Good player development—what does it look like?

[Anonymous]

I’ve seen a number of comments here that Club Team X or Club Team Y, “doesn’t have good player development”. As a parent without much lacrosse background, I’m curious how people go about evaluating this. Is it just a matter of how much kids improve over the course of the season (which seems like it could be impacted by multiple factors), or are there other specific things you look for? Approaches that would give you pause?

Stated a bit differently—what are the markers of a good developmental environment? Obviously, playing time, a positive relationship with the coach, etc. but any less obvious factors?

[Anonymous]

Hit the wall and camps

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hit the wall and camps

So that makes sense for at-home work, but what about from the club perspective? How do the best clubs go about developing their players?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hit the wall and camps

So that makes sense for at-home work, but what about from the club perspective? How do the best clubs go about developing their players?

I'll give it a go. Two kids, one HS, one MS, played in Moco for the big clubs, both A and B teams.

Individual skills development is the responsibility of the player and by extension the parents. As early as 3rd/4th grade the player should be practicing technique on their own (rebounder, GBs, position specific skills, etc.). Past a certain point every player is expected to be able to play with both hands, catch and throw properly, and have sufficient technique to play their specific position. Lots of parents supplement the player's on-their-own work with private coaching and camps. It's expensive and psychotic but that's where we are.

Now on to the club perspective--if I were starting over and doing this again, what I would want from the club is a coherent playing philosophy, i.e, coaches that have a plan for specific, common game situations. Does the team work on a clearing play? Does it repeat that play enough in practices such that clearing isn't an issue in games? Do players in the clear know exactly where they're supposed to be and what their roles are? Repeat this for other situations--riding, man-up offense and defense, fast breaks/unsettled, etc. Essentially, is the team prepared to play an actual game?

The other thing I'd look for at club level would be player accountability...when players screw up one of those situations I mentioned above, are there consequences? I don't mean screaming/yelling, or benching a guy who makes one mistake--I mean, when a player, regardless of skill level, is consistently in the wrong place at the wrong time for any given situation, are they pulled from the game and replaced by another player, maybe less skillful, who knows what his job is and how to do it? Are attackers who consistently dodge into double and triple teams and lose ball pulled from the game? Are players who consistently take penalties and cause their team go a man down pulled from the game? Are poles who miss slides and cause a crease dunk goal pulled from the game?

All of this basically adds up what's loosely called "lax IQ" and to me that's the job of the coaches, and the responsibility of the players to execute a plan. There's waaaayyyyy too many teams where players play hero ball on offense, and make dumb mistakes on defense, and they stay on the field because they're the team's "studs" and the coach is afraid of antagonizing their parents.

Don't want to name names but there's a few prominent coaches out there who are great recruiters and are adept at poaching other clubs' players, but really aren't getting much out their various age groups because they don't care about actually coaching, they just want to list D1 recruits on their website. The real test of a good coach IMO is one that wins at a high school team--with a few exceptions you have to deal with the players you have on grade 10-12 and cannot just wholesale steal another, better team's squad. Some of these coaches simultaneously coach a HS team and club team and you can tell the difference because the HS performance is terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hit the wall and camps

So that makes sense for at-home work, but what about from the club perspective? How do the best clubs go about developing their players?

I'll give it a go. Two kids, one HS, one MS, played in Moco for the big clubs, both A and B teams.

Individual skills development is the responsibility of the player and by extension the parents. As early as 3rd/4th grade the player should be practicing technique on their own (rebounder, GBs, position specific skills, etc.). Past a certain point every player is expected to be able to play with both hands, catch and throw properly, and have sufficient technique to play their specific position. Lots of parents supplement the player's on-their-own work with private coaching and camps. It's expensive and psychotic but that's where we are.

Now on to the club perspective--if I were starting over and doing this again, what I would want from the club is a coherent playing philosophy, i.e, coaches that have a plan for specific, common game situations. Does the team work on a clearing play? Does it repeat that play enough in practices such that clearing isn't an issue in games? Do players in the clear know exactly where they're supposed to be and what their roles are? Repeat this for other situations--riding, man-up offense and defense, fast breaks/unsettled, etc. Essentially, is the team prepared to play an actual game?

