Even More Quotes

I saw this thread on a soccer forum website and thought it made for an interesting discussion. "What have you learned in the past year with regard to soccer?" Here’s my reply:

• I’ve learned that when someone says “I’m doing it for the kids” he’s probably not.
• I’ve learned that a 0-0 game can have as much offense in it as a 5-4 game.
• I’ve learned that it’s not parents or coaches or players that are a problem – it’s egos.
• I’ve learned that 99% of the fans at a match think that the referee is terrible and is biased for the other team. The other 1% are not sure which one the referee is.
• I’ve learned never to judge a player’s ability until they are at least 16 years old.
• I’ve learned that some coaches are considered successful because they develop good players and others because they recruit good players. The ones that develop players are the ones I consider successful.
• I’ve learned that speed is good - but speed and size is better.
• I’ve learned that you should never dribble when you can pass and that you should never pass when you can shoot.
• I’ve learned you should never “dive in” when you’re the last defender.
• I’ve learned that despite what I think, soccer will never be as popular in the U.S. as it should be.
• I’ve learned that all goals count the same no matter how they’re scored or who scores them.
• I’ve learned that way too many of my clothes have three stripes on them.
• I’ve learned that I’m going to miss all this when my children quit playing.
• I’ve learned that I can’t pass a large open field without thinking “That would sure make a good soccer field.”
• I’ve learned that I know much less about this sport than I used to think I did.
• I’ve learned that I would be much better off if I kept my mouth shut during games.
• I’ve learned that less than 50% of all coaches know the Laws of the Game and only about 75% of the refs do.
• I’ve learned that no matter how many cones and balls I carry to practice some will disappear like socks in a drier.
• I’ve learned that not all kids play soccer for the same reasons. Some want to compete and others want to socialize. But they all want to have fun. All coaches should remember that.
• I've learned that every coach with an accent is not a "soccer expert".
• I’ve learned that not all soccer matches are exciting but neither are all baseball, basketball or football games.
• I’ve learned that soccer is both an incredibly simple game and an amazingly difficult game – at the same time.
• I’ve learned that one of the hardest jobs is that of an assistant coach.
• I’ve learned that you should under-promise and over-deliver if you want to be successful as a coach.
• I’ve learned that sometimes the way a player plays or practices has less to do with the coach than with what’s going on in his home or school life.
• I’ve learned that really competitive players want to be pushed put of their comfort zone.
• I’ve learned that you can shoot all you want but that the only shots that count are the ones in the back of the net.
• I’ve learned that every win is not good and every loss is not bad.
• I’ve learned that the harder you train the better your team will be, but that if you train too hard, you’ll miss all the fun and experiences that make sports worthwhile.
• I’ve learned you should never take any sport too seriously.
• I’ve learned that the best players never think they are.
• I’ve learned that every good referee I’ve met has doubts about the calls they made in the game. But they’ve learned to accept that they will make mistakes and try their best to keep them to a minimum. Coaches would do well to do adapt the same philosophy.
• I’ve learned that some of the most influential people in my life have been coaches and teachers and that all the really good coaches I knew were also really good teachers.
• I’ve learned that how I behave toward referees sets the standard for my players and that if I blame the refs my players will also blame the refs. Putting the blame on anyone other than ourselves is non-productive and won’t make me a better coach or make my players better defenders or attackers.
• I’ve learned that attackers that want to score a goal shouldn’t stand in the middle of the goal and hope that the ball will come to them.
• I’ve learned that if we want more of our kids to keep playing soccer as they get older we need more soccer-playing heroes for them to look up to.
• I’ve learned that a penalty kick is both the easiest and hardest shot in soccer.
• I’ve learned that it’s not always the most talented players who turn out to be the best soccer players but the best soccer players are almost always the ones that work the hardest.
• I’ve learned that not all great (soccer ball) jugglers are great players but almost all great players can juggle.
• I’ve learned that there’s always a time later to teach tactics. At almost any age coaches are better off using practice time teaching skills.
• I’ve learned that if you don’t shoot you can’t score.
• I’ve learned that when a team I coach loses the players get over it much quicker than I do.
• I’ve learned that in the overall scheme of the universe, sports means very little – and so much less than we (fans, coaches, players, parents) think they do.
• I’ve learned that some players take criticism better than others but all players take praise well.
• I’ve learned that it helps to have a mentor – even if that person doesn’t know what a mentor is.
• I’ve learned that hydration is more important than nutrition in sports – just as in life. You can survive days without food but will die quickly without water. Encourage your players to drink lots of water. It’s the simplest advice that pays the biggest dividends.
• I’ve learned that practice and not halftime is the best time to provide a coaching lesson.
• I’ve learned that you should always choose the wind at the start of a match – you never know when it’ll change direction.
• I’ve learned that all athletes are just one serious injury from being spectators.
• I’ve learned that you’re never too close to the goal that you can't kick the ball over the top of it.
• I’ve learned that I spend way too much time thinking about this stuff. ……..............
• But most of all, I’ve learned that I should always be sure I’m wearing an athletic cup before I volunteer to be the goalkeeper in a practice-ending game of “World Cup”.
  
