Understanding The Why
How Purpose Transforms Players, Coaches, and Communities
Welcome to the latest issue of Thoughts From The Touchline! This issue focuses on depicting the importance of building community and how soccer coaches can help players understand the why.
Introduction: More Than Just the Game
Every player who steps onto the field carries a story—a unique blend of motivation, culture, family, and community. For many, soccer is more than a game. It is a language, a home, a way to belong. Yet too often, coaches focus only on drills, tactics, and results, without taking the time to explain why we do what we do.
Understanding the "why" is the bridge between instruction and transformation. When players understand why they’re being asked to press high, why community matters, or why discipline off the field shapes performance on it, their learning deepens. Soccer becomes not just about winning a match, but about becoming part of something larger than themselves.
This issue explores the power of understanding the "why," particularly in building community. Soccer coaches hold the unique responsibility of helping players see beyond the white lines—helping them connect effort with purpose, performance with belonging, and leadership with service.
I. The Psychology of "Why" in Learning
Humans are wired for meaning. Research in sports psychology shows that athletes who understand the reasoning behind training methods are more motivated, engaged, and resilient. When a coach simply says, “Run this drill,” the response is compliance. But when the coach explains, “We practice this drill to create space, so you can unlock an opponent’s defense and give your teammate confidence to take a risk,” the drill becomes a doorway to vision.
Understanding the “why” builds three key traits:
Intrinsic Motivation – Players push themselves because they value the purpose.
Resilience – Challenges are viewed as part of growth, not as punishment.
Leadership Development – Athletes learn to articulate the game’s purpose to others, reinforcing community.
A player who understands the why won’t just follow directions—they’ll take ownership. And when ownership spreads, community is born.
II. Community as the Foundation of Soccer
Soccer is not a solitary pursuit. Unlike sports that emphasize individual performance, soccer is a living organism where 11 players must breathe as one. Community is not a byproduct of the sport—it is the sport.
When coaches cultivate community, they create a sense of shared identity. This shows up in small details: the way players greet each other before practice, how teammates pick up equipment, how a team rallies around an injured player. Community transforms soccer from a weekly obligation into a family.
But community doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when coaches connect every action to purpose:
Warm-ups are not just physical—they’re about learning to move together.
Team talks are not just about strategy—they’re about alignment of spirit.
Service projects are not just community hours—they’re about grounding players in gratitude.
When coaches consistently emphasize the "why," they remind players: You belong here. Your effort matters. We are in this together.
III. The Role of the Coach as a Community Builder
Coaches are more than tacticians—they are architects of belonging. The best coaches see beyond the scoreboard. They ask: What type of people will my players become?
Here are three roles every coach must embody:
Translator of Purpose – Making connections between drills and life lessons.
Model of Integrity – Living the values they preach, showing that "why" is embodied, not just explained.
Catalyst for Community – Building rituals, traditions, and shared language that unite the team.
For example, instead of simply telling players to respect referees, a coach might explain: Respect builds trust. Trust builds community. Community builds champions. Suddenly, every handshake and every pause after a whistle becomes more than etiquette—it becomes culture.
IV. Helping Players Understand Their "Why"
Each player has an individual why. For some, it’s the dream of playing professionally. For others, it’s family pride. For many, it’s simply joy. Coaches who take time to discover and affirm each player’s personal why unlock motivation that no drill ever could.
Practical steps for coaches:
One-on-One Conversations – Ask, “Why do you play? What do you love about this game?”
Reflection Journals – Encourage players to write about what they learned after training.
Community Boards – Create a wall where players share their motivations, quotes, or goals.
Team Vision Statements – Co-create a "why" that binds everyone together.
When individual whys intersect with a team’s collective why, a powerful community emerges.
V. Stories From the Touchline
Stories make the why real. Consider these examples:
A high school coach explains to her team that running fitness drills isn’t about punishment—it’s about learning to endure, so that in the 85th minute, they can still lift each other up. The players begin to push themselves, knowing the work is for the person beside them.
A youth academy coach invites players to volunteer at a local food bank. Later, he connects it back to the game: Just as we serve our community off the field, we serve each other on the field. The lesson sticks.
A professional coach tells his squad: Our tactics are not about controlling the ball. They’re about controlling our response to pressure. When you stay composed, you show resilience. And when resilience spreads, our community grows stronger than any single mistake.
In each case, understanding the why transforms effort into meaning, and meaning into unity.
VI. Practical Framework – Embedding the Why in Coaching
Here’s a framework for coaches to integrate "why" into daily practice:
Explain Before, Reinforce After – Start every drill with a clear explanation of its purpose. End by asking players to reflect on what they experienced.
Connect to Bigger Values – Tie soccer principles (discipline, creativity, teamwork) to life values (character, problem-solving, community service).
Create Shared Language – Use consistent words and phrases that reflect your team’s why. Examples: “Trust the process,” “We serve each other,” “Play for the crest, not the name.”
Celebrate the Invisible Wins – Recognize not just goals scored, but acts of selflessness, moments of encouragement, and displays of resilience.
Build Traditions – From team chants to community dinners, rituals deepen belonging.
VII. The Long-Term Impact of Why
Players may not remember every drill or every match. But they will remember the coach who gave them meaning. The coach who explained why discipline mattered, why humility mattered, and why community mattered.
By helping athletes understand the why, coaches are shaping citizens, leaders, and future community builders. A player who learns that soccer is about belonging will carry that lesson into family, work, and society. The impact is generational.
Conclusion: Purpose as Legacy
The heart of coaching is not in the diagrams we draw or the substitutions we make. It is in the moments when a player’s eyes light up with understanding—when they grasp the why.
As coaches, we must never underestimate our influence. We are not just teaching players how to trap a ball or press a line. We are teaching them to ask: Why does this matter? And in answering, we weave the fabric of community, one practice, one game, one life at a time.
Soccer is the world’s game not because it is simple, but because it is meaningful. Every child who picks up a ball is searching for a connection. It is up to us, from the touchline, to make sure they find it.
📌 Key Takeaway for Coaches: Explaining the why is not an extra—it is the essence of coaching. When we teach the why, we build better players. When we live the why, we build stronger communities.
-Coach Luis
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