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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The problem for younger kids is how do you define "ability"?

I've got a small kid whose technical skills were outstanding when he was younger (still are).  Every single coach said so. You know how he got that way?  Working on his own all the time - after practice, with friends, against the stairs at home, against walls.  Still, despite working hard, he often sat on the bench while the big fast kids who were always late for practice and games played every second. Who was "better"?  Well, the other kids were definitely stronger and faster.  But my kids was smarter, more technical, and harder working.  Didn't matter.  Why should a small player have to work that harder on his own to get in a game when that that kid with no touch just kicks and runs past players to score and is never told work work harder to get more playing time? Many of the small kids or slow kids on travel teams are working hard on their own. Plenty of kids who are hard working, talented, coachable, and skilled sit in favor of more athletically advanced players .  This happens at every club.  Smaller, slower, and less athletic kids need the playing time to figure out how to be effective despite their lack of physical gifts or late puberty. But when playing time is a reward for the fastest to grow and develop, the late developers are further disadvantaged.

The "work harder" message makes more sense at U15/U16, but it is often too late by then for late for the bench kids. The late bloomers who rise to the top are those with the toughest mindset and those who found ways to get playing time in regardless, like those who found free play opportunities.

Whatever you think the goal of travel soccer should be, I can attest from personal experience that telling your kids to work harder but allowing them to stay in an environment where playing time is not based on hard work, effort, or even ability can backfire and lead to a kid who checks out in areas other than soccer.  We all need to understand that life is not fair, but there is no benefit from an experience that teaches kids that working hard gets you nowhere if you haven't hit puberty by 7th or 8th grade. You can say that "cream rises" but the goal shouldn't be to drive as many late developing kids out as possible.

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