COACHING TIPS: Some Novel Ideas for This Fall’s Youth Sports

Posted by Rick Wolff on August 11, 2013 · 1 Comment 

I don’t know JIm Buxton personally, but when he emailed me last week, he told me that he’s a long-time listener to my show, and that he tends to agree with many of the points of view that are presented each Sunday.

Jim explained that he has spent most of his life in the game of soccer, first as a college player many years ago, and then as a very succesful HS girls’ coach in Rhode Island. In fact, his teams won four state championships along the way, and he eventually was honored by being inducted into the Rhode Island Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame.

But Jim has related to me that when he was involved in youth soccer, he implemented a program in which during the third weekend of the regular season, he would have the opposing coaches switch sides for a game; that is, the opposing coaches would direct the other team for the entire game.

Kids found this experiment to be great fun, and once the parents understood how this turnaround for a day would help build sportsmanship, they joined in as well. All in all, it;s a terrific idea, and worth considering.

Buxton pointed out, of course, that this turnaround would work only in the U-12 levels. After all, once the kids get older, the priorities shift in terms of winning. As Jim acknowledged, once you reach the HS varsity level, the better kids play and command the lion’s share of the playing time.

But when working with younger kids, it’s more important that the youngsters enjoy the experience. He says that the most important statistic at the end of the year is one’s won-loss record, but rather, how many kids come back to play again the next season. That “retention” rate is the best indicator of just how much fun the kids had; that is, do they want to play again next season?

Finally, Jim talked about another novel concept – that of not keeping league standings during the regular season and that all the teams make the playoffs. In that way, coaches don’t have to worry about winning every game to have a post-season. Instead, they can focus on making sure that all the kids on the team get ample playing team, get a chance to play different positions, and coaches can place their attention on those issues, not so much worrying about winning every game.

I think all of these are splendid ideas. And best of all, they’re easy to adapt. Why not suggest them in your local youth leagues? And not just soccer – they apply a lot of sports, like baseball, softball, basketball, lacrosse, ice hockey and so on.

Filed under Coaching tips