The concept of winning has become something of a negative in youth
sports, yet it’s an important part of development
I have to apologise for the lack of activity on the blog this past month. I am
finding out that being a father takes up quite your time, add that with a
demanding full time job and 1-1 sessions on days off, and the time to sit
down, think and write has become rather limited. That being said the topic of this article has
been on my mind for a few weeks now, particularly after the debate and discussion
generated in the aftermath of Man City’s U14’s 9-0 defeat of their rivals Man
Utd. That evening brought out many good opinions and thoughts. I argued that the result was significant, while others sound the result wasn't important at all. So I ask, how important is winning in the world of
youth football? It seems as though the word ‘winning’ has become a bad word,
I’m here to argue that winning is an important tool for player development.
The issue of ‘results’ and winning games has been seen
rather negatively in recent years. It is understandable, winning in this
country appeared to take precedent over anything else, resulting in a culture
which was competitive yet rather barbaric and over physical. The negative to
this of course was that players simply were limited in their development
because skill and mistakes were seen as damaging to the possibility of success.
Our 'elite' football Academies became non-competitive environments, no league tables etc for the younger players, therefore a focus being solely on development and performance. Of course that didn't change the approach of many coaches and clubs who still viewed results as a key barometer of 'success'. However the idea was that results and the pursuit to win was seen as a bad thing, and that in order for us to produce 'elite' players our Academies needed to focus on the development of the player and away from the need to win. Now it is questionable how many Academies truly embraced the player development pathway and focused on 'performance over results'. For me there is still too little focus and allowance for skill and expression and too many players who lack the quality of technical skills and intelligence of the game to push on. However, it does seem that in our quest to be more development based, we have neglected the importance of competition.
A culture of mediocrity
For me this culture of non-competitive ‘sport’ has gone too far. It’s gone too far in schools, especially in PE and events like ‘sports day’ which cannot be seen to make young people feel 'bad'. There are no winners allowed, and everyone gets a medal for 'taking part'. You will have to explain to me how this approach helps? It seems this applies only in sport however, when pupils take tests in subjects like English, Maths and Science these are not seen as just participation events, the result determines the grade you get. Sport should be no different.
In fact it is in sport where the element of competition should be highest. What is sport? A competition between individuals or teams. A competition requires a winner and a loser. Why has our culture moved towards this participation approach? Well, for me we both fear and envy success in our society. Our society doesn’t like elite performers, our media like to ridicule or bring down high achievers, and this is seen within our school system. Those who excel or work hard are mocked, it seems it's 'cool' to be average. And this results in a culture of mediocrity and where participation trumps elite development and performance. Instead of pushing our young talent to be better, we seem to be telling them to draw back. This is a real shame.
Our 'elite' football Academies became non-competitive environments, no league tables etc for the younger players, therefore a focus being solely on development and performance. Of course that didn't change the approach of many coaches and clubs who still viewed results as a key barometer of 'success'. However the idea was that results and the pursuit to win was seen as a bad thing, and that in order for us to produce 'elite' players our Academies needed to focus on the development of the player and away from the need to win. Now it is questionable how many Academies truly embraced the player development pathway and focused on 'performance over results'. For me there is still too little focus and allowance for skill and expression and too many players who lack the quality of technical skills and intelligence of the game to push on. However, it does seem that in our quest to be more development based, we have neglected the importance of competition.
A culture of mediocrity
For me this culture of non-competitive ‘sport’ has gone too far. It’s gone too far in schools, especially in PE and events like ‘sports day’ which cannot be seen to make young people feel 'bad'. There are no winners allowed, and everyone gets a medal for 'taking part'. You will have to explain to me how this approach helps? It seems this applies only in sport however, when pupils take tests in subjects like English, Maths and Science these are not seen as just participation events, the result determines the grade you get. Sport should be no different.
