Write what you want to read. Provide supporting evidence. Don't be boring.
Strong teams and coaches collaborate to get things done. UNC women's soccer has a sign, "Excellence is our only agenda." Most teams can't say that.
Win the mental game. A player observed (for our next game), "we have to keep 24 and 15 under control...and they like to pass to the post, then cut to the basket." Players leverage size, athleticism, and skill when they study the game. Know your opponent's tendencies.
It's not all good if we can't get to the shooter quickly.
What are "pure motives" for coaching? Each of us has an answer. We serve and we share.
Principles of Servant Leadership from the Spears Center
Servant Leadership and Character
The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. The best test is: do those served grow as persons: do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or, at least, not be further deprived? (Greenleaf, 1977/2002, p. 27)
But Casey Stengel had a simpler version. The coaches' version of Hemingway, "There is nothing to coaching. All you do is walk into the gym with a whistle and bleed."
Summary:
- Write what you want to read.
- Find supporting evidence.
- "Excellence is our only agenda."
- Win the mental game.
- Know your opponent's tendencies.
- Coaches serve.
- Lighten up.
Lagniappe 1: From the Playbook (Portland Spread)
Lagniappe 2: Kobe Bryant gave great advice to young Jayson Tatum, “Don’t wait for someone to hand it to you. Don’t let anybody stop you from being great. No matter your situation, no matter how old you are, be that guy.”
Lagniappe 3: What does it mean to be part of a team? Art imitates life.
"We're a team...we win together, we lose together. We celebrate and we mourn together. And defeats are softened and victories sweetened because we did them together. And if you don't like this team, then there's the door."
