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C h a p t e r 1
A Philosophy for Coaching High School Athletes
4. The desire to show one’s ability in competition.
5. The desire to cooperate as part of a team.
6. The desire to have fun.
The Desire to Have Fun
The desire to have fun deserves special attention. Sports should be fun for both
athletes and coaches. The opportunity to have fun is consistently identified by students as
the number one incentive to participate in high school sports. But the fun we refer to is
not the fool around fun we see in our locker rooms, on the bus, or at team parties.
It is the pride, satisfaction and fulfillment a youngster experiences from improving
his or her strength, speed and skill after hours of training and practice. It is the thrill
and exhilaration of setting a new personal best in competition. This is the fun that all
athletes and coaches seek. It is the fun of feeling good about oneself.
When athletes experience this kind of fun, they become consumed with the desire to
feel more...preferably as soon as possible. Developing this desire to have fun may be
the most important attitude coaches can teach. When athletes are filled with the
desire to have fun, they are likely to:
• Strive with all their heart for excellence.
• Dedicate themselves to consistent hard training.
• Show the self-confidence to make the tough decisions and sacrifices it takes to train
and compete at their best.
• Be anxious to show their ability in competition, free of fear or self-doubt.
• Gain personal strength from respecting, helping and caring about their teammates.
So, What About Winning?
Where, then, should winning fit into a coaching philosophy? As noted earlier, nearly
every coach would prefer to win every contest. Realistically, however, it is important
for coaches to admit that it does not matter much whether or not our teams win all
those games. What does matter is that we win the battle to enhance the lives of our
athletes through the experience of participating in Soccer. For coaches, this is the
most important win of all. This is the true measure of coaching success.
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