How To Treat The Opposition

Only five percent of the population can be called physically gifted.  Therefore most of us have not been involved in high-level competition.  A serious problem arises when coaches observe high-level play and try to transfer these expectations to their team, especially in the area of misinterpreting "aggressive" play as "hostile" play.  The best players competing in the best games are not committing hostile acts.  They are competing aggressively. Hostility is deliberately destructive behavior.

The most mature and experienced coaches see their task as trying as hard as they can to pave the way to win and to win fairly.  Players who have the privilege of playing for these coaches find the experience to be exciting and challenging.  These coaches realize that they cannot control the outcome of the game, and they realize that they will not win every game.  Their goal is to have their team train, play, think and behave like winners all of the time.