The other thing I'd look for at club level would be player accountability...when players screw up one of those situations I mentioned above, are there consequences? I don't mean screaming/yelling, or benching a guy who makes one mistake--I mean, when a player, regardless of skill level, is consistently in the wrong place at the wrong time for any given situation, are they pulled from the game and replaced by another player, maybe less skillful, who knows what his job is and how to do it? Are attackers who consistently dodge into double and triple teams and lose ball pulled from the game? Are players who consistently take penalties and cause their team go a man down pulled from the game? Are poles who miss slides and cause a crease dunk goal pulled from the game?

All of this basically adds up what's loosely called "lax IQ" and to me that's the job of the coaches, and the responsibility of the players to execute a plan. There's waaaayyyyy too many teams where players play hero ball on offense, and make dumb mistakes on defense, and they stay on the field because they're the team's "studs" and the coach is afraid of antagonizing their parents.

Don't want to name names but there's a few prominent coaches out there who are great recruiters and are adept at poaching other clubs' players, but really aren't getting much out their various age groups because they don't care about actually coaching, they just want to list D1 recruits on their website. The real test of a good coach IMO is one that wins at a high school team--with a few exceptions you have to deal with the players you have on grade 10-12 and cannot just wholesale steal another, better team's squad. Some of these coaches simultaneously coach a HS team and club team and you can tell the difference because the HS performance is terrible.

"the coach is afraid of antagonizing their parents" - this is 100% ruining lacrosse for kids. More and more, parents are dictating what they want to see in terms of player development and they want to define it their way. Parents think player development is defined solely by winning. I would say that a substantial part of player development rests on the shoulders of the individual player, and not the coach. Ask any standout college player what made them better than their peers and they will talk about hours spent practicing on their own, walking around with a stick in their hand, playing wall ball, etc.. Player development encompasses a lot of things but you need to have a player who is really committed to getting better in order to get the best out of the coaching they are given and to develop. Every player has their own benchmarks. But when they come together, can your kid play as a great teammate? Because that's how you win and that's how you develop. And at the end of the day, that's what college coaches want to see. There are plenty of kids that get recruited to play in college that aren't the top players but they are team players and contribute in quiet and substantial ways. Don't get caught up in defining what player development looks like. It's different for everyone....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hit the wall and camps

So that makes sense for at-home work, but what about from the club perspective? How do the best clubs go about developing their players?

I'll give it a go. Two kids, one HS, one MS, played in Moco for the big clubs, both A and B teams.

Individual skills development is the responsibility of the player and by extension the parents. As early as 3rd/4th grade the player should be practicing technique on their own (rebounder, GBs, position specific skills, etc.). Past a certain point every player is expected to be able to play with both hands, catch and throw properly, and have sufficient technique to play their specific position. Lots of parents supplement the player's on-their-own work with private coaching and camps. It's expensive and psychotic but that's where we are.

Now on to the club perspective--if I were starting over and doing this again, what I would want from the club is a coherent playing philosophy, i.e, coaches that have a plan for specific, common game situations. Does the team work on a clearing play? Does it repeat that play enough in practices such that clearing isn't an issue in games? Do players in the clear know exactly where they're supposed to be and what their roles are? Repeat this for other situations--riding, man-up offense and defense, fast breaks/unsettled, etc. Essentially, is the team prepared to play an actual game?

The other thing I'd look for at club level would be player accountability...when players screw up one of those situations I mentioned above, are there consequences? I don't mean screaming/yelling, or benching a guy who makes one mistake--I mean, when a player, regardless of skill level, is consistently in the wrong place at the wrong time for any given situation, are they pulled from the game and replaced by another player, maybe less skillful, who knows what his job is and how to do it? Are attackers who consistently dodge into double and triple teams and lose ball pulled from the game? Are players who consistently take penalties and cause their team go a man down pulled from the game? Are poles who miss slides and cause a crease dunk goal pulled from the game?

All of this basically adds up what's loosely called "lax IQ" and to me that's the job of the coaches, and the responsibility of the players to execute a plan. There's waaaayyyyy too many teams where players play hero ball on offense, and make dumb mistakes on defense, and they stay on the field because they're the team's "studs" and the coach is afraid of antagonizing their parents.

Don't want to name names but there's a few prominent coaches out there who are great recruiters and are adept at poaching other clubs' players, but really aren't getting much out their various age groups because they don't care about actually coaching, they just want to list D1 recruits on their website. The real test of a good coach IMO is one that wins at a high school team--with a few exceptions you have to deal with the players you have on grade 10-12 and cannot just wholesale steal another, better team's squad. Some of these coaches simultaneously coach a HS team and club team and you can tell the difference because the HS performance is terrible.

