I think school boy players have lost perspective about sport, their place in the game and more importantly why they play the sport in the first place. Teenage boys place a vast amount of importance on what team they play in, how good their team is and how good they are individually compared to another player. This is nothing new, in fact I’m sure it is general knowledge amongst coaches and teachers who have been involved in coaching for a long time. Boys secretly admire the best players in their teams, other schools players as well as idolise the 1st XV stars. They would give almost anything to be able to be as good as them just so they can feel good about themselves and gain that all important social acceptability.

Athletes who partake in any sport from junior school all the way up to professional level have got to enjoy it, otherwise the athletes motivational levels will decline. If you believe professionals don’t need to have fun just because they get paid for it, then you would be very wrong. We all love to have fun and that is why most schoolboys play the game of rugby – it brings incredible joy to the mundane realities of school. Playing sport can bring fantastic rewards from the feeling of winning, of being needed, being a part of something special, attaining personal success. The friendships that are built up and the chance to prove yourself against an opponent every week is the greatest attribute sport has, it really is a great thing for youngsters to be involved in.

However I believe many players at times, forget why they play sport in the first place. The real meaning of competing gets lost when winning and losing becomes the only focal point of players, spectators and coaches. When this occurs players on the losing side regularly can end up feeling depressed and feel like a complete failure. This process whereby players only believe they are a success when they win is a dangerous one and is one where players can end up quitting because once their understanding of winning and losing is lost, so can their desire to compete. Fear of failure inadvertently causes the players to play safe so that they may not lose the game. Mistakes in a team game are interpreted as failures, although I can hear everyone saying that mistakes are a part of the game and that it happens, but to players it is just lip service, they feel terrible after making a mistake especially if it loses them a game. That feeling lingers and it hurts. High School players place great value on what their fellow peers and mentors think of them so a mistake can feel like a death sentence. This cycle is massively difficult to get out of and even more importantly is sometimes hard to identify, as players and coaches may not even be aware that it is happening.

I believe many teenage Rugby players are affected by this type of negative thinking, they are already filled with so much self doubt and anxiety, so much so that it prevents them from reaching their true potential as athletes. When they lose they can blame it on a lack of ability on their behalf or on the team and they can also find any excuse available – be it the coaches fault, their leg hurts or the weather was poor, if they think its valid they will use it. Players filled with self doubt will excuse a win or a success on luck or just a weak opponent. These players do not think of themselves as successful, they do not believe in themselves. Because of this mindset I believe these players only put in token efforts both at practices and at matches, simply because they are too scared of putting in maximal effort, for if they did try too hard and still failed, they would be ‘found out’ by their team-mates as having no ability in the first place. This type of thinking is so destructive to a players true ability, they will never get any better because they are too scared of potentially finding out that they may not have had any talent in the first place. The more these boys fail by making mistakes or by losing games, their confidence takes a further knock until the coach does the worst thing possible with players like this, they drop them or do not pick them for ‘elite’ squads. I believe this type of thinking is hugely prevalent in High School boys, which is a massive shame considering they are at such a vital learning point in their rugby career.

I think we as coaches are placing too much emphasis on winning, although I do believe that striving to win is very important, I believe players and coaches alike have forgotten that to win you have to focus on the process or the journey and not the end result. This extrinsic reward system is a massive cause of fear of failure, players begin to play only for the feeling of a win, forgetting the feeling of self satisfaction from improving at a certain aspect of their game. Players should always place their own inner satisfaction far above that from the feeling of the win. Yes winning feels great, but what can be better than the feeling a player gets from trying something new and it works, or the fantastic relief he feels when he finally nails the skill he has worked so long to improve on? My guess nothing. The winning feeling lasts but a brief moment shared with friends and family but the feeling of self satisfaction is far more powerful as it drives a players thirst to improve until he tastes success again.

When players and their coaches focus solely on the team result then players become too scared to make the mistakes so vital for improvement, and that is when the self doubt manifests itself. Players must realise that each practice is an opportunity to get better, to raise the performance bar, to try something new – to taste that sweet taste of self satisfaction again. Coaches should challenge players just as much as players should challenge themselves with the ultimate goal of achieving a moment of inner satisfaction at achieving a pre determined goal. No matter how small the goal it should be attainable, even if a player has to drop the bar slightly then so be it. I can hear the screams of WHAT? But hear me out, I’m not talking about lowering the bar so that success is easily attainable every time, it should be just enough to taste a small victory so that the next time he can start at that point and get to the next level. If a player has a goal that is too hard to achieve then eventually frustration from the coach and player will surface and then that chance to improve has been lost. Remember self satisfaction is all the spark a player needs to work harder than he has ever worked before.

It must be remembered that each player is different and that they all learn at different rates, this is where I believe many coaches make a massive mistake. They want all their players to emulate players far superior than themselves and in trying to do something that is too far ahead for them at that stage. Players may not be aware that they need to make small strides towards improvement so that eventually they will catch up, coaches must make sure the goals are attainable. Unrealistic goals cause a massive amount of anxiety in players because they just can’t seem to do what the best players can do, after a few attempts they give up. Had they set the bar lower and tasted regular success they would have eventually caught up.

Players can achieve extraordinary success when they realise why they play sport, the real reasons behind their motivations and whether or not their current state of mind is hindering or helping them. The cycle of fear can be reversed if players realise that their self worth should not come from winning or losing, it should rather come from them striving to achieve personal goals. Players must assess themselves in terms of their own goals and not in the successes of others or the goals placed on them externally. I believe that when a player realises that winning comes secondary to achieving personal goals they will be far more motivated than ever to achieve their own success. Players will practice harder and will begin to understand that practices, matches and mistakes are all part of the journey towards achieving their goals and as they fall one by one they will become better and more hungry. Winning and losing will then be viewed in context and players will then judge their performances, not on how the team or other individuals performed, but by their own game specific goals they set. I believe the true enjoyment of sport comes not from beating an opponent (although great) but from achieving their own measurable goals. By following this approach players will feel more in control and will give off more positive energy and vibe than ever before.

As stated before although winning is important and striving for success is a life skill I truly believe all players should grasp and understand, I feel that we place far too much emphasis on it. I believe that a player centred approach is sorely lacking, I think we as coaches ignore these individuals far too easily and instead of helping them improve we get rid of them for someone else who can do a job for the team. I believe each player in a team should be managed and worked on individually to experience the joy of achieving their minor goals until they become the player they were meant to be. Yes this approach takes time and is time intensive but isn’t that why we coach in the first place? 

-Ross Williams

Ross is an enthusiastic coach keen on learning, debating and studying all about how we coach Rugby. He is currently the UCT u20 Technical and Skills coach during the Varsity Cup. He also runs his own private coaching business, Ross Rugby where the focus is firmly on skills coaching.

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