Singing From The Same Hymn Sheet

With the first of my two planned stints in the USA now completed, it's time for a little reflection. This has been the short stint of 13 weeks with the longer one starting in the spring and going through to when I start my final year of my university degree, late in 2013.

Within this first stint, I have faced a few challenges. 

The largest was unquestionably the need for a culture change from how the teams I had been assigned were used to playing to how I wanted them to play. 

As mentioned in my first blog I was taken aback when I encountered team managers encouraging the transference of the ball from the defensive half of the pitch to the attacking half as quickly as possible via 'big kicks', with accuracy sometimes not even a consideration and always a bonus if a teammate was found.

I decided to keep my powder dry and just employ a watching brief at both my teams’ opening games and was rather astonished at what I observed.

It appeared that the ‘hack’ upfield was more beneficial to the "manager's" anxiety and stress levels than anything else. I swear you could almost see them wipe the sweat from their foreheads as the ball crossed the half-way line and the pressure subsided on our goal.

Clearly, these actions were overriding the 'learning' and 'development' of the players and something I needed to change for my own sanity if nothing else.

So one week in and my biggest challenge was clear; to convince the managers, parents and spectators to climb aboard the developmental bus, and convince them of the long-term benefits this would have on the players both on and off the field.

This took some patience on my behalf as in the process I faced a further challenge of not only convincing these people, but enforcing it on the sideline also, stressing the importance that as a team we were all singing from the same hymn sheet. 

An important point to note is that throughout the Fall season, parents would drop their child off at the start of practice and collect them at the end. Very rarely would they stay to watch any significant amount of the session and if they did, they would be on their own.

Never did the team managers attend practice. Work commitments meant that just the players and I were present.

Therefore, come game day, the watching public have very little idea of not only the objectives of each practice session, but also the high success rate that had been achieved by the players.

I had endorsed and encouraged creativity, experimentation and player led decision making which all culminate in them playing, what I consider to be, attractive 'pass and move' soccer. 

So we arrive at a scenario where I am on the sideline encouraging everything that we had practised during the week, and witnessing our hard work being undone by parents and team managers on the sideline.

When I coach youngsters, I place great emphasis on 'trying' skills without fear of failure, passing the ball to manoeuvre our way around opponents and making decisions when in possession of the ball to eradicate simply kicking it up-field as this requires no/very little skill.

So hearing managers and parents unwittingly undo this hard work with various cries of "kick it!" was a cause of much frustration.

Why? Kick it where? Kick it how? I wanted to scream but I knew that wasn’t the answer.

I was just 20 years of age and the youngest by at least a decade of the adults. How would they react to the ‘jumped up’ Brit if I overreacted?

I needed to make them understand and trust that what I was looking for the players to achieve would serve to be more beneficial in their long-term development both on and off the field.

I decided to implement a weekly communication by phone with my general managers to relay my thoughts and intentions and asked them to in turn communicate these to the parents and other spectators. I have to say that this worked to a good extent, but gentle sideline reminders were often necessary especially when panic set in i.e. when the ball was near our own goal. Of course the panic was almost entirely attributable to the parents and managers rather than the players!

The next step was to be confident enough to be honest when talking to the supporters. What I sought to achieve from the managers, parents and spectators was simply encouragement and praise, not instruction.

I'm delighted to say that my approach paid dividends. As the weeks progressed the adults present at games gradually noticed significant improvement in the style of play my teams adopted, dominating games with quick decision making and decisive short passes. In particular the last few weeks of the fall season saw us have the most fun, playing some of our most exciting soccer and watching these young players develop at such a fast rate. 

As a result, the team camaraderie as well as the rapport built between myself and the managers and parents grew stronger. We were totally singing from the same hymn sheet. On the odd occasion an instruction of "kick it!" by the manager would still be bellowed out, but before I could give a gentle reminder, the players sitting on the substitutes bench would shout "no, don't just kick it!". Invariably though, the manager's would hold their hands up and admit to getting too wrapped up in the game and concede that they're actually hindering the players development by making their decisions for them on the field. 

I read recently a quote from Nick Levett, FA National Development Manager for Youth Football who said "Adults telling young players what to do on the soccer field is similar to a parent doing their children's homework. They might score 100% the following day, but long-term their development will be limited." I could not agree more.

Without being conceited, I am proud that I appear to have opened the eyes of the managers and parents for them and allowed them to see another way of playing. The teams finished the season playing almost completely how I wanted them to play. I now believe that we share the same mindset that youth player development should override the result of games, as this will prove more beneficial in the long-term.

Whilst this was a challenge for me, I am hugely grateful for the open-mindedness and discipline shown by the managers, parents and spectators that has contributed significantly to the players' overall  development and success during the Fall season, providing greater enjoyment and a growing love for the game. May it continue in years to come. I'll find out next Spring!!