More Than Talent: Why Culture Turns Potential into Performance
Part 2 of a series of articles on developing players by Rein van Eijk, head coach of the Belgian national women's team
A companion to “The Ones We Leave Behind”
In my last article, I spoke about the players we sometimes lose too soon — not always because they lacked talent, but because they sometimes lacked the right environment to grow - more than once because of the systems, we the adults in the room, had put into place ourselves. In this collection of my own thoughts, I want to go deeper: into how culture can either allow talented players to thrive, or quietly lets them fade away.
What Really makes a Team Click
Over the last several years, I’ve coached in all sorts of high-performance settings — from long-term development pathways to last-minute tournament squads. I’ve seen what trust looks like when it’s been earned over time. And I’ve also had to find ways to create it almost overnight.
One thing however, keeps showing up:
Talent isn’t the difference-maker.
A talented player, or something he/she is gifted with, is easy to spot. But what really separates a team that performs from one that falls short — especially when it matters — isn’t the level of talent. It’s what holds that talent together.
Call it connection. Call it alignment. Call it culture. Without it, talent doesn’t stand a chance.
Talent Needs a Place to Grow: From Talent to Environment to Culture
We like the story that the best players will always rise. That talent finds a way. But that’s not how it works.
Talent’s not the finish line — it’s just the starting point.
And it can take many forms: skill, speed, physical dominance, mindset, attitude, a hunger to win. But what happens next depends entirely on the environment it grows in.
That’s the connection to where I left off in the last piece — The Ones We Leave Behind. The moment a player gets selected or deselected, the surrounding environment often shifts dramatically. Fewer chances, less visibility, limited feedback — and with that, the window to turn promise into performance narrows. Not because the talent has disappeared, but because the ecosystem to develop it starts to dry up. The disconnection begins not just in a decision, but in what follows it.
Developmental research — like Bloom’s work on talent development (1985) or Henriksen et al.’s studies on athletic talent environments (2010) — makes this clear: it’s not raw ability that shapes success. It’s what surrounds it. It’s access. It’s guidance. It’s psychological safety.
That’s where culture comes in. Environment is the structure — the what and the who. Culture is the how. The way people behave, the standards they hold, the emotional climate they create. That’s what gives talent a real shot.
And just to clarify — I’m talking here about talent in team sports. That’s the world I’ve spent most of my time in. But the principles hold across the board. Even in individual sports, culture plays a defining role. The training group you’re part of, the energy in the room, the way teammates and coaches relate — it all matters. Because no one grows in isolation. Not for long, anyway.
But talent without the right environment? It stalls. Or worse, it slips through the cracks.
And let’s be honest — that happens more than we care to admit.
I’ve seen players with all the tools fade out because they didn’t get the support or the challenge they needed. And I’ve also seen average players grow into something great because the culture around them helped them push beyond what anyone expected.
I’ve seen talented players lose their way — not because they lacked ability, but because the environment let them drift. Some got swept up in the wrong habits too early: partying with older teammates before they’d even earned their spot, skipping S&C sessions just because the Olympians weren’t there. The culture around them said it was fine, so they believed it.
And then there were others — players overlooked elsewhere, cut too soon. Some came in through the ‘Nachsichtung’ (extra-post-selection trials) in Germany, or from second teams at smaller clubs. I gave them a shot, and they made the most of it. Not because they were better, but because the environment gave them the space to grow.
Talent is just potential. It’s the environment that decides what happens next. as Henriksen et al. (2010) show talent development is deeply influenced by the environment players are a part of.
When Culture Shows Up — And When It Doesn’t
Culture is one of those things we all talk about. But it’s not what’s written on a slide deck or a locker room wall. You see culture when things get tough. When someone messes up. When there’s bad news. When you’re on the losing end of a game you should’ve won. It shows up in how we respond — how we speak to each other, how honest we are, how consistent we stay. True high-performance cultures are about lived values — not surface rituals. (Cruickshank and Collins, 2012)
Culture isn’t created in a meeting. It’s created in the way we behave when no one’s scripting it.
And it doesn’t have to be flashy. Some of the best cultures I’ve been in were quiet, simple, steady. No buzzwords — just people showing up for each other.
Early in my career, I coached a U18 boys team at NMHC "Nijmegen" - hockeyclub. On the surface, it wasn’t a loud group. No big talkers. Just a group of young men who genuinely loved being good at what they did — and even more so, loved doing it together. These were guys who didn’t talk the talk — they just walked it. Relentlessly.
