Soccer Team Puts the Why Into Their What

BY MEREDITH BOWER

The 21 girls on the varsity soccer team play soccer. It’s their what. But Coach Harry Canellakis believes it’s their why that consistently propels the team to the top of the IAAM A Conference. Asking his players to reflect on the why behind their what is one strategy in his playbook, and the timing is key to its success.

For the past few years, just when the team could use a shot in the arm, Canellakis engages the girls in an off-field exercise to focus on why they play. Gathered around a computer screen, they watch a short video called “Know Your Why” in which comedian and motivational speaker Michael Jr. illustrates when you know your why, your what becomes more impactful. Then, after reflecting on their why, each player shares what drives them.

It was early in the 2022 season, shortly after conference play began when Canellakis and his assistants decided it was already time to bring out the video. “We had a slow start. Probably the slowest start we’ve ever had,” he says, explaining that the team was coming off a tie with John Carroll, a loss to Mercy, and that St. Paul’s was next on the schedule.

As coaches do, he analyzed the rocky beginning and attributed it to the fact that for the first time anyone can remember, there were no seniors on the team. “Juniors were thrust into the role of leaders. It was hard for them to process that role and still play well,” says Canellakis who has been leading the girls team for the past 14 years. So, in preparation for their next game and the bulk of the season ahead, he showed the video.

“We all think about the what,” Canellakis says. “As a coach I think, ‘what is it I need to do to prepare the players, to organize the season?’ No matter what job we’re in, we often don’t reflect on why we are doing things. It’s important to slow down and ask the question. It helps you do it better.”

Prior to watching the video, most girls on the team had not given much consideration to why they play— soccer is something they’ve been doing from a very young age. Freshman midfielder Maya Rodriguez shared her thinking: “At first I thought about writing how I love the adrenaline rush or being able to do cool tricks with the ball.”

It didn’t take her long to realize she was focusing on the what. After adjusting her thinking, she found her why, which was similar to that of other girls on the team. She said, “I play soccer because it simply makes me happy. Soccer brings joy to my day by distracting me from any outside pressures. Being part of a team with incredible spirit, skill, and support is what makes me happy, which is exactly why I play soccer.”

Similarly, throughout his career, Canellakis has shifted his focus from the what (wins and losses) to the why (teaching his players skills they can use). “I really feel that soccer teaches how to overcome adversity, how to work as a team, and how to operate as something bigger than yourself. I’m always trying to think how we can use soccer to equip kids to go on and do whatever they want.”

It was adversity that helped two of his players uncover their why. Junior Lauren Zappacosta, who has played soccer for so long that she says it’s part of her identity, was sidelined for five months with a knee injury. Her why grew out of being unable to play. In sharing her thoughts with the team, she said, “While there are hard times within the game, part of my love comes from overcoming the challenges I’ve faced. I didn’t truly understand the positive impact soccer had on my life until I had to watch on the sidelines. My why is to play for that injured 13-year-old self who would’ve given anything to play and who had wished she appreciated soccer more when she was healthy.”

Prior to coming to McDonogh, sophomore Maddie Rose suffered an injury during a game. She admitted to her teammates how difficult it was to return to the field and told them, “After my accident, I was at one of my lowest points. I have truly never wanted to play more and give it everything I have. When I play soccer nothing else matters. I look forward to every practice because I get to work to get a little better every day, and my teammates are like my second family. Playing soccer has made me who I am today, and I’m so grateful for it. That’s why I give 110 percent at every practice, that’s why I play like I’m not guaranteed tomorrow, why I cherish the game that I fell in love with at age four.”

The soccer players celebrate each other and their love of the game.

Despite their preparation on and off the field, at half-time in the game against St. Paul’s, the Eagles were down 0-2. “That was rock bottom,” Canellakis recalls. He pauses and then adds with a smile, “We came back and won 3-2 in overtime. From then on, we were flying.”

The team earned a second seed in the IAAM playoffs and faced Mercy, their only loss of the season, in the A Conference championship game—a position they couldn’t imagine being in only six weeks earlier. While Mercy ultimately earned the title in a nail-biter (1-0), the Eagles were nonetheless proud of their season.

Whether or not the video was the game changer, there’s no question it had an impact on the girls’ thinking. As Maya said in her reflection, “Now I finally understand the difference between the what and the why The what makes the why possible.”