Playing time

Well, it goes without saying that players who don't play don't develop. It's always difficult to decide when and where to play your weaker players.

The system that I used at my club was based on work habits in practice. The subs that worked the hardest and showed the most hunger were the first off the bench. This often had the effect of motivating the "stars" to practice harder as well.

Your best players will have a tendency to "coast" when it's appearent that they are so much better then some of thier teammates.

If you give all your subs "equal" time, this will act as a discouragement for the hard workers! You may find yourself surprised by how fast the gap between strong and weak can be made up if the player is motivated enough!

Assign "homework" like dribble with the outside of both feet and find out a few weeks later exactly who has been working on it at home......

 

Playing time....

I think promising playing time at the select or premier level is not needed. People who think game time is all that make good players are kidding themselves.

Nothing in my opinion is worse than a coach who runs his practices and does mostly scrimmaging. I'm a true believer of doing 75-80% skill work in small groups..2 to 3 with one ball or small sided type things. Practicing the basics and making sure even the weaker players get hundreds of touches at practice will be the only way weaker players get better.

The weaker players in a scrimmage of say 30 mins are lucky to touch the ball 5 to 10 times. The same holds true for them during game time. In scrimmage and games the stronger players dominate the play and get the majority of the touches.

In order to make the weaker players stronger you have to put them in a position to get as many touches of the ball as possible. If you truly believe in developing a player...good or bad. Look for a program or organization that stresses good practice techniques and development, and in time the playing time will come.

Good organizations promise nothing but quality training for all of their teams whether it's the top team or even their second or third team at an age group. You'll always have people who believe differently, but development is done at practice and applied in games. Even if you don't get good amounts of game time, if you utilize the training and work hard, you'll get better no matter what.

 

I would tend, in general, to agree with squash. but I have some important questions for you?

What is your goal as coach?
Is this a select team of 15-16 year olds and college scouts are going to be at all of their games?

If the answer is to win, play whomever you consider to be your best players and hope for the best. That may help you for that game, but the cost will be the opportunity lost for the other children to improve under pressure conditions. The other cost will be the confidence lost by the bench players. IMHO it is much harder to gain confidence than it is to lose it, so even if your team wins, you may lose in the longer term.

If your goal is to develop players then let them all play. Sure, your better players are likely to start out with a bit more playing time because it puts you and the team at ease. But if I see a kid or kids that are busting their behinds, they'll all get more playing time. What could be better than a full team of swarming ball hungry players that play with skill?

My outlook as a coach was always to try and raise the bar for every player and for the team as a whole. Whichever way you go, it would be a good idea if you made it clear to the team what you expect.

One of the best coaching tips I got was to never mention winning and losing. If, as a coach, you are doing a good job and developing your players that stuff takes care of itself. If you're not helping your players, talking about winning isn't going to help and it gets played out really fast.

 

I don't believe it's about winning...

Yes we all want to win, when it comes to state cup and tournaments. Winning should be a goal, but it shouldn't be lost in the development of players.

I think the most important thing is finding the right team for players. I believe it's better to have a strong roster of 15 players, than having 17 or 18 and having a few you don't feel confident in playing in tough games.

Parents of players will always question playing time, even if their child get's 50% of the game time. Most want all of the game time or feel cheated. I never select or keep a kid on my teams if i feel he's not a good fit or won't get the playing time they or their parent may deserve.

I have and always will be honest with my players. I'll recommend other try-outs if I feel they will get more playing time. It doesn't mean overall that they will get the same quality of training. Game time is a very small portion of a players life in soccer.

If you practice 2 days minimum or 3 to 4 like my teams, then the games are a very small part of the childs overall development. As a parent, you have to be realitstic, and decide what's best. All I can provide is good training and lots of it. If they feel the training and development is more important than 25-50% of game time for weakers players, then stay. If not find a team that fits their needs. I can't make players stay, or promise playing time. To be honest that's what the other leagues and divisions are for.

In our association we offer 3 categories. Recreational, club select, and premier. It's our job as coaches to make sure in the premier portion that we select and judge players accordingly, and if we make a mistake. That we fix it, by finding the child the right spot for them to play. Honesty tends to be the easiest way, and being up front about playing time, and development of each child.

In our Premier portion, we don't promise any playing time. We promise harder, more, and better training for kids. We offer $5 sessions for all of our kids within the organization. We are open to guest players at practice, if they think Premier may be of some interest. What we don't offer is playing time, it is earned at practice.