Last week we scored late to salvage a tie against a team that finished two spots above us last year. We could say we deserved the tie and maybe more but the fact was we left the field feeling good about our effort. Last night, we tied again, against a team that while very improved, has finished last for a few years running. We played well enough to win, had a significant amount of chances but in the end walk off the field not thinking about the point we got, but rather the two we left behind. High performance sport is a lot like life – full of ups and downs. When an individual chooses to be an elite athlete, or a peak performer, they must accept that not every day is a going to work out as they planned. You can't win championships each time you play in a competition. The reality if that there are going to be disappointments, whether via a disappointing result, a tough training session, or simply the physical and mental fatigue that every high level athlete experiences. The measure of a great performer is how they can respond to these disappointments or downs. The relationship between sport achievement and coping is one of the biggest mental challenges every athlete will face. When an athlete is looking for consistency in results, it starts in their mindset and how they approach each activity related to their sport. For every high performance individual, sport is not all about medals, cups and wins, it comes with early morning training sessions, intense testing, strict diets, excruciating workouts, and a totally committed lifestyle. If they can train like they want to compete with a similar, consistent effort each day mentally and physically they will achieve consistency. Temporary letdowns are normal. An athlete has to be to accept the reality that life and sports have peaks and valleys. Successful athletes need to develop a coping mechanism that will allow them to work through the setbacks, grow from them, learn from them and make adjustments where necessary. Staying focused on the goals and taking a longer view will allow athletes to seethe letdowns within the context of them being a step towards success and the opportunity to learn, rather then a roadblock. I've attending many coaching clinics and symposiums, been fortunate to listen some great speakers in the sports field from coaches to motivators to sports psychologists share their views on what helps high performance athletes succeed and what makes the champions stand out for the simple competitors. While the messages are sometimes different, the basic principles are usually quite consistent. Pretty much everyone to some degree feels these are the keys to sustained success. In order to improve performance based thinking athletes should focus on; 1. Learn from the "downs" Do not over-analyze because it is the past outcomes cannot be changed, but identify the things that let to the disappointing outcome within their control and make those adjustments 2. Check your performance emotions Anxiety is part of sport but it will interfere with what the “low anxiety, habitually trained body” naturally knows what to do The movement patterns of an anxious athlete are different, ie) increased heart rate, increased muscle tension and respiration Use breathing and relaxation techniques to get you back to an Ideal Performance State. Learn to train as they want to compete Anger and fear can creep in but they have no place in competition! 3. REPEAT ! – this is the recipe for success Review what has worked before, the ups, relive the great performances and repeat that experience 4. Concentration and focus will mitigate the ups and downs. By concentrating and focusing on what they have trained to do you will limit distractions and negative thoughts. Concentrating and focusing will help you stay in the moment and avoid outcome based thinking At the end of the day any athlete can only deliver their best performance that day and even then this does not guarantee a great result. No elite performer gets up on the day of a competition to lose and yet it happens at every level, so the important thing is to ensure the athletes focus on what is within their control, trust their training, make the most of the opportunity and attempt to deliver a performance to their potential. It is often said that a competitive season needs to be viewed as marathon, it isn't have you start, and you can't go a top speed the entire time. The important thing is to ensure that you are performing at optimal levels when its needed and that you are in a good position to give yourself the chance to win in the end. The university soccer season with it's condensed schedule is often like running a middle distance race with almost sprinters effort if I am to use the same metaphor. The turnaround time between a game and the next one is often short, with no time to recover, review performances, adjust game plans etc. This is why how the team prepares, how we as coaches manage the athlete's efforts but also their reactions to highs and lows throughout the season become highly relevant. As a coach, I could have spoken to the team yesterday and pointed out all the reasons why we didn't win, but these athletes, know, they didn't need me or any coach to pile it on. Sometimes its best to take a step back and let them digest the moment on their own, each may do it differently. Then tonight, when we get back on the training ground, the coaches will need to make sure they athletes are able to out the result in context and refocus on looking forward. We have 12 games remaining and a group of athletes with tons of potential. We need them to focus on that and forget about yesterday. Coaching a sports team is no different than being in a leadership position with any group of individuals working toward a common goal. The work place, social organizations, community groups and sports all use teams to accomplish goals. The dynamics of teams determine if these goals will be met in an efficient manner. Identifying team dynamics and understanding both the positive and negative aspect within a group and preparing accordingly will increase the chance of a group being able to achieve the desired outcome.
