logo-header-2019
Nike_Premier_Club_Logo_Blk_lo

Integrity

As we have highlighted in numerous presentations for our high school age group parents, coaches, and players, nearly 95% of youth sport athletes nationally WILL NOT go on to get a college scholarship, and fewer than 30% will even play in college.  So, what are, or what should be, our long-term hopes for our children participating in youth sports?  Physical development and fitness are certainly key elements.  Confidence and social interaction can be included as well.  One critical element, often overlooked, is INTEGRITY.  The quote below from billionaire businessman Warren Buffet provides insight into the importance of this value.

“We look for three things when we hire people. We look for intelligence, we look for initiative or energy, and we look for integrity. And if they don’t have the latter, the first two will kill you, because if you’re going to get someone without integrity, you want them lazy and dumb. I mean, you don’t want a spark of energy out of them.”

As one of the Kings Hammer values, it is important that everyone has a better understanding of the word and our role in supporting it with our players, our teams, and our club.

So, what is INTEGRITY?  And what can coaches, parents, and players do to promote and foster it?

Integrity-

  1. the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.
    1. Similar: honesty, honor,  good character, principle(s), ethics, morals, virtue, decency, fairness, sincerity, truthfulness, trustworthiness
  2. the state of being whole and undivided.
    1. Similar: unity, wholeness, cohesion

According to SmartCompany.com integrity has 7 core characteristics:

  • Honesty
  • Respect
  • Generating Trust
  • Pride
  • Responsibility
  • Keeping Promises
  • Helping Others

Click the link to view details from the article: Smart Company-The magnificent seven aspects of integrity

What does Integrity look like?

Every day there are many ways you can act with honesty and integrity at home, on the field, in the classroom, etc. These include:

  • Respecting the privacy of conversations and not engaging in gossip
  • Communicating honestly
  • Taking responsibility for your actions
  • Keep the promises you make
  • Supporting and displaying the club’s values with or without recognition
  • Acknowledging your team when they perform high quality work, win or lose
  • Being trustworthy

(revised from Hays.com-Integrity in the Workplace)

Living these qualities is not easy.  There is a constant struggle to “Do what is right.”  Hays.com recognized this struggle in an article on integrity in the workplace. They note that: integrity is the ability to recognize the conflict between personal interests, values, and beliefs and professional responsibilities.

Integrity, or sometimes the lack of integrity, is also something that we cannot hide. As Maria Rattay stated in an article she wrote in 2021 highlighting the tremendous show of sportsmanship and integrity displayed by tennis start Andy Roddick during a match:

Whether we like to believe this or not, our level of integrity is always on show, in the way we speak to our children, in how we respond to others, in the way we deal with situations, and how we behave in the workforce (or in the case of soccer-on the sideline.) Integrity is not something that we take out every now and then and polish it like some silver cutlery when the need arises.

Integrity is YOU, in action!

(Taken from the 2021 article An Example of Incredible Integrity Where the Stakes Were High)

Promoting Integrity

Aristotle was one of the first to note that integrity is not an innate human attribute, it has to be learned and it has to be practiced.  So, who or where do our youth athletes learn this value from? Us, their parents, coaches, as well as their teammates, siblings, and friends. They need to see their parents and their coaches act with integrity. They need to understand what it actually means to treat others with respect and yes, sometimes it even means learning a hard lesson like why honoring a commitment or keeping a promise matters.

Questions to ask about your own integrity –Take stock of your own integrity and moral principles. Ask yourself the following questions:

  • How consistently do I follow through with commitments and things I say I will do?
  • Am I transparent enough when communicating?
  • How do I support my team to be their best?
  • Do I show up ready each day and give my best performance?
  • Do I keep myself accountable – including when I make mistakes?
  • Am I responsible?
  • Do I lead by example?
  • Do I show respect for the ideas of others?
  • Do I always give credit where it’s due?
  • When do I show integrity – always or only when someone will notice?

(Revised from Hays.com, Integrity in the Workplace)

Next step then would be to engage your child or team in a conversation (based on age group) about their integrity.

Coach leading the way

Most people have experienced the discomfort that comes with competing against someone who sacrifices integrity in the name of victory. When it comes to young athletes, promoting integrity should remain at the forefront of every athletic competition. Therefore, a coach should:

  • encourage a team to always play within the rules.
  • Never encourage athletes to perform morally or legally questionable actions during gameplay.
  • Support the calls of referees regardless of which way the calls go
  • Set a positive example for athletes by preserving integrity as the highest priority and recognizing when athletes display integrity
  • By setting a positive example, athletes will learn to respect the game instead of trying to win by sacrificing morals.
  • Encouraging integrity on the field will also translate to positive character development off of the field.

(From 10 Ways Coaches Can Promote Sportsmanship, Ohio University)

As parents and coaches, we cannot ensure whether any of our youth become GREAT soccer players. However, by engaging our players in learning Integrity, model for them what it looks like, and celebrate when it is achieved, we certainly can improve their chances of being GREAT people, capable of success where it really matters..in life!

Resources for Parents and Coaches

Our goal is to continue to develop all of our players and their respective teams with an improved player development model and pathway during the new Fall 2022 – Spring 23 season after the tryouts.

Your player’s coach both as a volunteer and paid licensed and certified coach is part of our team and will continue to be part of our soccer club and community. The new partnership is aware that our responsibility as a youth club is to provide more support and resources to each coach so that our players and parents experience is even better.

We plan to have most of our current coaching team to continue to lead their assigned teams for the upcoming season unless there is a conflict with their schedule and/or another opportunity they prefer to pursue in the club which we may consider and appoint a new coach as a result.

