I am a day away from getting on a plane and heading out to Vancouver for our pre-tournament camp. The team has been together now on site since Thursday afternoon so I have had to miss some of the initial prep. work but that is life when you have a full time to balance with your part time passion of coaching.
As I move towards the start of this adventure, it makes me think about what I want to take away from these games and this trip. I have coached soccer at different levels, different locations and of course many different teams and players, and in the end, soccer is soccer. It is the same game I first played at 5 years old and have played or coached ever since. What makes it different for this tournament is yes obviously the level of competition, but I already experienced that in 2009. So I think it is about living it with a new and different group of players and coaches and of course in a different location, a country that before this I had never thought about visiting. What is going to be amazing once again in being in one location that will bring together nearly 11,000 people from 100+ countries all unified by one factor, our involvement and love for a sport. It is pretty special to walk around the village during a given day or moment and cross paths with individuals from some many different places. It is also an experience that forges a bond for those who get to participate in it together. I won't say I have remained close with everyone who was involved with the team in 2009, but I can say that anytime I come across one of these individuals, there is a shared experience that will remain between myself and that person forever. I think it also makes one appreciate a lot of things in our everyday life. If I am lucky enough to enjoy these games for a second time, it is due in large part to the support and help I have gotten from a lot of people along the way... my wife who puts up with a lot of time commitments, travels and constant calls and emails that come with being a coach and is there to listen to me complain, vent and sometimes yes even share some exciting (and for her maybe boring (hahahaha) stories, my family who follow my exploits encourage me to try different things, certain coaches along the way who helped me develop my style of coaching and of course some (and for sure not all ) players that I have had the chance to coach who validated the time and effort that I put into it. Sometime tomorrow evening (or early hours Tuesday Montreal time), I will be arriving in the hotel and having my first contact with this year's team as a group... and from that point, most of my time and energy will be spent on making this whole experience, the best competitive result (cause I do hate to lose) but more importantly the best life experience for myself and all those invovled
1 Comment
Lorraine
8/1/2011 11:23:17 pm
Good luck in China...Have fun,enjoy and come back with lots of good stories to share with me! :)
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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
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