  Ken Gamble - August 2003 (Copyright reserved)
  dsports@hiwaay.net
  http://www.nasl.com
  http://www.decatursports.com
   

Words of Wisdom

INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIFE

Date:    Fri, 2 Oct 1998
From:    Barry Murtaugh
I got this from a dear friend - Reading from the list about ALL life's problems that we see arrive with the kids and their parents (or lack thereof) at training, matches, in league squabbles, school, discipline, self-control (our own and others)- What a headache it seems. The list below seemed to bring me back around- There is good stuff we all need to do and we need to spend as much time on that as we do on the tougher side of glorious life- Sorry if this seems a bit peripheral to the list on longish.

1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

2. Memorize your favorite poem.

3. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

4. When you say, "I love you", mean it.

5. When you say, "I'm sorry", look the person in the eye.

6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

7. Believe in love at first sight.

8. Never laugh at anyone's dreams.

9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

11. Don't judge people by their relatives.

12. Talk slow but think quick.

13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?".

14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

15. Call your mom.

16. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.

17. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

18. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions.

19. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

20. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

21. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

22. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, his/her conversational skills will be as important as any other.

23. Spend some time alone.

24. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

25. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

26. Read more books and watch less TV.

27. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll get to enjoy it a second time.

28. Trust in God but lock your car.

29. A loving atmosphere in your home is so important. Do all you can to create a tranquil harmonious home.

30. In disagreements with loved ones, deal with the current situation.Don't bring up the past.

31. Read between the lines.

32. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.

33. Be gentle with the earth.

34. Pray. There's immeasurable power in it.

35. Never interrupt when you are being flattered.

36. Mind your own business.

37. Don't trust a man/woman who doesn't close his/her eyes when you kiss them.

38. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.

39. If you make a lot of money, put it to use helping others while you are living. That is wealth's greatest satisfaction.

40. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck.

41. Learn the rules then break some.

42. Remember that the best relationship is one where your love for each other

is greater than your need for each other.

43. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

44. Remember that your character is your destiny.

45. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon (love and soccer???)

 

Everybody's Free
(to wear sunscreen)
by Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune

More Quotes from the Soccer-Coach-L e-mail List

• Never pass a problem; always pass an opportunity.

• There are many people, particularly in sports who think that success and excellence are the same thing and they are not the same thing.  Excellence is something that is lasting and dependable and largely within a person’s control.  In contrast, success is perishable and is often outside our control.  If you strive for excellence, you will probably be successful eventually …  people who put excellence in first place have the patience to end up with success.  An additional burden for the victim of the success mentality is that he/she is threatened by success of others and resents real excellence.  In contrast, the person fascinated by quality is excited when he/she sees it in others.  Joe Paterno

• Place before pace!  (Accuracy before power.)

• "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." Mark Twain

• Hard training easy combat, easy training hard combat. Marshal Suvorov

• Practice makes permanent.  Perfect practice makes perfect. 

• Practice doesn't make perfect.  Perfect practice makes perfect. Ben Hogan

• The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital. Joe Paterno, Penn State football coach

• It’s not enough to want to win; you have to want to prepare to win.

• By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. Benjamin Franklin

• The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do.  The hard part is doing it.  Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf

• Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal.  My strength lies solely in my tenacity. Louis Pasteur, scientist (1822-1895)

• The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one does. James M. Barrie

• People who want milk shouldn't sit on a stool in the middle of a field in the hopes that a cow will back up to them. Curtis Grant, author

• Movement creates movement.  Intelligent movement creates space.  Space creates time. Time ensures accuracy.

• There is no right way to do something wrong. 

• Trust is the highest form of human motivation. Steven Covey

• It's not about beating the other guy, it's about having fun… But nothing is more fun than beating the other guy. Marc Crawford, NHL hockey coach

• Every great batter works on the theory that the pitcher is more afraid of him than he is of the pitcher. Ty Cobb, baseball great

• If you're going to make every game a matter of life in death, you're going to have problems.  For one thing, you'll be dead a lot. Dean Smith, basketball coach

• If you go at them with bare knuckles, you'll come out bleeding. Ralph Lindquist,  trade union negotiator and business agent

• Courage is contagious.  When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened. Billy Graham

• Triumph is ‘umph’ added to try.

