by Tim Nash
Coaches are pretty good about keeping up with the changes in their sport. They study games, research training methods, watch other coaches work.
They aren’t always so diligent, however, about keeping up with the off-the-field requirements of their jobs. Everyone is well-aware of the value of coach-player communication, but the players are not the only ones with which coaches need to stay connected.
by Tim Nash
When the youth soccer club Thomas Finlay was operating started to feel growing pains, he knew the club needed to be run like a small business.
And Finlay had a solid background on which to draw. He had coached in the Atlanta area. He was executive director for New Orleans Soccer Academy, and he had a degree in Economics and Political Science from Wake Forest, where he played for four years.
So, what did Finlay do to set the course for what was then called the North Mecklenburg Soccer Club? He turned to an odd source for the solution.
by Tim Nash
So, you have a player who is not performing as well as you’d like, and it’s frustrating. They are among your most talented players, but they just don’t get it done.
You have your own theories as to why, and over time you convince yourself you are right – he’s just lazy, he’s too slow, he’s not aggressive enough.
But what if you are wrong? What if there is a simple explanation that neither you nor the player have considered? What a waste that would be.