What do you believe in?
As a youth coach, what do you believe in ?
Last year at one of our Youth Coaches’ Boot Rooms Nick Dasovic asked this question. So now I’m asking you, as a youth coach, what is it that you believe in?
Ponder this question and really let it settle into your thoughts. For the majority of youth coaches across North America it’s my guess that you’ve never really thought about it, or perhaps you’ve never been asked. So what does Dasovic mean by this?
What he’s getting at is that as a coach you need to have a philosophy. This in essence is what you believe in.
Are you a coach that believes in using sport to teach kids about values? While provide them with a safe, fun environment to develop into great people. Or perhaps you are a coach that ultimately just wants the kids to have fun and sign up for the sport the following year.
Are you a coach that believes in winning today or developing players properly to win down the road? If so, how does that affect the way you set up your team? The positions you put your players in? And ultimately what do you deem success on the weekend to look like?
From a tactical stance, some coaches prefer to sit back, absorb pressure, then attack in quick punches. Other coaches will prefer to pressure their opponents high up the pitch, thus winning turnovers in dangerous positions on the pitch. Still others will try to play tiki-taka football and break teams down slowly by controlling possession, breaking defensive lines, and isolating players in 2 V 1 situations.
There are countless ways to play the beautiful game, but coaches please ask yourself this question – what do you believe in? Not what the parents or sidelines tell you to believe in. Not what I tell you to believe in. But what you believe in.
I’ll provided you with one example of what Nick Dasovic believes in, “personally if you only have three practices per week with a player and you spend one of the sessions dealing with only the physical elements, I think you are loosing a session on the pitch.”
Dasovic believes in developing players through touching the ball. The more touches on the ball, the more comfortable the player will be on the pitch. He later provides examples of how you can incorporate various physical elements of the game into your sessions while using the ball. Watch this short video if you want more information.
Models of Play – Video 2 from Play Better on Vimeo.
Anyways my goal here is simple, all I want is to empower you, as a youth coach, to start asking this question for yourself. Ask yourself, what do you believe sport should ultimately provide children? Answer that then you can start determining how, why, and what, you will do throughout the season to achieve those goals.
If you are struggling to answer this question the Play Better team is here to help. We will provide you with resources and a plan to empower you to go out there and be the best coach possible.
Let’s have a chat sometime, I’d love to hear what you all believe in.
Go. Play Better
Greg Sawers
