A Dedicated Coach speaks out on

TEAM COMMITMENT

       

When a player is 10, it’s easy for him/her to proclaim, “I love soccer. I want to play it every day.” But, as players grow up, their lives become increasingly fuller and more complex. There are two conflicting issues that they always seem to be juggling. These are: (1) I have a “life”; and, (2) The team cannot exist without my participation.

Your coach wants practicing and playing on your team to be a part of your weekly program, not something you do when it is convenient. Your coach wants being on your team to mean you have made the team your number one priority among all other elective (that is, optional) activities.

Your coach wants you to lead a full and normal life. The following activities are some of the valid reasons for missing practices and games: religious events (services, ceremonies, baptisms, christenings, Bar Mitzvahs, etc.); family events (reunions, parties, weddings, funerals, graduations, vacations, etc.); medical and dental appointments that can’t be rescheduled to be nonconflicting; school outings when the entire class is required go to; once-in-a-life-time opportunities; humanitarian efforts; and, Olympic Development Program (ODP) games.

You coach doesn’t want to stand in the way of your participation in recreational soccer, basketball, soccer, softball, volleyball, cheerleading, school dramas, and music lessons. However, if you sign up for these activities, you should understand that in the event of a conflict, your coach wants the soccer team takes first priority.

 The team has regular practices and game, and you have an obligation to tell the coaches, managers, and organizers of other activities that you have prior commitments on those days. When there is a conflict, it’s not a question of playing the higher-priority game. If you start saying, “Well, my game is a league game and yours is just a scrimmage”, then you should consider this: You knew when you signed up for the other activity that there might be conflicts.

Occasionally, illnesses and injuries may prevent you from participating as fully as you would like. Unless your health would suffer, your presence at practices and games, even those in which you are unable to take part, is encouraged. You are part of the team, and that doesn’t change just because you can’t play. You can still listen, watch, and encourage the other players.

Since your team takes first priority, the following activities are generally poor reasons for missing practices or games: school and club teams you have signed up when you are already on this team; school plays and dramas you have signed up for; babysitting jobs you have accepted; parties you have been invited to; and, dates.

There is no question that your education, like God, family, and health, takes priority over the team. What this means is that your school obligations must be managed in such a way as not to conflict with the team. It should not mean that you use practice or game to complete homework or study for a test that you could have been done earlier.

If you are tempted to avoid a confrontation with the coach by “just not showing up”, consider this: The worst thing you can do is to fail to show up without notification. That shows disrespect for the rest of the team. Not only will you miss the event, but you won’t give the team (or coach) any warning or time with which to compensate.

Everybody (even the coach) has conflicts. So, there has to be flexibility in your team’s commitment policy. You should discuss the extent of the flexibility with the coach before you commit to something that is a potential conflict.