The Defenders Club

No one is going to argue that defenders are critical to the team. If the defenders can keep a shut out, then the team at worst will have scored one point in the league.  But the rewards for good defense versus good offense are different. There's a big difference between scoring a goal and shutting out a game or playing good defense.  It's just not the same.  One is way more visible, the other more hidden.

Some players are strictly defense.  They may get to play offense once in a while, but not enough to increase their chances of scoring.  Some will never play offense.

I have had defense players and goalies begged me to play forward.  And yet their greatest contribution to the team is what they do on defense.  I have put some defense players forward and they actually hurt the team.

In our league at the end of the season the coaches vote on an all league team.  That voting process is biased towards offense players and the defense players know this.

There are some players who will never be acknowledged for the league all-league team, who will never stand out as key defense players, and who will never get one of the MVP awards at the end of the season. But those players that worked hard and contribute to the over all season, need to be recognized - they collectively create important value for the team.

So here has been my solution: last year I started what I call the defenders club.  To be in this club you have to have played 15 minutes on defense, that has been part of a shut out, in 5 or more league games.  At the end of the season those players that qualify will get a T-shirt.

There is a danger that in acknowledging one group of players over others that this may create disappointment.  One way to deal with this is to spread the rewards around liberally.  For example, our team hands out for MVP awards at the end of the season, there is the All-Stars team that some players can get on, there is the league all-league team, we hand out an award for high scorer, and the banquet everyone gets a certificate and specific acknowledgment.

It's also important to send the message that hard work has its rewards. There are some players on the team that just don't work hard or have other priorities in life. And that's okay.  Some players are just not good athletes, and that's an opportunity for the coach to speak with them and encourage them. Sometimes that goes a lot farther than getting some kind of T-shirt or patch.

Giving the defense a specific, measurable goal is also a great motivator.  The defense has something very specific to measure themselves against.

Bottom-line: A good defense needs to be rewarded in a way that's different from offense!

Technology: OneDrive

I really like the Microsoft OneDrive!  Being able to store and retrieve soccer team related documentation  from a tablet or smart phone while in the field is really valuable.  For example, I have workout plans or drills that I've stored on line, then gotten to the field and needed to look them up. Just pull out my smart phone, open the OneDrive app and pull the documentation - Beautiful!  Other services work as well, such as Google Drive or Drop Box.   I like OneDrive because I can edit documentation from anywhere, using a familiar interface.