Hey you coaches, leave them kids alone
BILLY HARRIS:
Sunday Star Times | New Zealand Sunday, 17 June 2007

At some stage you'll have had a kid climb over your fence, or ring your door bell, and ask the question: "Can I have my ball back?"

Now kids everywhere are asking if they can have their game back. It used to be that kids went down to the park or into the street and played completely informal, uncoached games of football. In that environment they learned to play simply by playing, they had no "helpful advice" hurled at them from the sideline, and they had the freedom to experiment and fail.

Nowadays, kids' practice sessions resemble a military operation, with cones, queues and orders barked out by a drill sergeant masquerading as a coach.

So an organisation called "Give Us Back Our Game" has started up to protect that endangered species, the young footballer, who is thoroughly fed up with parents and coaches ruining football for them and, in many cases, pushing them away from the game they enjoyed.

On the website giveusbackourgame. co. uk, the group provide a checklist to help you identify whether the teams at your club are more interested in developing young players, or winning at all costs.

Do all the kids get equal game time? Or do the best kids stay on while the weaker ones sit it out week after week, waiting for the team to build a 5-0 lead before the coach risks putting them on? Equal game time gives the late developers a fair go and helps foster a happy squad of players, while a best-kids-play policy only widens the gap and virtually guarantees the lesser players quit the sport.

Does the coach put players in different positions? Or do they play in their best position every time? Rotating players might in the short term weaken the side, but long term develops more complete players.

Are the players left to think for themselves, or does the coach make all the decisions for them?

Is there a peaceful, relaxed environment around the pitch in which players can learn by making mistakes? Or are the coach and/or parents yelling, "Get rid of it, and don't muck around with it there!", thereby stifling any creativity or imagination the player might have?

Is the referee treated with respect or is he manipulated in pursuit of the all-important victory?

At schools and clubs all over the world, coaches are making the mistake of putting winning over development. They think they're the star of the show, that if the team wins the cup then they must be a good coach, forgetting, or not even knowing in the first place, that the real measure of their ability is how well their players do way down the track.

But even those who are doing it right have a tough opponent in the form of the parents who think their little Sam is the next Christiano Ronaldo.

"Why isn't Sam playing up front? Why is Sam sharing game time with the other kids? They need him on the pitch. Why isn't Sam taking the free kicks?" are the sorts of questions Sam's dad will be asking, to himself or anyone in earshot.

A coaching friend of mine explained how his practice sessions for his team of 10-year-olds attracted a growing gaggle of interested fathers.

As time wore on, the dads started shouting advice to their boys throughout the session. "Run at him! Have a shot next time! How many times have I told you - take two touches!" was the sort of bollocks they were yelling at a constant rate, the voices often overlapping each other in the still night air.

After a couple of weeks of this the coach called Time Out in the practice and called the fathers together. "Hey fellas, I was wondering if you could all do something for me," he said.

"Yeah yeah, how can we help?" they asked, thinking they were going to be asked to impart their profound wisdom in an official capacity.

"You could help by shutting up," said the coach.

It was the best piece of coaching he ever did.