Uniforms are set to change for the Fall 2022 – Spring 2023 season and we plan to keep the new and upcoming kits for 2-year period as that is the cycle suggested by the manufacturers.

Our new uniform/player kit brand will be Nike.

Pricing will be very comparable to our current brand of uniforms/player kits as we plan to add more value to the assortment of products that our players currently receive.

No. We will be using Soccer Village as our vendor for our families to order their new season uniforms/player kits.

Soccer Village will provide sample sizes during tryouts for the new uniforms/player kits so that you can order the correct sizing for your player.

Click here to view the Soccer Village website.

Fees will be an all-inclusive model that will cover all expenses (except uniform and personal travel).

No separate club fees and team dues.

Families will have an improved payment plan option of 8 installments with an initial deposit.

Financial Aid and Scholarships will still be available to our families. More information will be added to the website once tryouts have concluded.

Teams will continue to train at the same locations. A big part of this partnership is to work with the city and other independent locations to improve and invest in facilities to create a better training and playing environment.

Kings Hammer is one of the most recognizable privately held clubs in the Midwest.

Founded in 1993 in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area.

2 US Youth National titles, 2 runners-up, 4 US Youth Region 2 Champs, 42 OH State Cups, 25 KY State Cups.

In 2020, they added a U23 team in the Ohio Valley Premier League, winning the league’s inaugural season in the Fall of 2020.

In 2021, they joined USL League Two, the pre-professional division of the USL in the US and adding a USL-W team for the 2022 season.

Kings Hammer is backed by Corporex, a privately held investment company with broad holdings throughout the United States. CPX creates investment opportunities for their capital partners through traditional real estate assets as well as an ever-broadening array of other opportunistic investments including Commonwealth Hotels, Kings Hammer Soccer LLC, Alpine Mountain Ranch & Club and Five Seasons Family Sports Clubs. Their ability to create exceptional value through these investments is rooted in their 56-year history as a BUILDER. Why Kings Hammer?

A Complete Pathway to support an all-inclusive player development

Grassroots-Premier-Academy-Professional Development

  • Pathway will start with grassroots and premier program for the 2022/23 season
  • All-inclusive pay structure with flexible and affordable payment plans that covers all costs. 

No additional team fees (uniform/player kits & personal travel are not included)

  • Additional showcases and ID platforms through KH events & network
  • Unique travel and network opportunities through KH and its partners
  • Increased scholarship support through club and local foundation
  • Affordable uniform costs with better assortment through Nike and SV partnership
  • Play Metrics operations & comm. Platform connects the entire club
  • Techne training app – Supporting self-improvement at home
  • Sports Recruits (College recruitment platform and support)
  • College recruitment seminar
  • Player/Parent Education through KH Education Division
  • Kings Hammer Speaker Series – Platform created to present relevant youth soccer information. National and International guest speakers
  • Use of camera & technology for further development opportunities
  • Kings Hammer Goalkeeper Union for specialized training

Our goal is to make Kings Hammer Murfreesboro SC one of the most successful regional youth soccer clubs that focuses on player development with the proper core values. We plan to recruit and retain all coaches that will enable us to achieve our player development pathway for our players in the long run.

Kings Hammer Murfreesboro will continue to offer all levels of appropriate aged training for all level players. Click here to see our new and improved player development pathway.

Kings Hammer Murfreesboro will continue to offer programs all year round.

Full details of all programming will be released in May 2022.

Yes, the logo and the name will change to represent the new King Hammer Murfreesboro.

We will be combining local, regional, and possibly national sponsorships to generate the resources and scale up the opportunities for our Murfreesboro area players and teams. The benefit of our partnerships has impacted our families far beyond just sponsorships.

 

Technically, No. The Board of Director of MSC have agreed unanimously to sign a 6-year Partnership Agreement to outsource the management of the club to Kings Hammer to elevate the services we are currently and increase the opportunities to have a bigger economic impact to our community with this partnership.

Kings Hammer provides professional player development, great customer service, and offers an inclusive approach to youth soccer.  Kings Hammer Murfreesboro SC will elevate the scale of a community club with access to the highest-level opportunities for players to reach their fullest potential. Throughout the tiered system of development, players and coaches will be able to develop in the appropriate tiered programming, network and expertise provided by Kings Hammer Soccer Club.

Our Recreational Program, which will be branded as our Grassroots Program will continue to play their games at Richard Siegel Soccer Complex under the umbrella of Kings Hammer Murfreesboro SC with more support and resources for both players, parents and volunteer coaches of the program.

Our Academy and Select Program, which will be branded as our Premier Program will continue to train and play their games at Richard Siegel Soccer Complex as well as other locations they currently travel as part of their JDL and TSL games schedule versus other TSSA member organizations and youth soccer clubs.

Our future Premier Program teams will also continue to travel and attend tournaments within the state of TN and possibly other states based on their specific development need and skill level as a team.

No. However Kings Hammer Murfreesboro SC will have an improved structured player development model and a pathway that can support each individual player to play at different levels and assist players achieve their specific goals.

No. Kings Hammer have strong program representation in both States and their players play in their respective locations. The newly formed King Hammer Murfreesboro SC player will continue to play their JDL and TSL games in our area against other TSSA member organizations as scheduled by our state.

Premier Program teams may eventually travel to tournaments in Kentucky and Ohio as a result our partnership with Kings Hammer and vice versa.

As the club grows, we may potentially combine top players from each location to create regional development teams to compete at higher caliber events, showcases to create additional opportunities our players. 

That is our overarching goal and plan. However, it will take some time until we can have teams that can compete in higher level platforms. As Kings Hammer Murfreesboro, we’ve already started working towards a strategic development plan to prepare our club to be part of these leagues and compete at the highest level possible in a short amount of time.