We worked with personality tools like ‘Insights’ to get to know each other better — rational vs emotional, introverted vs extraverted. Funny enough, many of them called themselves extraverts, not because they were loud, but because they felt the team needed energy, and they were just a little less quiet than the rest. That said a lot.
They were brutally honest, observant, respectful. Sometimes I felt like I had ten assistant coaches. We won back-to-back national championships — but more than that, they built something lasting.
Two years later, in 2013, those same boys were scattered across the country. Studying, working, living their young adult lives. And then, something happened. A shared hardship. One of those moments that stops you cold. No message needed to be sent. No explanation. Within hours, every single one of them showed up — in person. Quietly. Fully. For each other.
That group taught me what a winning culture really is. Not just what helps you perform — but what holds you together when everything else breaks apart.
Culture Doesn’t Take Time — It Takes Intention
One of the biggest myths is that culture takes years to build. That it’s slow work.
I disagree. Culture isn’t about how long you’ve been together. It’s about how deliberate you are — from the first moment.
It’s in how you welcome someone new. In how you handle conflict. In how clearly you live out what you say matters.
I’ve coached teams that had less than a week together. But we still had a culture. Because we were intentional about it.
In 2022, we went into the EuroHockey European Indoor Championship with the Deutscher Hockey-Bund e.V. (DHB) men’s team having only met four days before our first game. No long prep camp. No friendlies. Just a group selected for two reasons: their performance in the league, and the sense that they were team-first personalities.
We had no shared history, but we made a decision early on — to own the way we’d behave. To welcome different characters. To be open. To close off every game quickly, so we could stay focused on the next. No over-analysis. Just presence, honesty, and clear roles.
Most of the top Olympians weren’t available. We didn’t have the biggest names. But we had something else. And we won the championship — convincingly. Against teams that had prepared for months. Because we didn’t wait for culture to form. We chose it.
Trust can start right away. So can standards. The excuse of “we didn’t have enough time” doesn’t hold.
Culture Lives and Dies by Leadership
A lot of the time, from my experience, us coaches, we know exactly what to say. We say we’re player-centred. People-first. That we care about development more than results. That we put the team ahead of ourselves.
But I’ve come to realise — and I include myself in this — that our behaviours don’t always match what we preach.
We say we want to create an environment where players can grow, but as leaders, we don’t always hold up our end of the bargain. We substitute players after a single mistake. We say we want feedback, but we only ask questions when we already know the answers. We tell players they come first — and then we’re the first to the buffet line after a hard training session.
And let’s not forget the leaders who hold themselves to different standards than the rest of the team. The ones who speak about togetherness — but act as if the rules don’t apply to them. Because they’re in a higher rank, or because they think they’ve earned the right to be the exception.
That too is part of culture. And it can break trust faster than any tactical mistake ever could.
I’d invite anyone in a leadership role to hold up that mirror. Not to feel guilty, but to stay honest. Do your behaviours reflect the environment you say you want to build? Do your values show up in the way you act — especially when no one’s watching?
Everyone plays a part in culture. But if you lead — as a coach, captain, or staff — you set the tone. Period. And no, there isn’t just one way to lead. I’ve seen so many different styles work — calm leaders, loud ones, silent ones, straight-talkers, bridge-builders.
As for me — I try to lead by example. I lean toward servant leadership. I believe in listening. In creating space for people to bring their full selves. In building trust instead of barking orders. That doesn’t mean it’s always easy. It’s not always my most comfortable way of leading. But I’ve come to believe it fits the world we work in today. Players aren’t just waiting to be told — they want to be involved.
I’m not a loud coach. I don’t shout instructions or demand obedience. I aim to lead by being consistent — in tone, in presence, in message. I try to be transparent in both my words and my body language. I choose to be predictable, and therefore dependable. My players know what they’ll get from me — in good times and in bad. That predictability is something I take pride in, because I believe it builds a sense of safety. I don’t want players guessing what version of me will show up. I want them focused on their game, not on managing my mood.
I stay calm after mistakes. I want players to feel safe to try. I don’t sub someone just because they lost a ball. I separate failure from punishment. I make time for non-playing players during tournaments — they matter too. I use feedback exercises — like cloth peg games — so growth becomes everyone’s job. I listen — not just with my ears, but with my posture, my face, my attention.
