“The Starting Eleven” - The Program Standards

Note: many of these essential ideas come directly from James Kerr’s Book, “Legacy”, written about one of the most successful sports teams of all time.  The New Zealand All Blacks National Rugby Team are 3-time World Cup Rugby Champions and are built on principles and standards that have been proven to stand the test of time in working environments, team settings, and situations where a strong and sustainable team culture is the key to continuous success and learning.  These 11 standards and principles are what drives our program on a daily basis.

1. Never be too big to do the small things that need to be done.  The small things add up and are essential to success on a larger scale.  Seniors and upperclassmen are expected to carry the load in terms of fulfilling the responsibilities that keep us disciplined and organized (“sweep the sheds”) on a daily basis.  We strive for a top-down approach to setting the right examples for leadership within our program: the older guys set the right example by way of taking care of tasks that are usually reserved for “new guys” in many other programs.  We don’t believe in entitlement based on age or grade level.   

2. Play soccer with a purpose.  Identify your “why”.  This should be bigger than just to win soccer games.  What drives you forward?  Whatever your “why” is, USE IT!     

3. Leaders create leaders.  One of our oldest program sayings: “everyone who leads is a captain”.  You don’t need to wear an armband in our program to be considered a leader.

4. Leaders are teachers.  Leaders are learners.  Leaders are humble.  Those who decide to lead will also commit themselves to helping those in need and accepting knowledge from those who may offer it.  Leadership comes in many different forms.  Leadership is NEVER easy.  We welcome ALL leaders.

5. Character always trumps talent.  The will to work hard will always succeed above and beyond lazy talent or talent that does exhibit the right attitude.  Character development should be a main focus area and function of our Boys Soccer Program.  Show up ready to display the right character  & attitude everyday.  If both aren’t on display, show up ready to be held accountable.  If being held to high standards isn’t your thing, you’re better off not playing soccer at HMHS.

6. Embrace expectations.  Our culture of expectation asks the question, “How can we become better?”  We hope the players will take risks on the field when relevant but always be responsible.

7. Practice under pressure.  Train how you expect to play when it truly counts.  Find ways to do more by way of preparation and practice.  Our goal every day at practice is to work hard, prepare for the next game, and ultimately, to get better at the game of soccer.  

8. Keep a cool head.  Avoiding poor decision-making under pressure is vital.  Never put your teammates in a compromised position by way of selfish decision-making.  We believe that the foremost indicators for success in rivalry and high-stakes games are composure and discipline.

9. Respect our tradition.  Our rituals respect, reflect, remind, & reinforce the beliefs that ignite our collective identity & purpose.  

10. Leave the jersey in a better place.  During the course of your career: it is your time, obligation, & responsibility to learn, grow, & add to the legacy of our program.

11. Write your story as a team.  Your story is unfinished.  How will the chapters read?  How will the story end?  Will others remember it and if so: how will they remember it?

“S.C.O.U.T.” Our Daily Non-Negotiables

1. SHOW UP ON TIME & READY TO WORK HARD.  15 minutes before practice is our standard.  95% of the time we start practice earlier than the scheduled time.  Send away distractions.  Phones are PUT AWAY and KEPT AWAY during all team activities.  No exceptions.

2. CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF.  “Sweep the sheds.”  Take pride in our facilities.  Pay it forward daily and make sure we leave the place better than it looked prior to our practice or game.  No exceptions.

3. OWN YOUR PERFORMANCE.  Know full-well that you and only you can control your effort, attitude, and performance on the field.  Players who achieve their best put in extra work.  Playing time is dictated by what YOU DO.  The staff will never adhere to…”Coach, play me and I’ll show you.”  Instead…”Show us and we will play you.”  Coaches will try to motivate any and all players by necessary means, but it is your responsibility to try & find your best performance level on a daily basis.  If your play is not on-song or not matching your own personal expectations, it is also your responsibility to positively control your attitude.  No exceptions.

4. USE YOUR TEAMMATES & COACHES AS A RESOURCE.  We are a TEAM.  We are always all-in everything we do together.  Your coaches are always here for you no matter what.  Without good communication, our best level of play will never be achieved.  Build the bond with your teammates & coaches every single day.  Expect to hear the truth.  Expect that you will always be supported by your teammates & coaches without exception.

5. TODAY WAS BETTER THAN YESTERDAY.  We are always trying hard to develop and improve mainly as a team but also as skilled individual players.  The main opponent should always be the team, soccer player, and athlete that you were the day before.  Stand up and be counted.  Hold yourself to a high standard that demands improvement each day.  No exceptions.

Leadership & How it is Built in our Boys Soccer Program

EVERYONE who leads is a CAPTAIN.  LEADERS create more LEADERS.

While we may only pick 3-4 captains each fall season, we are always looking for 20+ leaders on each of our program level teams.  Leadership is NEVER easy…  Leadership can often-times be very lonely.  This is true because real leaders demand of themselves & each other a very high level of individual play, accountability, responsibility & honesty in communication.  Daily, measurable high standards for performance on the field exist only when those in our program who are expected to uphold them & push them forward do so without doubt or hesitation.  This is how we hope to create leaders:

PODs: we are intentional about getting to know each other better as PEOPLE, not just as players.

During training, we give our players time to interact & socialize … to “build the bond” … high school soccer is supposed to be FUN & one of the main reasons why our guys choose to play.

We include our captains & players in tactics, strategy & game-planning … this is a big part of a player-led leadership structure & gives our players true ownership of the process for preparation for games.

We believe: there are no bad teams; just bad leadership.  In contrast, there are no good teams either; just good leadership.  We constantly reevaluate what we are doing to support leadership.

Top-Down Approach: Our upperclassmen carry the load in terms of serving our program in non-traditional ways; ways that other programs typically delegate tasks mainly to the “new guys”.