All too often I find that players, parents, clubs, and coaches are completely motivated by external judgments. How cool do I look for making a certain team, we look cool because they qualified (and you didn't), or worst I had kid say "why cheer everyone knows we can't win". I hear people just dying if their team loses a game but feel 100% better if a local rival losses also. Sad. I often think people don't care if they actually improve so long as they find a reason to feel superior to others. Its sad to think that the lessons we could be learning from our struggles are not valued.
Last club season my team experienced a loses that took us out of Junior National contention at a time when the girls had really stepped up their commitment to training and leadership. I said ladies we have worked at getting better, at adapting and this in a scientific term is what you call a result. What meaning will you take away for it? How will it change our actions? The girls had a meeting for a while and came back. They said they learned from the lose and finished our remaining tournaments a record of 26-5 in matches. I have personally seen how kids with a growth mind set can still find inner drive after what was an emotional defeat. What was great about what the girls had built was a love for improvement and a love for teammates who put in their work and got better. They always cheered loudest for each other.
To the players and parents fall in love with work ethic, a growth mindset and effort. It's how you help your team win and it's how you improve.
Here are few article that gives a great overview of growth mind set. Enjoy
Click here or here
Aaron
