Anson Dorrance Video

I love this clip on Dorrance.  He is a AMAZING coach.  "The Man Watching" is one of my favorite coaching books I have ever read.... 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FessaWGsezE

Anson dorrance on practice

To quote Anson Dorrance, one of the greatest soccer coaches ever: "Competition is key to developing players. The only practice environment in which you truly develop a player is a competitive arena." Coach Dorrance tries to make his practices a "Competitive Cauldron". More about Coach Dorrance is at the end of this article - he has won over 600 games, has a 90% winning percentage and has been Coach of the Year 8 times. Here are some of his tips:
-- In practice, encourage competition.
-- During practice, try to keep score in everything you can -- keeping score encourages competition, 100% effort, game speed, and is more like what player's face in a real game.
-- Competition is critical to developing each player's potential.
-- "Competition is key to developing players. The only practice environment in which you truly develop a player is a competitive arena."

The worst way to practice is, obviously, to just let the kids kick the ball around. There's no structure, no focus on improving skills, and no competition or pressure. Bad habits will be repeated and there will be minimal improvement.

The second worst way to practice is scrimmaging – there aren't enough touches per player, the better players dominate, and it doesn't provide a good opportunity to practice individual skills in a controlled way. Bad habits will be repeated and weaker players will see little improvement.

The third worst way to practice is "Drills". Drills don't involve pressure or competition and don't prepare players for a real game. In fact, drills train players to play slow, because they don't play the drills at Game Speed and under pressure.

Anson Dorrance thoughts

“After a while, your coaching development ceases to be about finding newer ways to organize
practice.  In other words, you soon stop collecting drills.  Your development as a coach shifts to
observing how great coaches teach, motivate, lead, and drive players to performances at higher
and higher levels.  I think what happens to great coaches who are not effective at the end of
their career is they lose their willingness to take the required stress and emotional confrontation
that they did when they were younger.  Some leaders no longer have the energy or willingness
to make the emotional commitment to motivate people to attain the standard required of them to
compete successfully at the highest level.  Coaches sometimes are not willing to make that
commitment because it is so exhausting.  They are not willing to confront players when they are
not exerting maximum effort and achieving maximum performance because it’s a stressful,
uncomfortable situation.  To constantly motivate players, you have to be a driving force and
make personal investments for which you can pay dearly.  There are times when it might not be
an easy or popular environment for you to challenge them, but there are times when they are
just going to have to suck it up and deal with it.  And, trust me, the standards most players set
for themselves will usually be in a comfort zone that is well below their potential.”
-Anson Dorrance – Training Soccer Champions pg.29

Anson Dorrance Quotes

“ We don't want people to think the way to happiness in sport is to have these careers where they never lose a game and you're the best player in the world,”  “ A lot of what happens in sport challenges your character. And the way you negotiate these difficult environments, in our
opinion, is a measure of who you are. You get to express who you are through the victories and defeats of your game.”
Usually a championship team is built on a strong defense. That's something you can bring to every game. A great attack is always going to be inconsistent - at least on the scoreboard - that's the nature of the game." Anson Dorrance in "The Vision of a Champion. 

Competition is the key to developing players

EXCELLENCE IS ACTUALLY MUNDANE
Excellence is accomplished through deliberate actions, ordinary in themselves, performed consistently and carefully, made into habits, compounded together, added up over time. Since it is mundane, it is within reach of everyone, all the time. Please don't confuse this with success. In competitive athletics success is mutually exclusive...there are winners and losers..one team finishes first and another one last.
So this is your challenge:

• through deliberate actions (the things players do in training)
• ordinary in themselves (everyone is doing them, there are no real secrets).
• performed consistently (done on a regular basis).
• and carefully (with high standards and consummate focus)
• made into habits (coached into your technical, tactical, psychological and physical fabric)
• compounded together (with an understanding of harnessing all the elements)
• added up over time (done when appropriate on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis).

Focus & Discipline

•  Your margin of success is based on your inner drive. 
• This focus and self-discipline is also a great element of your character.

Commitment & Courage

• You can see examples of commitment and courage in athletics every day. We talk about these traits with our UNC players.

