Realizations

While at practice today, I began to talk with the head coach about coaching girls versus boys. I have always been the type of athlete who doesn't mind being called out individually if I did something wrong and needed some correction. It has occurred to me that not every girl is like that and some even shut down even more when called out for their wrong doing. It really hit me today as I watched a solid soccer player drop her head more than usual when she was called out for not defending in the correct way. The coach told her in a very polite way what she had done wrong but it still caused her to feel a little down.

This lead me to want to do a little research on the good ole internet to see what people have to say about coaching girls. An article from www.raisingarizonakids.com says that girls must learn to be able to trust and adapt to their coaches philosophy before they will perform more. It recommends pulling players aside to speak individually but not calling her out in front of the entire team. Any time a coach speaks to the team, the topic should be addressed to the whole team, not an individual. This article was started with the same question I posed and was answered by another coach as well. He said that he believes women are more responsive to coaches than men and will often do everything they can to please the coach.

I agree with all these comments and feel that I best connect with players in an individual situation and as time goes on I feel that players are coming to me with more questions as they trust me more. My next step with these girls is to meet 1v1 and see how they best respond to being coached. I feel that their is nothing better than to grow a positive relationships with players as it will only reap benefits on the field if they want to perform for you.

http://www.raisingarizonakids.com/index.php?page=1.library.article_view&ar_id=288