Apologies if this has already been posted elsewhere on the site. Recently attended a clinic where this article was the centerpiece and thought I'd share:

Players or Competitors?
Has our system created an unintended consequence in player
development?

Dr. Jay Martin - Soccer Journal

In early September, a Division I game featured two Top 10
teams, one from the West Coast and one from the East Coast.
In this early-season special, two big-time programs went at
each other, each hoping to make a statement for the 2008
season. After the first half, it was clear the West Coast
team had better soccer players. Pound for pound, they were
more technical than the home team. That team lost 3-0... and
it could have been more. Good soccer players who played good
soccer but didn't compete. They PLAYED the game; they did
not COMPETE the game.

In a recent interview discussing the upcoming hockey season,
Columbus Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock told reporters the
team would make the playoffs if he could find players `who
would COMPETE and not just PLAY" The difference? "Players
who PLAY bring skill; players who COMPETE bring everything!"
There is too much playing in American soccer and not enough
competing. Playing permeates all levels of the game, from
U-5 to MLS and the national teams. We are confusing ability
for talent. Allen Fox, author of The Winner's Mind, says:
"Most people mistake speed and skill for talent. Real talent
STARTS with energy, drive, work ethic and the will to win.
Without these attributes, a player can never be great."
We have focused so much on playing that we haven't taught
players to compete, to fight, to work hard or to have the
will to win. As a soccer culture, we've always had an
inferiority complex, so we emphasize playing, technical
ability and skills. Our youth play a lot of soccer, but few
compete. What happened to all the highly regarded U-17s
we've had in this country? Where are they now? They are
playing somewhere.

It is not always the players' fault. Our "soccer system" or
"soccer culture" is dysfunctional. When players are not
playing in their club, they simply change clubs. There is no
thought about competing for a spot on the team, getting
better to fight for a spot... they simply change clubs. The
message to players is that striving to get better is not as
important as how you play and how you look High school age
players don't care much about the outcome of games (whether
they are playing in high school or club), but they do care
about "showing"...about playing to showcase their skills and
ability for college coaches. How many times have you heard a
parent tell their son or daughter that they played well or showed well despite losing the game?
Add to this the large number of meaningless games in youth
soccer and we have a deadly combination. When young players
play in hundreds of meaningless high school and club games,
the emphasis slowly changes from the game to the individual.
To playing and showing. Competing is lost. By the time the
players move to the next level, they haven't learned how to
compete. Or, as Allen suggests, they do not have the drive,
work ethic or will to win.

Players lose motivation and confidence when the 'Work/play"
is no longer easy (i.e. college soccer, or the next level).
The rules change at the next level; the emphasis switches
back to competing and hard work and the players can't handle
it. They think they are playing (and they are) - but they
are not competing. We need players who compete and play;
players who have the will to win.

Research is clear that constant praising of children's
innate ability (athletic or intellectual) can prevent them
from living up to their potential. On the other hand,
studies show that teaching young people to focus on effort
rather than ability helps make them high achievers and
competitors in school, on the field and in life.
Why do some players, when confronted with failure, give up
while others who are no more skilled continue to compete and
learn? Stanford University 's Carol Dweck, author of
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, suggests that the
answer lies in people's beliefs about why they failed. It
seems that those who were praised for their ability and
intelligence when things are easy have trouble changing
gears and working hard when things get tough. Children who
are taught to focus on effort and getting better rather than
the outcome learn to work hard and solve the problem. Soccer
players who change clubs never learn to solve the problems
that others face because they never face them. The key, says
Dweck, isn't ability: it's whether you look at ability as
something inherent that needs to be demonstrated or as
something that can be developed. She further suggests that
many young athletes who are led to believe that talent is
more important than effort become uncoachable!

Somehow in the Land of the Puritan Work Ethic, we have
separated ability and effort. We are teaching our young
soccer players that ability, technique and skill outweigh
effort. In fact, our young players believe that having to
work hard at soccer is a sign of low ability. Since college
coaches are interested in ability, young players don't work
hard, they don't compete. When they get to college and
things get tough they can't change gears and work hard. They
are confused. They played "high-level youth soccer" and made it to a college team playing one way. Now the coach wants
the players to change and work hard. Many can't do it.

A high level of ability will inspire confidence in our young
players... for a while. As long as things are going well,
the players will be confident, but adversity and failure
change everything. How our young players react to setbacks
depends on their goals. If the goal is to play at the next
level by focusing on ability or skill (performance goals),
there will be no improvement, but if the goal is to become a
better soccer player; to improve ability (learning goals),
the young player will work hard, compete and become a better
player. Dweck's 2002 study showed that praising children for
intelligence (or ability) alone rather than effort actually
sapped their motivation.

Culture plays a large role in shaping our beliefs. Our
soccer culture perpetuates the belief that talent is the
answer. And talent is defined as skill. We focus on talent,
we praise those who are talented, we fight for talented
players for our teams and, as a result, have created a
mindset that talent is the end-all in soccer. The mindset
that soccer ability is the only answer is a problem and must
be changed. We must return to an emphasis on effort, drive,
determination and the will to win in addition to skill and
talent.

How do we change from a "fixed mindset" to a "growth
mindset" in this soccer culture? How do we change the
emphasis from relying totally on skill to relying on using
the skill in addition to hard work? One way, says Dweck, is
to tell our players about those who were successful through
hard work and not only skill. These examples should show
that real success needs a combination of ability and hard
work. Sports in general and soccer specifically provide many
examples of this. Take Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal. He has
tremendous skill and soccer ability, but he also is the
hardest worker on the field; that combination makes him one
the best players in the EPL. The hardworking Claude Makalele
is another example. Often overlooked at Real Madrid as only
a hard worker, his real contributions were displayed when he
moved to Chelsea . Real Madrid struggled and Chelsea became
one of the best teams in Europe after his transfer.

Another strategy coaches can use to change the mindset is
praise. Instead of praising skill alone, coaches must praise
effort, hard work and the will to win. Most people believe
they should build up people by telling them how brilliant or
talented they are. Dweck's research suggests this is
misguided and a mistake.

As coaches, it is time to change our players' mindset. It is
time to make work ethic and effort important again. It is time to combine highly skilled players with hard-working
players. Our players must stop playing and start competing.