A treat for Pilot fans

Fellow Pilot fan Andrew Guest has another great piece on the Pilots at Pitchinvasion. This time it's about Kelsey Davis.

Going Pro

enjoy.

Thanks Geeze--I was just going to log-in and put a link up in case anyone was curious. But you beat me to it.

Obviously this one is not as much about the Pilots at the one from September. But I hope a few members of the Nation might find it interesting anyway...

Andrew.

An allusion to the Thomas Merton adage and philosophy intrigues, but the notion of an "emerging adult" super athlete drafted and beginning a transition into a pro sport which may not reward much, at least monetarily, and despite which Kelsey retains hopes and academic interests outside the pitch certainly speaks to us all, whether emerging or athletic. Thank you for the well done and inspirational article about this fascinating young lady.

Reading through the article and thinking about other things I've read about Kelsey made me wish she had had a chance to play for Clive. And, it started me thinking maybe she could change her aspirations and think about being a soccer coach. Much of what she says matches with Clive's philosophy. Kelsey, are you reading this? ....

"I’m able to get information over to people in a way that seems to make sense to them and I enjoy that. I am not so much result-oriented as teaching-oriented. If it becomes all about winning, all you get is frustrated when you lose. I can’t say results were secondary, but they were kind of linked up with everything else. I think you always look to the next game – how are we going to make it better, not perfect, but nearer perfect? I get a lot out of getting players to improve their game but also develop as people. I think the two things can be connected.

"....

"Winning is not everything, in fact it is just something, but the ambition, the want to do as well as you can is important, and that has to be based on an idea of what real success is. Young fans, young players who turn out for their schools, can take that sort of thing into their everyday lives. Why should anyone be satisfied by second best? Again, there is nothing wrong with coming in second, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying to be the first or even a better second.

"....

"You have to be ready to learn things from your players to be the best possible coach. There comes a point when things are going really well when you are learning as much from each other and it isn’t just one way. I’m not sure many coaches ... have a chance to get to that point. Probably there are too many demands to produce performances overnight. But you can only teach a player so much, after that your job as a coach is learning as much as you can about them; how can you put them in a place where they can be the best they can be and in a position that is most useful to the team. That is about collaboration, working together and that of course takes trust. Trust is something given and your are honoured when it is given. But to get trust you have to give it. .... [W]ithout trust there can be no respect – so fear and threat take over and eventually that gets destructive. Where I coach ... we’ve managed to build something bigger than a [soccer] programme. [T]here’s a family atmosphere and people feel a loyalty to the place and each other. That goes beyond [soccer] really. In the end that is the biggest thing any sport can do – become a source of something that endures throughout your life.

"...

"If you want you can learn as much from the knock-backs as anything else. In fact, I think we learn much more from having to do what is hard. That’s what I think a coach can do – help players see the wider implications of what is happening to them because of their involvement with the team. That way [soccer] can help you live your life and is not just an end in itself.

"...

"A difficulty young people have today, not just young people maybe, is that they always seem to need or want more. It seems harder to make the most of any little opportunity. A place [on the team] is not enough, it has to be a guarantee of a place. The reality of course is that we mostly just get the one chance and it is up to no one but us to make the most of it. You miss a chance on goal, no one is going to say, ‘Shame, why don’t you have another pop?’ The next chance you get it will be up to you to make the best of. I think it is the job of a coach to teach this sort of thing. Sport gives opportunities to learn about this stuff in a very real way. ... It’s not that young people are just ‘bad’ or ‘spoiled,’ that’s too easy, although some undoubtedly are, but in the main it’s because they haven’t had the chance to learn the lessons. We have to learn these things by experience – no one can just be told and then get it. It’s like saying ‘There aren’t enough black managers’ and that ‘someone should do something about it.’ Sure ‘they’ should, but you can’t wait for ‘them’ to help you, you might wait forever. You should do something about it!

"What’s the good of being given something just because of the fact that you ‘are something’? A woman, black? That is just as racist as not being given something because you are black. If you want something you’ve got to go out and get it, that’s a rule of life, no matter what or who you are. You can’t expect to be given chances, you’ve got to make the world give you a chance."

Clive Charles