The Training Ground BELONGS TO the PLAYER.
The COACH is ACCOUNTABLE for the Training Ground CULTURE.
The COACH is ACCOUNTABLE for the Training Ground CULTURE.
It is important for coaches to acknowledge that the training ground belongs to the player. Whilst coaches might have varying methods of establishing training ground culture, we are always reset to the realization that the "training space" is the "athlete's". It is such in the classroom that the "learning space" is the "student's".
When teachers and coaches abide by this principle, it is then possible for the greatest growth to be achieved.
When teachers and coaches abide by this principle, it is then possible for the greatest growth to be achieved.
THE PLAYER's TRAINING GROUND
The WSA Way calls for a "Player-Centered" approach. This player-centric model does not leave room for a coach-centric, result-centric, financial-centric, or competition-centric model. It does not exclude or prohibit focus on coaching, results, finances, competition, or other aspirations. The "Player-Centered" approach, coined in 1995 as part of The WSA Way does require that the PLAYER is the focus of all other efforts within our club community.
NOTE ON PLAYER-CENTERED MODEL AND WHAT IT IS NOT:
WSA is not a PLAYER-FIRST model. This model is endorsed by other entities. Specifically WSA does not have a linear approach (i.e. first and then second, etc) to our model. The WSA Model is a Community Model. The Player cannot be "first" because that notion would compete with many Character Servant elements of being "others oriented" and "team first", or "prioritizing serving".
THIS HALLOWED GROUND
The WSA Way tradition views the training ground as a "hallowed ground", in that it is a "greatly revered and honored" place. This is where "players play" and "athletes train" and "teams become".
The coach should honor the player at the training ground. This means the training ground is NOT a place for a coach's ego, coach's experimentation at athlete's expense, coach's vicarious ambitions, or coach's opportunity to assert power or authority over another for sake of control or power. It is also required that the coach is never flippant, disengaged, other-focused, or unprepared.
THE PLAYER'S TRAINING GROUND WILL ADVOCATE FOR and CENTER ON THE PLAYER. The coach is responsible to carry this forward. When needed the coach will "lead like a lion" and when needed the coach will reside in the "silent shadows", orchestrating and conducting from the orchestra pit.
The following Training Ground Characteristics are essential to maintain that the Training Ground Belongs To The Athlete:
SAFE PLACE for the player to explore, experiment, fail, and therefore grow and become.
CHALLENGING ATMOSPHERE for the player to engage in her human right to discover her limits through challenge.
ENERGIZED for the athlete to be ambitious, do, become active, and play.
COMMUNITY that advocates for the athlete to engage and connect socially with others, building a team.
PLACE to BELONG that welcomes, accepts, and notices the athlete for his uniqueness and inherent human value.
FOCUSED to drive time invested by the athlete into delivery of player outcomes.
ENGAGING to captivate the energy, imagination, and drive that belongs to the enlivened athlete.
NOTE ON PLAYER-CENTERED MODEL AND WHAT IT IS NOT:
WSA is not a PLAYER-FIRST model. This model is endorsed by other entities. Specifically WSA does not have a linear approach (i.e. first and then second, etc) to our model. The WSA Model is a Community Model. The Player cannot be "first" because that notion would compete with many Character Servant elements of being "others oriented" and "team first", or "prioritizing serving".
THIS HALLOWED GROUND
The WSA Way tradition views the training ground as a "hallowed ground", in that it is a "greatly revered and honored" place. This is where "players play" and "athletes train" and "teams become".
The coach should honor the player at the training ground. This means the training ground is NOT a place for a coach's ego, coach's experimentation at athlete's expense, coach's vicarious ambitions, or coach's opportunity to assert power or authority over another for sake of control or power. It is also required that the coach is never flippant, disengaged, other-focused, or unprepared.
THE PLAYER'S TRAINING GROUND WILL ADVOCATE FOR and CENTER ON THE PLAYER. The coach is responsible to carry this forward. When needed the coach will "lead like a lion" and when needed the coach will reside in the "silent shadows", orchestrating and conducting from the orchestra pit.
The following Training Ground Characteristics are essential to maintain that the Training Ground Belongs To The Athlete:
SAFE PLACE for the player to explore, experiment, fail, and therefore grow and become.
CHALLENGING ATMOSPHERE for the player to engage in her human right to discover her limits through challenge.
ENERGIZED for the athlete to be ambitious, do, become active, and play.
COMMUNITY that advocates for the athlete to engage and connect socially with others, building a team.
PLACE to BELONG that welcomes, accepts, and notices the athlete for his uniqueness and inherent human value.
FOCUSED to drive time invested by the athlete into delivery of player outcomes.
ENGAGING to captivate the energy, imagination, and drive that belongs to the enlivened athlete.
CULTURE of THE TRAINING GROUND
While the Training Ground belongs to the Player, the Culture of the Training Ground is the responsibility, and ultimate accountability, of the coach.
RESPONSIBILITY = carrying out the duties and tasks for the session
VS
ACCOUNTABILITY = being answerable for outcomes and owning the results and/or consequences
NOTE ON CULTURE: Let us remind ourselves that culture is "a system of shared beliefs, values, behaviors, and practices that help define a group of people." This word can sometimes become a misnomer for retrospective outcomes - i.e. after a winning season, to state we "developed a winning culture" is an inaccurate reference to what culture is, and as a leader, misunderstanding the word will prohibit you from helping develop authentic culture in the future. Authentic Culture has the power to TRANSFORM (WSA Mission). Be sure to KNOW what CULTURE IS. This allows you to lead it.
THE UNIQUE TEAM GAME MODEL DRIVES CULTURE
Each coach will develop a unique team Game Model. From this Team Game Model much of the Training Ground Culture specifics will be derived. For example if you coach 8-year-olds you may emphasize "paying attention", while if you coach young adults, you may emphasize "being on time". If these are a priority outcome, they need to be part of the "culture". See the examples below to help illustrate:
The young team have a routine for practice that begins with a small "attention" activity. Coach Doug, WSA Girls Academy Director, often begins training with a series of questions for his girls. These range from questions of relevance to questions that are absurdly funny and entertaining. Coach Jimmy, WSA Boys Academy Director, often begins his sessions by asking all the players to celebrate someone, i.e. a birthday, a recent achievement, or something absurd and funny (someone might have worn new shoes). The net result in both cases, the session begins with a small activity requiring the athletes to "pay attention".
Coach Rafa will often begin his U15-U19 Girls sessions, warmups, meetings, without players who are "still on the way". Upon arrival the players are not immediately integrated or acknowledged, unless they had given an advance notice of their tardiness. There is a subtle lesson that his team begins on time, and that "being there" is important, and also significantly that the team does NOT wait for individuals, and therefore the team is bigger than you. He does not have to call attention to it. It is consistently a part of the team dynamic.
The examples above are unique to the coach, driven by the coach personality, which has infused itself into a team manifesto, the Team Game Model. The behaviors help bring about unique identity, by creating cultural mores within the community of the team, which drives CULTURE.
THE WSA WAY CLUB WIDE GAME MODEL DRIVES CULTURE
The WSA Way advocates for some general principles for developing Training Ground Culture. These principles help align and connect the Training Ground across the club.
SAFETY is a priority
COMMUNICATION is key to development of relationship
NOTICING OTHERS is critical to empowerment of the athlete
SPEAKING correctly & professionally models leadership values (proper tone, respectfully, directly, w/o cursing)
CELEBRATING OTHERS builds camaraderie and sense of belonging
PREPARATION demonstrates care and concern for achieving
DRESS PROFESSIONAL, demonstrates unity, standards, and uniformity of "team/club"
ENERGY and enthusiasm infuse a sense of The WSA Way playing principles of attacking, defending & transition
EMPOWERMENT to "fail forward", encouraging risk-taking to learn & grow within the WSA Way Game Model
THE RESPONSIBILITY & ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE COACH
The Culture of the training ground will be driven by and is the responsibility of the coach. In "theory" most advanced coaches will set this up with ease of thought. As coaches we attempt to move towards "masterclass" and we know that it is "in the moment" of training that the test of our responsibility to maintain this culture will occur. When a cultural standard is not abided by, or when in our lapse of thought we forget or overlook implementation.
Culture Building is always a SLOW and GRADUAL process most impacted by our consistent and persistent adherence to the building blocks we have established. The moments to adhere to are often imperceptible, yet so powerful. Every word we say, decision we make, response to a referee, response to achievement and good fortune, response to adversity, response to resistance; each moment, we are building the culture of the community we belong to and/or lead.