• Faith is the bird that sings when the dawn is still dark. Rabinranath Tagore

• The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all. Jawaharlal Nehru, Indian Prime Minister

• I always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific. Lilly Tomlin, actress, author and comedian

• One who fears failure limits his activities. Henry Ford, automobile tycoon

• Our chief want in life is somebody who will make us do what we can. Ralph Waldo Emerson

• A friend is like a tube of toothpaste.  They come through in a tight squeeze.  Unknown

• When I was 14 years old, I was amazed at how unintelligent my father was.  By the time I turned 21, I was astounded by how much he had learned in the last seven years. Mark Twain.

• The best time to plant a tree is ten years ago - the second best time is now.  Confucius

• Besides pride, loyalty, discipline, heart, and mind, confidence is the key to all the locks. Joe Paterno, Penn State football coach

• Sometimes it’s good to be nervous, it means you're about to do something exciting. Chicago Hope (TV series), Fall 1999

• Why not go out on a limb--isn't that where the fruit is? Frank Scully in Forbes Magazine, author of Behind the Flying Saucers, a 1950's bestseller

• Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. Douglas Adams, author

• Even Dumbo flew without his feather. from the movie Simply Irresistible

• What I've dared, I've willed; and what I've willed I'll do. Herman Melville (1819-1891) writer

• I love my enemies for two reasons, they inspire me to recognize my weakness. They also inspire me to perfect my imperfect nature. Sri Chinmoy, composer, artist, poet, and founder of the Oneness-Home Peace Run

• Maybe I won't last as long as other singers, but I think you can destroy your now by worrying about tomorrow.  If I hold back, I'm no good now, and I'd rather be good sometimes than holding back all the time. Janis Joplin

• Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal.
  Friedrich Nietzsche

• Good enough never is. Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields cookies.

• Wealth, notoriety, place, and power are no measure of success whatever.  The only true measure of success is the ratio between what we might have done and what we have been on one hand, and the thing we have made and the thing we have made off ourselves on the other.
  H.G. Wells (1866-1946) writer

• Chance is always powerful.  Let your hook be always cast in the pool where you least expect will be fish. Ovid (43 BC-17AD) poet

• You can shoot as much as you want but you have to score. Jerry Smith, Santa Clara University basketball coach at 1999 Final Four Tourney

• God didn't promise it would be easy, but he did promise it would be worth it! From Touched by an Angel (TV series), Fall 1999

• I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. Life is no brief candle for me.  It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it to future generations.
  George Bernard Shaw

• The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects the wind, the realist adjusts the sails.  Unknown

• The past exists only in our memories,
  The future only in our plans.
  The present is our only reality.
  Robert Pirsig

• Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.  General George Patton

• Silent gratitude isn't very much use to anyone.
  Gertrude B. Stein

• I know what happiness is, for I have done good work.
  Robert Louis Stevenson

• Mama said Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, it’s the middle that counts the most
  From the movie Hope Floats

• To be the best, you have to beat the best.
  H. Jackson Brown

• We are continually faced with great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insolvable problems.
  Unknown

• Act as if it were impossible to fail.
  Unknown

• Pray as if everything depends on God and work as if everything depends on you.
  Unknown

• Its not the load that weights you down, it's how you carry it.
  Unknown

• The real lessons in life are not found in the victory but in the struggle.
  Unknown

• Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.
  Amelia Earhart

• The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public.
  George Jessel

• If a man loves the labour of his trade, apart from any question of success or fame, the gods have called him.
  Robert Louis Stevenson

• I like nonsense.  It wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.  It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope, which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities.
  Dr. Seuss

• It’s been my philosophy of life that difficulties vanish when faced boldly.
  Isaac Asimov, Foundation

• It is a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.
  W. Somerset Maugham

• Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures.
  H. Jackson Brown, Jr., Life's Little Instruction Book

• Don’t let anyone tell you that the purpose of an apple tree is to grow apples.  Not in May, it isn’t.  In May the trees proclaim that their reason for being is to achieve a special glory of blossom.
  Hal Borland Twelve Moons of the Year

• While it is important to win, it's imperative to compete.
  Dave Weinbaum

• Action is the antidote to despair.
  Joan Baez

• The only thing better than winning is losing knowing you gave your best.
  Michael Ip

• It matters not whether you win or lose; what matters is whether I win or lose.
  Darren Weinberg

• There is a time for all things, a time to preach and a time to pray, but those times have passed away.  There is a time to fight, and that time has now come.
  Peter Muhlenberg

• Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.  Albert Einstein

• Without a struggle, there can be no progress.  Frederick Douglass

• Problems are only opportunities in work clothes. Henry Kaiser

• Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant. Horace

• The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.  What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection.  'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.  Thomas Paine

• He is able who thinks he is able.  Buddha

• The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than facts.  It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.  It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skills.  It will make or break a company... a church... a home.  The remarkable thing is, we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.  We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people act a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...  I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it.  And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes. Charles Swindal

