Some youth coaches fear that competitive games or drills can bruise young kids’ self esteem and deflate enthusiasm for soccer. They shouldn’t. Competition, which lies at the heart of any good game, makes soccer fun while pushing players and teams to improve. This is true at any level of the sport. But coaches need to use competitive games in the right way.
John Greaves, the Director of Coaching at YMS Explosion of Eastern Pennsylvania, says that competitive games help engage players with the sport from a young age.
“At YMS, we keep the training fun and exciting because the practices are challenging,” Greaves said.
Greaves suggests that simple races, which focus on technical skills, can excite kids the most.
“They love it because they’re racing and winning,” Greaves said.
But Greaves also notes that it is important for coaches of young kids to not promote winning at all costs or to punish losers. Rather, he notes that competition should be used to excite, to promote effort and improvement, not to discourage.
An easy game that gets kids moving and uses competition to motivate effort and success.
How does a coach of younger players accomplish this? Greaves suggests that youth coaches serve an important role in ensuring that every player wins.
“It’s important to learn to make everyone a winner, to use little tricks. It’s like, ‘Oh, there’s a three way tie. Rerun.’ Or, ‘Come back next week and we’ll do it again.’ That’s how we retain our players [at the club]. We keep it exciting.”
Competition serves an equally crucial role in engaging and motivating players in the U-12 and U-14 age groups. Competitive small-sided games push young players to develop savvy tactical abilities, to make faster decisions, and to win. They also teach players to cope with losing, to turn losses into positive and motivating experiences.
Jason Dewhurst, the Director of Coaching for the Stars of Massachusetts, stresses the positive attitude that competitive small-sided games create:
“You’ve got to have some kind of competition in the training, where the kids are going to gain something from it, and gain a little bit of attitude and winning mentality … One day a week we’ll just do small sided games for the whole training session. The kids love it.”
Dewhurst advocates creating a competitive environment not only within one team but also within his entire club.
“We’ll have our U-14s play against our U-15s regularly,” Dewhurst said. “And we’ll even have our boys play against our girls … Sometimes the girls are more technical than the boys. But the boys are more physical. So they learn from each other. The girls have to play quicker because they’re going to get closed down quicker. And the boys have to work to get the ball.”
Competition can produce some ugly results. But, if used correctly, it also works as the best motivator in the game.
As players develop and play at higher levels, competition continues to serve a crucial role in player improvement. Besides motivating effort, competitive environments also teach players to cope with the increasing pressures of matches that occur at this age group.
Travis Kikugawa raves about creating what he calls a “competitive cauldron” at his practices with his U-16 Real So. Cal boys’ team. For Kikugawa, competition should pervade all aspects of practice, even skill exercises that rely on small groups.
“One of the biggest things I’ve built all of my teams around is the idea of competition, that it’s OK to go after each other at training,” Kikugawa said. “It’s OK to want to be the best and win in everything you do within the context of the team. Even when we break off and do one vs. one exercises to goal, you should always want to win. ”
In addition to many other benefits, such competition improves players skills while preparing them for the intensity and pressure of game days.
“When Saturday and Sunday comes along they’re used to going after each other,” Kikugawa said. “That’s the biggest thing, is getting these guys to learn to respect the training. You know, don’t just get excited for Saturday and Sunday. You’ve got to get better during the week, because otherwise what’s the finished product going to be? Probably not so good.”
Do any coaches have suggestions about how to create positive competitive environments at practices? Which games work well with which age groups?
