Associate Director of Coaching - September 30, 2011: Winning Games Versus Player Development

        Coaches I want to start by thanking you all for coming out to the coaches informational sessions and field sessions that we had over the past weeks. I know that it is a commitment and I appreciate your efforts. I especially would like to recognize the Academy coaching staff where we had 100% turnout for the field session and the 9 to 11 coaching staff where we had 11 coaches attending the field session. 

        Using this blog I would like to address a continued concern that we as coaches struggle with in various ways; Winning games vs. Development of players

As we at Thunder straddle the line of winning versus player development there are many questions and concerns that we are faced with. These range from “How important is winning at the younger age groups… to; Am I a failure as a coach if my team is not winning?” These questions and many others are debated at every level. On the national level there seems to be some consensus that for the younger age groups development comes first. Here at Thunder we want to align ourselves to this national philosophy and strive to focus on development at the younger age groups. Parents’ expectations, league and tournament focus on results, our own desire to achieve, club pressures to retain players and be competitive are factors that can weigh on us. 

    There are many ways that we can approach this ongoing discussion. The bottom line is; whatever we believe; whatever our philosophy; whatever our goals for coaching and working with our kids will greatly influence the approach that we take. This means that for us to move forward in the most effective way we need to gather as much information and education that we can to shape our philosophy. 
 
        Below are a couple items that we can look into that can give us more information about ourselves and about the game to help us make a more informed decision. 

        Develop or rework your coaching philosophy – This is something that is very simple to do and should be revised as you grow as a coach. Simply see what is important to you after exploring a variety of questions that includes but is not limited to:
o   What is your vision for the development of your players?
o   Why am I a coach?
o   Is this game for me or for the players?
o   Will you play a pivotal role in player’s development both on and off the field?
o   What are your goals as a coach? 
     To provide your team with a strategy to win the week’s games?
     To prove the players with an environment to make decisions, solve problems and try new things?
        There are many more questions that can come to mind when we develop our guiding principles as coaches. There are no wrong or correct answers, but your answers to questions like these will determine how you will coach the team. More information about developing a coaching philosophy can be found at the US soccer website.

        Educate yourself whenever possible. This education can take many forms and they all have utility. These include coaching licensure and courses, using a mentor, reading from the wealth of coaching resources, watching high level soccer and actively taking part in sessions with a trainer or another coach. We all can learn something knew about the game that can positively influence our ability to coach or manage a team.

        Winning versus Development; At times these can be viewed as opposing forces. I however strongly believe that they go hand in hand. Here at Thunder we need to coach our players to win without removing the development focus from the process. Allow players to implement what was learned in practice. Allow players to take chances within the flow of the game and allow them to make decisions as the game progresses. Allow your players to make mistakes especially when they are trying to implement good soccer practices. Encourage these with positive feedback on the effort and give reminders about how they could improve technique, their ability to read the game etc. Remember that the kids have control over their effort and not their technical ability.

        Watching the growth of the teams and the players is very rewarding. However the growth and development of a coach is even more rewarding because the entire group will benefit from this growth. There are already so much best practices that I see from the coaches in practices and games. We need to all keep working to improve ourselves, our teams and our club.

        The many different resources both on and off the field of play that we all bring is a great wealth. If we can bring just a fraction of these together we can develop great things here at the club.

         One reminder to the coaches; all training sessions should progress and build towards the final game. It does not matter the topic at hand, the sessions should end with a game where the players are given an opportunity to play uninterrupted. 

          Also remember that your feedback is vital for this club to move in the correct direction. These include and are not limited to; services that the club is providing or can provide, things that myself or others in charge can improve on or things that we are doing well that you hope we will continue to do. Some changes will be made this upcoming spring session. Be a part of the process. Thanks to the coaches who have put forward their valuable feedback. I look forward to hearing from many more of you.

Thanks and keep up the good work,
Isa,
Associated DOC