Many players spend a great deal of time thinking about, worrying about and complaining about what their coach thinks or says to them. We know that the player-and-coach relationship is an important one but we need to take a hard look at why this happens. Who, if anyone, is at fault and why?
Most conflicts between player and coach are rooted in the demands that a coach makes on their player. The bottom line is that the coach is demanding more from the player than the player is willing to give. The coach is demanding perfection and the player is looking for a different outcome. Coaches ask players to do more and players resist. Of course, this is a disaster waiting to happen.
If you love the sport, you are willing to make sacrifices to achieve success in it. Many players says they love the game, but they only “like” it. They want to play because it is fun, but they don’t love it enough to take their relationship with the game to a more serious level. Most coaches want to see their players take their game to a higher level. Frustration sets in for both parties when that doesn’t happen.
It comes down to how much the player loves the game. It’s your sport, not your coaches, and it is up to you to decide how much you really want to play. Of course, there is nothing wrong with playing for fun. Just make sure that you’re choosing to play for teams where fun is the goal. If you choose to play for a team where winning is important, then you must expect to play for a coach who is going to push you outside your comfort zone.
If you say you want to be on a win-or-else team then you have to accept the responsibilities that go along with it. If you say you love the game, then you must be willing to make the sacrifices and accept the responsibilities. If you choose to quit playing for this type of team, it’s not really your coach’s fault, is it?
