As someone who has coached sports other than soccer, thought I'd ask the assembled masses here about "commitment" as it relates to high school soccer. In my experience, a coach deals with commitment issues at several stages:
1) He/she identifies/cuts CLEARLY non-committed players in the tryout process.
2) He/she works to enhance/increase individual and team-wide commitment through various on- and off-field activities.
3) He/she rewards commitment with playing time and captaincy.
4) If a commitment issues crops up in-season, he/she addresses it through individual discussions, team discussions, playing time, and (in the absolute worst case) suspension.
5) A coach never (in public) blames a team's shortcomings on commitment, because it reflects poorly on his/her team-selection and problem-solving skills.
Your thoughts?
