Their Thoughts—Anson Dorrance, UNC Women’s Soccer Coach

 

• Competition is key to developing players. 
• The only practice environment in which you truly develop a player is in a competitive arena.
• Usually a championship team is built on a strong defense. That is 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.
• You can never be fit enough for this game.
• One of the most unfortunate things I see when identifying youth players is the girl who is told over the years how great she is. By the time she's a high school freshman, she starts to believe it. By her senior year, she's fizzled out. Then there's her counterpart—the girl waiting in the wings who quietly and with determination decides she's going to make something of herself. Invariably, this humble, hardworking girl is the one who becomes the real player.

--The Coaching and Leadership Journal, December 2012

The Vision Of A Champion: Advice And Inspiration From The World's Most Successful Women's Soccer Coach (Latest Edition)