Discipline Rules!

By Lawrence M. Scheier, Ph.D.

The FIFA Laws of the Game dictate that in order for a player to be eligible for a match, he or she must have shin guards, stockings, shorts, a jersey, and proper footwear. The Laws also state that players may not wear jewelry or sharp objects that could be dangerous to him or herself or another player.

The Laws, however, say nothing about whether a player must have supportive parents, a positive coach, a financially strong club or teammates that appreciate the players' hard work ethic. These are more subtle facets of the game that are generally "unspoken" but have serious implications for whether a player will ever attain high-performance soccer.

One of the core ingredients to successful high-performance soccer is discipline. The word "discipline" has Latin roots and can mean teaching, learning and instruction. The definition also incorporates "training that molds" and has strong ties to "education" — another term that means, "to rear." The concept of discipline is a core feature in individual and team success. Successful people in business and elsewhere use discipline as a guide to making decisions. Just check with any successful investor in the stock market and you will find they apply tried-and-true methods that require discipline. It is important that young athletes recognize that discipline will be an important part of their own success, as it is for most professional athletes.

Consider that professional players traveling for road games have curfews. College athletes also have curfews. These are athletes well into young adulthood that are being told when to be in their room and when to turn down the lights. The goal of curfews is to instill order, build discipline and protect players from injury. In the same manner, younger competitive players should have curfews to avoid developing rundown, complacent, and tired bodies.

Coaches that rely on discipline pay attention to three components of the game: (1) practice formats; (2) game performance; and (3) off the field behavior.

Coaches who build their system on discipline are generally quite successful. Take for instance, the USC women's soccer team that recently won the NCAA Division-I national title, beating Florida State, 2-0. First-year USC head coach Ali Khosroshahin attributed the success of his team to a new, highly disciplined weight-training program, an emphasis on running and conditioning, and the desire to compete at a high level. This record achievement for a first-year coach (and for a team not picked to win even the Pac-10 title) clearly reinforces the strength of discipline at a team level.

At a club level, many coaches teach players to "trap" defensively on fixed plays (during free kicks for the opponent) and also defensively on fast breaks. The concept of "trapping" is not new but requires a high level of discipline to execute according to plan. Players must communicate, at times using hand signals or visual contact, and be alert to offensive pressure and ball movement. When it works, it is one of the most successful ways to disrupt offensive penetration. Discipline on the pitch means players know where to be as part of a support mechanism for their fellow teammates, they create space, open passing lanes and play in a patient and consistent manner. In soccer, players don’t just abandon what works defensively or offensively, but rather play in a disciplined fashion from the very first whistle to the last minute of the game.

At very young ages, players need to acquire a consistent message from coaches about behavior and appearance, both on and off the pitch. For instance, players are told to arrive at a game or tournament in a certain timeframe before check-in (checking player cards) and with sufficient advance notice to change uniforms if the other team is wearing similar colors. The advance preparation also enables players to stretch and warm-up before games. Players need to understand that these extra moments stretching muscles, warming up, running and listening to the coach's strategy are all part of the game. In essence, the game is longer than two equal halves.

Because parents are part of the fabric of sports competition, discipline encompasses their behavior on the sidelines during a match, as well as during practice. Coaches should head off at the pass any confrontations by issuing edicts to parents at the beginning of the season, clearly outlining acceptable behavior. Such instruction should include detailed expectations about sideline behavior, financial obligations, club-related activities, and what is expected of parents as mentors to players and examples to the club. Parents that act outside acceptable parameters should be dealt with as any player; there should be written standards of accountability. Parents who detract from the club by denouncing club activities, undermining their child's team (poaching), avoiding financial commitments or using derogatory language during matches should be told their behavior minimizes the value of sports and is not normative. In other words, acceptable behavior is reinforced as any players would expect from their performance on the pitch, and unacceptable behavior is quickly extinguished. Clubs that provide written expectations are bound to succeed in molding parents' behavior, since these changes are part of the learning process that brings success to the individual player and to the club.

Whether or not parents agree, it is never good to reward one player for scoring a goal while neglecting the rest of the team. Usually, a sequence of passes led to a goal, including a corner kick that is headed directly into the goal. The person kicking the ball put it on target as much as the person who headed the ball. Usually, more than one set of cleats touches a ball before it graces the back of the net and rewarding one player for some spectacular goal diminishes the importance of the other players. There is a philosophy that says, "An assist is worth more than a goal." Why? Because the assist was an unselfish pass to an open player who had a better position. The player recognizing this has field vision and is playing soccer with "teamwork" in mind. The team should be rewarded for success.

