4 Qualities That Make for a Strong Leader on the Pitch

Leadership is an essential component of a successful soccer team – and every successful player. While many players on a team might want to reach elite status, only a few will know what it takes to get there. Leaders put these qualities on display day in and day out even if they aren’t wearing a captain’s armband.

It’s not just about hard work and pain tolerance. It’s about setting an example of how an elite athlete should behave on and off the field, regardless of whether the team is winning or losing.

With this in mind, here are four qualities of a strong leader on a youth soccer team:

A Strong Leader Maintains a Positive Attitude

A leader on the soccer field understands the power of an unshakeable positive attitude. They believe - down to their very core - that their team is worthy of success, and that’s the outcome they envision. Sure, they might be nervous or a little intimidated by the other team, but you wouldn’t know it based on their attitude and body language.

It doesn’t matter how many mistakes they make, or what the score is. Leaders maintain their optimism in the face of adversity, refraining from negative body language or communication.

At practice, you can typically spot the leader by their perpetual smile, being positive after missing a chance or letting in a goal, reminding the rest of the team to shrug off mistakes and celebrate good plays.

A Strong Leader Takes Responsibility for Mistakes

Speaking of mistakes, leaders don’t make excuses or blame other people when things go wrong. They take responsibility for what happened, which allows them to view the mistake as a lesson and prevent it from happening again.

An example: let’s say an attacker that receives a great pass but misses the chance. If they are a good leader, they make eye contact with their teammate that passed to them, thank them for the great pass, and acknowledge they were at fault.

This is a particularly important quality because it shows the rest of the team that everyone makes mistakes, and getting upset only makes them harder to learn and recover from. By staying focused when things go wrong, leaders exemplify how to handle adversity like a professional.

A Strong Leader Helps with Small Tasks

Leaders do not have an inflated sense of self-importance. They prioritize the team’s success above their own, and they don’t assume that their talent warrants access to any special treatment or privileges.

In short, leaders are humble. They’re willing to put in extra effort for nothing in return, and a classic example of this is assisting the coaching staff with smaller tasks. They come to practice early to set up equipment, and stay after to help put it away.

There’s no immediate reward for these acts, just like there’s no immediate reward for staying focused or using positive body language during play. But they do it anyway because it helps the team.

A Strong Leader Has Effective Communication

 Another way leaders exemplify professionalism on the pitch is through communication. A team cannot function as a unit without communication, and leaders know this. So, rather than focusing on themselves and waiting for opportunities to shine, leaders actively communicate with their teammates to ensure that the entire team succeeds.

Leaders also understand that if they want their team to do something differently, they have to communicate. They don’t expect things to unfold a certain way or fault their teammates for not behaving as they’d like them to behave. Instead, leaders give specific directions and constructive feedback, explaining exactly what they want their teammate to do. They choose their words carefully to ensure they are legitimately helpful. By constantly communicating with different teammates, leaders take responsibility for the entire team’s performance, because that’s how much they care about the team.

At Beyond Goals Mentoring, we know how hard it is to maintain a positive attitude when adversity strikes. That’s why we’re proud to use our own experience to help young athletes build resilience and embrace the twists and turns of high-level sports. So, if you want to work on your approach to being a leader on your team, let’s set up a mentoring session and get you to become the leader you should be.