What can soccer players learn from John Wooden?

Former UCLA Basketball Coach John Wooden died a few days ago at the age of 99.  May he Rest in Peace.

Wooden won 10 (yes TEN) NCAA National Championships in the 1960's and 1970's.  Way before there was Duke, UNC, Kentucky, or Georgetown, there was Wooden and UCLA. Growing up, I loved both soccer and basketball, and I have often thought that almost everything you learn on a basketball court can be applied to soccer (the give and go, isolation, rebounding, etc.).  OK, you can't set a pick in soccer, I'll give you that, but you get my point.  But aside from the similarities in the sports, I wanted to write a brief note about a man whose importance goes way beyond hoops, and applies to the pursuit of excellence in any sport, and to life itself.

Wooden's motto for players was "failing to prepare is preparing to fail".  Kind of like the approach in our academy soccer program, if you work your hardest in practice, if you repeat and repeat until your muscles and your mind know what to do, even when you are tired and grumpy, performance in games just kind of happens.  When Wooden was a pro player (before coaching), he once hit 138 straight free throws in pro games.  Hmmm...do you think he might have spent some solo time outside of practice working on that skill? 

Legendary former Georgetown Coach John Thompson, a big fan of Wooden, taught his players the following saying from Wooden: "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are while your reputation is just what others think you are."  Wow. How does that Wooden-ism apply to you guys playing Academy soccer?  It means guys, there is a lot of noise out there that doesn't matter: Games are won or lost, you may miss a shot or let a goal in, you may play on the "A" team or the "B" team, and parents may, unfortunately, be quick to tell you where they think you messed up.  John Wooden would say, if you are stressed about those things, you need to chill out and focus on what you can control:  the way you work, the way you relate to your coach and teammates, and the way you take care of yourself and show the pride of an athlete.  THAT is character, and character always wins in the long run.

On doing what you love, and keeping things in perspective, there is no greater role model than John Wooden. He frequently mentioned how basketball is nowhere near as important to him as his faith.  In this age of multi-million dollar salaries for college coaches, John Wooden's salary in 1975, the year he won his 10th NCAA Championship, was $35,000 for the whole year, probably what some coaches now make for a single game!  When asked once how he was able to be so successful, Wooden replied, "I have been blessed with players who focused on 'we' instead of 'me'."  Just a plain-spoken, humble guy, who happens to be the greatest college basketball coach of all time.  We will miss him.

This post was written by Brian Herbert.