I think when we look at players' basic needs, it really come under four ways of
us working,
which is belonging is critical.
Does the person feel like they are valued?
How do we see the player?
How do we hear them?
How do we understand them?
I think when a player feels that they belong to something that increases their
self-worth
and their self-esteem to want to be able to play to their full potential.
I think for development, the critical piece is that first of all that the
player has an
understanding of the journey, where they are as their chronological age, what
age or stage
that they are at, what are the key developments, how do they have an
understanding of the role
of the coach, how the coach can support their development.
Having an understanding of what do I need at this particular training session
or game
is my, how do I continue to develop a session or session game on game so that
as the player
grows older and chronological age, they're also developing through their ages
and stages.
When we think of freedom within the soccer context, we always look at the
creativity of
the player.
So does the player feel that without restrictions, that they are in a position
that they can
express themselves truly?
We understand that there is a game context and there are roles and
responsibilities for
the individual, but does the individual feel a sense of freedom within those
game contexts
to be able to fully express themselves?
I think if we're going to set an environment where the player's basic need of
fun is being
met, it first of all starts with the coach and then having an understanding of
what's
the positive language that they want to use with the player, what is the
environment that
they want to create for the player on that particular training session or game
so that
the player always has a sense that they have lower stress, they have a sense of
enjoyment,
they have a sense of motivation, they have a sense that they want to fall in
love with
this game and continue to pursue this game as a lifelong player.
Meeting a player’s basic needs
U.S. Soccer’s Tracey Kevins outlines how coaches can meet a player’s basic needs