In fact it is in sport where the element of competition should be highest. What is sport? A competition between individuals or teams. A competition requires a winner and a loser. Why has our culture moved towards this participation approach? Well, for me we both fear and envy success in our society. Our society doesn’t like elite performers, our media like to ridicule or bring down high achievers, and this is seen within our school system. Those who excel or work hard are mocked, it seems it's 'cool' to be average. And this results in a culture of mediocrity and where participation trumps elite development and performance. Instead of pushing our young talent to be better, we seem to be telling them to draw back. This is a real shame.
The mothering and protection of our children
Alexis Sanchez made a great point about the difference between English kids and those from his country Chile, "The problem for teams
like England is that everything is so easy for them. They join these academies
at maybe 10 or 11 years old and everything is done for them. They are so modern
and the players are looked after, it is not just England but many European
nations."
So is our culture too nice? Do we fear this idea of
competition because we fear failure and the feelings this brings? Are we too concerned with ‘hurting’ our youngsters? Worried about them
feeling bad or sad if they experience defeat? Yes, defeat may bring feelings of disappointment, not having them experience this may allow the child to 'feel' better. This may prevent short term disappointment, but it could have serious implications long term.
If we protect our children from defeat and disappointment we are hurting their future prospects in life. Not knowing defeat, not feeling disappointment, never been allowed to fail, not allowing these things are denying key learning experiences for young people. Children should experience these feelings, they need to know how to deal with it and importantly, and this is the key aspect, learn how to overcome it.
Does English society smother and mother players too much? Do we need to evaluate what is required to develop players/people capable of progressing and succeeding in life? Can we say our youngsters are "ready for life"? How many of our young players can we say to be this at 16/18? It is too easy, too 'nice' for many English players and this leads to lack of maturity, self-responsibility and strength of mind to embrace challenges.
I worry that we’ve created a culture where young people who on the whole have been conditioned to think quitting is acceptable when the going gets tough. Young people who have been given so much to them with relative ease, that they don’t know what it means to work hard and fight for something. Not letting them fail, or making them feel that 'taking part' is achieving something, has produced weak minded individuals who at the first sign of difficulty can't handle it and choose the easy option to quit. Many it seems don’t appreciate or know how to overcome challenges. Instead they simply quit, give up and make excuse after excuse, often blaming others, for why they failed.
If we protect our children from defeat and disappointment we are hurting their future prospects in life. Not knowing defeat, not feeling disappointment, never been allowed to fail, not allowing these things are denying key learning experiences for young people. Children should experience these feelings, they need to know how to deal with it and importantly, and this is the key aspect, learn how to overcome it.
Does English society smother and mother players too much? Do we need to evaluate what is required to develop players/people capable of progressing and succeeding in life? Can we say our youngsters are "ready for life"? How many of our young players can we say to be this at 16/18? It is too easy, too 'nice' for many English players and this leads to lack of maturity, self-responsibility and strength of mind to embrace challenges.
I worry that we’ve created a culture where young people who on the whole have been conditioned to think quitting is acceptable when the going gets tough. Young people who have been given so much to them with relative ease, that they don’t know what it means to work hard and fight for something. Not letting them fail, or making them feel that 'taking part' is achieving something, has produced weak minded individuals who at the first sign of difficulty can't handle it and choose the easy option to quit. Many it seems don’t appreciate or know how to overcome challenges. Instead they simply quit, give up and make excuse after excuse, often blaming others, for why they failed.
What 9-0 says about players character
Returning to Academy football, a place for elite footballers
who have been selected for their talent with the intention of developing them
into professional players. Surely this should be a competitive environment? And
yet no, in fact along the spectrum of football in this country it is this
level, the elite level, where competition isn’t seen to be important.
Now I understand the view that ‘winning’ and results may take away from a players development, and trust me there's no-one who cares more about players individual development, but surely we must view and judge players in terms of their competitiveness in games, no?
