22-0

Is the goal of a 9 year old team to win? Winning matters. And it should matter. It's way more fun than losing. But if you are up to 10 goals by "winning" using one way of playing - why not try to teach the kids something new?
I've coached youth basketball. 5th graders. Mixed abilities, but most of them playing organized basketball for the 1st time. We had a stud player on our team. And a taller player on our team. I could have said "Get the ball to the stud. Only she shoots. And the tall player - I'll just teach her to box out and grab rebounds. The other 3 players - you just get out of the way."
And on defense - I could have taught a zone. Everyone keep their feet inside the paint and keep your hands up -- Because most 5th graders don't have a range past about 10 feet.
We probably would have only given up a basket or 2 per game by playing this way. And scored a ton.
We played against several teams that did exactly what I mention above.
I ONLY teach man-to-man defense at this age.
And on offense - We dind't try to do any super complex plays. Because the kids could barely dribble or shoot. We spent time in practice on layups and shooting.
We taught a simple pick and roll to beat a man-to-man defense. And a simple drive and kick-it to beat a zone.
We had 2 inbound plays with simple names.

We wound up with 7 wins and 3 losses this year for a 2nd place finish. Every kid but one scored several baskets (Girl who didn't score has a mild disability. We tried like heck to get her a basket). Team that finished ahead of us had a 5th grade girl who was nearly 6 feet tall. She scored most of the points the 2 times that we played them. I'm not sure if she ever dribbled the ball. We gave them their only loss the 1st time that we played them.

At the younger ages it's more about learning than winning. Not sure anyone learns from a 22-0 shutout.
 
Nope. The goal is to win - or even not lose sometimes. Or "make a good show of it". Or keep a clean sheet. This is true at every level everywhere in the world.
Don't be so dense. Yes, the goal is to win. How do you win? by scoring goals. And yes, sometimes not losing by X goals is enough to qualify to the next round, but that's beyond the point. The goal of the game is to win by scoring goals.
 
Is the goal of a 9 year old team to win? Winning matters. And it should matter. It's way more fun than losing. But if you are up to 10 goals by "winning" using one way of playing - why not try to teach the kids something new?

Of course that at this age players need to be developed. And that's a whole process taken place during practices, and actual games.

Example:
When my kid's team formed, they were being beating left and right. Did we (parents) cry ourselves to sleep? Of course not! we understood why and guided our kids accordingly. They learned a lot from playing tier 1 and tier 2 teams. By the end of the second year, they dominated the league and were on the other end of the spectrum. They became better, by playing teams above their level.
 
Nope. The goal is to win - or even not lose sometimes. Or "make a good show of it". Or keep a clean sheet. This is true at every level everywhere in the world.

If it is early in the season, once you have a comfortable lead it might be a good chance to practice in a game situation things the team is having trouble with or try out people in different spots on set plays.
 
If it is early in the season, once you have a comfortable lead it might be a good chance to practice in a game situation things the team is having trouble with or try out people in different spots on set plays.
Ok... something else we agree with.
 
Yes, the goal is to win.
Again, not always. Playing for a draw happens all the time in tournaments (including the World Cup) and in league games where you know your opponent is better (even more so if you're playing away).

How do you win? by scoring goals.
And... by not letting the other team score.

One of the benefits of making your team pass when they have a huge lead is that they move the ball forward and back which ends up creating tougher situations to get out of. I've been on both sides of this (the winning and loosing) and when the better team turns off the tap, the lesser team starts to come out of their shell and push the better team back. It helps the better team develop possession and defense tremendously.
 
I talked to a gal at the hotel pool in San Diego last weekend and her kid's team (2010 I think) beat a team 21-0. She said the coach tried making the girls have to pass 7 times before scoring among other things and he even took 2 players off of the field and they kept scoring. If I had just seen the score, I would have thought ill of the coach but listening to what this coach tried to do gives a different perspective.
 
Don't be so dense. Yes, the goal is to win. How do you win? by scoring goals. And yes, sometimes not losing by X goals is enough to qualify to the next round, but that's beyond the point. The goal of the game is to win by scoring goals.

The goal at the 2009 level is to win? Aside from the pyramid being upside down (rich kids playing, sub rules, this league, that league etc), at this age group, winning isn't or shouldn't be the main focus. The main focus should be development and should always trump winning. I always have this debate with people...In our country our kids are limited to drills, drills, kickball, drills drills kick ball. In other countries, kids are encouraged to be creative, play pick up games where their creativity can flourish. While there always is a winner and a loser, at the younger age groups, the focus of winning is ONLY to please parents and inflate egos. DOC's are guilty of that. Why not create a culture where kids develop FIRST?

It's true that our women's team is one of the top teams in the nation, but lets not kid ourselves here. It's not because they're technical..it's because we have beast athletes that are faster and stronger than our opponents. But we're seeing that the other countries are learning from their male counterparts, learning how to properly pass, receive, move into space and not just kick the ball forward and hope forwards can outrun the back line. If the trend continues, you'll see a decline in our women's game (and in a lot of instances, you have!).

But back to your point, coaches/DOC's should know the level of where their teams are and not put them in a position to utterly fail and demoralize their kids. Not fair to young kids to be put in a position like that.
 
