Reply to rec league coaching -- OK to give the strongest players slightly more minutes than the weaker?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Parents think games matter more than practice, when it is actually the complete opposite. Practice is how kids improve. No one would suggest that performing in piano recitals improves skills better than piano practice and lessons. Focusing on weaker players at practice and giving everyone at least 50% playing time in the games is a good compromise.

You sound better than 90% of rec coaches just from the fact that you are thinking about being fair and improving your players. [/quote]

I don't agree with you analogy.  You can't replicate game experience at practice most of the time, because you just don't have the number of players needed.  So it's nothing like playing piano (which only requires a piano).  Game experience is really valuable at this age.  It's how you understand field position and off-ball movement.

But I will agree with your sentiment.[/quote]

Games are important, not just for development, but also as a reward and a way to mark progress that results from all the practice. But I think games are way overemphasized in youth sports. When you practice piano, you practice scales, sight reading, chords, arpeggios etc. Performing in a recital without that muscle memory to master the musical piece will be rough. There is a reason kids don’t just practice their recital piece ad nauseum before a recital. All the building blocks have to be there to develop as a musician.

When you go to soccer practice, you practice footwork, dribbling, striking the ball, passing, field vision, etc. Playing in a game without the muscle memory of those skills will will be rough.

To look at it a different way, kids learn in soccer when they physically touch the ball AND have immediate feedback. Like all sports, watching people play around you isn’t enough. In an average 50 min game, a kid who plays the entire game might have the ball in their possession for 4 minutes. If they are a beginner who is not passed to very often, it could be as low as 2-3 minutes.

I agree that kids need to learn off ball movement and field position, but games are not the place where they learn this. The kids are excited, the coach can’t stop play to give instructions, and most of the kids can’t hear the coach anyway. Parents are also shouting instructions at the kids, so it’s just a confusing environment. If they do hear the coach shout “move up” or whatever, they just obey without having time to understand why. I saw a 10u team repeatedly throw in the ball incorrectly at a game last weekend. The ref made the “one foot off the ground” gesture and the coach shouted at the kids “keep both feet on the ground” but the error kept happening because the kids were in game mode, not learning mode. After the game, the coach did one demo, all the kids nodded and did the throw correctly. That 2 min lesson when all the kids were paying attention in learning mode was more effective than 6 bad throw ins with parents, refs, and a few frustrated siblings shouting at them.

In practice, kids will get closer to 10-20 min on the ball because there are multiple balls in play, kids pair up, there are smaller group drills etc. When they don’t have the ball, instead of standing around, the coach will instruct them how to defend, how to make runs, how to find open space, how to look for passes. When there is a teachable moment, the coach can stop the play, give feedback, and have the players repeat it correctly. Players who aren’t involved in the play can observe and learn.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c547615b2cf79cd8fe3363f/t/5dc1f85bf700e16c27b8b127/1572993118374/Games+vs.+Practice.pdf[/quote]

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