Going back to the original discussion of Man City’s 9-0 win over United at U14’s level. When I saw the score 9-0, my thinking here is that the result does matter. Firstly It highlights a worrying gap between two clubs who are regarded as two of the best in the country. These are two Category 1 Academies, the fact City can be so dominant is of concern. Surely the game should be closer? A 9-0 scoreline represents a vast gap between these two sides.
Okay, so there may be many factors at hand of course; players absent, injured, perhaps Utd play younger players ‘up’ to challenge them, accepting that a defeat will come yet long term the players will develop. Context is important. However, one has to wonder about the mentality and competitive nature of these players. This is my concern, that a culture which says “the result is not important” plants a bad seed in players heads that it is ‘okay to lose’. 9-0 shows to me, without any knowledge of the game itself, that one team gave up during the game. It is the only explanation for conceding nine and scoring none.
If City were that much more dominant, physical and skilful than United there are concerns over United’s development. Yet, the issue is more about the players (and coaches) inability to compete in a football match. I fear that we have created a culture where competition and desire to win has been reduced in players, especially in games. A culture where the acceptance of defeat has become too easy for players to allow excuses for poor performance or weak mentalities. 9-0 is unacceptable at any level for me. It shows either that the gap between the two sides was too big, or simply that players gave up. And I'm sorry but this is not the kind of character and personality which will produce professional footballers, or for those who don’t make it in the game, people who in life aren’t quitters, but people who have the resolve and character to fight and persevere who show resilence in adversity and keep working hard. This culture of being 'nice' and 'protecting' our youngters from harm and failure simply delays it for later years, and the problem there is, if you haven't learnt how to overcome and deal with this, it will hit harder when it does about.
Now I understand the view that ‘winning’ and results may take away from a players development, and trust me there's no-one who cares more about players individual development, but surely we must view and judge players in terms of their competitiveness in games, no?
Going back to the original discussion of Man City’s 9-0 win over United at U14’s level. When I saw the score 9-0, my thinking here is that the result does matter. Firstly It highlights a worrying gap between two clubs who are regarded as two of the best in the country. These are two Category 1 Academies, the fact City can be so dominant is of concern. Surely the game should be closer? A 9-0 scoreline represents a vast gap between these two sides.
Okay, so there may be many factors at hand of course; players absent, injured, perhaps Utd play younger players ‘up’ to challenge them, accepting that a defeat will come yet long term the players will develop. Context is important. However, one has to wonder about the mentality and competitive nature of these players. This is my concern, that a culture which says “the result is not important” plants a bad seed in players heads that it is ‘okay to lose’. 9-0 shows to me, without any knowledge of the game itself, that one team gave up during the game. It is the only explanation for conceding nine and scoring none.
If City were that much more dominant, physical and skilful than United there are concerns over United’s development. Yet, the issue is more about the players (and coaches) inability to compete in a football match. I fear that we have created a culture where competition and desire to win has been reduced in players, especially in games. A culture where the acceptance of defeat has become too easy for players to allow excuses for poor performance or weak mentalities. 9-0 is unacceptable at any level for me. It shows either that the gap between the two sides was too big, or simply that players gave up. And I'm sorry but this is not the kind of character and personality which will produce professional footballers, or for those who don’t make it in the game, people who in life aren’t quitters, but people who have the resolve and character to fight and persevere who show resilence in adversity and keep working hard. This culture of being 'nice' and 'protecting' our youngters from harm and failure simply delays it for later years, and the problem there is, if you haven't learnt how to overcome and deal with this, it will hit harder when it does about.
Developing and promoting a winning mentality
A positive learning environment promoting mistakes, learning, hard work and creativity is imperative for the development of England’s future generation not just for football – but for life. This blog has written before about the importance of environments and how key they are to player development. The failure to promote game intelligence & tactical
understanding in players is limiting players development. Yet perhaps we should be concerned that the Academy world fails to develop a
'competitive mindset' in its players.
