John's Place

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Playing Children in an Older Division
By John Chavez
Sep 20, 2007 - 12:40:58 PM

In youth soccer there are in my experience, three types of coaches. There are the coaches that have no "Love for the Game" and that are interested in winning at all cost. There are also the coaches that are more interested in tactics and the control of players where their emphasis is in how good they can manage a game and control players. And then there are the coaches that make children's programs work and will actually concentrate in developing players and teaching the basics because they "Love the Game."

In this article, I will only concentrate on the first type of coach and the practice of moving players "up" to an older division.

The "win at all cost" coach will typically go out of his/her way to find and recruit the best players so that he/she can have the best team out there. These type of coaches are generally somewhat volatile and hard on their players and will typically change players on "their" teams every season if they find that the players they have are "not performing" to their expectations.

These coaches are so intent in winning at all cost that they forget to form a positive environment within the team where a player can thrive and grow. Historically, a promising player that has a hard time understanding this type of coach, will be demoralized and quit the sport because he or she was never helped to develop and learn in a fun environment.

It is also this type of coach that, if allowed, will try to find the best players within his/her team division to recruit. When the resources are exhausted, he/she will move down the younger divisions looking to snatch the best players that he/she can recruit and move them up to his division to play for his/her team.

At the same time, this coach will never look at the next older division for an older player (typically one year older) because doing so, would make his/her team move up to the next division where the team would have stronger competition and thus, would be harder to win.

Although moving up a player should be an option for any division in my opinion. It should always be done with care and by a consensus of the parents, the coach requesting the player or that is encouraging the player to move up, the head coach or technical advisor for the league the child is part of, and the past and current coach for the child in question.

Being the best player in his/her division does not mean that a child is ready to play with older players. In most cases, if not done properly, this child will either get hurt physically, emotionally, and/or his self esteem will suffer.  If he/she is not able to play at the higher level after everyone around him/her pushed for him/her to move up, he/she will lose confidence.

When a player is the best within his/her division, it gives the player the confidence that is attained by their skill and ability to play the game. It also teaches leadership skills as less skill players will typically look up to the best players for direction. Self confidence and enjoyment of the game always follow these players when they are ready to move to the next division. They do it looking forward to a whole new experience full of confidence in their own ability.

Parents need to be aware of a coach asking for their child to move "up" so they can be part of a strong team. More times than not, parents are the ones to blame because they are the ones that wanted their child in a "strong" team. With no regards for the coaching tactics and philosophy of the coach and/or the dynamics of the team.