Young players have a desire to achieve and a desire to prove themselves to others. In order to motivate them successfully, the coach needs to take into consideration the following factors:
1. The player must be interested. The player who is not interested has a closed mind, and if that cannot be changed, it is a recipe for disaster.
2. The player should have enthusiasm – a desire to be involved and to participate. One should be suspicious of any young player who lacks enthusiasm. It is worth remembering that people who are enthusiastic want to do more, not less.
3. The player should see good examples and be shown good standards.
Seeing good players play live, or on film, is important. By observing what good players do, standards are set; standards, one must add, not only of performance, but also of behavior.
4. The player will learn through correct practice and through the frequency of that practice. Quality is more important than quantity.
5. The player will learn by knowledge of results. The more progress a player can be seen to be making, the more the player is likely to be encouraged to practice. Correct practice involves setting player performance targets so that progress can be measured.
6. The player will learn by being challenged. Progress involves a continuous process of reaching beyond one’s grasp. Progress is not achieved by constantly working within one’s limits – one does not climb higher by looking down. Players will improve by being set more difficult tasks and by playing with and against better players, the proviso being that the task is not too difficult nor the opposing players too good. Coaches must set these challenges carefully for young players calculating on the probability of success.
7. He learns by faith. At the end of the day a man will not achieve more than he believes to be possible. The question is, what is possible? Many of us underestimate what we could achieve. At the same time, most of us are inspired by hope; but many hopes are not realistically based. Coaches should inspire and encourage players to strive harder to establish and improve hopes and ambitions which are attainable.
The English Football Association
