Grace Freiheit

Coaching Philosophy

            As a coach you must be able to do more than just teach the skills of soccer. You must motivate, discipline, encourage, create team unity, set goals (other than winning), interact with parents, handle wins and losses, teach sportsmanship and respect, and inspire a love for the sport of soccer. There are many different ways of accomplishing these things, but the following is my personal coaching philosophy.

            As far as motivation goes, giving out prizes for winning an activity, or making the people who lose the activity run a lap or do a few pushups helps motivate everyone to try their hardest. And when disciplining a team, yelling or lecturing is not always the best option. If a player is disrupting practice or acts out against the rules of practice or in a game you can discipline him/her by making them run or do pushups or sit-ups (In small quantities). Or I would take the player aside and talk to them privately about their performance and inform them that it will not be tolerated. As a coach, I would always positively encourage the players to do well. Telling them when they do something right or well and if they are struggling with a skill I would encourage them to keep trying and instruct them in how to change their technique to achieve the skill they want. Keeping a positive attitude is important for players and that starts with the coach’s attitude, therefore I would always be positive for my team and share that with each player.

            Creating team unity can be very challenging, but lots of fun. Letting the team play fun games at the end of a practice can help the team bond together. Also, when doing drills, having them switch partners regularly can help bring everyone together. Arranging for the team to go to events like such as pro, semi-pro or college games, decorate team shirts together, go to the movies or have a party, bowling, or any activity they can all do together is a great way I would inspire team unity. Finally, planning regular friendly scrimmages against other teams will give our team more time to play as a whole team and will help with team cohension.

            One of the hardest challenges as a coach is the interactions with the parents of your players. As I coach I would spend time with the parents doing the following: explaining rules of the game to them, informing them of the team’s progress, letting them know your expectations of them as parents, and reassuring them that their kids are in good hands with me as their coach. I would talk with them of their responsibilities as parents which are: getting the kids to practices and games on time, making sure their player has the right equipment, being positive towards the players, respecting the game officials, and understanding that even if the team doesn’t win that they are still learning the game and life skills. Always respecting them as parents and, hopefully, being a respectable coach in their eyes.

            My rules would be very easy to understand and follow and also very strictly enforced. Don’t wear jewelry to practices or games, be in gear and ready to start on time, no foul language or negative talk towards me or other players, parents, or officials, no talking during instructions times and no distractions during drills, and respect the rules of the game and respect myself, your teammates, and the officials. My punishments would vary; running a lap, doing some pushups or sits, running lines, having to pick-up all the equipment, or even not starting in a game or in severe instances, not playing in a game at all.

            Winning games builds confidence in a team. It lets them know their hard work has paid off. But even still, when a team wins I would let them know they did well, but also tell them the ways we could still improve as a team. Reminding them that every win is hard to come by and we must continue to work hard and not become overconfident. Loosing can be devastating for a team. As a coach I would remind the team that they did work very hard and I saw that, and they did use a lot of what we’ve been practicing and I am proud of them for that. That even though they did not win on the score board, they did better than they did last game and will continue to improve if they work hard like they did.

            One of the most important things to teach your team as a coach is good sportsmanship. By not allowing foul or negative speech, dangerous conduct, mistreating of teammates, playing with improper equipment, or dressing inappropriately for practice it will teach the team not to do those things in a game either. As a coach, I would also set a good example by not doing any of those things either. In addition to those things, I would always instill in my team a respect for the rules of the game and the officials. By doing all of these things, hopefully I would show my team how much fun the sport is and how to love the game the way I do.