Culture & Coaching Challenge

Happy Father’s Day from South Africa. My clothes are washed and dried – thanks Annabe. I planned half of my day… very unlikely for me. If you know me, you know that I get a bit passionate about soccer… and I love experiences where people project their passion through what they do. The plan included seeing African Footprint a musical/dancing show that shares South African history. With little or no props, but a lot of dancing talent, amazing energy and a wonderful story flow, the show generates a great connection with the audience. It has music from African musical instruments, African dances portraying the history from the birth of Africa to the influence of Gumboot and Tap dancing to the artistic Pantsula dance. If you ever get a chance to see it, don’t miss it! The show is over and I buy a shirt, a cap and a program – they ran out of the wine bottles (too bad).

I went to the Sports restaurant and watch the second half of the Italy-New Zealand game. Later, I watched Côte d’Ivoire play like the Brazil from the 1970s in the first half, and then Brazil take control of the game once they bring out the Samba futebol rhythms. There have been a few more officiating errors which have impacted the outcome of games and several underdog teams are doing great against the power house teams. All of this has created a very close race for moving to the next phase and several teams still have a chance, even some with just one point like Slovakia. This makes for a better World Cup for the fans; however, there are some teams that are starting to pack their bags.

Cameroon is numerically out and France has a lot of internal issues. Some teams will have to play a third game with little or no chance to qualify for the next phase and the coaches have to find a way to influence their motivation so they can deliver the right game… a challenging task for some. The principles aka AYSO Philosophies that we share with our coaches could come in handy for some of the World Cup coaches. Positive Coaching generates a lot of support from players for the coach and makes them want to give 100 percent every time. In AYSO, we say that it’s about more than the game and at the World Cup it sure is true. While most World Cup players put their best effort for their country, a few will find it difficult to get up for that third game, missing one of the best opportunities in their lives. AYSO coaches do not deal with World Cup players but they sure influence thousands of kids into playing every weekend, feeling like if it was a World Cup!