"the coach is afraid of antagonizing their parents" - this is 100% ruining lacrosse for kids. More and more, parents are dictating what they want to see in terms of player development and they want to define it their way. Parents think player development is defined solely by winning. I would say that a substantial part of player development rests on the shoulders of the individual player, and not the coach. Ask any standout college player what made them better than their peers and they will talk about hours spent practicing on their own, walking around with a stick in their hand, playing wall ball, etc.. Player development encompasses a lot of things but you need to have a player who is really committed to getting better in order to get the best out of the coaching they are given and to develop. Every player has their own benchmarks. But when they come together, can your kid play as a great teammate? Because that's how you win and that's how you develop. And at the end of the day, that's what college coaches want to see. There are plenty of kids that get recruited to play in college that aren't the top players but they are team players and contribute in quiet and substantial ways. Don't get caught up in defining what player development looks like. It's different for everyone....

This is one of the best entries I’ve ever seen on this site. All of it is spot on. Especially the “me ball” and the same players making the same mistakes - especially yellow cards. I can’t understand why coaches don’t pull kids aside after they take them out of the game and explain what they did wrong and what to do instead??? I see very little “coaching” on the sidelines??

As far as development, unfortunately, you’re not going to get much of that from the clubs. They are more about getting the better players together and playing in tournaments. You have to find someone to really teach them individual skills, dodging, shooting techniques, etc. It’s ridiculous because you end up paying once for the club then again for actual quality training. Lacrosse is a racket in these parts.

[Anonymous]

My response was aimed at the poster that has two kids, although the following post was good too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hit the wall and camps

So that makes sense for at-home work, but what about from the club perspective? How do the best clubs go about developing their players?

I'll give it a go. Two kids, one HS, one MS, played in Moco for the big clubs, both A and B teams.

Individual skills development is the responsibility of the player and by extension the parents. As early as 3rd/4th grade the player should be practicing technique on their own (rebounder, GBs, position specific skills, etc.). Past a certain point every player is expected to be able to play with both hands, catch and throw properly, and have sufficient technique to play their specific position. Lots of parents supplement the player's on-their-own work with private coaching and camps. It's expensive and psychotic but that's where we are.

Now on to the club perspective--if I were starting over and doing this again, what I would want from the club is a coherent playing philosophy, i.e, coaches that have a plan for specific, common game situations. Does the team work on a clearing play? Does it repeat that play enough in practices such that clearing isn't an issue in games? Do players in the clear know exactly where they're supposed to be and what their roles are? Repeat this for other situations--riding, man-up offense and defense, fast breaks/unsettled, etc. Essentially, is the team prepared to play an actual game?

The other thing I'd look for at club level would be player accountability...when players screw up one of those situations I mentioned above, are there consequences? I don't mean screaming/yelling, or benching a guy who makes one mistake--I mean, when a player, regardless of skill level, is consistently in the wrong place at the wrong time for any given situation, are they pulled from the game and replaced by another player, maybe less skillful, who knows what his job is and how to do it? Are attackers who consistently dodge into double and triple teams and lose ball pulled from the game? Are players who consistently take penalties and cause their team go a man down pulled from the game? Are poles who miss slides and cause a crease dunk goal pulled from the game?

All of this basically adds up what's loosely called "lax IQ" and to me that's the job of the coaches, and the responsibility of the players to execute a plan. There's waaaayyyyy too many teams where players play hero ball on offense, and make dumb mistakes on defense, and they stay on the field because they're the team's "studs" and the coach is afraid of antagonizing their parents.

Don't want to name names but there's a few prominent coaches out there who are great recruiters and are adept at poaching other clubs' players, but really aren't getting much out their various age groups because they don't care about actually coaching, they just want to list D1 recruits on their website. The real test of a good coach IMO is one that wins at a high school team--with a few exceptions you have to deal with the players you have on grade 10-12 and cannot just wholesale steal another, better team's squad. Some of these coaches simultaneously coach a HS team and club team and you can tell the difference because the HS performance is terrible.

