Dear coaches,

Several issues have been brought to my attention over the last few weeks regarding coaching styles and various approaches to the game. Therefore, I have decided to translate what I feel is the appropriate manner in which to run a team and become a coach.

THE FEMALE ATHLETE
First of all we are dealing with girls, not boys, and the same hard-nosed approach will only be counter productive when dealing with female athletes. Everybody likes to be complimented, but more importantly is the way we deal with our players when criticizing them. A golden rule I follow is "For every negative there needs to be 9 positives" . As a coach you need to create an environment that when you do critique your players, it is done in a positive manner, not negative:

"Sally you suck at controlling the ball, come on!" does not come across the same as "Sally, when you receive the ball you need to take the pace off the ball (Show) so that your first touch will be closer to your body. Once you master this, the game will become 100% easier and you will have more time on the ball to make a pass to one of your team mates."

Basically a three-word sentence does not work with female athletes. Remember, your players are the most important people out there. They need to trust you, respect your opinions, and most importantly listen to you when you are trying to help them . I need all the above in order to coach to the best of my ability, but for me it's this:

"With every individual player I need to create a positive relationship. With just enough individual compliment directed towards their play, that criticism is always seen through their eyes as being positive, and something that if corrected, will help them in their development as a player."

CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM VS. MISTAKES MADE
The key to the success of your team is constructive criticism. I spend too many hours listening to coaches at half time talk about all the things that went wrong, rather than discussing what needs to be done in order to get back in the game. Try to spend this time building your team back up, rectifying the problems and being positive in your criticism.

"Amy, every time you get the ball you give it away!" What you are saying is correct, and very obvious to everyone, but as a coach you need to go further and help solve the problem for them.

"Guys, every time Amy gets the ball she seems to be getting tackled or gives the ball to the opposition. Now I know it's not down to effort or a bad touch, so what do you guys think the problem is?

This way you allow your players to start to think and maybe own up to problems on the field. You now listen to their point of view, (remember soccer is a game of opinions) maybe agree with what they have to say and then give them your point of view.

"Good points and definitely something we need to work on in the second half, not only for Amy but for everyone on the field. Now what I'm seeing is this:

Forwards and midfield players seem to be running away from the ball and Amy has no one to pass to so she is getting caught with the ball at her feet. When we see Amy or anybody else on the field with the ball at their feet, we can't all run away, what we need to do is check to the ball and provide a pass to feet. Creating options for our team mates is crucial"

Addressing it this way now takes a one girl problem and makes it into a team problem!

Granted our squads can vary in size and an 18 man roster is sometimes hard to mange during the entirety of a game. However, I would like to stress "unlimited substitution" should be name only, and not a concept we over use. Too many times I see a player go onto the field, make a horrible mistake and then get brought straight off. As a coach we need to allow our players first of all to play, and secondly learn from their own mistakes. So please get out of the habit of changing your line up every 5 minutes and let the players on the field play together for longer. Disrupting the flow of the game is something we look to do with the opposition. Therefore, why would we want to create the same disruption within our own team, due to irregular substitutions? Which in turn creates problems for us and doesn't allow the players on the field to get into the flow of the game and start working as a team?

"OVER COACHING"
This moves me very nicely into my next point, OVER COACHING! Is there such a thing some would ask, unfortunately there is. Bringing a girl out of the game to tell her she needed to shoot the ball earlier or dribble around that player then shoot, teaches them nothing. We need to teach our girls to think, and make their own decisions on the field. The last thing we want to create is Robots, instead of free thinking individuals. Remember, a player sees the game differently and once again, "Soccer is a game of opinions". Therefore address issues with players in the following:

"Dana, when you went through on goal and made the goalkeeper make a save, what do you think you could have done differently?" Hopefully the player gives the right answer. This allows your players to think about the game, and you create an environment for the player to solve problems on their own. You gain more respect, and trust between player and coach grows stronger. If the player does not understand what she needed to do, prompt her first into giving the rights answers and then at a final resort give the answer to her.

Now the big question arrives, and one that you need to ask yourself constantly during a game. "Are the comments coming out of my mouth during the game helping the players, or are they just another parent getting too involved in the action?'

Shoot, shoot, shoot. Tackle, tackle, tackle, and run, run, run, unfortunately all belong in the latter! Just for a second put yourself in the position of your player heading towards goal, goalkeeper to beat, pressure of scoring on her shoulders and her team mates watching in hope of a goal. If that wasn't enough now add the following:

30 parents yelling shoot, shoot, shoot, and the coach screaming the same thing! I'm sure you agree it's a position no body wants to be in. And again, I come back to one of my earlier points, allow your players to learn from their mistakes. Deal with the situation after it occurs! Or refer back to an earlier point:

Dana, great run to open up that opportunity to score! Now, why do you think the keeper made that save?

Therefore you again ask the question, rather than screaming on the field (SHOOT IN THE CORNER)!

Your demeanor on the side lines is also key to the success of your team, and the way in which your players approach the game . Everyone has seen the situation develop, you go a goal down and the coach reacts by kicking the nearest object half way down the field. The question is "How do your players reflect and react to your frustration?" Granted our passion for the game is very apparent, but you create an environment that puts fear and panic into the way your players are now going to perform. If you refer back to the paragraph regarding half time speeches you should now know how to address such a situation. Do not reflect on the past; rather provide instant help for the future.

DEVELOPING YOUR PLAYERS
Finally, I feel as a coach your main responsibility is the development of your players. Training serves one purpose and one purpose only: to teach and provide options for our players in order to solve problems on the field themselves. The more options and tools they have, the better a player will become. We want to create players that have a good understanding of the game, produce moments of brilliance due to individual creativity, and most importantly to create an environment where players are not afraid to try something due to the fear of failing.