And at the end of the day, end of the session or match, and end of a season, we, as the coach, are accountable, thus answerable, to the Training Ground Culture. A Training Ground Culture, that per The WSA Way, places the Player in the Center with a primary outcome of development of SERVANT CHARACTER.
RESPONSIBILITY = carrying out the duties and tasks for the session
VS
ACCOUNTABILITY = being answerable for outcomes and owning the results and/or consequences
NOTE ON CULTURE: Let us remind ourselves that culture is "a system of shared beliefs, values, behaviors, and practices that help define a group of people." This word can sometimes become a misnomer for retrospective outcomes - i.e. after a winning season, to state we "developed a winning culture" is an inaccurate reference to what culture is, and as a leader, misunderstanding the word will prohibit you from helping develop authentic culture in the future. Authentic Culture has the power to TRANSFORM (WSA Mission). Be sure to KNOW what CULTURE IS. This allows you to lead it.
THE UNIQUE TEAM GAME MODEL DRIVES CULTURE
Each coach will develop a unique team Game Model. From this Team Game Model much of the Training Ground Culture specifics will be derived. For example if you coach 8-year-olds you may emphasize "paying attention", while if you coach young adults, you may emphasize "being on time". If these are a priority outcome, they need to be part of the "culture". See the examples below to help illustrate:
The young team have a routine for practice that begins with a small "attention" activity. Coach Doug, WSA Girls Academy Director, often begins training with a series of questions for his girls. These range from questions of relevance to questions that are absurdly funny and entertaining. Coach Jimmy, WSA Boys Academy Director, often begins his sessions by asking all the players to celebrate someone, i.e. a birthday, a recent achievement, or something absurd and funny (someone might have worn new shoes). The net result in both cases, the session begins with a small activity requiring the athletes to "pay attention".
Coach Rafa will often begin his U15-U19 Girls sessions, warmups, meetings, without players who are "still on the way". Upon arrival the players are not immediately integrated or acknowledged, unless they had given an advance notice of their tardiness. There is a subtle lesson that his team begins on time, and that "being there" is important, and also significantly that the team does NOT wait for individuals, and therefore the team is bigger than you. He does not have to call attention to it. It is consistently a part of the team dynamic.
The examples above are unique to the coach, driven by the coach personality, which has infused itself into a team manifesto, the Team Game Model. The behaviors help bring about unique identity, by creating cultural mores within the community of the team, which drives CULTURE.
THE WSA WAY CLUB WIDE GAME MODEL DRIVES CULTURE
The WSA Way advocates for some general principles for developing Training Ground Culture. These principles help align and connect the Training Ground across the club.
SAFETY is a priority
COMMUNICATION is key to development of relationship
NOTICING OTHERS is critical to empowerment of the athlete
SPEAKING correctly & professionally models leadership values (proper tone, respectfully, directly, w/o cursing)
CELEBRATING OTHERS builds camaraderie and sense of belonging
PREPARATION demonstrates care and concern for achieving
DRESS PROFESSIONAL, demonstrates unity, standards, and uniformity of "team/club"
ENERGY and enthusiasm infuse a sense of The WSA Way playing principles of attacking, defending & transition
EMPOWERMENT to "fail forward", encouraging risk-taking to learn & grow within the WSA Way Game Model
THE RESPONSIBILITY & ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE COACH
The Culture of the training ground will be driven by and is the responsibility of the coach. In "theory" most advanced coaches will set this up with ease of thought. As coaches we attempt to move towards "masterclass" and we know that it is "in the moment" of training that the test of our responsibility to maintain this culture will occur. When a cultural standard is not abided by, or when in our lapse of thought we forget or overlook implementation.
Culture Building is always a SLOW and GRADUAL process most impacted by our consistent and persistent adherence to the building blocks we have established. The moments to adhere to are often imperceptible, yet so powerful. Every word we say, decision we make, response to a referee, response to achievement and good fortune, response to adversity, response to resistance; each moment, we are building the culture of the community we belong to and/or lead.
And at the end of the day, end of the session or match, and end of a season, we, as the coach, are accountable, thus answerable, to the Training Ground Culture. A Training Ground Culture, that per The WSA Way, places the Player in the Center with a primary outcome of development of SERVANT CHARACTER.