A team is a group of individuals that come together to make up a collective unit where everyone is working to accomplish the same goal. That being said, everyone has a role to play, the question becomes what is your role? What do you bring to the game? What are you in control of? And what impact do your actions have on the game?
So tell me, what is it that you control during a game? When was the last time you yelling at the ref made the ref make a call or change a call that they had previously made? When was the last time getting upset with someone on the field changed the way the game was being played? When did arguing with a coach get your child more playing time? What is it that you control? To put it simply, you control one thing and one thing alone, yourself!
Parents yelling on the sideline and questioning their kids after the game isn’t going to make anything better, in fact more often than not it will lead to your child quitting the game unfortunately. Check out the book “Changing the Game” by John O’Sullivan.
Coaches, you have the power to pick who plays, when and why they play. But remember it is a game, winning is important but let the kids enjoy it! Empower them! Let them make decisions! Remember, you aren’t on the field, you aren’t the one playing! What you see and what they see are two very different things! They will make mistakes, but you learn more from a mistake and a lose than from a win. And if you let them think for their own I guarantee they will surprise you!
Players, you control you! No one else! If you stop playing because you think you were fouled and the ref didn’t call it you have only put your team at a disadvantage. If you get frustrated when you lose the ball again you put your team at a disadvantage. The other team is going to play their game, nothing you do will change that. The ref is going to call the game the way they see fit, nothing you do will change that. You can’t force your teammates to work harder, and you can’t make your coach put you in the game. But your actions can influence them. If you show no quit in your game, if you out hustle everyone on the field, if you play to the whistle others will see it. Others will react. You control you.