• A man must not deny his manifest abilities, for that is to evade his obligations. William Feather, The Treasure of Franchard

• Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment. Baltasar Gracian, The Oracle

• You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses.
  Ziggy

• No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.  Helen Keller

• In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer.  Albert Camus

• Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.  Alexander Hamilton

• If you don't like something, change it.  If you can't change it, change your attitude.  Don't complain. Maya Angelou

• If we don't change, we don't grow.  If we don't grow, we aren't really living.  Gail Sheehy

• I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better. G. C. Lichtenberg

• Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts. Arnold Bennett, The Arnold Bennett Calendar

• Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.  Live the life you have imagined.
  Henry David Thoreau

• A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage.  Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort. Sydney Smith

• Every problem has a gift for you in its hands. Richard Bach

• Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy, for it means pushing back a boundary-line and adding to one's liberty. Henri Frédéric Amiel, The Private Journal of Henri Frédéric Amiel

• Dreams are the touchstones of our character. Henry David Thoreau

• The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.  Eleanor Roosevelt

• You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true.  You may have to work for it, however. Richard Bach

• The harder you work, the luckier you get. McAlexander

• Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. Will Rogers

• Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. Theodore Roosevelt

• You get the best out of others when you give the best of yourself.Harry Firestone

• It's always too early to quit. Norman Vincent Pearle

• Knowing is not enough; we must apply.  Willing is not enough; we must do.  Goethe

• There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. Unknown

• We aim above the mark to hit the mark. Ralph Waldo Emerson

• One that would have the fruit must climb the tree. Thomas Fuller

• The only way to have a friend is to be one. Ralph Waldo Emerson

• A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same. Elbert Hubbard

• He who has a thousand friends, Has not a friend to spare, While he who has one enemy, Shall meet him everywhere.  Ralph Waldo Emerson

• The road to a friend's house is never long. Danish proverb

• Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. Dale Carnegie

• If you have a lemon, make lemonade.  Howard Gossage

• Never look down on anybody unless you are helping him up.  Jesse Jackson

• This above all; to thine own self be true.  William Shakespeare

• Where talent is a dwarf, self-esteem is a giant. J. Petit-Senn, Conceits and Caprices

• I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everyone.
  Bill Cosby

• Defeat never comes to any man until he admits it. Josephus Daniels

• You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.  Beverly Sills

• The only time you don't fail is the last time you try anything -- and it works. William Strong

• Defeat is not the worst of failures.  Not to have tried is the true failure.  George E. Woodberry

• If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.
  Maya Angelou

• The important thing to recognize is that it takes a team, and the team ought to get credit for the wins and the losses.  Successes have many fathers, failures have none. Philip Caldwell

• Success is that old ABC -- ability, breaks, and courage. Charles Luckman

• Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. Robert Francis Kennedy

• To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success.  Ralph Waldo Emerson

• When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. Franklin D. Roosevelt

• Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs.  Malcolm Forbes

• Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.  William Feather

• Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.  Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.  Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.  Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.  Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. Calvin Coolidge

• Great story tellers rarely worry about the facts. Barbara Walters

• A dream that comes only once is oftenest only an idle accident, and hasn't any message.  But the recurrent dream is quite another matter--oftener than not it has come on business.
  Mark Twain

• A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.  Unknown

• Practice makes perfeckt. Unknown

• When you assume, you have missed an opportunity to communicate.
  Tom Bachey, W. C. Beckjord Station

• Fall down 7 times, get up 8 times.
  Unknown

• What's right isn't always popular and what's popular isn't always right.
  Unknown 

• The person who wins may have been counted out several times, but didn't hear the referee.
  H.E. Janson

• I think the decision to play sports, or do anything, has to be your own.  It can't be someone else's.  Mia Hamm

• The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.
  Linus Pauling

• I intend to live forever.  So far, so good.
  Stephen Wright

• No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
  Eleanor Roosevelt

• A Set Back is a Set Up for a Come Back!

• You don't get harmony when everybody sings the same note. Doug Floyd

• It may take a little courage, but I've found that everything worthwhile does. Bob Dole

• A stumble may prevent a fall. English Proverb

• A team's true spirit and character are revealed not when they're winning, but when they're losing. H. Jackson Brown

• When I was a child, my mother said to me, 'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general, and if you become a monk, you'll end up as the Pope.  Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.  Pablo Picasso, artist

• A champion is one who gets up...even when he can't.  Jack Dempsey

• Whether you think you can or you can't, You're right.  Vince Lombardi

• If a man does his best, What else is there?  General George Patton

• Somewhere someone is practicing right now and when you meet him in head-head competition, he'll beat you. Unknown

• I'm easily satisfied by the very best. Winston Churchhill

• Execute every act of thy life as though it were thy last.  Marcus Aurelius

• An error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.  Orlando A. Battista

• When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us. Alexander Graham Bell

