Building a career for yourself is much like building a house. It takes a lot of visualization and actually “seeing” what your dream house looks like. Then you must start with the basic foundation.
BUILDING YOUR HOUSE
Roby Stahl
In speaking with various groups of student athletes, it becomes apparent that most young people do not have a clear focus on how to build a successful future, be it in education or soccer.
Before you attend secondary school, a soccer-training center for a summer session, or play for your club/high school program, ask yourself this question...“How will this program help me reach my goals”?
Building a career for yourself is much like building a house. It takes a lot of visualization and actually “seeing” what your dream house looks like. Then you must start with the basic foundation.
Psychologists tell us that our minds are like guided missiles. Once a missile is programmed toward a certain target, it can’t fail to hit it. It is important to begin to see your future right now. Aim high so that if you don’t quite reach that level, you’re still a success. The old quote, “Aim for heaven, if you miss you’ll still reach the stars” is a good motto to live by.
Once you’ve envisioned your ideal future (your house), start to determine, step by step, how to build. What your soccer coaches and high school teachers are doing is providing you with the tools for the rest of your career. After that, you must decide what to do from the foundation up. The tools these teachers and coaches supply you with to build your house are academic and athletic skills and the ability to develop your own solutions to problems both on and off the field. Once you have the tools and master their use you can determine by your own ambition and work ethic, how many levels you want for your house.
The foundation of your house might be graduating from high school, having a successful experience in ODP and getting admitted to the academic/soccer program at the college of your choice.
Most young people are satisfied with building a one-story house. This might be accomplished by graduation from a University, having a successful college soccer experience and entering the work force. Attending soccer coaching school and working with youth players would also add to your house.
A more highly motivated student - athlete might build a two-story house. In education, this might be obtaining a Master’s degree or taking on additional responsibility at work. In soccer, this would be continuing to play at a high level, i.e. our Olympic, National Teams, or professionally.
A few highly motivated players look to add a forth story. Mia Hamm is certainly striving for that. She completed her second level by winning the 1991 FIFA Women’s World Championships in China. Mia brought back out the basic tools, reinforced those skills, and won an Olympic Gold Medal in Atlanta, 1996. After that she can rest, take a long well earned look at her 3 story house and decide what’s next. Perhaps a fourth level…the 1999 World Championships?
In Tacoma, Washington, at a Post-To-Post International Training Center, an 11-year-old girl posed a question of Robbie LaBelle. Robbie, who played center-forward at UCLA and started several games for the U.S. U-20 National Team at the U-20 World Championships in Australia, was lecturing on what it takes to be successful. She asked, “What level house do you consider yourself on”? After shuffling his feet and pausing for a moment, Robbie answered. “I still feel I’m on the first level, considering the high aspirations and goals I have for myself.” That was one of the strongest statements I’d ever heard. Amazingly this talented young man with all his academic successes and having performed in the World
Championships before millions of worldwide television viewers, still considered himself building his first floor.
In order to set your goals like Mia and Robbie, start looking at your foundation. Is it adequate for your dreams? Keep this in mind when choosing your high school curriculum, college, and your club/high school coach, and in choosing a training center to sharpen your tactical, technical, physical and psychological foundations.
When you determine what you want (dreams), what it will take to build (foundation), and go to work with those tools to achieve (levels 1,2,3), then you will become a success.
It is important to always focus your goals as you make decisions that will impact your multi-level house in the future.
