Andre Botelho’s Soccer Coaching Blog

Are you frustrated by the lack of motivation and confidence of your players? Well, today I’d like to share with you some important secrets about motivation and team spirit…

One of my favorite quotes is: “A quitter never wins, and a winner never quits”. And this is actually true and applies not only to soccer and sports, but also to everything you want to achieve in your life…

If you have a PASSION for coaching and you really love the game… then you have the “foundation” of success. As I usually say to my clients: “you have about 1/3 of what it takes to succeed as a coach”.

You’re probably wondering, “what is missing?”, right? For me, the most important (and difficult) part is that you have to BELIEVE you can do it! (this might look easy but, it’s not. You can’t foul your mind… you really need to truly believe that you can reach your goal). If you have PASSION for what you do and you BELIEVE you can achieve your goal, then you have about 2/3 of what it takes to succeed…

What about the final 1/3?

You need to take ACTION! Nothing happens until something moves. You need to find a mentor that has already achieved the success you are looking for, learn from him, and take ACTION by implementing the things that will produce the change.

So, here’s the secret of success: PASSION + BELIEVE + ACTION!

And never forget that: “Success is something you attract by the person you become”…

How To Increase Motivation and Team Spirit…

At times, the teams who look stronger and winning material fail to reach the goal. These teams look stronger contenders because of their great hold on the technical and physical aspects of the game. However, most of the times, the reason behind their falling apart comes out of their unwillingness to participate in practice sessions and lack of motivation to fulfill their dreams.

The teams, who score high, also score high on determination, mental toughness, and leadership qualities. Individuals make a team, so as a coach you must focus on each individual player in the team to instill these qualities. Every player’s performance depends on his/her level of attentiveness and awareness.

It is your duty to keep your team motivated and high on self esteem. By employing innovative and interesting coaching techniques, you can easily bring the cheer to your team’s side and can make every player feel as if they are a family and belong to each other. They must understand that team spirit is very crucial.

The players who believe in themselves and have strong mental awareness prove to be match winners than those who only believe in their physical and technical abilities.

If you fail to keep your young players interested in the game and understanding the importance of motivation, do not get disheartened. I know it is not easy but believe me it is not that difficult too. Today, we will discuss on how to keep your youngsters motivated, interested, and focused on the game while at the same time understanding the importance of other team members.

So, the drills that we discuss today will not only help your players in understanding the need and importance of other players on the field but also about the consequences that they may face if they give all the importance only to themselves.

The first drill is called 5 vs 5 with goals. Besides team spirit, this drill also teaches the players to keep the ball within the team.

Divide the players into 2 teams with 5 members each. Place two goals on either side and if you don’t have goals, use cones. It is important not to go beyond 5 players for any team even if there are more than 10 players in the group. If this is the case, make more than 2 teams.

The coach should start the drill by blowing a whistle. The teams fight for the ball and try to keep in their possession as long as possible. Ask your players to pass more frequently to their fellow team mates as far as possible. Afterwards, you can swap the players in both teams and make them play again.

You should ensure that the weak players get to touch the ball as much as possible. Use the seniors to help them achieve this objective. This also instills a sense of brotherhood among them. Also, if you are using goals, you could use goalkeepers. Else, with cones, there is no need for goalkeepers.

Dribbling Cones

As you would have guessed, this drill makes the players sharpen their dribbling skills in addition to helping them enjoy the game. The setup is similar to the previous drill. Separate the players into teams of 5 players each.

Place 1 cone in the middle and 2 on each side of the ground about 5 yards away from the one in the middle. The players standing first should drive the ball forward and when they are about half yard from the middle cone, perform a dribble.

The red players should run to the left after executing the move above and the blue players should run to the right. When they have covered about 1 yard from their respective lines, they should pass the ball to the first standing player and then jog at the back of that file.

Mostly, coaches tend to keep motivating and convincing the players who are low on self-esteem and get disheartened easily, but you must keep looking after the players who are already highly motivated, as they may feel bored and become frustrated when they do not get the good results and due attention.

Leave your feedback below!

Yours in soccer,

Andre Botelho

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Tags: Soccer Confidence, Soccer Motivation, soccer team spirit, soccer team work, soccer teamwork, teamwork in soccer