• It is better to be defeated on principle than to win on lies. Arthur Calwell

• Be wiser than other people, if you can, but do not tell them so. Lord Chesterfield

• He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
  Chinese proverb

• Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. Chinese Proverb

• You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair. Chinese Proverb

• Advice is like snow; the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind. Coleridge

• Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.  Ralph Waldo Emerson

• Dream as if you'll live forever.  Live as if you'll die tomorrow.  James Dean

• A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner.  English proverb

• We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.  Winston Churchill

• One lives in the hope of becoming a memory.  Antonio Porchia

• A work of kindness is seldom spoken in vain, while witty sayings are as easily lost as the pearls slipping from a broken string.  Prentice

• Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, just as the wind blows our a candle and fans a fire.  La Rochefoucauld

• Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.  Jean Jacques Rousseau

• Understanding that most of the game has nothing to do with kicking a ball, is one step closer to understanding the game. Umbro Ad

• The rules of soccer are simple.  If it moves kick it.  If it doesn't move kick it until it does.  Peter Woosnam

• Our beautiful game is art, disguised as a sport.  Unknown

• Winning is a state of mind...  Unknown

• We can not become what we need to be by remaining what we are. Max Dupree

• Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.  Barry Switzer, football coach

• You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.  Mark Twain

• Death leaves a heartache no one can heal,
  Love leaves lives a memory no one can steal.
  From a headstone in Ireland

• Defeat is often a temporary thing.  It's giving up that makes it permanent.  Unknown

• A champion is someone who is bending over to exhaustion when no one else is watching.
  Anson Dorrance

• Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
  Unknown

• Excellence is a Habit. Unknown

• It is not enough to make someone learn, you must make them want to learn! Unknown

• Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever. Napoleon Bonaparte, (1769-1821)

• You're never too young to be a champion. Mia Hamm

• Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1

• The road to success is always under construction. You'll encounter potholes, detours, and delays.  But you must keep your eye on your goal and keep moving forward.
  Ed Temple, three-time Olympian, coach track & field

• The man who doesn't relax and hoot a few hoots voluntarily, now and then, is in great danger of hooting hoots and standing on his head for the edification of the pathologist and trained nurse, a little later on. Elbert Hubbard, philosopher

• Anyone can become angry, that's easy, but to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way--that's not easy
  Aristotle

• The world hates change yet it is the only thing that has brought progress. Charles Kettering

• My interest is in the future, because I'm going to spend the rest of my life there. Charles Kettering

• If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you'll be fired with enthusiasm. Vince Lombardi, legendary football coach

• I always wanted to be better than I was the day before.  Mia Hamm

• The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses.  They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers.  But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.  Carl Sagan

• Only dead fish go with the flow.  Unknown

• There is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without result.  Winston Churchill

• Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.
  Ben Hogan, golfing great in the 50s

• Life's a dance / You learn as you go / Sometimes you lead Sometimes you follow / Don't worry 'bout what you don't know Life's a dance / You learn as you go
  Shamblin/Seskin/JMM

• The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't. Henry Ward Beecher

• Delusions of grandeur make me feel a lot better about myself. Jane Wagner, actress

• Time's fun when you're having flies. Kermit the Frog

• Crazy people who are productive are geniuses.  Crazy people who are rich are eccentric.  But crazy people who are neither productive nor rich are just plain crazy. Michael Gelb, philosophical author

• We can't all be heroes, because someone has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by.
  Will Rogers

• Be like a duck, Calm on the surface, but always paddling like the dickens underneath. Michael Caine

• I think we were very brave but perhaps not good enough. Craig Brown, Scotland coach on losing to Brazil.

• To err is human, but when the eraser wears out ahead of the pencil, you're overdoing it.
  J. Jenkins

• When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail.
  ABrahan Maslow, noted psychologist

• I haven't failed, I've found 10,000 ways that don't work. Benjamin Franklin

• Success breeds arrogance and incompetence. Ross Perot

• If someone had told me I would be Pope one day, I would have studied harder.
  Pope John Paul I

• A leader who keeps his ear to the ground allows his rear end to become a target. Angie Papadakis

• You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.  Walt Disney

• Perseverance is a great element of success.  If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

• Don't tell me how rocky the sea is, just bring the darn ship in. Lou Holtz

• Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there. John Wooden

• The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence. Vince Lombardi

• If you're not riding the wave of change…you'll find yourself beneath it. Winston Churchill

• Attitude is a little thing that makes a BIG difference.  An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity, a pessimist sees calamity in every opportunity. Winston Churchill

• Be not simply good, be good for something. Henry David Thoreau

• I will not drag you along; I will not leave you alone; I will stand by you and have my hand there for you to hold when you need to. Unknown

• Make like a Bread truck and haul buns. Unknown

• Whenever you fall, pick something up. Oswald Avery

• A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer. Ralph Waldo Emerson

• Man who improve house before building solid foundation apt to run into very much trouble.
  Charlie Chan in the 1948 film, The Feathered Serpent.

