The Southern View

Apr 30, 2007 Soccer And Management by Southern Programmer

Tags: Soccer, Encouragement, Success

In the early 1800's, a certain Pirate captain was terrorizing the seas when he came across a British navy ship that began signaling for battle.    The Pirate Captain looked down at his cabin boy and said "Bring me my red shirt!".  The Cabin Boy replied "Why do you want your red shirt?"
The Pirate Captain replied "So when me men won't see my blood streaming out of my body during battle!"   The Cabin boy complied and after a fierce but deadly battle, the Pirate Captain won!

A week later, the Pirate Captain looked out and saw TWO navy ships gunning for him.   He yelled for the Cabin Boy and said "Bring me my long jackets!"  The Cabin Boy asked "Why?"  The Pirate Captain replied, "So me men won't see the bandages on my arm or my chest!"   The Cabin Boy complied and after another fierce battle, the Pirate Captain managed to win again.

A week later, totally decimated from the two battles, the Pirate Captain looked out and saw THREE ships steaming for him,  the Pirate Captain called for the Cabin Boy and said

"Bring me my brown pants...."

______________________

Every spring and fall I hear voices.   Not the usual ones in my head which make my life amusing but the voices of children.   Specifically the voices belongs to children aged 7-9 and they are on the soccer team that I coach each spring and fall.   I am proud to say that my team has lost only 2 games in the last three seasons and is known as one of the scrappiest teams in the division.  

Here is a secret - I don't know anything about soccer!   How did this happen?   Let me explain...

For some reason, kids like me and come around to hear me tell jokes or talk with me.   I love kids so this has never been a problem for me.  One day, I was asked by someone at my Church to coach soccer in a youth organization.    It struck me funny as I had never really watched a soccer match nor had even played soccer but for some reason I said "ok!".

I went through the Coaches training and was given a team of kids to Coach.   We played our first game and promptly got stomped,  I went back and made adjustments and we got stomped again.   You can copy that sentence and repaste it 20 times because my team went through 2 seasons without winning a single game and only getting 1 point for a ball the other team accidently kicked in for us.

After the last losing season I decided I needed to give up coaching as I had ruined many soccer careers and had probably set back the profession by 2 decades.

After much encouragement by my wife I decided to take a look at what I was doing wrong and come up with a new game plan.

What I was doing wrong:

#1:  Not asking for help - I kept trying to do everything myself instead of getting help.

#2:  Not being a leader - Instead of having a game plan ready for each game,  I would come to the field and ask each player what "they wanted to do".   This was wrong!  A Coach (leader) needs to be decisive and inspire confidence.   I resolved to come to each game with a written out roster of positions and player names and would not change that roster unless someone was missing!

#3:  Not working with my talent - Instead of trying to develop internal talent, I kept trying to recruit kids who seemed to be talented at soccer that were not on the team.   I decided this was demoralizing to my team and resolved to work with them.

#4:  Not encouraging my players - I did not communicate with them enough!

So here is what I did:

#1:   Got Help -  So, the next season came around and, to my surprise, I had a few repeat players.   One of the players was always accompanied by her father who seemed to show interest in helping so I asked him to be an asst Coach and he jumped in with both feet.   I had him and another parent run the children through drills while I studied them to see what positions they might be good at (offense, defense)

#2:  Started Being A Leader - Once I figured out which kid would be good at each position,  I began training them to play those specific positions and told them they would play those positions during a game.  This removed a LOT of confusion and the kids seemed happier when they knew in advance what they would be doing.    There were a few grumbles from some kids when they found they would not be "making the goals" so I had to keep reminding them we were working AS A TEAM and everyone contributed to those goals!

#3: Working with my talent - Two kids showed promise as goalies.   I contacted a local city team and managed to locate someone who was a professional goalie (now on a California team) who was willing to train my 2 goalies!  He worked with these kids weekly and they became THE BEST goalies in the division!

#4:  Encouraging my players - I gathered email addresses and sent weekly "encouragement notes" to each and every player after each and every game...even when we lost!

At this point, my team actually began winning and on our next season we won more than we lost.   I managed to convince my parents to let me work with their kids for another season.   The next season came and I had almost all the same players!   A new player appeared with her father who had actually played soccer at college so I asked him to help and he helped bring the kids to the next level.   We went on to be undefeated for two straight seasons.

After many seasons,  my team is known as "The Soccer Machine".   My team consistently wins but I have two steadfast rules:

#1:  If I see my team destroying another team, I pull them back and start moving kids in different positions in order to not run up the score.

#2:  My team is NOT allowed to gloat, if I see a player brag to the other team they will be benched!

I now have a waiting list of parents who want their kids to play on my team, I have had parents who signed up and told me they have heard from other parents how I coach and want their kids to have "the experience".   This is really humbling to me!

When you think about it, what I accomplished can be brought straight into management.

#1:  Ask for help - If you need help, ask for it!  Most people are willing to help and if you don't know what your are doing (like me),  surround yourself with talented individuals (like my asst Coachs)

#2:  Be a leader - Even though I don't know much about soccer, I am the head Coach and I have to make decisions.  If you don't make decisions then your leadership is doomed!   Since I did not make decisions as who would be playing 'what position' I failed miserably the first two seasons.

#3: Working with your talent - By training my employees (players) from within instead of recruiting other employees (players) my players were grateful and worked even harder!  

#4: Be Encouraging - My players parents told me the kids LOVE the individual emails and it just brightens their day.   I have received notes of encouragement from my boss and I must admit they make me feel good.  

I try and use these rules in my every day life, I encourage you to try also!