Chelsea has just taken out the English Premiership and broken Manchester United strangle hold on the league. Excuse me while I breathe a sigh of relief and celebrate as a faithful Liverpool supporter. Wait for it, Liverpool is still the greatest team in English History, you beauty.

Sorry, needed to release that.

Since all the talk is about winning and success, let me ask you this.

How do you know when you’re successful?

Is it the trophies collecting dust?

Is it the number of premierships or league titles?

What about individual achievements, medals or accolades?

Could it be scoring goals or clean sheets?

Could it be as simple as fun, the magnitude of smiles and the percentage of players returning for pre-season?

A better question might be, who defines soccer success?

Is it the coach?

Is it the parents?

Surely it’s not you, the individual?

The point is this, the majority of time we let others define our soccer and our definition of success.

Read that again.

How absurd does it sound?

But tell me it’s not true.

The young player that looks up to the coach in desperate search for love, approval or a simple pat on the back.

The parent that seeks recognition and praise for their genetic masterpiece and to be told their nursing the next superstar.

The coach that desperately wants to be accepted by all parents and to keep the waters calm.

So the question still stands, how do you know when you’re successful? What are your expectations?

A conservative estimate would suggest that 80% of kids playing soccer today are unhappy.

Do you know why?

Unrealistic expectations from parents.

Unrealistic expectations from coaches.

How about you try this one on for size, realistic expectations from you. That’s right, you!

Make sure to set your own goals and keep your own promises.

Lately I’ve noticed a big spike in traffic and a lot of people searching Google for the term “kids soccer.” That’s fantastic that people are on the lookout for information, books and literature on the game. You need to be thirsty for information and knowledge. You need to think and question everything.

They say curiosity killed the cat. But I wonder what came first, curiosity or success? Keep training and searching for that edge. With thirst comes success.

“May the winds of destiny blow you to the stars.”