The Sports
Psychology Blog
Today's Sports Psychology blog looks at the signing of foreign players into an English football club. What are the conditions that needs to be in place to successfully integrate the import?
Football: Liverpool - The Science Of Integration
It's still a month to go before the start of the Premiership season and Rafa Benitez is bringing another overseas player, Ryan Babel, into the football club. It's one thing to sign top European talent. It's quite another to ensure they are successful. History tells us that too many imports fail to reproduce the prime form that attracted their buyer.
So what can a football club do to get the best out of their player? One of the tools created by experts in the psychology of sports, in integrating a new player into the football club is The Induction Programme.
When a new player arrives at a football club, they will be shown around the new stadium, the best housing estates and surrounding countryside, the schools, shops and night life. All the attractions that make day to day living pleasant for him and his family. This will give him a feel for the area. But it doesn't introduce him into the intrinsic values of the football club.
A thorough orientation is essential to appreciate, understand and absorb the culture of the club. This integration is achieved with an awareness of the club's values, which are found in its rich traditions, the eminent players, the trophy cabinet, the classic matches and the fond memories and traditional stories of the supporters.
The new recruits should be taken through a specific programme that helps them to understand the meaning it gives to the lives of the community and the part the player could have in enriching this story.
A thorough and meaningful induction will ensure each player is inculcated into the club's deeper psyche and, more importantly, when they cross the white line, they will do so having assimilated some of the passion, pride and eternal hopes the fans feel.
This will add to their performance, as they will be more committed to the cause, giving something back to the fans who, in turn, will feed off the evident desire. This commitment will be shown in their bite in the tackle, the willingness to chase down lost causes, the demanding of extra from their teammates and the willingness to take personal responsibility. Thus, in sports psychology parlance, 'a virtuous circle' is created.
