Coaching a winning team

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As the spring soccer season is winding down, I'm reminded of a saying that I heard the AYSO national director of coaching say. I was at a conference and a roomful of hopeful coaches were quizzing him on what they could do to be more effective coaches. A variety of people proposed things they did to win more soccer games and his response was: "If you want to win soccer games, go find the better players". This was meant to be a rebuke in this context, but I wholeheartedly agree with the assertion.

A coach or strategy CAN influence the game and when two teams are equally matched with talent, they can make the difference in the outcome. However, regardless of what the herd of ego-centric coaches might try to tell you, good coaching does nothing but unlock potential that already exists within the team members.

Effective coaches are not the ones are making things happen, they are the ones that make sure the right team is available to make things happen. They also make sure that the proper resources are available, that some sort of planning is being performed, and that any obstacles are removed or avoided.

Picking the best players is more important than picking the best coach.

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