A recent addition to the Rush National Staff, Director of Club Development Wayne Galloway joins coaches around the country in the efforts to continue the growth of the club. Originally being drawn to the club as a result of the people involved, Galloway came to the Rush Summit, witnessed the passion and desire of Technical Directors that have purpose within their work and decided upon moving forward with the club.
Galloway seeks to continue to establish the Rush Pyramid, which provides multiple levels of development for each player. Galloway expanded on this idea, wanting to “shake away all the smoke and try to get everything streamlined and concise, working toward a common goal that everyone agrees with; what we talk about and what we agree on and try to implement.”
Galloway asks the hard questions of club development. How do we grow in quantity and quality? How do we go about playing against the top competition? How do we get players placed on national teams and playing at that level?
Galloway’s answer is to press on day by day, bringing various certification levels to all Rush clubs, and further pursue professionality, communication, policy, and procedure though two main avenues: patience and consistency.
Rush’s strong staff are important to Galloway, stating, "We have to share every single thing. The more we share the more we have, as we all share and benefit. That's the personality I see at Rush and it makes me excited. A lot of work to do, shaking off all the dust, and making things clear and concise.”
In terms of the scope of soccer in the U.S. and tenets of growth, Galloway focuses on the need to develop not only the player, but the coach. In the states, Galloway sees a population of overzealous coaches that overemphasize winning, tactics, and strategies during the developmental periods where the players need to be developing other skills over competing to win.
Galloway’s background lends to this knowledge, having seen the benefits of players who did not compete to win until the age of seventeen. Each player was groomed extensively until that age, then was able to compete in contest, fostering an environment of freedom of expression, the freedom to fail, and to try new things.
Rush Soccer welcomes Galloway, his ideas for growth, and his encouragement for players and coaches in sharing how player development is a marathon, not a sprint, that requires patience and consistency.