What Giving Players Freedom Really Means
In training the other day, one of our forwards checked to the ball with a defender on her back and instead of holding the ball up for her team, she tried to do a flick and lost the ball.
I sat there frozen with the devil on my right shoulder and an angel on my left.
On the one hand, her team lost the ball. She probably shouldn’t have tried it there. Now, they have to defend.
On the other hand, she saw that there was a possibility it could come off. There was some imagination, some creativity and flair.
So, really… what is the right thing to do there?
Some coaches tried to hammer this out of me. Some really good coaches too. Great people. Great mentors. Great educators.
I was very often told that I needed to stop the tricks and flicks.
I needed to keep possession for the team.
I shouldn’t do that in those parts of the field.
I needed to be a more well-rounded player.
There is a balance that can be found. I have had it with some coaches, where players feel freedom to be who they truly are and show how they understand and see the game. These are the environments I thrived in the most.
And maybe this is okay more so in youth sports. Where stakes are supposed to be low. Where development is the goal. Maybe college and pro coaches won’t feel this like I have felt this. (And let’s be clear, I am not promoting a Mario Balotelli moment here).
But, instead of taking something away from them, can you help them refine and perfect it? Can you nurture what they have brewing in them? Show them where to do it. When to do it. Almost encourage it when it’s on?
If I yelled at that player to not do that there in that moment, the teaching lesson is not just to that player, but the whole team.
The teaching lesson is that doing tricks and flicks is not okay. That we shouldn’t try to go forward as much as possible. That you will be yelled at for trying.
The teaching lesson for me when I was younger should have been more about my reaction to losing the ball and less about taking creativity away. It should have been where is the best place and time for this? That would have helped me more as a player.
I don’t know how many times in my life I have heard, “you’re lucky that came off” or “you’re lucky that worked out” – Like, no you’re lucky. The worst that could happen is we lose the ball. We get scored on. We lose the game. That is the worst scenario.
The worst case scenario is we lose the game! OK! Move on. Learn from it.
I have a long way to go as a coach, no doubt.. but I feel some of these situations deep down in my core, and I feel it’s my duty to share them with whoever wants to listen. Not only to help improve the player-coach experience, but to improve girls soccer and the women’s game as a whole.