OrangeBlood
New member
As the parent of an ex Bengal, I’d like to offer some constructive criticism to Alison Gibson, ISU soccer head coach. I’ve watched the team closely for four years. This team was down and nearly out when coach joined. The girls loved her. She gave new life to the team.
In Gibsons first year, she took a team that no one expected much of and helped them win a championship. She couldn’t say enough good about the girls. Gibson loves to win and those girls won for her when no one thought they could. Those girls exceeded expectations.
The next year, the team had about as tuff a schedule as could be imagined. Five nationally ranked teams in the first 11 games. The team did better than anyone should have expected other than the loss to Utah State when Gibson was prohibited from coaching. Other than that game, the team was five wins against our peer teams of U of I, BSU, SUU, San Jose St and Air Force. That’s a perfect record.
Against the top teams, we tied Cal State Fullerton, Gonzaga and #18 Washington State, lost to Arizona St 1-0 and to Utah 2-1 in double overtime, and four of those five games were on the road. That was an incredible performance.
However, you got the feeling that Gibson was disappointed that the team had not won more games. When they started conference play with a loss to PSU, I think Gibson kind of fell apart on the team. By the time the season was over, the team was only 2W – 2L – 3T and missed the tournament.
My impression from the girls was that almost all of them felt the coach did not value them as players. Five girls left the team early by the end of the season. I am sure if you asked each of them, they would all claim that Coach did not appreciate their talents. This includes first team all conference Chelsea Cox.
Many of the key players and talents on the team would play very limited minutes with no explanation and assumed that coach was disappointed in them. I don’t think any player got an explanation when they were sat. I think the attitude is that these are Div I college players and they should be professional enough to provide their own encouragement.
Last year, the team came out strong beating both Utah State, the top WAC team, and Air Force on the road. Despite the win against Air Force, Coach fell apart with the team and told them she refused to coach them the second half since they were not really trying.
Next, they had to play Colorado College on the road, a team who finished ranked in the top ten in the central US. Colorado College fans were astounded by the strength of ISU. They were used to seeing their team blow away the opposition at home. CC had already beat Oklahoma and Valpraiso by the time they scratched out a narrow 2-1 win against ISU. But again Gibson was disappointed in the team. After coach lost confidence in the team at Air Force, a team that had looked good for the first three games ended up 1-11-4 for the rest of the season and last place in the Sky.
Not only did Coach’s lack of confidence in the team hurt their performance, it has been a factor in driving girls from the team. Five more extremely talented girl’s left the team this last year. Many left because they felt coach did not value them on the team.
I see the same thing in business. Bosses who never praise employees or never talk to and encourage employees individually. The attitude is they are getting well paid for what they do and don’t need to be encouraged like little kids. Such bosses are turned off by what some think of as touchy-feely management. Years of experience shows that little bits of encouragement, positive reinforcement, etc, work wonders.
Coach Gibson is probably the best strategy coach in the league. She is also a great trainer. What she needs is an HR expert or a team psychologist to help out with how to motivate and encourage players, and how to deal with losses. Set them up for success, not failure.
This year, no one expects much from the team. It is a rebuilding year. Hopefully coach will once again be impressed by the team doing better than expected. There are still some great players left on this team and some great new recruits. I hope coach lets them know this, explains a little about her philosophy of what a player must do to get playing time and what she expects when they get on the field, and what they need individually to do better.
In Gibsons first year, she took a team that no one expected much of and helped them win a championship. She couldn’t say enough good about the girls. Gibson loves to win and those girls won for her when no one thought they could. Those girls exceeded expectations.
The next year, the team had about as tuff a schedule as could be imagined. Five nationally ranked teams in the first 11 games. The team did better than anyone should have expected other than the loss to Utah State when Gibson was prohibited from coaching. Other than that game, the team was five wins against our peer teams of U of I, BSU, SUU, San Jose St and Air Force. That’s a perfect record.
Against the top teams, we tied Cal State Fullerton, Gonzaga and #18 Washington State, lost to Arizona St 1-0 and to Utah 2-1 in double overtime, and four of those five games were on the road. That was an incredible performance.
However, you got the feeling that Gibson was disappointed that the team had not won more games. When they started conference play with a loss to PSU, I think Gibson kind of fell apart on the team. By the time the season was over, the team was only 2W – 2L – 3T and missed the tournament.
My impression from the girls was that almost all of them felt the coach did not value them as players. Five girls left the team early by the end of the season. I am sure if you asked each of them, they would all claim that Coach did not appreciate their talents. This includes first team all conference Chelsea Cox.
Many of the key players and talents on the team would play very limited minutes with no explanation and assumed that coach was disappointed in them. I don’t think any player got an explanation when they were sat. I think the attitude is that these are Div I college players and they should be professional enough to provide their own encouragement.
Last year, the team came out strong beating both Utah State, the top WAC team, and Air Force on the road. Despite the win against Air Force, Coach fell apart with the team and told them she refused to coach them the second half since they were not really trying.
Next, they had to play Colorado College on the road, a team who finished ranked in the top ten in the central US. Colorado College fans were astounded by the strength of ISU. They were used to seeing their team blow away the opposition at home. CC had already beat Oklahoma and Valpraiso by the time they scratched out a narrow 2-1 win against ISU. But again Gibson was disappointed in the team. After coach lost confidence in the team at Air Force, a team that had looked good for the first three games ended up 1-11-4 for the rest of the season and last place in the Sky.
Not only did Coach’s lack of confidence in the team hurt their performance, it has been a factor in driving girls from the team. Five more extremely talented girl’s left the team this last year. Many left because they felt coach did not value them on the team.
I see the same thing in business. Bosses who never praise employees or never talk to and encourage employees individually. The attitude is they are getting well paid for what they do and don’t need to be encouraged like little kids. Such bosses are turned off by what some think of as touchy-feely management. Years of experience shows that little bits of encouragement, positive reinforcement, etc, work wonders.
Coach Gibson is probably the best strategy coach in the league. She is also a great trainer. What she needs is an HR expert or a team psychologist to help out with how to motivate and encourage players, and how to deal with losses. Set them up for success, not failure.
This year, no one expects much from the team. It is a rebuilding year. Hopefully coach will once again be impressed by the team doing better than expected. There are still some great players left on this team and some great new recruits. I hope coach lets them know this, explains a little about her philosophy of what a player must do to get playing time and what she expects when they get on the field, and what they need individually to do better.