One Key End Of Season Lesson

This time of year should be a great time for our kids in their soccer season. They just experienced the holidays, spring break is coming up and their season should be culminating with end of the season games and tournaments. Hang in there, summer’s right around the corner!

Hopefully you’re child’s team has shown progress and improvement over the season. Don’t get this confused with winning all/most of their games. Wins are relative. You can have a few athletes on the team that helped the team achieve more wins. That doesn’t mean the team has actually improved. It just means you have a few better players that might be more physically mature and can outmuscle an opponent. Trust me, the game catches up later. 

What really matters (in the bigger picture) is that you see the TEAM actually playing football. You start seeing patterns of recognition and patterns of play. You see them thinking and creating. They are trying to play chess versus most teams who are simply playing checkers (kick the ball long and press…). You are beginning to see players actually enjoying the games. 

I’ve had parents tell me, “the team actually looks like their playing real soccer now”. That was one of the best compliments (and validation that the process is working) I’ve ever heard as a coach. Over time, you will see progress in the players and in the team’s performance. 

But keep in mind, everything has to be tempered with context and perspective. It’s a journey and there will be ups and downs and challenges and happy moments and heartbreaking moments. You experience it all. And that is what makes it all worthwhile and beneficial in our overall growth as a player and a person. 

So, please help teach/remind your child of an important lessons over the last few weeks/months of their season:

Be Present and Committed

Help your child understand how important it is for them to see everything they do to the end, regardless of the current situation. Help prepare them to give everything to their team. To be PROACTIVE versus being REACTIVE. To continue to work hard, show up to every training session, every match and every team function. To be an active member of the team. To stay 100% committed to the team until the season is over even if you might possibly tryout for other teams or other clubs next season. 

Once you start thinking about other things, you lose your ability to be present, to be your best. When we live in the future, we become more anxious and unhappy with the present. The only thing we truly have is this moment, NOW.

And if things haven’t gone as expected this season it becomes a difficult challenge to face but an even more important opportunity for a teaching point. 

Look, I get it. Everyone wants what’s best for their kids. We all want our kids to be happy and successful. 

I know how hard it can be with young children in the heat of the moment. Life is busy. It goes by fast. Sometimes we are so focused on the current chaos that we do what feels good or easy in the moment. We all have done this. But THIS is exactly where the choices are made that are so impactful on a child’s future. This is where we embed values into their consciousness without knowing it. 

Let me say that again: this is where we CHOOSE.

Teach them to CHOOSE to continue to be and give their best, always. These are important habits they build moment by moment, day by day. We can help them to CHOOSE to be disciplined, focused and present. This is how we plant the seeds of leadership that will cultivate over the years. And we need leaders in our world more than ever! 

We used to have a saying with one of my teams: don’t just show up, SHOW UP. That meant it was not just about being there physically, but it was also just as important to give it everything you had for the team. Why not? You’re already there. And together, they were so much better as a team than they were as a bunch of individuals.  

I saw such personal growth from many of those players who accepted and lived that motto. I know they will continue to carry on that growth in the future not only in their playing careers but in their personal and professional lives. 

For me, that was worth the price of admission.

Enjoy your futbol!

-Coach Eddie