024 | THE GAME V. THE SPORT
THE SPORT CAN BE CRUEL, BUT THE GAME IS ALL LOVE.
On FootyPOD 026, we sat down with David Balyeat, aka SocccerDave, to delve deeper on this topic. In honor of SocccerDave re-gaining access to his Instagram, we’re circling back to it here on our blog to recap our conversation. When I first asked him to come on the show, I knew this was a message he was aligning with his own brand and I wanted to give him a platform to speak about it in more depth. SocccerDave did not disappoint.
In any competitive circumstance, the tension and turmoil that comes with it is completely normal. Every high-level player should expect adversity to arrive at some point or another. Without struggle, there is no progress. Those that achieve personal greatness understand how to navigate through difficulties and come out better for it. SocccerDave leads with enthusiasm in everything he does. When you are convicted in your passion, it becomes effortless to manage negative emotions along the way because it is nothing more than an experience to take from. Life is like school, except we get the test before the lessons. So when the test comes, are you prepared to take the lesson from it?
SocccerDave tells us that the game comes before the sport, because it’s the game that we fall in love with first. When we are rooted in that relationship, we tend to focus on the fun of it when times get tough later on. Much like any personal relationship, it’s the feeling of peace and happiness that keeps us connected to another person despite any disagreements we may have with them. To love the game, we must find love for the ball. The sport will always be there later.
At the foundational level, players should prioritize building a bond with the ball as early as possible. Mastering every method of manipulation before moving on to the next phase of development when they learn how to participate in a team setting - where the game itself can teach the sport. That love for the ball is the energy source that a player can draw from when the demands of the sport seem to be impossible. Similarly, ball mastery helps a player find solutions to the problems that the sport presents within the game itself.
SocccerDave agrees that functional, sport-specific, and situational training are all critical components of a player’s development, but the relationship with the ball has to come first. With this approach, a player will quickly discover their love of the game and that will carry them through everything the sport throws their way.