2026-03-06, 02:43 PM - Word count:
06 Mar 2026
On the international stage, the Victoria Falls Eagles are honored to represent Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, and all the other countries across southern Africa. We are especially honored to inspire our young fans, who hope to one day earn a spot on the team themselves. To guide these fans with their development, the social media team would like us to answer this week:
There are so many things that are important, but I will focus on three practices that I have found extremely valuable in my own football journey.
1. Set input-driven goals and hold yourself accountable to them. When we think about goal setting, we often think about output-driven goals, which hope to accomplish something to some degree of success. One of these goals might be to score 5 goals over the season. This is a good goal and can absolutely help guide you toward improving as a football player. However, if you feel like you have done everything in your power but still fail to accomplish the goal, it is easy to feel discouraged and give up. Early in development, I recommend instead trying input-driven goals, which focus on dedicating time and energy into a particular routine. These types of goals are within your own control and often lead to success as a byproduct of consistent effort anyway. One of these goals might be to practice offensive sets with a teammate at least 30 minutes every day after practice. Fulfilling this goal is entirely a reflection of your own discipline, and staying accountable to this rigor of practice will eventually lead to great accomplishments.
2. Be open-minded about your role and the evolution of your role. This season, I entered the Academy pretty set on playing a very defense-first role for my club. Early on, though, the Eagles were short-handed with talent. To compete with the other teams, we needed more offensive contribution from all of our players, so I was asked to step up and play a more active role while in possession. Despite feeling uncomfortable at first, I found some success in this capacity over the early stretch of games, logging 2 assists and plenty of key passes, but more importantly I learned a lot about how to create offensive advantages for my teammates. This will definitely benefit me in the future. As we have added more attacking-focused players over the season, my role has evolved to fall more in-line with being a defensive nuisance, which I have also embraced for the benefit of the team. Being open-minded to contribute in whatever way my coaches ask of me has been a big part of my growth this season.
3. See mistakes as learning opportunities and a natural part of the process, not a reflection of yourself. I think it is very common to think that mistakes are inherently bad and should always be avoided, but this mindset is not healthy for becoming a star athlete. Making mistakes is part of doing challenging things, and what matters more is how you respond to a mistake rather than the mistake itself. When a mistake does happen, understanding why it did and making a plan to reduce the likelihood of a repeat occurrence is a positive trajectory toward improvement. Comfort with failure is a requirement in this sport.
On the international stage, the Victoria Falls Eagles are honored to represent Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, and all the other countries across southern Africa. We are especially honored to inspire our young fans, who hope to one day earn a spot on the team themselves. To guide these fans with their development, the social media team would like us to answer this week:
Quote:What advice would you give to young athletes?
There are so many things that are important, but I will focus on three practices that I have found extremely valuable in my own football journey.
1. Set input-driven goals and hold yourself accountable to them. When we think about goal setting, we often think about output-driven goals, which hope to accomplish something to some degree of success. One of these goals might be to score 5 goals over the season. This is a good goal and can absolutely help guide you toward improving as a football player. However, if you feel like you have done everything in your power but still fail to accomplish the goal, it is easy to feel discouraged and give up. Early in development, I recommend instead trying input-driven goals, which focus on dedicating time and energy into a particular routine. These types of goals are within your own control and often lead to success as a byproduct of consistent effort anyway. One of these goals might be to practice offensive sets with a teammate at least 30 minutes every day after practice. Fulfilling this goal is entirely a reflection of your own discipline, and staying accountable to this rigor of practice will eventually lead to great accomplishments.
2. Be open-minded about your role and the evolution of your role. This season, I entered the Academy pretty set on playing a very defense-first role for my club. Early on, though, the Eagles were short-handed with talent. To compete with the other teams, we needed more offensive contribution from all of our players, so I was asked to step up and play a more active role while in possession. Despite feeling uncomfortable at first, I found some success in this capacity over the early stretch of games, logging 2 assists and plenty of key passes, but more importantly I learned a lot about how to create offensive advantages for my teammates. This will definitely benefit me in the future. As we have added more attacking-focused players over the season, my role has evolved to fall more in-line with being a defensive nuisance, which I have also embraced for the benefit of the team. Being open-minded to contribute in whatever way my coaches ask of me has been a big part of my growth this season.
3. See mistakes as learning opportunities and a natural part of the process, not a reflection of yourself. I think it is very common to think that mistakes are inherently bad and should always be avoided, but this mindset is not healthy for becoming a star athlete. Making mistakes is part of doing challenging things, and what matters more is how you respond to a mistake rather than the mistake itself. When a mistake does happen, understanding why it did and making a plan to reduce the likelihood of a repeat occurrence is a positive trajectory toward improvement. Comfort with failure is a requirement in this sport.
![[Image: ihJvO77.png]](https://imgur.com/ihJvO77.png)
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