• One of the crucial aspects when we play with defensive presence is getting "stuck in," a common British expression for an aggressive player who gets in tackles, or sticks her face in where the ball is going, risking taking a knock or getting whacked. 
• We describe those without this all-out physical courage as humming birds.

Taking Responsibility

• Do you know the kind of player who always finds an excuse when she fails? When something isn't going well, she whines or blames someone else. 
• . When faced with challenges, or problems, look within yourself and decide what you can do to make things better.

The Winning Mentality

• This mentality is a description of the strength of your psychological dimension. 
• It involves your capacity to reach down inside and find your inner hardness. It's what happens when you emerge triumphant from any physical duel or combative situation. The winning mentality is partly optimism, but mostly it's a combination of focus, pride, competitive anger, relentlessness, hardness, fitness and courage -
• This type of mentality is not about your skills or tactics. What it comes down to is intense desire. To get this winning edge, you need to build an indomitable will. This means you must be relentless; you must never give up.

Transcending Ordinary Effort

• Ordinary effort is when you're comfortable. That's mediocrity. A lot of athletes work within their comfort zone, physically and technically. They don't feel like they're going to lose control, or pass out from fatigue. 
• In a game situation, the other team is trying to take you out of your comfort zone. So, as soon as they do, you're in unfamiliar territory. You panic. You make a mistake, or lose the ball.
• The challenge for you as an individual athlete is to find a way to elevate your environment. This is not easy. You likely have to set your own standards of practice performance. You are part of a team sport, in which coaches and your teammates are critical for motivation.

Anson Dorrance Core Values

One of my favorite coaches to read on is Anson Dorrance.  He is the Head coach of UNC Women Soccer.  His book "A Man Watching" is one of the best books I have ever read.

Head Coach Anson Dorrance is now in his 31st season as the Tar Heel head coach. His teams have an all-time record of 673-33-21 (.940). Under Dorrance, UNC has won 20 national championships, including 19 NCAA crowns and one AIAW title, 19 regular-season ACC titles and 19 ACC Tournament championships. During his tenure, Dorrance's teams are 132-7-4 in ACC regular-season games, 54-0-3 in ACC Tournament matches and 100-7-1 in NCAA Tournament games.

From The Carolina Creed:
"I will excel athletically by committing myself to performance excellence, team success, and continual improvement."

1. We dont whine.  The individual can handle any situation and nver complain about anything on or off the field.  (The True Joy in life is to be a force of fortune instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy." George Bernard Shaw)
2. The truly extraordinary  do something every day.  They have remarkable self discipline and everyday has a plan to get better. 
3. We want these 4 years of college to be rich, valuable, and deep.  This is that the focused individual is here for the right reason to get  an education.  Life is led with proper balance and an orientation towards intellectual growth and against the highest public standards and most noble universal ideals.  
4. We work hard.  The individual embodies the "indefatigable human spirit" and never stops pushing.  Relentless in training. (The difference between 1 person and another, between the weak and the powerful, the great and the insignificant, is energy- invisible determination...This quality will do anything that has to be done in the world, and no talents, no circumstances, no opportunities  will make you a great person without it." Thomas Buxton)
5. We don't freak out over rediculous issues or live in fragile states of emotional catharsis or create crises where none exist..  Be even keeled and unflappable.
6. We choose to be positive.  Nothing can depress or upset this powerful and positive life force.
7. We treat everyone with respect.  
8. We care about each other as teammates and as human beings.  Be non-judgemental, inclusive friend that never says a negative thing about anyone and embraces everyone because of their humanity, with no elitist speration.
9. When we dont play as much as we would like we are noble and still support the team and its mission.  This remarkably noble, self sacrificing, generous human being always places the team before themself.
10. We play for each other.
11. We are well led. This is the verbal leader on the field that is less concerned with popularity and more concerned about holding everyone to their highest standards and driving their teammates to their potential.
12. We want our lives to be never ending ascensions but for that to happen properly our fundamental attitude about life and our appreciation for it is critical.  This is that humble, gracious high achiever that is thankful for everything and has a contagious generosity and optimism.