In this team, we don't play to win, but learn. Like in life or in any language, there is a natural order in things. A comes before B, then comes C and D. We learn, we understand, we get better, and, if we are lucky enough, we start winning.
This first weekend of the season, we lost track of what was really important. I am a sports writer for a big European daily newspaper, and people often ask me how come the United States is not already better at this sport. I certainly won't have the audacity to suggest I have all the answers. But I am starting to pinpoint some of the problems.
Soccer is played by millions of kids in this country. Unfortunately, too often, they are coached by parents who have no real understanding of the game. At the other end of the spectrum, you have those academy or competitive teams, where the W is the only thing that really matters. Coached by former semi-pros - a big blurry title to say that they somewhat played overseas when they were younger - who mostly come from the United Kingdom to make a living from the game. As a coach of one of those expensive teams told me one day : "You are lucky not to have the pressure of winning to make sure you are going to get enough kids the following season."
Pressure is everywhere. But nowhere as strong as it is on the sidelines in this country. Nowhere in the world are parents so present and loud as they are in the USA. And that is not helping the cause of soccer's development in a country where football, baseball and basketball prevail.
To try and avoid those traps, we made this team affordable to all, and even free when we can find enough sponsors. In return, the families are supposed to understand the big plan and be willing to do some teaching on their own. We should never forget about that. Responsibility is everyone's business. If you want your kid to play soccer to win today, you have picked the wrong team.
Don't misread me, I know everybody wants to win. But like in everything else, there must be a balance. When kids start dreading the drive back home with their dads because they lost, the game is more than over. When the kids keep looking outside those lines during the game to see their dads yelling at the referees and giving advice to everyone, there is no more winner.
Learn to love the game
Seeing the big picture is not always a given. But it is that red line, that constant reminder of what we want to accomplish, that must keep us going: learn to love the game, get better as an individual, on and off the field, get better as a team, and finally have fun winning. There is no other way around.
Our team is young, full of life and promises and kids anxious to learn more about this beautiful game the rest of the world calls football. But once again, there are no true shortcuts. We have in our team a handful of kids who "bleed" soccer. They are the golden nuggets of any team willing to learn. They play the game daily without coach and parents and dream soccer nonstop.
How do we get everybody to that level? With time, fun and a real philosophy of the game. Win or lose, we need to keep aiming for that goal. Focusing on one play, one bad call, one loss, is no way to look at sport at any level. Again, all this doesn't matter. And the best teams ever in any sports understood that.
We cannot be narrow-minded when we teach. We cannot have to fight against the long term effects of the message sent by parents when they act in a very unsportsmanlike manner. The roots of a true team extend outside the lines. If we don't have that, the rest doesn't matter…
- Coach Olivier -
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