Vienna Youth Soccer: Promoting Positive Coaching

Last month, Vienna Youth Soccer (VYS), the largest soccer organization in Vienna, hosted a positive coaching workshop for their coaches, led by volunteer coordinator Will Bowman.  The course, Double Goal Coach, sponsored by the Positive Coaching Alliance, trains coaches to teach life lessons through the game of soccer.  

At a time when college and professional sports seem to focus on money making, sponsorship and play time, promoting a culture of team unification and sportsmanship at the youth level is more important than ever.  Even at the youth and high school level, games get intense, emotions run high resulting in a lot of negativity on the bench and in the stands.  As a youth sports organization, we want to change that mindset because we believe that's not what sports is meant to be about.  We do want our kids to strive to win, but it's not win at all costs.

Coaches who complete the course are better equipped to build a team environment where youth athletes can grow, try new things, succeed/fail, learn how to deal with adversity, love their experience with sports, and channel their energy into reaching their potential.  And isn't THAT what playing sports is all about? 

"Several VYS coaches in attendance demonstrated an understanding of how they would apply PCA principles in difficult game situations, reinforce these lessons in practices, and incorporate them in working with team parents.", says Bowman.

Positive coaching brings out the best in athletes.  It reinforces that in both sports and life, success is not strictly measured by the number of wins, but rather through the values of honor, teamwork and respect for others.  At VYS, we're proud to be a proponent of those ideals for our coaches, players and parents.