GroupThink: 'How do you define coaching?'

"Guidance, I think, is a big thing with coaches.

"Not fully telling the players how to do it, but guiding them and then letting them be, seeing how they react to positives and negatives, as well."

Sarah Gonzalez
Head coach, Shawnee Mission High School

’can you cultivate an environment?’

"Coaching, for me, is what you make of it.

"Some of the best advice I got when I was younger was: ‘For you as a coach, what you are looking for, you will find’. 

"I’ll unpack that as simply as I can. If you are looking to coach at the highest levels, and you are going to have the workrate to pursue your licenses and go to these conventions, you are going to find things that allow you to get there.

"If you want to be a coach who works with the younger kids and instils that passion for the game at a young age, you are going to find places where you have the opportunities to do that.

"Coaching, for me, is not necessarily developing players. It is obviously a very big piece, making players better at the game, but it is also about connecting with players.

"It is having players wanting to come to practice, it is having players learn valuable life lessons that they can take with them past the soccer fields, whether or not they continue their playing careers or stop at certain ages. 

"It’s the camaraderie piece. It’s the ability to be at a place on a soccer field that you can call home. That’s probably the biggest piece, when that environment is there.

"If the environment is cultivated, players will be able to develop what makes sense for them. 

"Some players are super driven. Some players want to be the best they can possibly be and put the work in. Can you create an environment that cultivates that? Some players love coming to practice because of their friends, because of their teammates. Can you cultivate an environment that does that?"

Kyle Martyn
Senior girls director, Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals Soccer Club

’maximize individuals’

"[It’s about] maximizing individual performance for the team.

"Can you pull everything out of a kid and facilitate them reaching a goal that maybe they didn’t think they could? Or maybe they wanted to, but didn’t know how? Then, 10 years down the line, [it’s about] having that player still playing.

"If it’s pick up, if it’s whatever, if they’re coaching, have them a part of the game, you’ve done your job.

"I base it on how many weddings I get invited to. I went to two in December, they’re both still on our team in Utah, so they’re sophomores and seniors on our team. When you’re invited to weddings, you know you’ve had a pretty lasting impact."

Kai Edwards
Head women’s soccer coach, Southern Utah University

’unlocking potential’

"I do what I do because I love to help.

"I think the power of coaching is often that you can take people places that, without you, they might not have been able to get to.

"You do that in some way, shape or form, whether that’s the support you provide, the education you provide or the platform you provide.

"I really like unlocking potential and I really like going on that journey with individuals in my role, both with players and coaches. It’s helping people.

"Our mission statement is to maximize potential, and that to me summarizes my approach to coaching. I want to help people become the best possible versions of themselves, irrespective of whether that is actually within football or within life."

Tom Shields
Technical director, boys’ ECNL director and USL2 head coach, STA Soccer