Team v Individual

My younger player made a club change this past year. Interesting that the entire team moved over to get away from all the problems associated with the previous club, team and coaches. The new coach carries an A license and has been in the sport for over 20 years. I have no doubts that he may be the best trainer in the state and one of the top in the region. High motivation, high energy, great communicator, knowledgeable, all the great traits. Notice, I said great trainer, not necessarily the best coach. But, like any coach, he has his quirks and also carries some baggage. I watched him take a new team through 2-3 of the top tournaments in the east with 2 semi-finals and a championship within the first few months. A state TOC title and went undefeated at regionals but did not advance due to points. Some coaches wait years to build a team to that level. In my years of sports, I have not seen such a concentrated team effort in any sport. There were no heroes on the team. Players got moved to new positions and situations and were successful. There was no selfishness on this team.
Over the summer we tried to recruit several top level players in the state to our team. Not sure what “kool-aid” they’re drinking at the current club but we were unsuccessful. The tough decision was made to cut 2-3 players that did not contribute to the overall efforts of the team. He did spend an enormous amount of time recruiting one player who did succumb to the pressure and made the move. And now we’re dealing with double rostering and our team is not her primary club. Ughhh….
Interesting how the summer has changed parents attitudes towards the team. With the onset of the fall season, everyone seems to have an opinion and an agenda for their player. I even have one with my own player being moved from forward to outside back, leading scorer a year ago, to only 2 goals during the championship season. I got all the reasons and saw huge improvement in vision, skills and strength, however; I also have a very unhappy player on my hands. We’re also dealing with the real deal here with the striker mentality and skills. According to Anson Dorrance, she has the “Fury” and according to Michael Jordan, she has the “Rage”. It’s a skill set and a personality that needs to be nurtured in soccer, not diminished for the team.

Multiply this times 15 players. Coach is attempting to manage the entire team and has lost sight of the individual. What a cruel balance for every coach. Too much time spent with the new recruit is creating animosity on the team with many of the players. Keeping key players in critical roles on the team has those players unhappy. This is an interesting, challenging and critical time frame for female players. 14. UGH….. On top of those issues, 2-3 of the players are also excellent lacrosse players from lacrosse families and their parents want them to change focus to concentrate on scholarship opportunities. 2 other players are also excellent AAU basketball players, so they see no soccer training whatsoever for 4 months out of the year. Yes, your saying, recruit more kids, well folks this is upper New England and the pool of premier level players is not very deep. This is not New Jersey or Virginia where players grow on trees.
The balance. Player v the team. Team v the player. Female players make it even more difficult. Parents compound the problem and quite frankly are always the root of the problem.

The never ending question…… team v individual. There is no team without the individual. There is no “I” in TEAM, but there is in WIN. Great quote by Michael Jordan, but you got to have the guts and determination to back it up.