Monday, April 25, 2011

New rules to coach by

So busy at work today I can’t devote too much time to working on my “The Ten Commandments of Travel Team Soccer” book. The hour and a half I do manage to squeeze in this morning makes me come to a realization about this project. Ten Commandments are just not going to be enough. It may have worked for God and Moses when they did their deal back in the day but those were different times. Moses didn’t come down from the mountain and have to deal with meddling helicopter parents, incompetent referees, overzealous league officials and, worst of all, ten year old prima donnas who think they are Lionel Messi.

I cross out ten and decide to go for 100. A nice round number. That should be enough at least for the first volume. I immediately start jotting down potential new commandments. Will flesh these out later with stories illustrating what I mean.

No. 79. If one player leaves every practice in tears you are doing something right.

No. 44. Kids change and you may not always understand their slang but they will always understand you shouting.

No. 57. Even the most overbearing parent can be cowed into submission by seeing their child spending a couple of games stuck to the bench.

No. 22. Travel team is about creating memories and all these kids will remember when they grow up is whether they won or lost, not how they played the game.

That's as far as I get before annoying boss starts lurking around my cubicle. Still, a good start to the working week.

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