A 9-0 scoreline says this to me. Winning is a very important element of football. It is not everything, and the only thing, but it is certainly something. The responses I received when I expressed my views about this a few weeks ago quite frankly amazed me. I know our culture has been too obsessed with winning and this has produced some very angry and vicious coaches and parents, and I don’t for one second condone this behaviour. The players should enjoy their football, but they should enjoy competing.
A 9-0 scoreline says this to me. Winning is a very important element of football. It is not everything, and the only thing, but it is certainly something. The responses I received when I expressed my views about this a few weeks ago quite frankly amazed me. I know our culture has been too obsessed with winning and this has produced some very angry and vicious coaches and parents, and I don’t for one second condone this behaviour. The players should enjoy their football, but they should enjoy competing.
My mentality towards player development centres around competition and development. I want to produce skilful, expressive, creative players, yet also players who have the mentality to work hard, defend, tackle and who have the willingness to play ‘all’ the game. I want to see players compete, I want all my team to be working hard when they have and don’t have the ball. I want my players to play to win the game. I don’t want to win ‘ugly’, I want the players to build out with the play, to play through the thirds, to dribble with the ball, to be expressive and creative, to take risks and be confident. Yet if they lose the ball, or are now defending, they must now all be focused on defending and doing their part for the team in this way.
I believe every player now and in the future has to be part of the team in and out of possession. There are no luxury players anymore. This is my belief. And while I love a player like Riquelme, his type doesn’t work anymore. You can’t just be an attacker, and you can’t just be a defender. A player must do it all.
I use the philosophy of ‘process over outcome’ with my players, and stress the importance of executing in every phase of the game. The aim here being that the result should not determine your mentality, that you continue to play the style asked and work exceptionally hard defensively all the game. If executed well the result should be positive as the players have done what was asked of them the whole game. Perhaps you may lose 3-2, or win 4-2. The result per se isn't the issue.
Winning or losing isn’t the only focus. We may have been excellent but lost by a goal. No problem. Yet if we lose 9-0? Well then we really haven’t executed what was asked of them. We haven’t shown the kind of mentality required to compete, we neglected our processes and didn’t work on every phase. And when the result was getting away from us, we quit instead of work hard to recover and turn the game around. This is when the result does become an issue. And which is why I simply cannot agree that in this situation the result is not important, because “it’s all about development”. Shouldn't development also focus on on the enhancement of players mentalities and competitive spirit in seeking to win games?
And what does it say about a coach who allows this to happen? Surely a coach is there to help and guide his players? If there is a problem in the game should they not be seeking to help the players and educate them? We often assume players know what they’re doing and can solve problems for theirselves, but this is seldom the case I’m afraid. They may need a helping hand from the coach, a tactical change, which can help ‘fix’ a problem. The coach can then explain this further after the game and help ‘educate’ their players about why this was the case.
I have no doubt that there will be some reading this thinking ‘this mentality is
the problem we’ve had before and which is why Academies have giants in their
sides and neglect the little players’. Yes the ‘need to win’ has affected both
players’ enjoyment and development and coaches’ mentality to the game. In far
too many cases physicality and ‘bravery’ have become favoured over skill and
intelligence. I agree this is a problem and is an issue seen across the
country still. Smaller players may limit the chance of success.
However, on the other hand, a smaller player used correctly could enhance your chance of success. It comes down to philosophies again. Do you value a small player? Do you want to use a playmaking number 10? Or do you ‘worry’ about smaller players? Perhaps you make them feel important and valued? For me players perform positively, and give their all to the game and team, when they feel valued and motivated by their coach.This is why a coach’s role is so important in player development. Build relationships, inspire and motivate your players, make them feel important and you will see a player who gives his all. Stress what you expect from them, and watch them as individuals and as a team excel.
