Team Building 101

Jeff Janssen writes in his book, Championship Team Building, “Success = Talent + Teamwork”.  It is amazing though how few teams focus on the “teamwork” aspect away from the field.  At the youth soccer level many teams consider team building just doing something as a group outside of practices and games.  These social events are important and are definitely better than nothing but having a more focused approach to team building can pay off for teams willing to put in the time to do it.

 The first step to starting team building with your youth soccer team is for the coach (and the players if they are old enough) to evaluate the team in important areas such as goal setting, cohesion, player roles, commitment, communication, and how the team deals with conflict.  This will force you to see where the possible weaknesses might be on your team and where is the best place to start your program.

It is best then to focus on one aspect at a time especially with younger teams.  So let’s say your team needs the most work on communication then you would set that up as your primary goal. Next, you will want to come up with a plan on how to address and work on communication with your team.  This could be with some short activities before or after practices or you could plan a few team building sessions to have more time to devote to the topic.

So you have evaluated your team, came up with an area of focus, scheduled some team building games and activities so you are done right? Wrong! The most important part of team building activities is relating it back to what the team learned and how they are going to implement that into the rest of their season.

Why Technical?

A player at U14 once wrote to me as my time with that team came to an end: “I realize now why we always focused on technical ability and not trying to just outrun the opponent.”

As a coach you can sometimes get frustrated with parents especially about why they don’t understand that what you are doing is going to pay off eventually.  But you have to understand and be patient with those parents because unless they have been through it before or seen another player or teams develop from younger then it is hard for them to understand.  Our culture is so focused on winning that we can’t really blame them, can we?

The important thing we have to stay focused on is continuing to do the right things with the players at each age group and being willing to continue to educate the parents and players about the path that they are on. 

It is commonly said that without technique there can be no tactics.  This is so true!  The player may when they are older understand and be able to read the game and know what is the best decision to make.  But…if they don’t have a quality first touch to control the ball first or the skill to work their way out of trouble or the ball striking ability to play the correct ball then that knowledge will not do them any good.

Teams at the younger age groups who focus just on tactics or that exploit gifted athletes to win games often find themselves in the older age groups not being able to compete anymore.  Let’s not let this trend continue!

For parents to believe or clubs to express that players at the top level do not focus on the technical aspects of the game is crazy.  So if players who are professionals still focus on their technical ability on a daily basis what does that mean for players who are below the age of 14?

Keep the focus on the player’s technical ability and it will pay off for them as they get older both individually and as a team.  And coaches keep educating the parents and players about why this is important!

“Believe and Achieve”

“Believe and Achieve”

A few years ago one of the players I coached wrote this letter to help future players in my club and on my teams.  I have taken out all of the names and club names.  This player today is having a successful college career just finishing her sophomore season.

Dear Future Players

            Hey, I am... I played for …. for six years, and I played for the 94 premier team for most of my career except for one season. In my U 13 year of … I was moved down to the lower team Coached by ….

            When I found out that I was moved down to a lower team I was devastated, but I wasn’t mad at anyone else because it was my fault and this made me more driven to become a better player and to rejoin the premier team. I asked …., who was the coach of the premier team, what I was doing wrong.  My problem was that I needed to focus more and to improve. Then I was determined to develop my skills and be back on the premier team.

            To become a better player I did numerous things. I practiced at home to improve juggling and moves.   I went to extra sessions such as speed and agility and winter training. Also I stayed late or went early to my regular practice to improve on my own.  I follow this quote: “on time is late, early is on time.”

            During the fall season of being on …. team, I was asked to go to Disney in August with the premier team. I accepted and I knew this was my chance to show the coaches that I have improved and deserve to be back on the premier team and made it my goal to show them. I knew I had six months before departure; I worked twice as hard as I did before. I watched videos on YouTube to learn new moves and when they would be used in a game situation. I also watched soccer on television such as the English Premier League, US women’s national team, and the US men’s national team.  All of the work paid off.

            I had reached my goals. After Disney the coaches asked me to be on the premier team. Even though I wanted this since I was moved down it was still a hard decision to make because I was doing really well on this team. I asked a few people I trusted one said to move up and the other one said to stay because I have improved my skills and more comfortable with the ball. After a lot of thought, I decided to move up to the premier team. After continuing my hard work I became a key, starting player on the team.  After my success at …., I made the premier team for ….

            After all my hard work I was glad I was moved down to the white team it made me a better player on and off the field. It gave me the motivation to do the best in everything I do. This experience has been the most rewarding experience I have ever had.

            For future players who are in the position that I was in. You should never give up on reaching your goals and earn your way back up on the premier team and reach high for your goals. Something that helped me was the quote “Believe and Achieve”   and this short story:

 

So, why is this letter important?  Not only does it show that players can survive moving to a team that is the most appropriate level for them without jumping ship to find another “top team” in another club but it shows some of the key components to improving yourself as a player.

1. Practicing on your own at home, extra training sessions beyond just team practices, and speed/agility/quickness training.  It is so important for parents and players to understand that simply going to practice two or three times a week with their club team is not going to allow them to advance as much or as quickly as dedicating themselves to training more in their off time and off season.
2. Watching videos on YouTube, watching games on TV like the English Premier League, US Men’s or Women’s games, etc. It is key to your development that you not only practice and play but you also learn by watching as high-level soccer as you can.  This is easy now with so many games on TV.
3. A positive attitude and never giving up on your goals.  Not everything is going to go perfect in your soccer career or in life.  But if you keep your focus on the goal and not the difficulties as it says in Believe and Achieve you will one day arrive.