The Pride of Winning
I do not tweet often but I felt the urge today. My tweet: My U8 team is .500, UNDEFEATED from player development standpoint. We dribble, pass, have fun. Forget stats – record the smiles and effort!
It is not easy to watch the other team score or watch an opponent dribble through your team with ease but in the long run and in the spirit of player development it is fine. I say let the coach who tells his daughter to take all of the free kicks, to be at the end of each throw in, and to dribble up the field without even a notice to her teammates thanks for ruining the game for all of us. There is no player development benefit to having the most athletic kid on the team hog the ball and beat up on the opposition. There is much more to the game than a few players taking over – much more and many coaches (and soccer administrators) keep missing the point on player development.
Early in the season I realized that my team was special because we had a chance to get better as individuals and as a team throughout the season. We have a range of skill levels so the challenge was to try to elevate each player without sacrificing the development of the higher skilled players. The key for me is to look at each player on my team as assets. Everyone is important and everyone possesses a skill set that is valuable to the team. Even more essential each player needs to feel special on the team and that can be created by dynamic and instructional practices.
As we came together in September some of us could dribble with purpose with both feet, some could not. A few of us could pass in a technically sound manner, others could not. All of us needed to adapt to a larger field and playing with a goalkeeper. Not easy for a group of girls unfamiliar with the rules and positions of the game. Due to rain the week leading up to the start of the season, we only had a 30 minute practice before our first game – not enough time to cover so many new details. So for our first practice we had a walk through, just like I would do with my college teams before a match on an unfamiliar field. We put out cones to visually show player positions, we jogged throw corner kicks (offense and defense), reviewed goal kicks, and throw ins. Parents from other fields watched this and some thought we were out of our minds and others were impressed. I just wanted the girls to be prepared and feel good when they were between the lines without the security of their coaches.
At the midway point of our season, we match up much better with our opponents then we did at the start of the season. One aspect we worked on was being more aggressive on the field. Our players were extremely passive (too nice) when they needed to play defense and win the ball from the attackers. At practice we played games that forced players to steal balls and possess the ball for longer periods of time. We played keep away and shielding games. All of those fun and interactive games paid off. We are now a more confident defensive unit and as individuals these players get such a thrill when they “steal the bacon” (ball) from the opponent.
We still face teams that do not focus on player development and that use a few players who will dominate by dribbling from end line to end line to score. We have
also decided to rotate players into goal each game so everyone tries the position. When we have a goalkeeper rotation we sacrifice taking our best goalkeepers out of net and put our best field players in net – but what we are doing is creating a positive team culture and we are consistent in our commitment to total player development and not always putting your best players on the field at the same time.
The ingredients for success for this team goes beyond the Xs and Os of soccer. These girls track the score of the game in their heads but they never stop playing and trying. They support each other from the sidelines without prompts for the coaches. And the very best part of being associated with this team is that they smile and have fun playing this great game. They enjoy the process of learning, trying new skills, and getting better at all levels. What they will remember at the end of this season is that playing on DC United was so much fun, I would bet they will never remember the games we lost because we don’t believe in keeping score. Our team secret is that we are the best team in Wilmington because we have the most fun playing the best team soccer in town!
SoccerToday’s columnist Dr. Dina Gentile is a Professor of Sport Management at Endicott College. A volunteer youth coach herself, Dr. Gentile understands from both practical and theoretical experience what happens on the soccer field. Gentile has also coached the Endicott College Soccer Team for 11 years. Gentile is also the owner/director of Precision Soccer, LLC, which operates camps, clinics, and coach education training throughout the year. She is a former All-American and Academic All-American at Adelphi University. Gentile has been inducted into the Adelphi University and Endicott College Halls of Fame. In addition, she is a trainer with Positive Coaching Alliance and the Girls Program Director with New England Premiership Club – Benfica USA. She is the proud coach of her daughter’s and son’s soccer teams in her hometown.