• To be a concert pianist, you need a tuxedo, a grand piano, a top notch agent, and many other things, but it's all a waste without technique.  You have to be able to play piano.  Similarly, you need knowledge of the game, tactics, etc., but it's all a waste if you can't control the ball.  Technique, technique, technique. Unknown

• HAPPINESS doesn't depend on how much you have to enjoy...But how much you enjoy what you have!! ZIGGY, cartoon strip by Tom Wilson 2/2/98

• When I invented me the world went, "What? WOMEN DON’T PLAY HOCKEY! “ A place for me didn’t even exist when I first came along. When the ice opens up in front of me, wide and wild, I don’t feel like a first; I don’t feel like a guy; I just don’t see anything in my way.  When a woman wins, victory is passed around like cake; everybody gets some, wallflowers and followers and fierce ruling divas alike.  Play ‘cause you love it; play ‘cause you mean it.  And win for a bigger world than the one you started in.
  Cammi Granato, in a Nike add

• A pat on the back is only eighteen inches from a kick in the butt. Unknown

• The uncreative mind can spot the wrong answer, but it takes a creative mind to spot the wrong question. Unknown

• Always strive to be the best, but never think you are the best. Pele'

• Genius is eternal patience.  Michaelangelo

• It’s wrong to get so involved in making a living you forget to make a life. Unknown

• Don’t ever wrestle with a pig.  You’ll both get dirty, but only the pig will enjoy it. Cale Yarborough

• Act quickly, think slowly. Greek proverb

• A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood.  Chinese Proverb

• The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.
  Bertrand Russell

• Only those who are willing to risk going too far will find out how far they can go. TS Elliot

• Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently. Henry Ford

• You can't hold a torch light to another’s path without brightening your own. Unknown

• Talent is what you are blessed with.  Skill is how you take care of the gift Unknown

• Win with humility and respect for your opponent, lose with Dignity. Jonathon Wills

• Be the bunny. TV commercial

• "The force is within you, Force yourself." When asked by Barbara Walters if he believes in the force and uses the saying "may the force be with you?"  Harrison Ford

• I was made to work; if you are equally industrious, you will be equally successful.
  Johann Sebastian Bach

• I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. George Bernard Shaw

• Vision is the art of seeing the invisible. Jonathan Swift

• Luck is when Preparation meets Opportunity. Unknown

• I can teach a kid who doesn't have ability, as long he doesn't know it. Bear Bryant

• We don't sing to get to the end of the song.  If that were so the fastest singers would be the best, and composers would only write finales.  We don't dance to get from one place on the floor to another.  In other words life lesson No. 1 must be about creating a process in which the journey to success is exciting, enjoyable and fulfilling.  If it hasn't been any fun achieving the goal, its accomplishment is mostly a relief from suffering. Alan Watts

•  There are no ends, only means.  How beautifully you get there is what counts. We were meant to enjoy the chase.  Some would argue that the goal of winning makes competition serious business, that beating your opponent is the only thing that matters.  The origin of the word competition - com and petere, which means "to strive together."  Not antipetere, striving against each other, but competere, striving together in pursuit of excellence.
  Karl Mohr

• Good judgment comes from experience.  Experience comes from bad judgment. Unknown

• Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle. Abraham Lincoln

• Inside yourself or outside, you never have to change what you see, only the way you see it.
  Thaddeus Golas

• It is not the hours we put in on the job, it is what we put into the hours that counts. Sidney Madwed

• Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. Nathaniel Hawthorne

• Happiness is a perfume which you cannot pour on someone without getting some on yourself.
  Ralph Waldo Emerson

• Habits are cobwebs at first; cables at last. Chinese Proverb

• Think and feel yourself there!  To achieve any aim in life, you need to project the end-result.  Think of the elation, the satisfaction, the joy!  Carrying the ecstatic feeling will bring the desired goal into view. Grace Speare

• Enthusiasm is that kindling spark which marks the difference between the leaders in every activity and the laggards who put in just enough to "get by." Unknown

• To accomplish great things we must first dream, then visualize, then plan... believe... act!
  Alfred A. Montapert

• Never, never, never, never, never give in — except to dictates of conscience and duty.
  Winston Churchill

• Slumber not in the tents of your fathers.  The world is advancing.  Advance with it.
  Giuseppe Mazzini, (Italian revolutionary, d. 1872)

• Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
  Ralph Waldo Emerson

• You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. Eleanor Roosevelt

• Look beyond their faults and see their need. Unknown

• What you can do or think you can, begin it -- boldness has genius, power and magic in it
  Goethe

• Start treating yourself as if you are the most important asset you'll ever have. After all, aren't you? Unknown