Every group or team is different. It is a collection of individuals, each with their own qualities and weaknesses, individual objectives, motivations and personalities. In the specific case of sport, Tte environment in which a team finds itself can also determine and affect the team dynamic. Things such as age, level of competition, male vs female teams, experience of the group, the nature of the competitive cycle ( a short tournament with select teams, vs a club season over 6 months vs a university season condensed in 2 moths) and various other factors can affect how a coach must work on ensuring that they team dynamic is such that it allows the individuals to perform to their own potential and in a manner which contributes to the overall group success. In my years of coaching, one complaint I have often heard from players is that " there are too many cliques in the team" . That somehow there are mini groups of players bonding together which somehow prevents the team from succeeding. By definition, a clique is " a small group of people, with shared interests or other features in common, who spend time together and do not readily allow others to join them". So in my view, a team, is a clique, that within a team, individual with common interests or backgrounds gravitate to each other is normal. A coaches role is to somehow make all these small cliques, work together for the benefit of the bigger clique. So what is team dynamic? The dynamics of a team depend on each team member. Unseen forces that exist in a team between different people or groups are called team dynamics and can strongly influence how a team reacts, behaves or performs. Many factors influence team dynamics, such as personalities of team members, how the team operates, how the team views itself and the team's organization. There is a saying that any group takes its personality from the leader, I disagree, I think the group takes its personality from the collective of the group, but a leader's role is to find the common threads that will bring everyone together. So how does one do this ? The development of friendship within a team can have both positive and negative effects. Friendship can foster communication among members of the team. This may lead to a positive social feel within the group and make members enjoy being a part of the team. This good feeling can increase motivation and commitment to the team. However, a strong friendship within a group can leave other team members feeling excluded and make them less likely to include the friends when decisions are made. These friendships can split the team into sub-groups and lead to a lack of communication leading to unsuccessful efforts to accomplish team goals. Hence the important of a coach being able to keep the whole group working towards the "larger picture". And sometimes as a the leader, tough decisions have to be made when individual's action hamper team success. It is important to identify team goals as early on in the process (or season) as possible. A common mistake teams make is to assume that team members see tasks the same way and understand how everyone should be contributing. Avoid conflict and conserve resources by developing a plan and communicating as a team. This discussion should identify team goals, and their how each team member fits in within the plan. Each member of the team should be aware of his or her individual talents and weaknesses. This identification will allow the team member to contribute to their maximum potential. When team members learn about their teammates, individuals can tap into other team members' strengths and talents, thus creating a stronger team. When we meet with our teams, we are clear to explain that while there will clearly be players who play more than others, that as with any high level team, their are starters, subs and reserve players, for the success of the team, everyone is important. Reserve players have the role to push the starters to work hard in training, to make them force competitive situations so that when we step on the field in a game, we are prepared for it. As coaches, it is then important to provide feedback to each member as to how they are fulfilling their role within the group and to work with them to minimize factors that might affect their performance. Social loafing is when team members do not work to their potential, with the assumption that other team members can make up for their laziness. Emphasizing the importance of individual contribution and pride within the group can avoid this phenomenon. Making members accountable for their effort by identifying individual contributions can deter laziness. Breaking the team down into smaller groups when possible is another way to avoid social loafing. It is important to understand that a team cannot be a peak performance levels at all times, games and practices. A coach has to be able to manage effort and intensity. Find moments to lighten the atmosphere with fun drills or game, but also tighten the screws when needed to keep the players on tasks. It isn't easy, and as a coach it can be hard sometimes to see a group not responding to direction and performing as you think they can. The important thing is to insist on individual accountability and make each team part of the process, allow them to contribute ideas and suggestions, seek out feedback knowing that you might hear something you aren't ready for. If athletes feel they have an active part in making the team better ,then they will buy in. In light of our injury time goal which salvaged a tie in our home opener, I thought sharing a few thoughts on the topic of coaching game management might be timely. From experience in my role working with coaches who handled teams at different levels and ages, it is a component of coaching that is often overlooked. Most coaches who have gone through any kind of coach training and certification, have a good idea about coaching priorities by age group but often break it down to 3 components, physical, technical and tactical. The psychological component is often overlooked, how to prepare, how to manage stress, staying focused etc. Game management in my opinion falls under both tactical preparation and and psychological training. In every 90 minute, there are endless possibilities of situations that might occur and having a team that is just prepared to perform tactically under idea conditions, like when the game is 0-0, is not enough. As a coach , you must prepare your team to deal with as many situations as possible so that when they arise, the players don't panic and can adapt quickly. The most obvious situations are playing from behind, playing with a lead, how to manage the game as time is expiring, what happens if your team gets a red card, or if the other team does... and then any combination of the above.
