For those of you that know me, soccer is somewhat a passion but it's also an adventure in time management and equality for the recreational players. Yes, I'm competitive-minded and while I want my teams (4) to succeed, I do not educate/train my players at the expense of the recreational credo: have fun. I've grilled it into my player's minds that "my #1 rule is everybody has fun."
Yet for some reason, this season I've started off with somewhat of a concern as I begin to analyze the new players on my teams. I see such a wide disparity among players, from my U6 girls team to my U13 boys, that I haven't seen in many other seasons. Maybe my perspective is clouded by last season's road to glory with my boys' teams and their incredible journey and victories. But this season I see so much that needs to be improved with handicaps that block that progression.
Through all of this I keep reminding myself that the heart of the recreational purpose is to have fun and develop the player, and collectively the team, not to rack up victories. While winning is always fun, it should never come at the expense of the individual regardless of skill set.
So to any player's parent that may keep up with this blog, rest assured your child will play, will receive a fair shake this season, and most of all will be given all opportunities to have fun. Will I work them hard? You betcha! Will we strive to perform to the best of our abilities? Certainly. But I will not let my teams, nor myself, lose sight of our goal: "Everybody has fun!"
Yet for some reason, this season I've started off with somewhat of a concern as I begin to analyze the new players on my teams. I see such a wide disparity among players, from my U6 girls team to my U13 boys, that I haven't seen in many other seasons. Maybe my perspective is clouded by last season's road to glory with my boys' teams and their incredible journey and victories. But this season I see so much that needs to be improved with handicaps that block that progression.Through all of this I keep reminding myself that the heart of the recreational purpose is to have fun and develop the player, and collectively the team, not to rack up victories. While winning is always fun, it should never come at the expense of the individual regardless of skill set.
So to any player's parent that may keep up with this blog, rest assured your child will play, will receive a fair shake this season, and most of all will be given all opportunities to have fun. Will I work them hard? You betcha! Will we strive to perform to the best of our abilities? Certainly. But I will not let my teams, nor myself, lose sight of our goal: "Everybody has fun!"
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