This is my belief and approach. I love intensity in my training sessions, I love competition, I love skill and expression. If you’re big or small I don’t mind, I just want to see these attributes shown as consistently as possible. I judge the players I work with on what they offer, not how they look. I demand a lot from them and yes, stress that we must be seeking to win, yet win in a style which we can enjoy and which can entertain. I measure our success as a team on these questions;
Perhaps finding this balance of performance/competition is hard, perhaps seeking to win takes away some people’s principles and ‘win at all costs’ rears its ugly head. But the win at all costs mentality is ruining players and destroying lots of potential players. Competitiveness should not be disregarded but should be managed correctly. Winning should not be the pinnacle, success should be viewed through the quality of the performance. A team and individual can ‘win’ even when the result goes against them because they are focused on performance and development. It is not and should not be 'win at all costs' but players need to be brought up in environments which are competitive and intense, because there are concerns that English players lack the hunger and mindset to be an elite player.
However, on the other hand, a smaller player used correctly could enhance your chance of success. It comes down to philosophies again. Do you value a small player? Do you want to use a playmaking number 10? Or do you ‘worry’ about smaller players? Perhaps you make them feel important and valued? For me players perform positively, and give their all to the game and team, when they feel valued and motivated by their coach.This is why a coach’s role is so important in player development. Build relationships, inspire and motivate your players, make them feel important and you will see a player who gives his all. Stress what you expect from them, and watch them as individuals and as a team excel.
This is my belief and approach. I love intensity in my training sessions, I love competition, I love skill and expression. If you’re big or small I don’t mind, I just want to see these attributes shown as consistently as possible. I judge the players I work with on what they offer, not how they look. I demand a lot from them and yes, stress that we must be seeking to win, yet win in a style which we can enjoy and which can entertain. I measure our success as a team on these questions;
- Did we play our way?
- Did our players meet their individual/team targets?
- Did we have the best players on the pitch?
- Did we have the best players on the pitch?
- Did we play within the spirit of the game?
- Did we win the game?
Perhaps finding this balance of performance/competition is hard, perhaps seeking to win takes away some people’s principles and ‘win at all costs’ rears its ugly head. But the win at all costs mentality is ruining players and destroying lots of potential players. Competitiveness should not be disregarded but should be managed correctly. Winning should not be the pinnacle, success should be viewed through the quality of the performance. A team and individual can ‘win’ even when the result goes against them because they are focused on performance and development. It is not and should not be 'win at all costs' but players need to be brought up in environments which are competitive and intense, because there are concerns that English players lack the hunger and mindset to be an elite player.
As coaches we must be stressing how important competing is in
football, we must be producing competitive players who want to win. This is why
we must focus on defending, 1v1, as a unit and as a team as much as we focus on
in possession practices. The game is holistic in terms of having the ball,
losing the ball and being without the ball. Players must be able to deal and be
prepared to work in all moments of the game. Focusing on competing and winning games will
bring this mentality out in players, because they will see the importance of being focused all the time. Process over outcome. Focus on the process goals,
focus on the development of players, and you will more than likely win more
games and produce better players.
The point of this article is that winning is not a bad thing. Competition is a key aspect of development. Wanting to win and having a winning mentality are key areas when discussing player development. A positive result and winning the game, this is a bonus to good performance. Ultimately we as youth coaches will be measured on the development of players, not on results! However we must produce players who can compete and who strive to win. Not allowing them to lose is not a smart approach to develop a culture of youngsters who have the resilience and perseverance in times of difficulty to overcome the challenges in front of them. We don't want quitters, we want fighters.
The point of this article is that winning is not a bad thing. Competition is a key aspect of development. Wanting to win and having a winning mentality are key areas when discussing player development. A positive result and winning the game, this is a bonus to good performance. Ultimately we as youth coaches will be measured on the development of players, not on results! However we must produce players who can compete and who strive to win. Not allowing them to lose is not a smart approach to develop a culture of youngsters who have the resilience and perseverance in times of difficulty to overcome the challenges in front of them. We don't want quitters, we want fighters.
What's your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree with above? I would love to hear your feedback and own ideas. Send your email's to thewhitehouseaddress@gmail.com
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