Winning is important, playing good soccer (development) is important, having fun is important. The trick is finding the right balance which is why a good coach is so critical. Winning is important because it builds confidence which cant be overstated. Now a 22-0 doesn't accomplish much, but let's be honest in the hundreds of games played every weekend a blowout like this is rare. One of my pet peeves is when we try to legislate or make rules around events that rarely occur.

A 22-0 blowout is a great teachable moment for both teams. The worst messages to your kids are for the losing team's coach or parents to whine about the sportsmanship of the other team or for the winning team to gloat about their victory. If your the losing team, nut up and if your the winning team try showing some humility.
 
You are kidding yourself if you think anyone is developing tremendously in these type of games.
I agree that these games aren't good for either team, but if you find yourself in one, what are your options? Running up the score against a lessor team seems to be less helpful than trying to keep possession - something that is harder to learn at younger ages.
 
I talked to a gal at the hotel pool in San Diego last weekend and her kid's team (2010 I think) beat a team 21-0. She said the coach tried making the girls have to pass 7 times before scoring among other things and he even took 2 players off of the field and they kept scoring. If I had just seen the score, I would have thought ill of the coach but listening to what this coach tried to do gives a different perspective.

How humiliating for the losing team to know they were losing against a team that was just kicking the ball around and with only 9 players in the field. In boxing, it would like like losing to an opponent who has one hand tied to his back. That's even more disrespectful.

Now, the coach should not expose his/her team to this kind of scores by placing them in the right flight. If they are flight 3 and still lose this bad, maybe he/she needs to develop them more before competing.
 
Often times tournaments are forced to group Flight 1, 2 & 3 teams in the same bracket. Which is unfortunate. There just aren't enough teams for tournaments to have 3 flights. Understanding that coaches should pick and choose their tournaments more closely to their teams level. Just my .02$
 
A 22-0 blowout is a great teachable moment for both teams. The worst messages to your kids are for the losing team's coach or parents to whine about the sportsmanship of the other team or for the winning team to gloat about their victory.

I have to actually correct that statement. The worst message that could be sent would be for the losing coach to forfeit the match, like some here have mind-boggingly suggested. "Hey kids when the going gets tough just quit."
 
Often times tournaments are forced to group Flight 1, 2 & 3 teams in the same bracket. Which is unfortunate. There just aren't enough teams for tournaments to have 3 flights. Understanding that coaches should pick and choose their tournaments more closely to their teams level. Just my .02$
I’d say there are plenty of teams. There’s just too many tournaments.
 
Our town 5/6 grade girls team (which is 12 strong club players) played in a charity jamboree yesterday to raise money for the family of a police officer who was killed last month. Each team in the event played two games. First game was against another fairly strong team and ended up 5-0.

The second game was against a smaller (probably 4/5 grade) team who had traveled up from out of state. Knew from the get go it was going to be very hard to keep the score down. Last thing I wanted to do was run up the score in a charity event. I spoke to the other coach and he added an additional player on the field and we put in a “five pass rule” before shooting for our girls. Game still ended up 10 or 11-0, but I felt like the kids on the other team fought hard the whole game and probably benefitted from it.

Sometimes it’s really hard to keep the score down even when the kids buy into why we are asking them to do it.
 
I’d say there are plenty of teams. There’s just too many tournaments.

Yes this is the issue, too many tournaments and too many leagues results in travelling further to find competitive games. Being in Orange County, I don't see any reason to travel outside of South OC, there are enough teams here and if everyone was in the same league/system then everyone would be a winner.
 
Sometimes, teams will be severely outmatched. What should a coach do in this instance? It is hard to strike a difficult balance between letting the score get out of hand or embarrassing the other team. The goal in this instance is to make a somewhat competitive challenge without humiliating the other team.

To me as a player. Losing 5-0 to a 11v7 is just as humiliating as losing 22-0 to 11v11. If the other team plays keep away instead of try to score goals, that is insulting and frustrating.
The perfect theoretical solution is for the coach to handicap his own players without the other team noticing. Keep-away and removing 4 players is noticeable. Shouting "Only 2 touches" so the whole field can hear is noticeable. Obviously the perfect solution is theoretical as there will always be some sort of notice to any solution, but the closer we get to the theoretical solution, the better.

Switching player roles is not that noticeable. Telling your subs they only have 2 touches and subbing them in so the whole team is on the same page is not noticeable. Telling your team (via subs or half time) that they can only volley or header a goal from a cross is not that noticeable. Doing your best Spain vs Russia cosplay, using only the weak foot to shoot or pass. All this is really the most a coach can do. He should also tell his players to not advertise that they are being handicapped.

And for God's sake. If you put the goalie on the field, inform your team and your goalie at halftime that they shouldn't celebrate like madmen when the goalie score his first goal ever, which just so happens to be the 11th goal of the game.
 
And for God's sake. If you put the goalie on the field, inform your team and your goalie at halftime that they shouldn't celebrate like madmen when the goalie score his first goal ever, which just so happens to be the 11th goal of the game.

If the team is 12 and under and this is the first goal the keeper has scored, it might explain why a "winning" team is going 11-0. United Soccer Coaches (formerly NSCAA) recs are clear that goalkeepers shouldn't be 100% specialized until age 12. If that's really happening, it may be an indication that the team has prioritized winning over player development....in which case no wonder they are so dominant, but if you buy into the guidelines, the keeper (let alone field players who may be overspecialized) may be getting the shorter end of the stick.
 
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