One big mistake many coaches make is preparing their team tactically to face an opponent based on how they think the other team will set up. They team steps on the field and surprise , the opponent has adjusted their game plan and come up with something completely different. Suddenly the players have lost their points of reference and don't know what to do. It is important to always keep in mind that the higher the competitive level and with the increased availability of video footage for scouting purposes, teams have the ability to adjust and prepare in much better ways. We always tell our players that whatever we are trying to do to our opponents, they will be looking for ways to counteract us and surprise us. In a full game, things happens, surprises come up and players need to be able to deal with them. If we value players being able to respond in a variety of ways in different scenarios, it is important to consider how, as coaches, we establish the conditions that expose players to different challenges. In a soccer context, some of these situations occur on their own and challenge the players to respond as they happen. This gives the players the chance to think about how it went and how their approach may change if similar situations occur again. If we agree this is beneficial, that players can learn from facing certain situations and having to problem solve in the spur of the moment, what value is there in structuring some of these scenarios into a player’s training to ensure they occur more frequently, Some easy practice set ups during training to change the reality for players can be to adjust field dimensions, playing on a reduced surface will force players to making decisions early, execute under pressure and have to find spaces in a restrained area. The opposite is also true, play on a full field but reduce the number of players. Lots of time and space but this change will force players to understand how to limit spacing between themselves, how to efficiently manage their efforts without running all over the place. Other scenarios can include scrimmage with very specific conditions, one team trying to defend a lead and the other one trying to tie the game, or give conflicting instructions to the two teams in a scrimmage, one player with a low pressure line with another one looking to press high and constantly. These are just examples and the only limitation to ideas of how to prepare players in a coach's imagination. The pitch and task constraints contribute to the strategies adopted in the games.In can allow players and a team on the whole to understand how to 1) Conserve energy 2) Frustrate the opposition 3) Retain balance within their shape This kind of approach to constraining the games set up to generate specific learning opportunities can be met with mixed feelings. Some suggest that the game of football was designed in a particular way and presents its own challenges and coaches should stop interfering. Advocates imply that subtle and and more deliberate shifts within the way competition is structured supports players to practice certain elements that may contribute to the development of qualities that are valued. The more adaptable players are to changing realities over the course of the game, the easier it is to game plan for specific opponents and situations. In the case of our game last week, we went through various situations and for the most part adapted well. We possessed well early but couldn't create quality chances, we tweeked the formation a bit to start the second half which led to our goal and creating quite a few quality scoring opportunities ( we didn't convert but that will be a topic for another day. We went down 2-1 giving two goals in succession and with 10 minutes to play, we changed our formation from 4-1-4-1 to 3-5-2. The change was almost seamless. we simply gave the instructions and the players on the field knew how to adjust their roles as needed. Once we scored, they were quickly able to revert back and manage out the game. Great coaching, maybe not as I don't want to suggest I have all the answers but good preparation and mostly good execution of the game plan by the players. |
AuthorAfter many years of coaching at various levels and with different teams, I thought I would share some of my experiences and thoughts about coaching. Archives
January 2023
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