MUCH WORK TO BE DONE!

The soccer season has begun. I have been really busy trying to straighten out a few problems left over from the previous regime. Necessarily, blogging has taken a backseat lately. I am going to be more active now that I have the ship righted. The assistant coaches and I have spent the first days of conditioning and practice trying to repair the mental state of the returning players. Apparently, the MO of the previous regime was to spend a lot of time giving negative comments to players. We learned this from comments made to us by parents and players during a weekend tournament the team was in. Many parents and players complimented us on our patience and the positive atmoshpere we have established.

I have long thought that you can constructively coach kids and gain much more traction with them. This also allows you to establish some trust. This trust will encourage them to take chances on the field without fear of making a mistake. Success for an athlete will not come by being fearful and unwilling to take chances. Players must be willing to leave their comfort zone.

I told the players that we wanted a team with a positive mindset. I hastened to remind them that being positive doesn't mean we have to be kumbaya. We do not yell at players and they shouldn't be yelling at each other.

Having said all that we have been hard on them in conditioning. We've done more that hold hands and sing songs. They have told us (whined) that they have ran more than they ever have before. I and the other coaches run with them which does cut down on the whining somewhat. I'm big on inspirational sayings and my first to them was "WE CAN NOT BECOME WHAT WE WISH TO BE BY REMAINING WHAT WE ARE."

The season is fast approaching with official tryouts beginning next week. We are making progress and I look forward to what is to come.