Ahhh, the questions circling every recruits head. So many questions and all of them play a pertinent role in making your college decision. One blog post will not answer them all, but we hope as you keep up to date with our new posts and learn more and more about our wonderful program, most of them will be answered. So for today, lets start with our program philosophy:
What is the program GROUNDED in?
The mission of NCAA Division III athletics is to provide student-athletes with an opportunity to excel on the field, in the classroom, and within the greater community. Our program philosophy emanates from this mission and is grounded in encouraging and supporting our student-athletes to be the best individuals they can be in all aspects of their lives. Our success as a program is not measured solely by a win-loss record, but also by all the accomplishments of our women’s soccer players. This is achieved by building a team culture that develops the individual assets of each player and prepares the team to succeed at the next level, with a simultaneous understanding that the game, program and athletes are constantly evolving.
We develop students of the GAME.
We believe in developing students of the game. For our program to succeed at the highest level, each individual within the program should have a strong understanding of the game as a whole: know how to develop rhythms and movement, possess the ability to think and adjust on her feet, and appreciate each position’s and student-athlete’s role and responsibilities on and off the field. The best way to accomplish this is to develop the all-around soccer player. To be a great forward an athlete needs to recognize the perspective of a goalkeeper, the vision of a defender and the movement of a midfielder, as everyone connecting and working together on the field is key to accomplishing our program goals. It is through the asking of questions that engage players in the analyzing and dissecting of the game and the exposure to situations that force them to read their surroundings and make quick decisions that this understanding is reached.
Relationships and RAPPORT are a cornerstone.
For our approach to prove successful, it is important to develop a relationship and rapport with the players where they respect and listen to their coaches and fellow teammates, while feeling comfortable voicing new ideas and concerns. We believe in having a two-way dialogue allowing players to share ownership of the objectives and goals of the program, emphasizing leadership development, and improving mental toughness. By providing athletes with ownership of plans, decisions and goals, their motivation and effort increases. We strive to think about our athletes and find time in our days to talk to every player as we feel this is vital to the program’s success both on and off the field. It is critical to not confine one’s relationship with players to soccer alone as it is our responsibility as their coaches to help them achieve excellence in all aspects of their lives.
We believe in empowering YOU.
Ultimately,
soccer is an expression of creativity, intelligence, teamwork, communication, leadership
skills, competitiveness, and athletic skills.
To achieve greatness on the field, each player needs to be comfortable expressing
their abilities and passion for the game. The more comfortable players feel
with one another and their skills, the more ownership they take of the program,
and the more they will hold themselves and their teammates accountable. By empowering student-athletes, inspiring
them to strive for excellence, engaging them in their collegiate athletic
experience, developing them as leaders and encouraging them to learn and work
hard in all aspects of their lives, we strongly believe the Gustavus Women’s Soccer
program will be able to compete on a conference, regional and national level.
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