If you have already read my update from August, then you
know how excited I was about player buy in. Well since then I have learned that player buy in doesn’t necessarily
mean team buy in. In the first two
weeks of our season we had four players quit the team and seven more skip a
practice or school – both commitments and requirements to be on the team. We think in some ways they were testing
the waters with what they could get away with.
Our first game this past Wednesday we had to play defending
champs Grier Heights. But the
consequences of missing school or practice means a player is supposed to miss a
whole half. Well with a roster of
thirteen and seven suppose to miss the first half, we started the game only
with six player. It was really interesting to try and watch our 4 -1 defend
against eleven players. After ten
minutes and two conceded goals we put five more players on the pitch and ended
up only losing 3-1. Even though we
lost it was a really good teaching point.
All of the players were exhausted and cramping after the game, but the
experience helped them see the importance of being a team – or as we like to
say – a family. When one player
misses practice or breaks our team agreements, the whole team suffers. They got to experience that suffering
together. While I don’t its soon
enough to say a culture of commitment has been completely created, we have
already seen some signs of change.
Hopefully this process will continue to progress.
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