"the coach is afraid of antagonizing their parents" - this is 100% ruining lacrosse for kids. More and more, parents are dictating what they want to see in terms of player development and they want to define it their way. Parents think player development is defined solely by winning. I would say that a substantial part of player development rests on the shoulders of the individual player, and not the coach. Ask any standout college player what made them better than their peers and they will talk about hours spent practicing on their own, walking around with a stick in their hand, playing wall ball, etc.. Player development encompasses a lot of things but you need to have a player who is really committed to getting better in order to get the best out of the coaching they are given and to develop. Every player has their own benchmarks. But when they come together, can your kid play as a great teammate? Because that's how you win and that's how you develop. And at the end of the day, that's what college coaches want to see. There are plenty of kids that get recruited to play in college that aren't the top players but they are team players and contribute in quiet and substantial ways. Don't get caught up in defining what player development looks like. It's different for everyone....

This is one of the best entries I’ve ever seen on this site. All of it is spot on. Especially the “me ball” and the same players making the same mistakes - especially yellow cards. I can’t understand why coaches don’t pull kids aside after they take them out of the game and explain what they did wrong and what to do instead??? I see very little “coaching” on the sidelines??

As far as development, unfortunately, you’re not going to get much of that from the clubs. They are more about getting the better players together and playing in tournaments. You have to find someone to really teach them individual skills, dodging, shooting techniques, etc. It’s ridiculous because you end up paying once for the club then again for actual quality training. Lacrosse is a racket in these parts.

This is all great. I do think some clubs are better at developing specialists (e.g., goalie). Quality positional coaching as well as proper use of the goalie in practice (i.e., not as a crease crank target) makes a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hit the wall and camps

So that makes sense for at-home work, but what about from the club perspective? How do the best clubs go about developing their players?

I'll give it a go. Two kids, one HS, one MS, played in Moco for the big clubs, both A and B teams.

Individual skills development is the responsibility of the player and by extension the parents. As early as 3rd/4th grade the player should be practicing technique on their own (rebounder, GBs, position specific skills, etc.). Past a certain point every player is expected to be able to play with both hands, catch and throw properly, and have sufficient technique to play their specific position. Lots of parents supplement the player's on-their-own work with private coaching and camps. It's expensive and psychotic but that's where we are.

Now on to the club perspective--if I were starting over and doing this again, what I would want from the club is a coherent playing philosophy, i.e, coaches that have a plan for specific, common game situations. Does the team work on a clearing play? Does it repeat that play enough in practices such that clearing isn't an issue in games? Do players in the clear know exactly where they're supposed to be and what their roles are? Repeat this for other situations--riding, man-up offense and defense, fast breaks/unsettled, etc. Essentially, is the team prepared to play an actual game?

The other thing I'd look for at club level would be player accountability...when players screw up one of those situations I mentioned above, are there consequences? I don't mean screaming/yelling, or benching a guy who makes one mistake--I mean, when a player, regardless of skill level, is consistently in the wrong place at the wrong time for any given situation, are they pulled from the game and replaced by another player, maybe less skillful, who knows what his job is and how to do it? Are attackers who consistently dodge into double and triple teams and lose ball pulled from the game? Are players who consistently take penalties and cause their team go a man down pulled from the game? Are poles who miss slides and cause a crease dunk goal pulled from the game?

All of this basically adds up what's loosely called "lax IQ" and to me that's the job of the coaches, and the responsibility of the players to execute a plan. There's waaaayyyyy too many teams where players play hero ball on offense, and make dumb mistakes on defense, and they stay on the field because they're the team's "studs" and the coach is afraid of antagonizing their parents.

Don't want to name names but there's a few prominent coaches out there who are great recruiters and are adept at poaching other clubs' players, but really aren't getting much out their various age groups because they don't care about actually coaching, they just want to list D1 recruits on their website. The real test of a good coach IMO is one that wins at a high school team--with a few exceptions you have to deal with the players you have on grade 10-12 and cannot just wholesale steal another, better team's squad. Some of these coaches simultaneously coach a HS team and club team and you can tell the difference because the HS performance is terrible.

"the coach is afraid of antagonizing their parents" - this is 100% ruining lacrosse for kids. More and more, parents are dictating what they want to see in terms of player development and they want to define it their way. Parents think player development is defined solely by winning. I would say that a substantial part of player development rests on the shoulders of the individual player, and not the coach. Ask any standout college player what made them better than their peers and they will talk about hours spent practicing on their own, walking around with a stick in their hand, playing wall ball, etc.. Player development encompasses a lot of things but you need to have a player who is really committed to getting better in order to get the best out of the coaching they are given and to develop. Every player has their own benchmarks. But when they come together, can your kid play as a great teammate? Because that's how you win and that's how you develop. And at the end of the day, that's what college coaches want to see. There are plenty of kids that get recruited to play in college that aren't the top players but they are team players and contribute in quiet and substantial ways. Don't get caught up in defining what player development looks like. It's different for everyone....

