Maintaining a Good Harmony Within Your Soccer Team

The one thing in dealing with talented athletes that can often present a major problem is egos.  You want your soccer team to play with confidence and exuberance, but where does that cross the line and get in the way of what your are trying to accomplish as the team’s coach?  What form of punishment is reasonable and will effectively push your players in the right direction?  The answers to these questions and how you deal with potential conflicts within your squad can go a long way to resulting in both the successes and failures of your soccer team.  Here are some things to consider when managing your team.

Issues of bullying, racism, and conflicting reports over broken friendships and emotional distress, this is an absolute nightmare scenario for a coach and will surely have an effect on how the team plays next game.

This things can happen in soccer, especially in high school aged teams, but also among younger soccer players.  Talent is a hard trait to corral.  As a coach, you will learn very quickly who the team’s leaders and best players are.  You will soon see their traits wear off on the other players, and if the said players are of lesser character, you had better believe there might be problems.

The issues could be as miniscule as some joking banter, or can grow as serious as an all-out brawl on the field during a match between teammates.  The important part of being a coach is in managing the situation before it gets out of hand.  You need to find out quickly who the perpetrator is.  However, until you are sure of that fact, you must treat both parties involved like they are responsible. 

Typically, to some degree both players should be held accountable.  Take them aside and try to get a mature conversation of the issues.  Often times a simple apology and a handshake can be enough to ease over a difficulty.

However, if the problem persists or becomes a major issue that cannot be bridged, you may have to take serious action.  Suspending both of the players for a week or longer will send a serious statement.  In the most extreme cases, a player might be dismissed from the team altogether.  Some people are simply troublemakers and will only have a negative effect on the team.  While they may be talented, there are more important factors at play than winning or losing here.  Don’t let a reckless hooligan disrupt the harmony within your squad just because he can score 20 goals a season!

When dealing with issues between players, always take them aside and push for mature handling of the situation.  Making an issue in front of the team will be embarrassing and prevent a positive solution being found.  If someone is repeatedly causing conflict, they must be dealt with.  The team is greater than any single player, and the lessons learned on a soccer team transcend well beyond the sport.  Make sure that your players get the best experience from your team and nip issues before they bubble over to the surface.