• Quality is never an accident: it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution: it represents the wise choice of many alternatives." Bob Desseker

• You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places that are undefended.
  Sun Tzu, (The Art of War)

• The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy and does not require too much from individuals. Sun Tzu, (The Art of War)

• Appear at points that the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected. Sun Tzu, (The Art of War)

• The musical notes are only five in number, but their melodies are so numerous that one cannot hear them all. Sun Tzu, (The Art of War)

• Apparent confusion is product of good order; apparent weakness, of strength.
  Sun Tzu, (The Art of War)

• Offer the enemy a bait or lure him; feign disorder and strike him. Sun Tzu, (The Art of War)

• In the tumult and uproar, the battle seems chaotic, but there is no disorder; the troops appear to be milling about in circles but cannot be defeated. Sun Tzu, (The Art of War)

• I must teach them to listen to each other, not just play their parts.  Leonard Bernstein

• Interesting, very interesting, but stupid. Artie Johnson, (Laugh In TV Show)

• We feel the greatest respect we can afford a team is by crushing them. Anson Dorance

• Pain is temporary, pride is forever. Unknown

• A life is not is important except as it has an impact on others. Jackie Robinson

• When work is a pleasure, life is a joy!! When work is a duty, life is slavery. Maxim Gorky

• Love is a better master than duty.  Albert Einstien

• Be the Dream.  John Chaney, (Temple)

• The best rewards come when you risk the most.  Sometimes the risk is its own reward. Doogie Howser M.D. (1/23/91)

• Five days shalt thou labour as the bible says ... the sixth is for football. Anthony Burgess, (Inside Mr. Enderby)

• To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and, whatever you hit, call it the target. Patrick Toche

• Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.  Art is knowing which ones to keep.
  Scott Adams, (The Dilbert Principle) 

• Life being what is, one dreams of revenge. Paul Gauguin, (1848-1903)

• How can we remember our ignorance, which our growth requires, when we are using our knowledge all the time  Thoreau

• What you risk reveals what you value. Jeanette Winterson

• A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle. Unknown

• Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes of the goal. Unknown

• (The will to win / ) Winning isn’t everything, its the only thing. Vince Lombardi

• Teamwork divides the task and doubles the success.  If everyone is moving forward together, the success takes care of itself. Unknown

• There are a thousand reasons for failure, but not a single excuse. Mike Reid, Former All Pro Center for Bengals and Concert Pianist

• People forget how fast you did a job - but remember how well you did it. Unknown

• Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important. Unknown

• Real leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determination. Unknown

• Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others let go. William Feather

• People can alter their lives by altering their minds.  William James

• Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it.  Autograph your work with excellence.
  Unknown 

• Don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out to it. Unknown

• Opportunity - Some people dream of success… While others wake up and work hard at it.
  Unknown

• Warning: my thoughts may turn to words at any moment. Unknown

• By perseverance the snail reached the ark. Charles Spurgeon

• What you don't see with your eyes, don't invent with your mouth. Jewish proverb

• Experience teaches you to recognize a mistake when you've made it again. Unknown

• Stand up for what’s right, even though you are standing alone.  Unknown

• There are many people, particularly in sports who think that success and excellence are the same thing and they are not the same thing.  Excellence is something that is lasting and dependable and largely within a person’s control.  In contrast, success is perishable and is often outside our control.  If you strive for excellence, you will probably be successful eventually …  people who put excellence in first place have the patience to end up with success.  An additional burden for the victim of the success mentality is that he/she is threatened by success of others and resents real excellence.  In contrast, the person fascinated by quality is excited when he/she sees it in others. Joe Paterno, Penn State football coach, 1999

ABCs

From Dirk Gadd:

A - Attention ...... to detail,  i.e. my opponent always turns left

B - Balance ...... to execute skills at optimal level

C - Commitment ......to one's self and team mates

D - Desire ...... to be successful

E - Efficient ...... with possession,  i.e. don't give it away.

F - Fluent ...... in Ruud Gullit's words  "SEXY FOOTBALL !!"

G - Goal ...... We must score to win

H - Habit ...... old habits are the hardest to break

I - Influence ...... remember you influence junior with your actions

J - Jargon ...... can everyone understand your terminology

K - Knowledge ...... share it with everyone

L - Luck ...... IT GOES A LONG WAY !!!!

M - Marking ...... Mark your man as best you can

N - Nerves ...... having nerves is a good sign .... You are human after all

O - Objective ...... we need something to aim for

P - Persistence ...... don't give up.  It's not over 'till it's over.

Q - Quality ...... lets give it our best shot !!

R - Rash ...... don't make rash decisions. Be objective and patient.

S - Support ...... your team mates in good times and bad.

T - Tactics ...... we have a plan to beat the opposition.

U - Unbalanced ...... not ideal for good skill execution.

