How do you explain development vs wins to your young soccer player?
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Anonymous
| When leagues aren't taking/keeping official score at U9-U10, or your coach has a possession vs number of passes before going to goal "rule" for your 7, 8, 9, 10 year old, how do you explain the value of development vs wins? My kids coach is awesome, and he is definitely helping my son improve, two seasons into losing matches, most by double digits, is wearing on his confidence. Is there anything I can say as a parent that the Coach hasn't said when discussing the plan and philosophy with my kid? |
Anonymous
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Big question is your son having fun? Does he enjoy the training? If not, you need to know why.
Losing sucks, but it's part of the game. I don't agree with a set "rule" for number of passes before going to goal. That's not something I would enforce during a game, especially if we're getting blown out, although I have done things in to make the game more challenging for players in games where we are greatly outscoring our opponents. I understand the intent behind the rule, but especially if we're talking about rec level players, it's very rare a team is going to have the ability to do this under the best of circumstances. I would talk to your son. See what's bothering him besides "losing" and it may be worth having a talk to the coach if you find that your son is losing interest and just isn't enjoying the game any longer. As a coach, when a parent comes to me with this approach, I'm much more keen to listen as I feel one of my top priorities besides development is to increase if not maintain the love of the game. |
Anonymous
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If your kid's coach is focused on 'passing' at 7-10 years old, then they're not working on 'development'.
They're playing Hot Potato. Change coaches if you can. The W or L alone doesn't tell a story at those ages. Are the kid's individual technical skills actually developing? |
Anonymous
| I don’t think it’s realistic to expect a kid that age to be totally fine with repeatedly getting blown out, whether it’s in the name of development or not. Kids start going into games feeling like there’s not much of a point if they’re just going to lose again, and as you said it affects confidence. Why isn’t the coach placing the team in a division with more appropriate competition? I don’t think kids learn much from getting blown out week after week. A few wins can go a long way to build confidence individually and in your teammates. |
Anonymous
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This coach cannot be as good as you think. Getting blown out in games under those circumstances is just stupid and of course wears on the kids and is not fun. I'd question the judgment of this coach.
And I say that as a parent coach who understands that volunteers are doing their best and deserve a lot of grace. |
Anonymous
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Well, the coach doesn't actually play.
Focusing on development doesn't automatically equate to losing games. Are the kids too far below the level of competition? Coach can't turn water into wine. |
Anonymous
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It's the players not the coach, at that age I coached undefeated teams and teams that struggled to get a win. It wasn't me that changed year by year it was luck of the draw for getting kids on the team. Having a losing team can be great for development if you can keep the kids focused on what they need to improve to compete.
I agree with scrapping the rule for passing the ball so much. That is usually used by teams that are winning by multiple goals to slow down the scoring and to get the full team involved. |
Anonymous
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Player development is about teaching. are the kids learning and getting better? A player can be getting good development on a losing team as well as a winning team, just like they could be getting bad development on a losing team or a winning team.
Wins is a function of the coach picking the appropriate level of competition for the team. If they are getting blown out every game then the team is playing in the wrong division. |
Anonymous
Te My kid has always been on a losing team. Doesn't make them a bad player. Sometimes you can win a game, but your kid didn't play well and vise versa. Tell them that they played well and explain that winning isn't everything. The team especially in those younger ages should be playing with other similar abilities. They should be able to play teams on their level. Ask the coach why they haven't moved them down. |
Anonymous
OP, they are already playing in the "lowest" division. There's definitely a player quality issue along with the coaching philosophy. My kid has definitely developed, but, let's be honest, very fun nine year old boys are focused on development goals. |
Anonymous
| Are they losing due to passing too much? |
Anonymous
The issue with lack of standings etc. especially at the younger levels is you'll go up against teams that you wont face as they get older. Most leagues at that age try to keep things local, so you might go up against giants until standings/results can be used to better balance out divisions. The passing rule might be something I'd pull out in training from time to time, but not in a game and certainly not at this age. I'd be curious if the coach is pushing this or the club? |
Anonymous
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The passing rule is situational...such as if you're hyper focusing on passing/triangles/etc during practice, or the score was run up in-game and we need to throttle it down as a mercy for the other team.
If you're in the bottom division, and your team is constantly losing -- then it is usually a mix of player quality, and potentially coaching. Last season we swept our group, but it was due mostly to the style of "kick and run". It works now while they're super young, but in a few years the kids who learned only that style of play will get shutdown pretty quickly. Can't say any of the kids were more developed, except maybe at sprinting and finishing 
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Anonymous
Then they shouldn't be a travel team. If you lose by double digits in the lowest division, then you do not have enough talent to play |
Anonymous
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The development of youth players should be based on concepts in phases.
If the kids are learning and executing the concepts and philosophies, that's the 'W' (not the scoreboard) |