Now that my second year as a college assistant coach has come to an end, I finally have time to sit down and write about my experience this year. At first, I was going to write an overall synopsis of how the season went from the team and coaching perspective. Instead, I'm going to write about the difference between last year and this year, and what I endured as a coach this year that I didn't last year.
Last year, I became the assistant right after I finished my college career so some of the guys I played with were still on the team and I felt more like a trainer than an actual coach at times. This year, however, we graduated many seniors the previous season which means this season we had a bunch of new faces (some where transfers and the rest freshman). So, already I had felt my role had changed from someone who was there to train the goalkeepers and help out the team, to having to step up and actually be more of a coach, especially to the newer players. And I would say this is the biggest change from my first season to my second season as an assistant coach.
Secondly, I expected this season to pick up right where the team left off the previous year, which was fighting for a conference title and getting a national bid. However, the team struggled this season and as a player or coach (club/college), this was the first time I had ever been apart of a team that lost so many games. As a youth club player, developmental academy players, high school, or collegiate player I was not used to losing and it was a real struggle for me. So, one big thing I had to manage was myself and my emotions so that I can make the proper adjustments per game or session for my players, and especially my goalkeepers.
Lastly, man/player management was a huge part of my development as a coach this year. In my first year as an assistant I personally knew many of the players on the team, so I didn't really have to man manage as much as I just had to train them and help them out with whatever questions they had. This year I had an entire new group of goalkeepers (except for 1) and this was the first time I had to have the conversation of "why you're not starting" or "why you need to compete." On top of the rocky start the team had this year and some inner-squad quarrel that was going on, I had to quickly figure out how to man manage players. One reference I used was Sir Alex Ferguson's book, Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United, where he talks about how he man managed some of the world's most talented footballers, and the biggest take I had was that you cannot manage everyone the same to get the best out of them to make them competitive. So, although this wasn't the biggest change I had to make from year 1 to year 2, it certainly was the most challenging piece of coaching I endured.
Overall, this year from a team perspective the season did not go as we wanted or were planning at all. However, as a coach I learned so much and as tough as this year was I believe my development as a coach has grown. And I think that is the biggest thing to take away from this post, no matter if you're in the business world or a soccer coach, you should be always looking to develop and get better at your trade. I know I am a young coach with much to learn, but even a 65 year old coach should still be a student of the game, because even Sir Alex Ferguson didn't have all the answers.
