Sometimes it is to the player's benefit to include them with older players. We do this for the individual development of that particular player. We might see that a player is one of the fastest and most skilled in his/her age group. That player might be able to be the most advanced player in his or her group in terms of psycho motor skills, but we would be limiting that player developmentally if we kept him or her in that age group; we want to include that player with older kids so that he/she is more challenged. At the older age group, that player may not appear to be performing as well as he/she did at the younger age group, but in actuality the player might be developing at a more rapid pace because he/she is playing against bigger, faster, and more skilled players.
Many times players and parents feel that filling the roster with younger players is harming their own development. I might be wrong, but I don't think that there was any backlash from NBA players when LeBron James, at 18 years old, entered the league. Maybe this is a far stretch because I am talking about a professional athlete. However, my guess is that LeBron played on older teams as a youth player. If this is the case, those opportunities helped shape the player he is today (of course, natural ability and athleticism helped too!). At times he might have faced some criticism by people who weren't sure if he deserved to be playing up on an older team. I wonder if those people would feel the same way today.
On the flip side, there is another well-known athlete who didn't enter his prime until much later in life. I am sure many people have heard Michael Jordan's story by now; he was cut from his high school basketball team. Most people laugh at that now and chalk it up to the coach not knowing what he was doing. Maybe there is some truth to that; I don't know. Or maybe it is because Jordan wasn't as good as his peers........yet. But something inside of him told him to keep working and keep the passion for the game. If he had been dissuaded and discouraged by that event in his life, we probably wouldn't be talking about his story today because we wouldn't know who he is. Jordan obviously still had passion for the game and he had supportive loved-ones around him who encouraged him to keep going. Smart folks.
I can offer my personal perspective on this topic as a former player. I can recall when I was 12 years old when I played against "Sue" (her name has been changed for purposes of this blog). Sue was the best player on the team--she was bigger and faster than everyone and always scored most of the goals. Everyone thought she was destined for stardom. However, Sue never learned how to play the right way. At 10, 11, 12 years old she was able to run past people and run over people. She kicked the ball as hard as she could and many times it found the back of the net. By the time she was 13, Sue was suddenly not as good anymore. There were two reasons for this. Number 1--she never took the time to learn the proper skills to apply to the game. She relied on her athletic ability to be the "best." Number 2--those kids that she was running past and running over in the previous years were suddenly just as big and just as strong but also knew how to play the right way because they were forced to learn when they were younger since they lacked some athleticism. Sue wasn't able to do the things she did before because the physical tools and athletic ability of her opponents had changed. Sue became just another player on the team rather than the best player on the team. She lost what she thought was passion for the game and eventually fizzled out. By the time she was 15, she was done playing.
I have seen situations like this as a coach too. I know about players who played all day, every day--not so much because they wanted to, but because their parents wanted them to. They played the game because it is just what they did, it was in a way, who they were. By the time they were well into high school they knew they didn't want to play anymore but they continued because they didn't want to disappoint their parents. None of the kids who I am thinking of right now are playing anymore. They have all moved on. Some moved on because of natural progression and some moved on because they were just burnt out on it and didn't enjoy it. Unfortunately, this will continue to happen for years and years to come. We hope that your kids are playing the game today because THEY want to play and not because YOU want them to play. Eventually, their desires will take over and they will stay in the game or leave the game based on their feelings toward it.
I found some interesting articles that you might find worth reading; I did. http://www.momsteam.com/successful-parenting/youth-sports-parenting-basics/child-development/early-and-late-bloomers-in-yout talks about late bloomers versus early bloomers and the parental outlook on both sides. I highly recommend reading the article because I think many of us can relate to it in one way or another. The other article I suggest can be found at: http://www.brianmac.co.uk/ltad.htm and it talks about the long term development of athletes and the importance of keeping things in perspective.
See you on the fields!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment