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The Craft of Coaching
(Pt. 1 of 4)

Many qualities and attributes are needed in moving players to new levels...

Bill Beswick, the renowned sports psychologist formerly of Manchester United and Middlesbrough FC, has a saying which should inspire all coaches: “A good coach is able to take a player where they have never been before and will not get to on their own.”

This in many ways gives meaning to what it is to coach and encapsulates the primary purpose of the coaching profession. This article explores coaching as a craft, a professional endeavor which requires pride of performance, acquisition of highly-valued skills and has an objective which is both enormously satisfying and develops an insatiable appetite for more.

At an NSCAA Academy a few years ago, a disgruntled graduate from a highly successful Division I college program said, “I didn’t learn one thing in four years of college; I haven’t improved since I left high school.” It was astonishing to discover how disenchanted this player had been with his college experience. He had played in several Final Fours, one of which his team won. It is clear that serious players want more from a coach than winning trophies. They want to prepare for the next level. They want to get better.

Many would argue that the ultimate acid test of a player is “What impact did you have on the game?” Surely the ultimate acid test of a coach is “What impact did you have on your players?”

It would be disingenuous to assert that a player’s sole means of improvement is through good coaching. Coaches take too much credit for producing good players and too much criticism for producing poor ones. Playing with and against better players ultimately is what improves a player. Players also improve from modeling – watching and imitating good players. Improvements are accelerated for players immersed in a soccer culture where good play is appreciated and the game is revered.

Player improvement also occurs, undeniably, from participating in focused, dynamic and well-structured practice sessions. The objective of the NSCAA Academy is to explore the coach’s role in the development of players and to explore coaching and teaching as a craft, a highly prized skill.

Managing and coaching
It is important to highlight the difference between managing and coaching, if only to distinguish the difference between winning trophies and improving players. Many successful programs emerge because the coach is a good recruiter, scheduler, fundraiser, negotiator and manager of people. The management of a team or club is a vital task in building a winning culture. The managerial aspects of coaching are critical and are receiving greater attention in our Academies. It is possible, however, for programs to have exceptional winning records where players do not improve.

It is not entirely surprising to hear of players from winning programs who are dissatisfied with the quality of coaching they receive on the training ground. They have been recruited for their ability, but they stagnate as players due to a lack of interest or lack of skill of the coach to help them. How much better would it have been for the aforementioned candidate to have won trophies and improved during his time as a player? How much more rewarding would the playing experience have been if the coach had taken player development as seriously as managing the program? The very best coaches we have, obviously, do both.

[To be continued next month...]

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in its entirety in the May/June 2003 issue of the NSCAA Soccer Journal.