This is one of the best entries I’ve ever seen on this site. All of it is spot on. Especially the “me ball” and the same players making the same mistakes - especially yellow cards. I can’t understand why coaches don’t pull kids aside after they take them out of the game and explain what they did wrong and what to do instead??? I see very little “coaching” on the sidelines??

As far as development, unfortunately, you’re not going to get much of that from the clubs. They are more about getting the better players together and playing in tournaments. You have to find someone to really teach them individual skills, dodging, shooting techniques, etc. It’s ridiculous because you end up paying once for the club then again for actual quality training. Lacrosse is a racket in these parts.

This is all great. I do think some clubs are better at developing specialists (e.g., goalie). Quality positional coaching as well as proper use of the goalie in practice (i.e., not as a crease crank target) makes a difference.

I also think that clubs are sometimes afraid to focus too much on the development side because that doesn't always equate to winning. It takes time for players to develop and parents in this area are almost excusively focused on winning and tying winning to development. In other words, if my DD's team isn't winning then she isn't developing. Around here, girls jump clubs and teams too much for any one team to really get to that amazing stage where they gel together. If a club team has a winning season then everyone wants to migrate to that team next year. Then they have a losing season and everyone wants to jump ship. Every year those teams have to rebuild, year after year. That rests on the shoulders of parents who really want to be able to tell their friends about how many games their DD's team has won this year. Here's the big difference - in Baltimore, those girls start playing together before Middle School and they stay together. Many of them also play together in HS so double time together. Those girls aren't hopping from one team to another and following the wins. Those girls are also serious about developing and work as hard outside of practice as they do at practice. Frankly, most of the teams my daughter has been on in the Moco area has girls who think that simply showing up to practice is enough to make them good and that the coach should be able to turn every girl onto the team into a phenom or else they say the coach stinks. Development is almost totally absent in our area. Bethesda runs a mediocre rec program that doesn't really prepare the girls for club play like it should, and their MS Club teams don't produce girls who are ready to get onto A teams at the club level in HS and they aren't starting on their HS teams. I know there are exceptions but those girls are the standout athletes who will excel everywhere. What we desperately need if for someone to focus on TRUE development - basic skills, use of non-dominant hand, shooting IQ, etc beginning in 3rd and 4th grade and run a continuous program like that all the way through HS, AND have strong recruiting. The influx of MoCo players going to Skywalkers has actually brought them down and their teams are nowhere as competitive as they used to be. True player development starts with fundamentals and those are sadly lacking.

[Anonymous]

As far as I can tell, good player development looks like the Annapolis Hawks. It seems to me from observation that they develop their kids, but I do not have a kid in their program.
Good vs Bad.
Is there a practice plan? Good. Do they run three drills for half an hour each? Bad.
Do they have various parts of practice, stickwork, dodging, two-man games, odd man situations, riding and clearing? Good
Is there actual coaching going on? "Hey good job on this, do this to get better" Good
Are there lots of kids standing around for extended periods, while one coach goes over "The Offense" with the same six players? Bad.
Are lots of kids standing around shooting underhanded or sidearm crease cranks. Bad
Are lots of kids keeping their elbows close to their bodies, using the stick like a lever, with a push pull motion? Bad
Are lots of kids throwing using the stick as an extension of their arm and keeping their elbows away from their body, maybe even their top hand above their visor? Good
Is there good energy, and among the most important things, are most of the kids engaged and do they appear to be having fun? Very important.
Do the coaches emphasize character and teamwork, who is picking up the balls, who is moving the nets, how many kids touch the ball each possession.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As far as I can tell, good player development looks like the Annapolis Hawks. It seems to me from observation that they develop their kids, but I do not have a kid in their program.
Good vs Bad.
Is there a practice plan? Good. Do they run three drills for half an hour each? Bad.
Do they have various parts of practice, stickwork, dodging, two-man games, odd man situations, riding and clearing? Good
Is there actual coaching going on? "Hey good job on this, do this to get better" Good
Are there lots of kids standing around for extended periods, while one coach goes over "The Offense" with the same six players? Bad.
Are lots of kids standing around shooting underhanded or sidearm crease cranks. Bad
Are lots of kids keeping their elbows close to their bodies, using the stick like a lever, with a push pull motion? Bad
Are lots of kids throwing using the stick as an extension of their arm and keeping their elbows away from their body, maybe even their top hand above their visor? Good
Is there good energy, and among the most important things, are most of the kids engaged and do they appear to be having fun? Very important.
Do the coaches emphasize character and teamwork, who is picking up the balls, who is moving the nets, how many kids touch the ball each possession.

