The Creator

As coaches, we sometimes lose track of what it is exactly we are trying to achieve.  We get so caught up in the tactical, the technical, the fitness, the fundraising, etc. - we lose track of what we are hired to do. We are there to teach. We are teachers of "the beautiful game". We have chosen to spend an inordinate amount of time teaching kids to play soccer. We spend a great deal of time concentrating on our players individual skills, their team play, their fitness, and occasionally doing certain players a grave disservice. We forget that  the game itself is and always has been the best teacher. You can drill your players to death, and if they don't play the game they won't get any better.

If your daughter is playing for a coach who doesn't allow scrimmages, then it is our collective advice that you look for another team to play for. If you are preparing for tryouts for next year, and you are considering a team or coach who is unfamiliar to you, ask the coach what his or her practices normally consist of. Specifically, how much of each practice is devoted to scrimmaging or match condition play. We know this may sound strange to some of you, but there are coaches out there who only allow scrimmaging as a reward to the players. We cannot state our position strongly enough on this issue. If the kids do not play the game, they will not improve their game.

This leads us to our topic for this issue. As coaches, we should encourage and never, ever discourage female players from taking risks and chances. I don't mean reckless play. I mean creative play. A player who tries to dribble through two defenders and gets stuffed, should never be reprimanded for her effort. If you reprimand her, you can bet that you will get very conservative, "vanilla", play from her from that point forward. We should always encourage creative play. If a player tends to dribble to much, and gets herself into trouble consistently, there are ways of stopping her without killing the creativity necessary to become a great player. She knows that whatever she is doing isn't working. Just tell her what her other options are. Do not tell her to stop dribbling the ball forward. Get her to look up the field more and look at her passing options. A player who consistently drives the ball too deep to the goal line and routinely drills the ball into the side netting is not doing the attack any good. Do you tell her to stop shooting? Discuss with her the crossing options available to her or the option of cutting the ball in for a better shooting angle. If your daughter is playing for a coach who is critical of her every time she tries to be creative, you should address the issue with your coach, and encourage the player to remain creative while working within that coaches system.

To all players, we would like to encourage you to work hard on your ball skills and never stop taking chances. Creative players are what make "the beautiful game" beautiful and fun to watch (and coach). Don't get discouraged if a move or a play doesn't work out the way you planned. Remember, we play a game of low percentages. You may shoot ten times before one goes in (If you did that in basketball, you would be on the bench for sure!). Be skillful, always attack, take chances, don't get discouraged, and have fun!

A SoccerDivas Staff Article