Changing the Culture: Coach Education - Peter Hayton         

What I try to do, is create an environment in which it’s possible to succeed. Football is a constant education. I present ideas, not mandates, and try to take advantage of the good people we have. A good coach has to constantly adjust.
George Seifert, American football coach

A coach will always be at the center of change. We have already seen a significant change occurring within our club from the traditional “technocratic” coach, who according to Gyr (1998) “has a mechanistic view of the game and sees players as part of a machine. They simply direct players in an orderly, systemized way” to a more modern “holistic” coach who will do all of the above, but will also work on the psyche of the players and send out a team whose play involves commitment, intelligence and control. Holes in the team’s mental strength will be treated with equal importance to a weakness in technical ability.
These changes have been initiated as part of our coach education program and reinforced at our monthly coaching clinics.

The table (below) shows how coaches can change the culture of their teams without compromising their desire to be successful. What is needed is a way of coaching the modern player in the modern game that creates a shared energy and motivation for improved performance. To achieve this, the comparisons below paint a picture of the modern coach as a smart, democratic, player centered teacher who plans carefully and focuses on the excellence of performance as the way forward. Another point is that the coach should be mentored, not isolated. We (Bay Oaks) started this mentoring program in 2003 and have enjoyed great success using the model over the past five years. We are also totally committed to our coach education program. We believe all coaches need an appropriate mentor and must keep an “open and inquiring mind” to the ever changing nature of modern soccer.

The modern player must be persuaded rather than dominated. He/she will react positively to being empowered, to having greater control over personal destiny. Many coaches find this a difficult step to take because their own role models are likely to be the authoritarian coaches of tradition and culture. At Bay Oaks we try to create a coach- led organization that is player centered one in which discipline is expected, and where shared ownership encourages the players to make “on the field” decisions.

Feedback is everything. Players and parent are not left isolated. An important part of the coach’s job is to provide helpful, honest and constructive critique.
In the end the strongest motivation must be because the player wants to be successful. In a team sport, the motivation must be because the players want to be successful together.

Peter Hayton is Technical Director for Bay Oaks