Is there Room for Values in Youth Sport?
Shared by Rob Anderson
I am a member of numerous coaching groups on Facebook. For a while I’ve been contemplating writing a piece on whether there is any room for values in grassroots sport, when I stumbled upon this post in a forum (copied with author’s permission)…
“Yesterday my U16s played a league match. 15 minutes in one of my players and their players tackle each other and fall to the ground. After a few seconds of play stopping, the opposition play two footed my player in the chest. Violent conduct and unprovoked so naturally I was waiting for a red card.
Referee gave a yellow and explained it was for the two footed kick to the chest. I was baffled by this decision. In the country I work in, when a player gets a yellow card, he is removed from the pitch for 5 minutes (they must play with 10 men for 5 minutes). Their coach was in agreement with me that it should have been red and was quite horribly violent.
But after the 5 minutes the same player rejoined the pitch after his 5 minute “sin bin”. My question is… As a coach of that player, would you allow him to continue the game? Or would you substitute him for another player? (We are under the assumption that any other referee would have given a red for something quite obvious).”
Now I’m sure for any of us coaching at any level of sport, we have seen a disciplinary decision that has baffled us due to its leniency. But the writer here asks some very provoking questions which really have the same underlying theme – does the grassroots coach have a responsibility to impose a form of discipline upon the player?
My answer would be “definitely!” I’ll explain why
Let’s start by admitting that many coaches have followed the humbling path from mini-coaching to being an observer and spectator at games. We’re not perfect either. Sometimes we lapse into bad habits under stress because we’re human. But we believe in the football culture and strive always to be good role models.
So, lets look at some of the reasons for ‘mini-coaching’ and also shatter some myths.
1)It’s a disservice to the individual
Just as we plan a development pathway for technical skill and physical development, so we must plan a pathway for attitude and character. To sum this up nicely here is a quote from someone who can say it better:
You see the issue lies not only in the actions we see in the immediate context. Yes, a poor tackle such as that above can have a negative effect on the opposition player’s wellbeing. This is unacceptable. However, what is more worrying is the establishing of such negative behaviour as a habit in the lives of one of your athletes. Too often we as coaches excuse poor behaviour and resulting discipline as “out of our jurisdiction”. This happens even more frequently if the player happens to be one of our better athletes. But what if this athlete doesn’t make it in sport, what about their future influence and contribution as a member of society?
As Ghandi said these actions can create habits, values and ultimately your future. If you fail to address these issues as a developmental stage, these WILL have a knock-on effect later in an athlete’s career (if they make it) and personal life. It may cost a suspension, a scholarship or even a pro contract. If you think I’m being extreme, have a look at the NFL suspension list for 2015, it makes for interesting reading: violating the PED policy, violating the substance abuse policy, role in a DUI/hit and run/vandalism, violating the personal conduct policy, the list goes on and on.
Keep in mind, these are the guys that made it. The 1%. How many failed to make it due to their discipline on or off the pitch? It’s impossible to know. To fail to act upon a disciplinary issue is to fail your athlete. As the great coach John Wooden said, “Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.”
2)It’s a disservice to the team
To lose a player for a 5 minute sin bin, a match or a series of matches is costly to a team. It requires greater effort on the part of those behind to continue to perform at the same level with 1 player less. If your athletes cannot keep their cool when their is little at stake, do not expect them to be level headed when the pressure comes. This might cost you a goal, a match, a cup or a championship. But at some point it will cost you and your team. Better to act early to teach a player a valuable lesson than to wait for the lesson to arrive. Again, in the words of Wooden, “Failure isn’t fatal, but failure to change might be.”
