Coaches 
To choose to become a coach is to choose to lead. Coaching is leadership. A coach’s words and actions deliver leadership messages each and every time. Your team (players/parents) will react to and most often become a reflection of your leadership. A coach’s leadership goes a long way in determining the character of the team, the culture of the team, the efficiency of the team, the quality of the collective effort and the success of the team, in terms of games won, the quality of play and the meaningful significance of the team experience. When teams are struggling, not necessarily as defined by results, wise coaches look first at their own leadership and assess how their words and actions are shaping the team. It may be true that the leadership of the coach plays an increasingly lesser role as players get older, but only a fool would suggest the leadership of the coach to be negligible. Kevin Sims
Players Where do we start? May I suggest we let U’10’s have time-outs to work out game problems? By sharing the load of captaincy we might find a young Messi and by the time they are 15/16 their leadership skills start to percolate into action of seeing a real leader. Let’s make youngsters more responsible for their team from 10 years & on. Parents do much too much babysitting & carrying their child’s bag to games, etc. Being on a team is a shared responsibility and youngsters should share in the chores of the team. Remember it’s an education of preparing a youngster for the long haul and it’s not just about a ball.
Hopefully- England nor the USA have to wait & fail again due to lack of leadership. Yes we need skillful players but in the heat of battle its often a leader that inspires that skill to explode. One needs the other. Graham Ramsay, Executive Director, The Soccer School (est. 1969)
The Outcome of Our Children is Infinitely More Important Than The Outcome of Any Game They Will Ever Play..KD
