I graduated from college with a Bachelors degree in Speech Communication. Needless to say I view communication as an important part of our lives. While playing Soccer, communication can be the difference between a good team and a great team.

When I was playing recreation soccer I had a coach implement keywords to help us communicate on the field. They seem silly now, but at the time they were very helpful in teaching young soccer players to talk to each other while playing. The main word we were taught was “Peanut Butter” If you heard someone yelling that it meant you had a backwards pass available. As I grew up playing soccer I learned the value of communicating as a team. There should be constant chatter on a team to help each other in certain instances. Your team can use simple directions or alerts, such as ‘man on’ and ‘turn’ or ‘you have time’ to make playing so much easier. Good communication becomes more important as the game speeds up at higher levels. Great teams always communicate well with each other and help each other to know what is going on and what plays are available.

Not all communication is good for a team. I know this sound counterproductive to my statement that communication makes great teams. Communication is effective when it is positive and influences players to do well. There is a difference between yelling to another player and yelling at another player. It is important to make sure you are heard as you give direction to your teammates, this is yelling to another player. When you yell at another player you become a negative influence on the team and impact your team in the worst way possible. I have played with players that have a tendency to yell at their teammates and I will do whatever I can to encourage them to keep it positive. If they can’t keep it positive and continually yell at teammates you will find they don’t last on teams very long.

I was recently on a team that yelled at each other a lot, I would discuss it with the team and they would keep it positive for a little bit, but eventually would start yelling again. I eventually quit the team because it is not fun to be on a team like that. I was frustrated after games and we did not play to the potential we were capable of playing due to the negative feeling on the team. It is not beneficial for anyone to have those players on the team. If you are one of those players that is constantly yelling at your team, knock it off. You may hurting your team’s chance of ever being a great team. If you are on a team with someone that yells at your teammates a lot then talk to the player and possibly the coach about the problem. Taking care of the problem will result in a better environment for players to learn and be successful on the soccer field!

Tips for effective communication on the soccer field:

• Communicate with your team and you will improve and grow as a team.
• Use positive communication with your teammates.
• Use keywords to tell your teammates what is going on and what plays are available to them.
• Get rid of negative comments towards other players on your team.
• Have fun and enjoy the greatest sport in the world!