LEADERSHIP IN SOCCER 

Leadership is a very important part of every society. Everyone in this world can be a fantastic leader. One can be a leader in anything no matter what activities one is involved in. There are numerous leaders around the world who inspire people and continue to inspire more and more people. Some historical leaders in the likes of Martin Luther king Jr., Thomas Jefferson, Zinedine Zidane, Maradona, Seedorf, etc. have demonstrated important leadership roles and use their positions to inspire a lot of people around the world. Some major athletes outside of soccer who demonstrate strong leadership skills are for example, Michael Jordan etc. Leadership can be and has been displayed in the sport sector, government, economics, society etc. Leadership in soccer is very important on and off the pitch.  

Leadership in soccer is very important on the pitch. Every team has a very strong leader who keeps the team together in so many ways. The player with the most leadership potential is given the arm band known as the captain. The captain has a captain band around his arm which demonstrates the superiority in his or her leadership capabilities. According to the championship thinking coach, the performance of all successful sports organizations, coaches, teams and players can be traced to the unifying force of leadership greatness. For over three decades, Jim Meier, the Championship Thinking Coach, has studied, taught, coached and applied consulting services directed to the development of sports leaders that win on and off fields, courts, courses, and other arenas of play. His professional leadership training is grounded by having learned from and partnered with the best. A leader is someone that others follow. Period! From this simple truth Jim provides an integrating and practical approach to developing leaders others want to follow. This is achieved using proven leadership principles, concepts, assessment tools, techniques and frameworks that are delivered in relevant sports language and current to changing realities. Now how does this connect to soccer I bet most of you are asking, leadership in the beautiful game of soccer starts from the coach and develop from there.  

In the professional league, professional soccer players always have to demonstrate a strong leadership[p capability on and off the pitch for example, Barcelona forward Neymar again showed he is capable of providing leadership and impetus in the absence of Lionel Messi during their Champions League victory over BATE Borisov. With Messi missing for two months with a knee injury the responsibility has fallen on the shoulders of Neymar to drive Barca from the front and he has risen to the occasion. Last Saturday he hit four goals in the Catalan side's demolition of Rayo Vallecano in La Liga and then on Tuesday he provided both assists for Ivan Rakitic's double in the 2-0 victory over BATE. There are multiple soccer players who demonstrate strong leadership off the soccer pitch as well. Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has been named as an ambassador for Save the Children. On his first day as a global ambassador, Ronaldo presented a charity auction in aid of the charity’s newborn and child survival campaign in Egypt. “I’m so proud to support Save the Children. I’m delighted at the funds raised during tonight’s auction and at the support of so many players from across so many different world-class teams in making it such a success,” he said. “This is the most important thing of tonight. Hope it’ll go a long way in stopping needless child deaths.” The auction raised enough money to help Save the Children reach 7,000 children and over 36,000 adults in Egypt with access to healthcare and secure livelihoods so that those families can have a chance at a brighter future. Soccer players like Cristiano Ronaldo aren't just fantastic players and leaders on the soccer pitch, but leaders outside of the soccer pitch also. Helping in giving kids a brighter future is not only amazing for the person doing it , but also for the unfortunate, or should I say fortunate kids who receive these fantastic aids. 

Leadership in soccer is not limited to helping unfortunate kids and giving back to communities, but also improving the social status of communities in every nation. Soccer can be used and is used to promote world peace, friendship and, positive morals in youths. There is an ongoing soccer program in South Africa, that promotes peace amongst people. As part of his commitment to the Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI), Terry Behan is using soccer to promote social change in South Africa. Modeled after the Institute's Henry Crown Fellowship Program, ALI brings together successful young leaders ages 25­-45 from six countries across Africa to develop their leadership capacity and encourage them to apply their entrepreneurial talents to the foremost challenges of their continent. As a requirement of the initiative, each "ALI Fellow" is required to design and carry out a leadership project of his or her own choosing. For his project, Behan saw an opportunity to use the popular sport of soccer to provide underprivileged South African youth with new opportunities.  Behan launched the African Eagles soccer league with a three-year pilot program in a town near Johannesburg in 2003. "With the 2010 FIFA World Cup coming to South Africa, local companies are now willing to support soccer-related development programs," said Behan, whose project integrates professional soccer coaching, educational  mentoring, and entrepreneurial training for youth. "We believe we can create a world-class soccer academy that benefits the underprivileged, promotes holistic values and produces talented, educated, and morally and socially minded young players who will ... make the nation proud," he said. 

Leadership in sports is very important, and the most important of all is giving back to the people. 

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