4)It’s a disservice to the sport
If you fail to act at the developmental level and one of these badly behaved players becomes professional, they have become an ambassador for your sport and that is bad news. As a case study, look at the career of soccer player Luis Suarez:
Intentionally hand balling on the goal line to prevent Ghana scoring (2010 World Cup quarter final, red card)
Biting Otman Bakkal in a match for Ajax vs PSV Eindhoven (2010, 7 match ban)
Racially abusing Patrice Evra in a match for Liverpool against Manchester United (2011, 8 match ban £40k fine)
Biting Branislav Ivanovic in a match for Liverpool against Chelsea (2013, 10 match ban, undisclosed fine)
Biting Giorgio Chiellini in a World Cup Group match for Uruguay against Italy (2014, worldwide ban from all football activities for 4 months, 9 match international ban, £66k fine)
It’s impossible to say how many people saw Luis Suarez bite someone. I mean for starters which person! But he has also done it at 2 world cups and 1 premier league match. It’s also impossible to measure his impact on parents who may have pointed their children into other sports as a result of seeing this behaviour, or his influence on young players as a potential role model. But needless to say, it probably isn’t good, and this is just one player in one sport! What about Lance Armstrong, Barry Bonds or John Terry?
I hope you can see the far reaching and negative consequences of failing to challenge poor behaviour from your athletes. In part 2 of this article, I will share with you some great tools and strategies that I have come across to help instil great values in your athletes.
Integrating values into youth sport:
Why I think coaches are responsible for challenging poor discipline in their athletes. I also highlighted the negative effects that failing to do so can have on:
1 The individual
2 The team
3 The club
4 The sport
My aim to communicate some useful tools and strategies to help foster a better discipline in your athletes, as well as a better attitude overall.
I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the Positive Coaching Alliance or “PCA”. You can find them here: http://www.positivecoach.org
They are an organisation based in the USA, focussing on developing the character and integrity of athletes. I like the PCA and what they are trying to achieve. They endorse the idea of a “Double goal coach”, which is a coach who two aims:
1. Winning
By learning to compete effectively
Wanting to win, not at all costs but through a concerted effort
2.Teaching young people vital, character-building life skills through sport, that will equip them for the future
Leadership
Handling adversity
Teamwork
Persistence
Compassion
To achieve this aims, they consider that a coach needs to address 3 components:
Honour our sport (ROOTS).
The PCA is aware of issues that blight youth sport such as coaches that want to win at all costs, pushy parents, abuse of officials and touchline violence. They believe it is crucial that that young people are taught how to respect and honour the sport. ROOTS is how they communicate this. The acronym stands for Respecting Rules, Opponents, Officials, Teammates, and Self.
Redefine “Winner”
They believe that to help young people become successful in all walks of life, then it is important to realise the winning a match or tournament is a short-term way of thinking and may actually stunt long-term development. To prevent this, they encourage a shift from a “scoreboard” culture (results drive, comparison with peers, intolerance of mistakes) to a “mastery” culture (focus on effort, learning and recognising mistakes happen). You may see some similarities here to the Growth Mindset developed by Dr Carol Dweck. You would be absolutely correct…
They reinforce that a “winner” as someone who gives their best at all times, continues to learn/improve and does not allow mistakes or fear of mistakes to stop them trying new things. Sounds like a pretty good athlete to me. Someone with that attitude can only continue to make the most of their abilities be it athletic, academic or life skills.
To help teach this, they utilise the acronym “ELM”:
Effort, Learning, Mistakes are OK
Fill the Emotional Tank
It’s important that young athletes have the confidence and self-esteem to enjoy new experience and make new relationships. To help build this confidence, it’s important that coaches give consistent encouragement and correct praise. For some confidence is fragile and can often centre around performance. Negative comments from peers, parents or coaches can often lead to discouragement and anxiety. The PCA introduces the idea of an “emotional tank” that can be filled or drained accordingly and how we as coaches have a part to play in that:
There are many other facets to the PCA programme that help to uphold these values. The idea of “culture keepers”, developing self-control and mistake rituals, teachable moments and nipping problems in the bud. I would encourage to read further on their method using some of the resources below, or via their site. They also have numerous resources including books and online courses for athletes, parents and coaches. I’ll leave you with a video of PCA founder Jim Thompson presenting a TED Talk about youth sport as a development zone:
