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What Do You Think About Competitive Youth Football [Discussion]

By on October 10, 2011

This afternoon a discussion broke out across Twitter regarding the ‘political correctness’ around youth football after one league in Shropshire decided to only score matches ’1-0′, ’0-0′ or ’1-1′ to avoid humiliation for young players.

The story, reported in the Daily Mail, sparked a lot of comments and discussion around the way youth football is run in England and we’d like to hear your thoughts:

  • Is the Telford Junior League right to stop publishing results from their league and only score matches ’1-0′, ’0-0′ or ’1-1′?
  • Do youth teams need leagues? Or should they just play competitive friendlies?
  • What age should teams start to compete in leagues?

Reaction from Twitter:

I don’t think kids care about a season long campaign. They’re still competitive in individual matches but leagues are for adults. – @BetterFootball

The East Kent Youth League are now recording U8′s results on match sheets (Not printed in press or elsewhere) Start of the next Season a team is placed in a League with teams that had similar results from the previous Season. – @Mangle101

Kids ‘experience’ winning and losing after every game. But 15mins later most up to about U11/12 couldn’t care less! Adults do! – @nlevett

Our u-9s go into a ‘competitive’ league after Christmas. Dads, not kids, asking questions and getting excited! – @PanthersFC

Let us know what you think about youth football and what changes you would like to see in the comments below.

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  1. Luke Bowler says:
    October 10, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    What’s important is for coaches to be taught how to instill in our young players (and their parents) that its not about taking competition out of sports but that winning (traditionally) isn’t always the only or greatest victory.

    Reply
  2. Oliver Williams says:
    October 10, 2011 at 5:44 pm

    To be perfectly honest, I don’t actually think this strategy removes any competition from the games. For me it can only have positive consequences – games are still won, drawn or lost and young kids will always be naturally competitive.

    You could of course argue that not knowing the final score doesn’t really make a heavy defeat any less demoralising for the losing team.

    @Luke – I couldn’t agree more with the following statement “how we bounce back or respond to those consequences is a fundamental learning experience” – for me this is the area where good youth team coaches excel.

    Interesting discussion point though – any one else got any thoughts on this?

    Reply
  3. Paul Rolfe says:
    October 10, 2011 at 7:31 pm

    for leagues of multiple teams then surely the randomness of picking 10 teams for the A league and 10 for the B league and so on will result in the 8-0 etc defeats for the weaker teams. With league tables it enables leagues to have evenly matched sides thus minimising the heavy defeats suffered by some weaker teams,
    Teaching the children at a young age that results are not important and its the ‘taking part that counts’ for me is the reason why as a country we are failing in major competitions, its the whole English attitude of being fair competitors that has taken away our hunger and passion for the games we participate in and has also contributed towards taking away the desire to win.
    Children are not stupid and know if they are winning matches then they are going to be top of the league or thereabouts. My son is playing in an under 8 league and he is quick to ask why dont we have league tables as they do in the premier league.
    I started off playing competitive football at a young age and back then it was 11 a side teams with league tables and also heavy defeats. I agree with the smaller sided games as i see this as a way of developing more technical skill for the players and sometimes think the goals and pitches could even be made smaller making close control and ball skill more important rather than what boy can kick the ball harder, higher or further. Already at a young age there is physical size mismatches in teams so is the next step to stop bigger children playing in the same age groups as smaller children becausethe potential for more injuries??

    Reply
    • Oliver Williams says:
      October 10, 2011 at 7:46 pm

      Hi Paul,

      All very valid points and I think you’re right with regards to leagues.

      Looking back, I know for a fact that if I wasn’t playing in a league at a young age, I would have lost interest relatively quickly. And of course, if any changes are made to the way we run youth sport, the changes have to be within reason.

      Thanks for your thoughts.

      Reply
      • Colin says:
        October 11, 2011 at 8:19 pm

        Not sure l agree with all the comments made by Paul. The football game will always be played at a competitive level at all ages. Each game and every game will have that drive and the will to win and that’s all the kids need. Adding the results together start adding a number of problems, weaker players start missing out of games, parents start adding the pressure on the Kids, managers start to focus on winning the game and not developing all the players, we then lose the grassroots of football. Just because you and l played in leagues years ago, does not mean we need to do the same with our children. Develop the skill, add it to a game and watch the kids enjoy football at an early age. We need to think about football from a kids point of view not from an adult.

  4. Ash Read says:
    October 11, 2011 at 9:07 pm

    Hi Colin,

    I feel you’ve hit the nail on the head with your comment. Whether league tables are involved or not each and every youth football match will be played with drive and the aim of winning – not having a league table to focus on won’t change the competitiveness of each match.

    I feel that when leagues are involved, especially towards the end of the season, some youth coaches/teams may forget what’s really important and focus on winning at all costs rather than playing football the right way and making sure the young players get the most out of each match.

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

    Reply
  5. Sportwise says:
    October 12, 2011 at 8:12 am

    What’s your opinion guys? We are a little undecided.

    Reply
    • Ash Read says:
      October 12, 2011 at 6:11 pm

      Personally I feel that whether or not a league is involved every youth football match will be played in a competitive spirit. League tables can add pressure and maybe a better option is friendly matches with occasional tournaments throughout the year.

      I don’t agree with only scoring games ’1-0′, ’0-0′ or ’1-1′, but do feel that things need to be changed within the structure of youth football. Whatever happens at the grass roots level will have an effect on the professional game and the standard of English players coming through the ranks.

      Thanks for your comment – please feel free to share your views.

      Reply
  6. Blaise says:
    October 12, 2011 at 8:22 am

    I guess you’ll want to add a twitter icon to your site. Just bookmarked this url, although I had to do this manually. Just my suggestion.

    My site:
    DSL Anbieter klick hier

    Reply
    • Oliver Williams says:
      October 12, 2011 at 12:38 pm

      Hi Blaise,

      There is an icon in the footer just below the comments – maybe this should be more visible though. I’ll take a look at this soon.

      Guys – any other feedback on the site, please feel free to get in touch.

      Reply
  7. Ski Vaught says:
    October 14, 2011 at 4:24 am

    In my long tenure, I have come to find that winning at any cost, and or worrying over winning at the earlier ages ( which I think more parents than coaches or trainers do) to be a detriment to our game and the younger players. I believe most teams up to about age 11 will often simply win because of having better athletes. But from that point on, they must have the technical and tactical needs a player must have to advance. What good does some little trophy at age seven or eight do a player, if when they are age 17 and cant make a club team….. If we as coaches work hard at personal study, and our players are instructed and conditioned correctly, they will be better prepared and our Team will do better.

    As a side note, living in the US, I also take the time to educate my students of all ages as to the history of this beautiful game, so to give try and help them gain due and proper respect for the game and its roots also…..

    Thanks much! Be well…… Ski Vaught

    Reply
  8. Connor Natella says:
    October 14, 2011 at 4:53 pm

    I think it’s fairly obvious that there are parts of our nation’s youth set-up which are fairly old fashioned. The call for change in grassroots is not new.
    For example, young players are playing mini-soccer up until they reach 11. This is very technically rewarding for young players, as they see a lot more of the ball and are given a very clear introduction to what’s important in football. (One of those things is the desire to win.) However, as soon as they reach 11, they are plunged into the 11-a-side game.
    I’ve been involved in youth football a number of years now, and one thing that always baffles me, is what the FA expect children of 11 can do with that huge jump. It’s too far, yes, some players thrive under that, but the majority don’t.
    Can’t we take what most centres of excellence and youth academies are trying to do, and make it the norm. Begin with 4 a side with our youngest players, gradually move to 6 a side at 6/7 years old, 8 a side at 9/10 and finally 11-a-side at 12/13.
    Yes it’s not much of a difference between going to 11 a side aged 12, compared to aged 11. But the way we introduce kids to it is bang, huge pitches/goals etc. By introducing children slowly into the game, by gradually increasing size and number of players as they mature, we stand a much better chance when it comes to local development.
    Scoring games “1-0″, “0-0″, “1-1″, is not going to improve players. Kids know when they get beat 11-0. Changing the scoreline won’t help them, a different emphasis on our coaching, and our system, is needed to even the odds.
    In my view, leagues are a part of football and should be gradually introduced. It needs to be stripped back, and started again. Kids should be coached to celebrate their personal, and group, achievements, whether that be winning the game, or improving their passing. That coaching style should compliment a system which is designed to encourage, motivate and develop children.

    Reply
  9. Jeff Holmes says:
    December 6, 2011 at 2:34 am

    This discussion topic has become common in many jurisdictions around the world.

    It seems to me that there is a common theme every discussion I have seen on the topic of competitive leagues for young players. It goes like this:

    First, competitive leagues for young kids seems to be something implemented more for parents than for the youth players. It provides a simplistic method for them to measure their son or daughter’s success and more likely provides bragging rights when discussing their child’s activities with other parents.

    Second, problems arise in competitive leagues when some coaches (who is sometimes a parent of one of the players) decide that it is most important to win games at all costs and they sacrifice player development for game results and league stats.

    Third, the elimination of league standings and stats is the reaction of league and club officials to these over competitive coaches in an attempt to have them focus on player development. Rathe than simply tell the coaches to focus on development or replacing the coach with someone more appropriate, they chose to modify league rules. Their intentions are reasonable, but I think they forget to include a proper PR and education campaign for the parents and media. So we end up with these discussions.

    I think the discussion is actually good for the sport. It keeps us focused on what is important – the development of skillful players who will enjoy the game for life. It also keeps us thinking about how best to achieve this goal.

    Reply
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