HAVING highlighted the goals that some of soccer coaches have set this season, I would like to digress a little bit by digging into what goal setting really is and it is important to set targets.
In everyday life, it is imperative that one sets goals on the things they want to achieve in future. Setting goals or targets is an effective tool to use in various areas of life and true to life experiences; successful people are always goal-driven.
If a coach does not know what they want to achieve in life, how then will they know what to do or whether what they are doing is useful? Coaches! If you do not set yourselves a target what have you got to aim for this season?
It is impressive to note that this time, our coaches really know what they want to achieve at the end of this year, which is by all means a good sign.
Let me now bring to the fore what other coaches are aiming for as the 2016 soccer season, which has already produced some impressive results, enters Week three.
Twelve-time Zambian champions, Nkana are among the ‘big wigs’ highly fancied to lay their hands on the title and coach Aggrey Chiyangi believes that the top accolade is the only destiny for the Wusakile boys.
Chiyangi, buoyant of positive results this time around, may be on the path to delivering what the ever enthusiastic fans who throng Nkana stadium ‘Pa chilata’ every weekend have been yearning for in the last two seasons once his goal is actualised.
“This year our target is to compete for the league. I think what is important is when you look at the team now it is more stable than last year meaning we have to challenge for every silverware that is there,” Chiyangi said.
Chasing the same crown is Zanaco coach Mumamba Numba does not want to disappoint the Sunset stadium outfit again and landing the title this year is the only way to appease the charismatic fans.
“This season should be different; we need push hard and win the league this time around. We need to catch Zesco, we won’t allow them to run away with the title this season,” Numba said.
Zanaco have won seven league titles and Numba is eager to land the eighth trophy but he feels his charges will have to maintain consistency this time to avoid dropping points unnecessarily.
“We started well but towards the end of the league we started dropping points, if you remember we only got five points in 15 matches. The players lacked consistence which is very cardinal in football.
Finishing second in the league was an achievement because it was my first time at the helm of the team.
“Our strength is in the team, we have acquired good players and they will definitely win us the league. If you look at our players, they are all capable of scoring, last season we had about 14 different scorers unlike other teams that rely on two or three dependable players for goals,” he said.
While others are eyeing to emerge champions, ‘Brave’ Nchanga Rangers coach Bruce Mwape and Mufulira Blackpool chairperson Isaac Mwale are still dwelling in the past by hiding in the rebuilding process and surviving relegation, respectively.
“We are in a rebuilding process as you might be aware that a lot of our players left for greener pastures in the off season. We have recruited a few players as well but they might be short on experience at this level,” Mwape said.
Mwale also goes on to say, “We know we cannot be champions and we are sticking to that but that means we want to finish in the middle of the table. Ultimately, we should avoid relegation back to division one.”
Such sentiments are retrogressive to the gains football has recorded in the last few years. Gone are the days when coaches used to fight for survival even if they were playing first of the season because that does not inspire the team to aim high.
It is as good as passing a vote of no confidence in your own team.
A quick lesson to the two, setting goals is fundamental to long-term success. The basic reason for this is that you can’t get where you are trying to go until you clearly define where that is hence the goal provides us with a sense of direction and gives us the opportunity to regularly review our progress against these targets.
Teams that aspire for greatness allocate their time and resources efficiently towards those goals because targets can keep players motivated in the pursuit of future success. Let’s not undermine our players’ capabilities. Coaches must learn to aim high.
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