V - Vision ...... is a wonderful thing

W - Wise ...... "an experienced 12 year old ????"   I DON'T THINK SO !!

X - Hiphoid ....... a part of the sternum

X - Xystus ........ a roofed area where athletes trained in ancient Greece

Y - Yearn ...... A DESIRE TO STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE !!

Z - Zone ...... I will endeavor to introduce a Zonal system next year.

Baseball Poem

Just a Little Boy

 

He stands at the plate with his heart pounding fast.

The bases are loaded; the die has been cast.

Mom and Dad cannot help him, he stands all alone.

A hit at this moment would send the team home.

The ball meets the plate; he swings and he misses.

There is a groan from the crowd, with some boos and some hisses.

A thoughtless voice cries, "Strike out the bum."

Tears fill his eyes; the game's no longer fun.

So open your heart and give him a break.

For it's moments like this, a man you can make.

Keep this in mind when you hear someone forget.

He's just a little boy and not a man yet.

                                       - Author Unknown

Winners

Work for what they achieve
Inspire their teammates to do their best
Need others, but believe in themselves
Never accept less than their best effort
Elevate their play to overcome challenges and obstacles
Respect their opponents, officials, teammates and the game
Strive for excellence on and off the field.

Winning

(name of author unknown)

I have NEVER in my life dreamed of winning every game.  If I win every game with a team then the chances of them actually having learned something from the games is slim to none.  A winning attitude comes from playing to your best ability, not from winning a game.  Putting players in a position to succeed is way too vague. How are you defining success?  If you define success as winning, then you will find yourself hiding players all your coaching career.  If you define success as that player getting game experience, playing in the "BIG GAME", or as them playing to the best of their current ability, then your whole attitude about the game will change.

 

Mother’s Day

Date:    Fri, 11 May 2001
From:    Andrew.P.Castiglione
Subject: Happy Mother's Day!!!

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them." -- Mother Theresa

"All that I am or hope to be I owe to my angel mother. I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." -- ABrahan Lincoln

"My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it."  - Mark Twain

"Any mother could perform the jobs of several air-traffic controllers with ease." -- Lisa Alther

"God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers." -- Jewish Proverb

Didn't Win Mother of the Year? - Me Neither

by  Andrew Castiglione

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you feed a stray cat, and I thought it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me, and I knew that little things are special things.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I heard you say a prayer, and I believed there is a God I could always talk to.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I felt you kiss me good night, and I felt loved.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw that you cared and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I looked ... and wanted to say  thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking.

******

This is for all the mothers who DIDN'T win Mother of the Year in 2001.

All the runners-up and all the wannabes.

The mothers too tired to enter or too busy to care.

This is for all the mothers who froze their buns off on metal bleachers at SOCCER games Friday night instead of watching from cars, so that when their kids asked,  "Did you see my goal?" they could say  "Of course, wouldn't have missed it for the world," and mean it.

This is for all the mothers who have sat up all night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up barf laced with Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid, saying, "It's OK honey, Mommy's here."

This is for all the mothers of Kosovo who fled in the night and can't find their children.

This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they'll never see.

And the mothers who took those babies and made them homes.

For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes. And all the mothers who DON'T.

What makes a good mother anyway? Is it patience? Compassion? Broad hips? The ability to nurse a baby, fry a chicken, and sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time? Or is it heart?

Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son/daughter disappear down the street walking to school alone for the very first time?

The jolt that takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at 2 a.m. to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby?

The need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a school shooting, a fire, a car accident, a baby dying?

I think so.

So this is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and explained all about making babies.

And for all the mothers who wanted to but just couldn't.

This is for reading "Goodnight, Moon" twice a night for a year. And then reading it again. "Just one more time."

This is for all the mothers who mess up. Who yell at their kids in the grocery store and swat them in despair and stomp their feet like a tired 2 year old who wants ice cream before dinner.

This is for all the mothers who taught their daughters to tie their shoelaces before they started school.

And for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead.

For all the mothers who bite their lips -- sometimes until they bleed--when their 14 year olds dye their hair green.

Who lock themselves in the bathroom when babies keep crying and won't stop.

This is for the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse.

This is for all the mothers who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to foot that winning goal.

This is for all the mothers whose heads turn automatically when a little voice calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they know their own offspring are at home.

This is for mothers who put pinwheels and teddy bears on their children's graves.

This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who can't find the words to reach them.

This is for all the mothers who sent their sons/daughters to school with stomach aches, assuring them they'd be just FINE once they got there, only to get calls from the school nurse an hour later asking them to please pick them up.

Right away.

This is for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation. And mature mothers learning to let go. For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers. Single mothers and married mothers.

Mothers with money, mothers without.

This is for you all. So hang in there.

Thank you ALL for being a TRUE SOCCER MOM!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

C