“The Player”

Panting, he runs up the wing, on one side awaits the heavens of glory; on the other, ruin's abyss.

- Eduardo Galeano

The player is a metaphor, a representation of hope. Composed of a collection of experiences and acquired skills, the player is responsible for performing "the task." And yet, the principal fact that we must remember: the player is human. A player centered approach puts the person first, and accounts for development of the entire individual. US Soccer's Education Philosophy characterizes the optimal learning environment to be defined as holistic, facilitating both experiential and reality-based learning.

HOLISTIC

A holistic approach accounts for not only the technical needs of the player (and tactical understanding of the game, for that matter), but the psychological and social needs of the player as well.

Let's talk about creativity for a second... You can't exactly measure imagination, and yet players need access to it. They need to solve problems, they need to build their bandwidth for ideas - ideas guides the player, to dare, to create, and to fail.

The player needs a playground…

A holistic approach creates this playground. It extends the freedom to the player, to explore, try, fail, and learn, accounting for the exercise of the player's brain, and emotions.

Yes, emotions.

Through competition, social interaction, and learning how to conduct yourself amongst a team (because the player is conducting their behaviors and emotions amongst a group) the player is able to truly discover themselves.

The ideal training environment is inclusive in nature, invites the player's free will, and challenges their competence.

FOSTERING DETERMINATION IN THE TRAINING ENViRoNMENT : EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

According to SDT ( Self-Determination Theory), "conditions that support the individual's experience of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, foster the most volition and initiative."

A personal experience of the game, unique to that player, along with the ability to influence the game ( IN POSITIVE WAYS) is usually a good recipe for growth. Of course, social factors influence a person's sense of volition and initiative. Can a player handle the stress of competition? Is the player motivated to work with teammates? The training environment should be orchestrated in a way that presents responsibility, and the stress of competition, to each player.

"SDT proposes that the degree to which any of these three psychological needs is unsupported or thwarted within a social context will have a robust detrimental impact on wellness in that setting."

(https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/theory/)

The things we say will always have a bigger influence, compared to the things we don't say. OBVIOUSLY !

This means that we need to be cautious, of our instruction, feedback, and even the design of our session. Could something we say, or do, limit autonomy, and stifle competence?

The player that is determined, motivated, and confident is capable of taking on the challenge in front of them, only because they have taken on the challenge before, and they are familiar with what success looks like ( their version of success at least).

We need an environment that promotes the growth of the individual, and this is done by allowing them to think through problems. They must be game like !!

REALITY BASED LEARNinG

What makes the training environment reality based? It should be damn specific to the game situation that is being approved. What is happening? Where is it happening? Why does it happen? And who is involved?

This is what gives the player the tools to solve the problem. Players must learn in context, they need a reference for the situation in front of them. Therefore, training sessions that target a specific game idea, and incorporate game format activities, will aid the player's decision making process. If the objective is autonomy of the player, they need to experience the problem first hand in training, in order to solve it during game day.