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Welcome!
Here at Soccer Sisters, we consider ourselves a family and are so glad you decided
to join us. If you have suggestions on how we can make this site better for players and parents, let us know. This site will constantly be updated, as we are working for you
full time. We are devoted to bringing you all the information
needed to help enrich your soccer world and to make things
easier, for players as they move to higher levels of play.
Remember: Advisors for this site are Coaches and Players
of DI Club, College, National and International levels of play
We hope you enjoy the site!
Patricia Lee, Founder
We invite you to send us your soccer action photos
Names are not published under pictures without permision
ActionPhotos@SoccerSisters.net
~Something to think about ~
Where do you want to be?
What are you doing to get there?
And, do those two things match?
If you are not where you want to be in life,
then it is time to re-evaluate your plan of action!
Fun Links of Interest
www.whateverlife.com (fun site for teens)
www.cosmogirl.com
www.myjellybean.com
Soccer Links of Interest
www.LittleMissSoccer.com
www.SouthernSoccerScene.com
www.soccerblastsc.com
www.soccerbuzz.com
www.usclubsoccer.org
www.sams-army.com
www.ncaachampionships.com
Here's an article that is a must read for all young players. Coach Ken Headly of Hoover Rec
Soccer Club sends this article out to his players periodically as means of encouragement for them. He has
graciously agreed to share it with us................
The Champion Within
The origin of the thoughts are from Dr. Denis Waitley. Additions and modifications have been made to speak to athletes.
This article is written to help keep you get ahead of the pack and on the inside track in your sport and personal life. Our focus is on self-confidence and self-esteem.
In Dr Dennis Waitley’s opinion, there is nothing more important than your belief in your own potential for success and happiness, regardless of your age, gender, ethnicity, looks, education or background. As a salesperson sells a product every day "You only sell you.” The people you encounter are the buyers. What kind of product are you showing and offering to the buyers. Just as products are branded as "the best", "cheap", "ineffective", "trustworthy" or "unreliable", so, too, are individuals branded by others as "winners" or "also-rans." Who you are shouts so loudly, that people either can't hear, don't want to hear, or listen carefully to what you are saying. Everybody loves a winner, and we all want to buy from winners who pass their own value on to us.
Self-confidence isn't something you were born with. It's something you develop. Many of us were cultivated like weeds as children. We played inferior roles to the adults (teachers, coaches, relatives, neighbors and parents) around us, who frequently reminded us of our faults and shortcomings more than our successes and abilities.
If you are faced with those attitudes around you now, you have a special challenge in building up your self-confidence as you grow into adulthood. Here are some basic points to remember about yourself:
Realize that the most important opinion about you is the one that you hold. Ultimately, nobody else is responsible for your life but you. Nobody else is accountable for your actions but you. Therefore, nobody's opinion about you is more important than yours. It is my hope that you have adults (parents, teachers or coaches) who are affirming you as to those great qualities you possess.
Recognize that the most important conversations are the ones you have with yourself. Whether or not you are aware of it, you have a running conversation with yourself from the time you get up to the time you go to sleep. Your thoughts and ideas are "you talking to you." Have daily conversations with yourself that are supportive and reinforcing. We know the value of talking to people who praise us, reward us, recognize us, are happy to see us, and let us know they genuinely enjoy talking with us. Talk to yourself with those same qualities – silently as well as audibly.
Develop a strong system of internal values. Weigh what you hold to be true, good and lasting. Write down some of your values for periodic review. Read material that reinforces what you hold to be significant in life. Know what you believe and why you believe it. At times, have discussions – even debates – with yourself. Draw conclusions about life. Think about deeper issues. Your values will greatly affect how you relate to others. The stronger your values are, the greater the impact. If you are lacking in internal values, you will tend to draw from and even use other people to try to mimic their behaviors, if only superficially. Instead, seek to become a model, one who can help and give strength to others. In high schools and colleges across America young people are seeking role models. You have the ability to be the greatest examples as peer models for them.
Don't reinforce your failures. Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street. Failure is a temporary setback, not a residence. Failure is a learning experience, not a person. Like success, failure is a growth process, not a status. Don't wallow in your mistakes. Correct them and move forward. In sports this can be the difference in winning and losing. How often have you seen a team or player get down on themselves for a mistake? How long did it take them to recover? What did the player’s words and actions say to his/her teammates? Did the attitude linger too long and the other team take advantage of it? Correct and correct quickly! As I have told soccer goalkeepers for years, the score is always 0 – 0. It keeps us sharp and on our toes. Never ahead, never behind always focused on the job at hand. The time to celebrate is after the victory. The time to review your actions is after the loss. It is certainly reasonable to wish you had moved sooner or played differently at that moment, but move on within seconds to the job at hand.
Don't demand perfection of yourself. An “A” is usually awarded to the person who scores 90 percent or better, and sometimes the score doesn't need to be that high. Professional basketball players only make half their shots. Professional quarterbacks complete only half their passes, professional soccer players score less than half their number of shots and professional baseball players reach first base less than 40 percent of the time, and that includes walks. Give your best effort every day and keep ratcheting forward. Perfection is not only totally unrealistic to expect and virtually impossible to achieve, but it greatly deters your ability to move forward. The person who is constantly looking over his or her shoulder at what might have been done better can't possibly be focused on the future. Drive with your eyes ahead; don't drive by concentrating on the rearview mirror.
Give practice your best. High performance practices make for high performance games. Remember the movie “Ruddy”. He was by no means the best player on the Norte Dame Football team. He did, however, work as hard as or harder than the other players. When his day to play came in the last game of the season, he was ready, and his teammates believed he was ready as well. Countless individuals say, when confronted with a chore, "I'm too good to be doing this." They have contempt for their current situation and position, and get discouraged easily. Success is an accumulation of what you do in the minutes of each day. No task is too unworthy to do well. No drill or exercise is too bad if you are working on your skills. For a team, it takes everyone doing their part at the highest level for success. Be committed to always give your best. “There are no small parts – only small actors.”
View the big picture of life. Step back from the landscape of your life today and take a long walk or run, ride a bike, or just sit silently, observing the wonder and abundance of God's creation in nature. You are a part of a much bigger whole. Listen to the subtle rhythms of your environment. Recognize that you have rhythms and cycles of change in your life. Relax and open up to the vast creative and interrelated world around you. Make a point to read inspirational material to expand and challenge your development.
To develop confidence, you must see yourself ultimately as a unique part of creation. You must recognize, with pleasure that nobody else is just like you. No one else has exactly your temperament, history or experiences. No one else has your footprints, your finger prints, your voice print or your genetic code. No one else has precisely your set of talents, capabilities and skills. God has placed you here for a reason and a purpose. You are one of a kind. The value is there. It just needs to be dusted off and polished.
Ken Headley
Soccer Coach
