Trust The Process

Trust the Process

March 13, 2015

By Chris LeGates, TCS Co-Host

Mark and I were fortunate enough to kick off our first Tackling College Sports podcast that included a guest with the great C.J. Marottolo, head hockey coach at Sacred Heart University. His message about his program and the recruiting process was outstanding and informative – if you have not heard it, or, want to check it out again, you can give it a listen here.

As we conducted the interview, I was continuously shaking my head in agreement with what Coach Marottolo was saying. When the interview was over and I listened again in my car, one of the points he mentioned really resonated with me, trust the process. As a soccer coach who has coached collegiately at all levels over the last 23 years, I find it more important now that parents and student-athletes need to trust the process. What is the process? The process may be in the club programs that student-athletes participate in.  Players, and more often, parents, want achievement right away and are looking for results at the age of 13, 14 and 15 -which brings up the debate of development versus winning. I cannot speak for sports other than soccer, but what I have been told is that holds true in many youth sports. We need to trust the directors and coaches of these programs that they are doing the best for the development of student-athletes. Not just in the sport, but for their development as young adults. When we first started our club program 12 years ago, we built-in breaks in our calendar so that the athletes had a chance to regenerate, heal, focus on school and socially integrate themselves back into life as an adolescent. In some cases, it allowed them to miss soccer, their teammates, and training. As the years have progressed, the breaks have become shorter and shorter because our clients are asking for more. It is not for me to agree or disagree with this, but there is data that cannot be overlooked. Youth soccer sees a major decline in participation after the age of 15. The reasons that are given are; too many games, too much pressure to make teams, not enough free time and a loss of love for the sport. Coach Marottolo said during our podcast that players need to be peaking around 17 years old and that they should not be restricted to playing one sport and that ample rest is important. At the college level, I have seen a shift in the mentality of student-athletes. Due to the fact that they have played AAU basketball, premier soccer, juniors volleyball or softball, etc…for so long, they are burnt out by the time they reach the college level. And then they find it easy to stop playing the sport they have cared about. They are doing this because they want to have a different experience without the commitment needed for college athletics. In my opinion, it is the responsibility of parents, student-athletes, club directors and coaches to foster that development. Moreover, they need to allow the sport the chance to become a passion as opposed to an activity for the student-athlete. Once the passion for the sport has developed, you will see players do the little things that coaches do not see. Things like training on their own in their driveways or backyards or at parks –  just like Coach Marottolo said. These traits cannot be forced and have to come intrinsically and organically. They can only develop if all involved can trust the process.  

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Good luck and always #BeYourBest

Chris