As the tournament season draws to an end, I would just like to reflect on something I witnessed first hand yesterday.
Junior Tournaments can be quite fascinating to the impartial observer as it can draw together teams from opposite ends of the Grassroots spectrum. On the one hand the fun/social teams there for a day out and to have some fun.
At the other end of the spectrum the teams that take their football a little more seriously with aspirations of winning leagues/cups/tournaments etc.
Yesterday I watched a very talented team have every decision taken away from them, the coach was operating the team like an X-Box game.
I specifically use the word operating as it certainly didn’t appear to be coaching. Every single decision a player had to make the coach would bellow what he wanted from the sidelines. When a player attempted to express themselves he would immediately shout “NO, what the hell you doing”
When a player made a mistake the anger in the coaches voice was apparent and the way he spoke to the children was ultimately appalling, what amazed me more was the parents said nothing. I couldn’t help but think, I couldn’t bear to have my own child play under this regime.
In between games I saw the coach berate the kids (who had won every game) for allowing a team to score against them. He specifically said and I quote “We do NOT concede goals”
The kids went on to win the tournament but I couldn’t help thinking at what expense, the game was entirely controlled by an adult, their mistakes highlighted publicly and critically.
Winning and losing is part of the sport and great lessons can be learnt from winning and losing, I have no issue with competitive teams wanting to win, however in this case The desire to win had taken over the desire to have fun and enjoy the game. These are children who most likely still believe in Santa Claus, just let that sink in a minute.
Was the game being played out by the kids or was it a human X-Box game played out by the coach?
It made me think of this quote by Les Howie
If the enjoyment of the game is taken away by the adults who rant and rave on the touch line. The grassroots game becomes, in effect a computer games controlled by the adults.
The opportunity for players to plant the seeds of a lifelong love affair with the game will be diminished.
Les Howie
The team won, the adults were happy and the kids got their medals, so the coach and the team will be deemed a success by the coach. However when I looked, I saw no smiles, I saw no eye contact from the players to the coach and most importantly I saw kids who weren’t enjoying themselves anymore despite winning.
At that minute I understood that success isn’t always about winning, and smiles are worth more than any medal, I would of happily returned every medal in exchange for a smile or a laugh from one of those players.
Anon
