By Rob Smith
To be a good coach it’s essential to communicate well with players and their parents. A few simple guidelines will help you clearly explain to your players what’s expected of them and set a tone for the kind of play you want to see. As a coach your job is to make sure that at the end of the season the players have had fun, learned a lot, and succeeded. Every team has basic tenets, codes of conduct, or mission statements. Here are few that can help you get started in developing your own team’s mission. These mission statements are good for young players as they help set the foundation for participating in a team sport.
1) A good player needs skills, conditioning, and knowledge. To be the best you can be you need all three. No matter what position you play, you’ll still need to be in shape and be able to head, pass, receive, shoot, make space, and play defense. A team is limited by the ability of its players.
2) Good dribblers give up the ball before they’re in trouble, not after they’re in trouble.
3) Don’t just kick the ball wildly unless it’s in a dangerous position in front of your own goal. Try to have a plan for each ball that leaves your possession.
4) When your team has the ball, everyone is on offense. This includes defenders! When the other team has the ball, everyone is on defense. This includes offenders!
5) Don’t run forward when your team has the ball unless you’re willing to run backwards when they have the ball.
6) If you lose the ball, you should be the first person on defense. When changing from offense to defense, sprint to be between your man and the goal.
7) We will work hard to always beat our opponent to the ball.
8) To be the best player you can be, you have to be able to play and you have to be able to play smart. This includes:
A. Saying nothing to the referee! The referee is human and will make mistakes
sometimes.
B. Never criticizing a teammate, especially a goalie after a goal. Remember if the
ball got by the goalie then it got by ten other players as well!
C. To play up to your ability, you have to take care of your body.
D. One hundred percent effort is expected at all times. We might be outplayed,
but we won’t be out hustled.
E. Potential means you haven’t done anything yet. The world is full of
potentially good players. We want to reach our potential!
F. There is no shame in a loss as long as 100% effort has been given.
9) Your job as a player is to have fun, learn, and succeed.
The rules were enlighting.