North Carolina Women’s Soccer Team’s Core Values

At the foundation of all championship teams are solid shared values. Values that place the team first. 

In basketball when we think of dominate programs, we think about John Wooden and UCLA, the Boston Celtics of the ‘60’s, Geno Auriemma and UConn, and Pat Summit and Tennessee. All of those teams had a championship culture that separated them. 

One of the most dominant sports teams in America has been the North Carolina Women’s Soccer Team. Under Coach Anson Dorrance, North Carolina won 20 of 22 ACC championships, and 21 of 29 NCAA championships. 

Author Tim Crothers in The Man Watching: A Biography of Anson Dorrance, the Unlikely Architect of the Greatest College Sports Dynasty Ever takes a look inside the championship program. A key part is where Coach Dorrance shares the core values of the program and their significance. 

UNC Women's Soccer Team's Core Values

by Anson Dorrance, Head Coach

There are certain principles of behavior that produce extraordinary results.  

People who make a living from studying what makes organizations excellent usually boil their consistent success down to the group living a powerful set of core values.

Every year when I meet with the rising seniors each week in the spring our discussions center around our core values and what they can do to live them and how they can help drive everyone within the culture to live them as well. 

Human nature being what it is, some leaders embrace the personal and public challenge of our discussions and some don't; just like some people within the culture live the core values and some just don't have the strength.    

OUR CORE VALUES

1. We don't whine.  This individual can handle any situation and never complain about anything on or off the field.

2. We work hard. This individual embodies the "indefatigable human spirit" and never stops pushing herself. She is absolutely relentless in training and in the match.

3. The truly extraordinary do something every day.  This individual has remarkable self-descipline, does the summer workout sheets from beginning to end without omission or substitution, and every day has a plan to do something to get better.

4. We choose to be positive.  Nothing can depress or upset this powerful and positive life force -- no mood swings, not even negative circumstances can affect this "rock".

5. When we don't play as much as we would like we are noble and still support the team and its mission.  This remarkably noble, self sacrificing, generous human being always places the team before herself.

6. We don't freak out over ridiculous issues or live in fragile states of emotional catharsis or create crises where none should exist. The best example is the even-keeled stoic that is forever unflappable. The worst example is the "over-bred dog," that high maintenance, overly sensitive "flower" that becomes unstable or volatile over nothing significant.

7. We are well led.  This is the verbal leader on the field that is less concerned about her popularity and more concerned about holding everyone to their highest standards and driving her teammates to their potential. This person competes all the time and demands that everyone else do as well!

8. We care about each other as teammates and as human beings. This is that non-judgmental, inclusive friend that never says a negative thing about anyone and embraces everyone because of their humanity, with no elitist separation by academic class, social class, race, religious preference, or sexual orientation.

9. We play for each other. This is the kind of player that works herself to death covering for all of her teammates in the toughest games. Her effort and care (her verbal encouragement) make her a pleasure to play with and her selflessness helps everyone around her to be a better player.

10. We want our lives (and not just in soccer) to be never ending ascensions - but for that to happen properly our fundamental attitude about life and our appreciation for it is critical. This is that humble, gracious high-achiever that is thankful for everything that she has been given in life, and has a contagious generosity and optimism that lights up a room just by walking into it.

11. And we want these four years of college to be rich, valuable and deep. This is that focused individual that is here for the "right reason" to get an education. She leads her life here with the proper balance and an orientation towards her intellectual growth, and against the highest public standards and most noble universal ideals, she makes good choices to best represent herself, her team, and her university.