And when it comes to selection — which is always hard — I explain that decisions aren’t based on a single moment. It’s never just one training or one game. It’s the bigger picture. That’s also why I like to give clarity early. If I can, I announce squads the night before a game. It helps players prepare. It gives space to process. That, to me, is respect.
Small things? Maybe. But they’re the things that build or break trust.
Culture is what you tolerate. What you reinforce. What you repeat.
The People Who Hold It Together
Everyone notices the stars. But the teams that go the distance? They’re held together by the glue players.
The ones who train hard even when they don’t play. The ones who bring calm. Who hold teammates to standards. Who show up fully without needing a spotlight.
They don’t always get the praise. But they’re essential.
During our Junior World Cup campaign in 2023, there were three players who never grabbed the spotlight — but were absolutely central to everything we achieved.
One of them played centre midfield. A smart, selfless player. Physically, he was never going to stand out, and to be honest, there were questions early on — from others and from me — about whether he could make it all the way to the senior level. But he played the game with intelligence and consistency, and more importantly, he shaped the environment around him. He was always the first to check in with younger players, always the one to speak up when something needed saying — whether it was holding the group accountable or lifting the energy with empathy. He didn’t just play well. He made sure others could too.
Then there were our two wing defenders — the engines of the team. The ones asked to cover endless ground and rarely end up on highlight reels. They never once complained. They competed without ego. They ran for each other, and somehow still made it look like they enjoyed it.
When our team hit a slump in the lead-up to the tournament, it was one of those two who spoke up. Calmly. Clearly. He said we weren’t enjoying it enough. That we’d forgotten how lucky we were to be there. That moment gave the entire room goosebumps. And from that point forward, the group carried itself differently.
We didn’t win that tournament just because we had the best players. We won it because the team took ownership — because those players, often overlooked, brought everyone together and reminded us what we were playing for.
If you’re serious about building a winning culture — make sure you’re making space for these people.
They’re the ones that lift the room when it’s needed most.
Difference Makes You Stronger
Great cultures don’t try to make everyone the same. They create a space where everyone can bring what they’ve got — and grow because of it. Because natural ability needs the right catalysts to evolve into true talent. If the culture is strong, more players survive the climb — and more arrive at the top ready to stay there (Gagné, 2004). Diversity isn’t just about where someone’s from. It’s about personality, energy, thinking, experience, and role.
Even if your group doesn’t look diverse on paper — you can build awareness. Stay open to what’s missing. Celebrate difference instead of trying to flatten it out.
Because sameness is safe. But difference makes you better.
Culture Makes the Difference — When It Matters Most
Talent opens the door. Culture keeps it from slamming shut.
I’ve seen high-talent teams fall apart under pressure. And I’ve seen less talented teams punch above their weight — simply because they had each other’s backs and knew what they stood for.
"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.”
- Rudyard Kipling, 1895.
If you want to build something real — something that lasts — don’t only start with the players. Make sure to simultaneously start with the environment you put them in. Because that’s where confidence lives. Where trust grows. Where talent becomes something more.
In the end, it’s not just about who you coach. It’s also about what you build around them.
Because culture doesn’t just help you perform — it helps you grow. It’s what creates the space for players to evolve, to stretch, to stay in the game long enough for their potential to become something real. It gives late bloomers a chance. It gives room for mistakes. It invites second acts.
That’s the link back to what I wrote in The Ones We Leave Behind. Selection will always be part of the game — but culture decides what happens after. Whether we close the door for good, or whether we keep finding ways to leave it slightly open.
And that’s why I’ll keep building it — quietly, steadily, and with intention. Because nothing in culture happens by accident. If we don’t shape it deliberately, it shapes itself — and not always in the way we want. The smallest choices echo. The smallest behaviours multiply. If we want development to take root, if we want trust to grow, if we want talent to become something more — we have to be intentional about every step of the way.
So that culture doesn’t just support performance.
Culture becomes performance.
About Rein van Eijk
Red Panthers Head Coach | Culture, coffee & counterpress | Helping good players become great teammates | One pass at a time
Previous masterclass with Rein van Eijk ↓
Diversity is a superpower
Diversity is a superpower. In the coaching staff of todays topteams you will often find a lot of diversity. Rein van Eijk says it’s a superpower for these teams.
Interested in development pathways?
Make sure to join us when we go live with a new masterclass by GB coaches Jon Bleby and Mark Bateman ↓