You appear knowledgeable and without a specific grudge. Wonderful post and informative. Only thing I would point out is that you are describing “coaching” and it is hard to find clubs that foster good coaching and player development across the board. Not to say it doesn’t happen but it is not the primary focus of clubs.

Go find your son/daughter a coach that fits the model described above! That is the key for development, enjoyment, and long term success.

[Anonymous]

This discussion is what this forum USED to be all about and is one of the best I have read in a while. Not club bashing or insulting players, coaches and directors. But a genuinely good discussion without bias. I hope we can get back to more of this - the forum seems to have gone a little sideways lately.

[Anonymous]

My answer would be: If you play for a DC/Nova travel team you probably don’t know what it looks like other than a few really good coaches. Most are mediocre. Many think if you were a good player you would be a good coach. Not true. Maryland has many good coaches, it’s just in their blood. If you can find a good coach that can develop talent and point out the small nuances, stick with them. They are rare in DC/Nova. Most parents would rather win at the expense of development. As a result, the good ones are often fired even though they are exactly what the kids need and are in it for the long haul. No one cares if your team went 12-2 in sixth grade if it’s just me ball and poor play. You’d be better off going 2-12 but actually LEARNING the game when you are younger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hit the wall and camps

So that makes sense for at-home work, but what about from the club perspective? How do the best clubs go about developing their players?

I'll give it a go. Two kids, one HS, one MS, played in Moco for the big clubs, both A and B teams.

Individual skills development is the responsibility of the player and by extension the parents. As early as 3rd/4th grade the player should be practicing technique on their own (rebounder, GBs, position specific skills, etc.). Past a certain point every player is expected to be able to play with both hands, catch and throw properly, and have sufficient technique to play their specific position. Lots of parents supplement the player's on-their-own work with private coaching and camps. It's expensive and psychotic but that's where we are.

Now on to the club perspective--if I were starting over and doing this again, what I would want from the club is a coherent playing philosophy, i.e, coaches that have a plan for specific, common game situations. Does the team work on a clearing play? Does it repeat that play enough in practices such that clearing isn't an issue in games? Do players in the clear know exactly where they're supposed to be and what their roles are? Repeat this for other situations--riding, man-up offense and defense, fast breaks/unsettled, etc. Essentially, is the team prepared to play an actual game?

The other thing I'd look for at club level would be player accountability...when players screw up one of those situations I mentioned above, are there consequences? I don't mean screaming/yelling, or benching a guy who makes one mistake--I mean, when a player, regardless of skill level, is consistently in the wrong place at the wrong time for any given situation, are they pulled from the game and replaced by another player, maybe less skillful, who knows what his job is and how to do it? Are attackers who consistently dodge into double and triple teams and lose ball pulled from the game? Are players who consistently take penalties and cause their team go a man down pulled from the game? Are poles who miss slides and cause a crease dunk goal pulled from the game?

All of this basically adds up what's loosely called "lax IQ" and to me that's the job of the coaches, and the responsibility of the players to execute a plan. There's waaaayyyyy too many teams where players play hero ball on offense, and make dumb mistakes on defense, and they stay on the field because they're the team's "studs" and the coach is afraid of antagonizing their parents.

Don't want to name names but there's a few prominent coaches out there who are great recruiters and are adept at poaching other clubs' players, but really aren't getting much out their various age groups because they don't care about actually coaching, they just want to list D1 recruits on their website. The real test of a good coach IMO is one that wins at a high school team--with a few exceptions you have to deal with the players you have on grade 10-12 and cannot just wholesale steal another, better team's squad. Some of these coaches simultaneously coach a HS team and club team and you can tell the difference because the HS performance is terrible.

Great post. Agree and thanks for taking the time to write it out. The opposite of TLTR, it has the type of detail that is actually informative. Thanks

[Anonymous]

Great post!