OUR PHILOSOPHY

Vision

To provide a community focused, family friendly soccer program that delivers technical, tactical and positional awareness for recreational players and competitive players.

Philosophy

Participants will create an environment where mistakes are viewed as a learning opportunity. Learning will be driven through the use of guided discovery questions where the players give us the answers rather than a coach’s direct commands.

Martin United see the game of soccer as an extremely enjoyable problem solving game which challenges a participant’s mental strength; physical conditioning; psycho social awareness; develop a faster cognitive learning ability, enhance technical skill development and become more tactically aware. The goal is to achieve a higher level of mastery in each of these areas for every youth soccer player at Martin United. Our beliefs include placing players at an appropriate level of play to allow growth and experiences that lead to a development of habits that most successful young adults possess. Participants are defined as players, officials, coaches and spectators / parents.

We at Martin United take the responsibility of mentoring and training the children very seriously and we require the highest of standards for anyone we allow to participate.   To ensure this, all Coaches, Trainers, and Board members  are required to be fully background checked, have their certificate from www.safesport.org, and have their “Heads Up” certificate from the CDC to recognize concussions.

Recreational Mission Statement

To provide a unique customer service to our community members that achieves the highest level of youth soccer training and game day experience that we can offer at the most cost effective price. By carefully recruiting and then educating the right volunteer trainer resources and place them at the right age group where they can develop players as educators, while instilling the core values of leadership, teamwork, responsibility and accountability into our players in an environment where mistakes help us learn. Players and coaches have positive experiences participating and spectators having fun watching their player’s learn to succeed.

Competitive Mission Statement

Martin United will use digital learning technologies in addition to traditional coaching educators to deliver the club’s philosophy of creating developmentally appropriate training so players learn to develop while making the learning experience challenging and enjoyable. Our USSF licensed coaches will use guided discovery educational techniques to instill a team culture and set team values that achieve a hard working, respectful, supportive,  focused, dedicated, developing leaders. Our empathetic coaches will share knowledge, patience and a love for the game to create a safe learning environment.

Core Values

Players – Enjoy it!; be prepared to give 100%; win your 1 v 1; if you lose possession try to win it back; always learn from mistakes; always learn from others, help others. problem solve together using the strengths all within the team; SMART decisions; positive attitude, leadership for all.

Coaches – Enjoy it; to share knowledge; be empathetic; use guided discovery questions to connect players and the game; model behavior; passion for the game; honesty, integrity, emulation, supporting. To get to know the players!

Richard Creber, Club President

“Ideally, I’d like families that buy in to our club philosophy and agree to uphold it. I’d rather be a club with like minded families to develop our youth athletes in a positive way, rather than being focused on the number of participants and wins like other clubs in the area.”

Please see an exert from the International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, dated March 1st 2011 that inspired much of Richard’s philosophy.

“An effort-oriented philosophy of winning is one of the core principles underlying the creation of a mastery motivational climate—a learning environment that emphasizes skill development, personal and team success, maximum effort, and fun. A large body of research indicates that in sports, as in other achievement settings, mastery achievement goals and a mastery motivational climate are associated with salutary effects on athletes. Compared with ego-oriented athletes, those high in mastery orientation report higher feelings of competence, greater enjoyment of the activity, and higher intrinsic motivation and effort. A mastery orientation (particularly in combination with a low ego orientation) is also related to lower levels of cognitive trait anxiety and pre-event state anxiety. Finally, a mastery goal orientation is related to a variety of adaptive achievement behaviors, such as exerting consistent effort, persistence in the face of setbacks, and sustained and improved performance. Although an ego orientation has at times been linked to high levels of achievement, it also has a number of less desirable correlates, such as inconsistent effort, higher levels of performance anxiety, reduced persistence or withdrawal in the face of failure, decreased intrinsic motivation for sport involvement, and a willingness to use deception and illegal methods in order to win”

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