Teams can break down defensively from a lack of discipline, too. Many teams chide their goalie when a goal is scored. You hear comments like, "She should have stopped that shot," and, "Why didn't she dive?" A goalie is one of 11 players on the pitch and any goal scored against a team had 10 other players who could potentially stop the ball. Reminding the goalie that she did not react correctly to a breakaway is poor sportsmanship.

Parents who instill pride in their child for athletic competition must also remember that their child is part of a system that divides its resources between developing the player and building a team. Providing a player who scores a goal with $5 as they run down the field is not going to reinforce the team concept, but only anger coaches and other parents who see the bigger picture. In the quiet of your car, driving home after the game is the proper place to reinforce individual play, and also mention that the team did "well."

Coaches that run efficient teams do so by embracing very early on publicly announced requirements for attending practice sessions, guidelines as to when to show up for games, proper game attire and required behavior for dealing with opponents who foul excessively or indiscriminately. During a match, a team that receives inordinately more yellow cards for infractions (including dissension and foul play) can be quite telling about their "style of play." Fouling does not win games, putting the ball in the net more frequently than the opponent does.

Parents are a big reason that discipline works. Parents can be supportive and say things like, "Sports are part of life, a part you need to learn because it helps make you a stronger person." They can also say, "Cut the opponent's legs down, she fouled you." One statement has value while the other is valueless. Parents can clap when goals are scored as much as they can clap or cheer when good passes are made. Just like players who make decisions on the pitch, parents make decisions about what they choose to reinforce. Parents can state, "Well done!" following a good pass and they can say, "Unlucky!" if a pass is errantly missed. Parents can chide a player, "You should have gotten that ball," or they can say nothing, realizing not every play works flawlessly. I have seen very few parents run for 70 minutes up and down a 100-yard pitch, and even fewer train hard after a full day of work. Many parents live vicariously through their child, but have little rapport with the actual demands of soccer. Juggling a home and profession is not the same thing as juggling a ball at full speed, while running away from a pursuing defender.

Discipline extends to referees, who are part of the game. Learning how to talk to referees to command their "attention" and support bodes far better than receiving a yellow card for dissension. In a recent NBA basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kobe Bryant was irate over a foul call; he voiced his position to the referee and received a technical foul. But he also backed away and corrected his tone because he realized that, as the league's leading scorer, he does his team no good watching the balance of the game from the locker room. This should speak volumes to how all of us watch soccer from the sidelines. It would be accurate to say that not all players will like every call made by a referee. There are offside traps that work and some that fail. There are times when referees fail to distinguish the player who is in an offside position but not actively interfering with play and thus not committing an offside offense. There are referees that see the trap but do not hear the ball being played and so forth. Everyone needs to remember that referees don't care who wins the game, because regardless of the outcome, they are still paid. They care that the game is played safely.

Often neglected in any discussion of discipline is the league's position on coaching behavior and related activities. To understand better how a league can reinforce discipline we must first consider that coaches are always vying to create a winning team (or club). As such, they may show interest in a particular player because that player adds a dimension to their team. League rules prohibit coaches from engaging players for the sole purpose of bringing them to their team during the season. These types of rules are not too distant from NCAA regulations that guide coaches in their recruiting behavior. For instance, a player may visit a college campus for a period not to exceed 48 hours. Coaches may not sponsor a player's travel plans financially, but the player may expect meals to be covered while visiting the campus. Technically speaking, tryouts are not allowed on campus, however, unorganized practices bivouac around this rule. The list of possible NCAA recruiting violations goes on (i.e., phone calls).

The point is that coaches are severely restricted in their behavior and the same applies for travel soccer in Nevada and other states. There are strict rules to which to adhere regarding communication with players while they are under "contract" to another club. Notwithstanding, there are clubs that actively siphon off players from other clubs. This is a disservice to soccer because it weakens one team while strengthening another. Poaching players ruins the parity in soccer that is needed to build a better Nevada. It is selfish and undermines the leagues' philosophy of fairness. More importantly, it takes away from the team chemistry formed by one team, undermining the social values in soccer (called friendship). This type of "poaching" is a violation of league rules and should mandate swift league (and state) punitive action.

All of us are caught up in the spirit of soccer for good reasons. More than teaching our children how to pass, trap, shoot or dribble, it is teaching our children how to compete in sports and prepare them for the larger sphere of competition in life. But we also must keep our sites on the realistic facts that our children will get into college based on their performance in the classroom and not on the pitch. Discipline, therefore, extends to their schoolwork and their willingness to learn academic material and not just how to shoot on the pitch.

Soccer is part of any child's contribution to the community, and has to be weighed along with all of their other characteristics and strengths. Coaches should remember this when they develop their lesson plan and their season game plan. Discipline is the key active ingredient to better performance both on and off the pitch.

Lawrence M. Scheier, Ph.D. is a psychologist residing in Las Vegas and can be reached electronically via e-mail at Scheier@cox.net.