Parents and Team Concept

By SoccerCoach
for SoccerMyLife.com

Published: August 27, 2010

by Jacob Daniel
As parents, naturally you are mainly concerned with the welfare and development of your child. When your child goes to school, you are really only interested in how he or she is progressing in school. Do you really care how the class is doing as a whole? As long as your child is doing well and the teacher is keeping pace with the required academic standards for his or her age, you are happy. You don’t go around boasting that your child’s class average was higher than the class next door. The class concept in school is seen as a logistical convenience where children of like-age are grouped together to learn academics and social skills within the dynamics of a group. Nothing more, nothing less.
The same concept should be applied to youth sports. Just like a classroom, a youth team should be seen as a convenient way to group players of similar age and ability together, to learn how to play soccer, as well as develop social skills. Nothing more, nothing less.
But parents and coaches seem to have a hard time accepting this notion. They let the team concept take over and become the focus of the soccer activity. It’s no longer “my son is going to play today”. Instead, it becomes “OUR TEAM is playing against THEIR TEAM today”.
People want to be part of a team. They feel safe and comfortable with a team. There are many positives in a team environment, such as building lifelong friendships, sharing common goals, and learning to trust and depend on others. But when the team assumes too much importance or consumes your life, it can lead to tension and conflicts. Games become more stressful. The mood of the family unit for the rest of the day hinges on the game’s result.
“What is best for the team” overrides what is best for the individual players. The negative aspects of the team concept manifest themselves in many ways: the amount of playing time players get, rivalry between teams spilling over into arguments and even hostility, coaches fighting over players, referee abuse, etc.
As parents, you should only be concerned with one thing: is your child having fun? Put another way, is he or she being given the opportunity to play and learn the game? How the team is doing has absolutely no impact on the future well being of your child. Mia Hamm and Landon Donovan did not get to play for the National Team because their U-10 teams won the state championship. They made the national team because they developed into skillful and athletic players.
Your child might develop into a high level player, but he or she might not. A lot of this depends on the genes and is pre-determined before your child was even born. As long as he or she is having fun and developing a lifetime habit of healthy participation in sport, that’s all you can ask for. Remember: the team is there to serve your CHILD’S needs. Your child is not there to serve the team’s needs.
If the team’s performance produces strong emotions in you, you need to step back and take a deep breath and suppress these emotions. The team is just a logistical expediency to engage a bunch of kids in play. Nothing more, nothing less. Tomorrow, your child will be part of another team.
Finally, parents must be wary of coaches who seem intent in building a “dynasty” at these young ages. If a coach approaches you with the intent to recruit your child into his team because “he wants to build a strong team”, you should question his agenda. The chances are great that he will emphasize the wrong type of development and training, and that he will replace your child down the road when a better player turns up.

About the Author
This article was provided by Jacob Daniel, State Director of Coaching for the Georgia State Soccer Association.
Jacob has been in charge of Coaching Education and Player Development for the State of Georgia since 1993. A USSF National Instructional Staff Coach, he has conducted national level courses for US Soccer since 1997. He has also served on the Region III ODP staff since 1993, holding Head Coach duties with the ’95 boys and Assistant Coach duties with the ’80 region teams. Jacob holds a USSF ‘A’ License and National Youth License, and is the author of The Complete Guide to Coaching Soccer Systems and Tactics.

Parents and Team Concept

You may also like the following articles

Related News Headlines

You may also like the following articles

SoccerMyLife Latest