A friend recently sent me an email from her daughter’s soccer coach.
She has been so amazed by this “little” job this man has done in a BIG way. He realized at the onset that he could make a difference in having his team understand all the virtues of the human race through their time together. Team sports can be a vehicle for so much learning but can also be an excellent outlet for raving lunatic parents (figure skating/ hockey/ ski race parents may reign supreme), megalomaniac coaches and self obsessed eight year olds (although they are not born this way- they are made from the adults that surround them) each trying to outdo each other in tantrum.
The coach spoke of core convenants
Character
Confidence
Committment
Communication
Heart
Next he spoke of goals, specific goals. After listing them he explained how they would get there
In order to accomplish these goals, we will practice often and hard. Playing time will be earned based on work ethic, heart*, commitment, confidence, communication, ability and game conditions. Unfortunately, not everyone will receive equal playing time. Nonetheless, we are team and everyone fulfills an extremely valuable role from scorer to supporter and everything in between.
(*heart! Did you see it? Heart got mentioned)
He then spoke of a Committment Policy (this is actually both about committment and consequence. Remember consequence? It used to be fashionable)
Players should contact me in person (not by email) if they have to miss a practice. It is completely understandable that a player will miss practice for the occasional unforeseen circumstance. If a player does, however, have an unexcused absence from practice they will not play in the game that week. If they miss three practices (unexcused), they will be asked to leave the team. Commitment is paramount to success.
He spoke of the importance of nutrition, sleep, and hydration.
If this stuff sounds on one hand basic and yet critical to all life success- and it is- could someone explain to me why it is so RARE and so infrequently found and reinforced in leadership postions?
I so agree Julie. Gives me hope. But we need to shake the majority of parents screaming from the sidelines!
this is really rare. i like the idea of contacting the coach directly if you can’t make it…it shows a great deal of respect and makes them think about whether they can really miss the practice/game.
i find a some parents cater to the child’s every whim and, while it’s important to find what that child likes, it’s also important for the child to realize that the term must be finished before you can start something new.
i think these sort of comments are so rare now because there is this ‘kumbaya’ feeling that everyone is a winner. there’s a whole generation out there that doesn’t know how to lose, what to do with the word “no” and how to commit to something fully. that scares me and i’m so happy that this coach is out there…gives me hope that this can be catching.