Setting the Stage

Andy Barney's new book will be about how to develop Character with a capital C in children. Character of this nature can influence the world in many different and positive ways. This is not to be confused with character with a small c. We refer to jokesters as “Characters”. This is an example of character with a small c. These “characters” will probably not influence the world in meaningful ways. Their contribution may be notable but perhaps not tremendously negative or positive. Deep and abiding Character with a capital C can be optimized in children with extremely diverse genetic imprints and sociological backgrounds. The methods described within are the results of questioning, innovation and practical teaching experience, a developmental process lasting in excess of thirty years during which I have come full circle from the traditional win oriented approach in child sports to a vision of character mentoring that approaches the soccer domain from a wider perspective than the sport itself. The players developed in the years where Character has been the major focus have been bigger “winners” from both a statistical and life perspective.

Todd Skinner the extreme mountaineer in his great book “Beyond The Summit” says, “We are all climbers because we have this innate desire to rise, to improve our lives, to succeed at our endeavors. The real question is how do we achieve that rise and increase the odds of our success? If you take the element of luck out of the equation of success, and in most cases luck plays a miniscule role, then success becomes a matter of making correct decisions. If your destination is vague, it is much harder to make the correct decisions because you can’t begin to guess which turns lead there. Every destination has to be placed in a larger context. We are not climbing to a solitary mountaintop, but using each mountain as a step up a directed lifelong ascent of enduring success. When you boil it down, success is gaining that which you find valuable. You choose a destination that will move you in that direction. A challenge of any kind can be thought of as a mountain. My strategy of movement evolved into a Trinity of Ascent, made up of Climber, an entity, including any person, company, or group working toward a shared purpose, whose desire is to ascend; the Expedition, an organized effort to reach a defined destination; Ascent, a continuum of success that helps you choose mountains by clarifying direction and ensuring each mountain contributes to your further ascent. To succeed on an expedition, you must think from the summit back. I have come to think of that destination as our Ultimate Potential, the farthest point of gain on the line of our Lifelong Ascent. It gives us a theoretical destination to move toward, which elevates our choices and correspondingly our level of success. Understand that since all your actions affect your future, the future should determine what those actions should be.”

What Todd Skinner has so ably clarified is the need to begin with the ultimate destination in mind. In my early coaching career my destination was winning the next game. I failed to define any destination, mountaintop, expedition or path of lifelong ascent. Because of this I lacked direction and sent my players down many blind alleys. None of my English youth players were recruited to a higher level of play. During the middle years of my coaching career I defined my goal as developing players capable of playing College soccer while winning games. I had reasonable success with this approach and, as a consequence, the KC Legends club now has now influenced over 220 ex or current collegiate players.

More recently I have defined soccer coaching within the context of the “Ultimate Mountain” at the end of the “Lifelong Ascent”. The Ultimate Mountain is developing children with “Character” with a capital C. Due to this elevated focus the summit of the ultimate mountain has now been identified and is relentlessly pursued by our coaches, often at the cost of team wins and shirt term gratification. Consequently the Legends soccer program has refined an already excellent developmental philosophy into a vastly improved character building experience. One that is guaranteed to develop brave, creative, leaders for life! As a bonus it also develops fantastic soccer players!