15. The Rookie hopes their team has good leadership. The Veteran teaches and develops excellent leadership.
16. The Rookie hopes players understand their roles. The Veteran constantly explains individual roles.
17. The Veteran uses both captains and seniors to communicate the importance of their contributions. The Rookie takes this responsibility totally upon themself.

18. Half-time and pre-game talks are intense with the Rookie. They always try to cover every aspect/situation/possibility and their talks are long-winded and ineffective. The Veteran is focused, clear, concise and simple.

19. During practices, the Rookie has drills with long lines of players waiting their turn; lots of standing around. The Veteran has players in constant motion, getting more touches, hits, reps and are usually in game-like situations/activities.
20. The Rookie runs drills. The Veteran understands that calling out players names during drills helps players feel wanted and needed.
21. The Rookie teaches x’s and o’s. The Veteran teaches “whole-part-whole” and how the x’s and o’s fit into the system.

22.. The Rookie will argue every call with the referees. Will blame the loss on the refs. The Veteran goes with the flow and realizes that officiating is part of the game.
23. The Rookie thinks they know everything. The Veteran knows he needs to keep learning.
24. The Rookie tends to have numerous rules. The Veteran simplifies with one rule such as “Respect yourself and others at all times” which incorporates everything under one easy to understand rule.
25. The Veteran enjoys coaching and being there for the players.

Boys have to win to feel good
Girls have to feel good to win

This is a very simple phrase that has lots of implications.

It suggests that:

• Boys play sports for the thrill of winning while girls play sports for camaraderie.
• There is more psychological and emotional factors for girls before they start to play
• There are some post-game strategies that coaches should employ, depending on the sex of the players.
• The coaching relationship and overall team chemistry with girls has a bigger impact on their performance than it does for the boys.

So what are the implications as a coach?

1) If you coach girls, understand the importance of the emotional state of the players as well as team chemistry issues. Perhaps you need to address these issues rather than ignore them.

2) Maybe understand that the socializing that occurs during practice, with the appearance that the girls are not focused, is actually important to the team being able to perform at a high level. This socializing helps them bond which helps them perform better.

Kudda would love to hear your thoughts!!