adminBothwell Mahlengwe
ZIMBABWEAN footballers badly need to comprehend the contents of their contracts, the conditions for a breach of such a contract as well as each party’s recourse in case of a breach.All players called to a contract are a testimony of the recognition of their God-given talent whether raw, semi-polished or polished.
This marriage is just the beginning of a long road full of joy and sorrow, support and challenge, pleasure and pain, sweat and tears, rewards and laughter. Every player needs to know themselves — know their strengths and weaknesses.
It works well if one was to have a workbook where they record what they know about themselves.
They should also write their values in order of importance and, in short, they should know with clarity what they want to be, do and have.
This calls for players to set goals — short, medium and long term.
Setting goals
The importance of goal-setting can never be over-emphasised – it gives you that sense of meaning and purpose, a clear sense of direction.
Even the Bible says it, “Where there is no vision, people perish.”
Players should set one-year, two-year, five-year, 10-year and even 20-year goals. And these goals should be scary big but realistic.
Internalise them, believe them and above all believe in yourself.
Napoleon Hill said it well when he said, “whatever the mind of a man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”
Be of great service
Players should know and understand that a call to contract is a call to give a service; to yourself, to your teammates, to your club, to your family, to your community, to your country, to the world at large and, most importantly, to God. That‘s the enormity of the responsibility players have.
They are accountable to all the individuals and groups above. They are all watching and waiting for you to give it your all and reach your highest potential. The huge responsibility that a football contract throws at you is to make the most of your talent.
It’s a call for you to become a master at what you love.
For one to become a master in their chosen field, it calls for daily improvement through a calculated and disciplined training regime.
Teams offer you the basic training but life requirements are not one-size-fits-all. We all have our special and unique requirements. The same goes for our training regime.
Through knowing yourself, one can identify areas where they come short and work on those areas at and away from the training ground.
Many a time you require the services of a professional fitness trainer to advise you on your physical training requirements.
Scientific studies have shown that it takes, at least, 10 000 hours of calculated and focused training for one to become a master in any field.
That means, to become a master striker or master dribbler or a master ball passer or a master defensive rock or a master dead ball specialist, you need to put in the hours.
And you can’t get all those hours at the club’s training ground.
You just have to put in the extra hours on your own. You have to do it over and over again until it becomes second nature, until you can do it without thinking, just like breathing.
That’s how masters perfect their art. That’s how they become geniuses in their chosen fields.
Learn and develop every day
For this to happen you need to cultivate a culture of life-long learning. You have to empty your cup at the end of each day and approach the next day with an unrelenting appetite to learn new things. Information is everywhere if you are willing to learn and as they say, “the teacher appears when the student is ready.”
Players should be prepared to learn from their teammates, technical staff, management and executive. The list doesn’t end there. They should also be open to feedback from outside. And most of outside support comes in the form of criticism and players should embrace criticism as invaluable feedback. Outside feedback comes from many corners such as opponents, supporters, media, friends and family.
Players should perfect the art of soliciting frank feedback from others because that is the only way you can know how you are doing. The idea is to embrace all feedback, positive or negative, as it comes.
Rather than being swayed by the nature of feedback one needs to humbly say, “thank you for caring.”
Real growth actually happens at the border of challenge and support.
Set high standards
All this requires self-discipline, self-belief and determination. You need respect — respect for yourself, respect for others and respect for your job. Be the first at the training ground and the last to leave. Be ready for training at least 15 minutes before the official starting time.
Be the most disciplined, the hardest working, the most enthusiastic, the most attentive and the best dressed player in your team.
Be the fittest and the smartest (both physically and mentally) player you know. Help your peers.
Get enough rest.
Many past and present players have built names for themselves with some going to the levels of becoming brands.
David Beckham, Pele, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have built their names into big brands.
Close to home, Peter Ndlovu, Benjani Mwaruwari, Moses Chunga, George Shaya all rose to become brands.
The most familiar one to the current generation is Edward Sadomba, who is a big brand in the Arab region. He has made his name in Sudan, UAE and Libya. He has done this through focus, discipline, sacrifice, suffering, stamina and ridiculous amounts of hard work. He takes good care of himself — he doesn’t take alcohol, doesn’t smoke and doesn’t frequent night clubs.
During the off-season, he makes time to make sure that he stays in shape.
And the results are there for everyone to see – Edward Sadomba is a super brand and his own brand ambassador. If he can do it, it means it can be done and even be exceeded.
Bothwell Mahlengwe is a banker and former Premiership footballer and can be contacted, for feedback, on the email – [email protected]
Online Reporter