John84
New member
Give your bench players some time, and some quasi-game time experience so that they can improve. They don't get the same benefit as if they were in a tied game in the 4th quarter, but they still get some playing time.
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Because kids aren't already soft enough...
- Thread starter John84
- Start date
Give your bench players some time, and some quasi-game time experience so that they can improve. They don't get the same benefit as if they were in a tied game in the 4th quarter, but they still get some playing time.
Exactly. And that is how you develop young players, role players for play-off time, and rest your starters.
I wonder how many of those crazy parents actually played sports growing up?
Jaytrek57
New member
Running up the score, for whatever reason, at any level....is bullshit. Esp. at the youth level where it can be controlled by the coaches. It is pretty weak as well when people try to justify this. If you can't controll the pace/flow of the game....
If only it worked that way...you see, in the travel league in our region the rule is that all players shall play at least 1 half of the game regardless of ability. I guess the reason being that if they make parents drive around they at least have to see their kids play. Again, a kid's activity dominated by parents.
You don't see playing time doled out according to ability only until you get to the upper levels of play in MAPS (the premier league David is in now) or state ODP (Olympic development).
Running up the score to be an a-hole is not what anyone is endorsing here. At least not in my interpretation. But telling your team to not try is bull. Example, when I was back in HS our second team would replace the first team in the third or fourth quarter. Our second team could play a technically sound game (no flash, no show boating, nothing unsportsmanlike) and still outpace most teams we played. So should the second team players who don't always get a chance to play go out and play half assed so that the other teams feelings aren't hurt? Hell no, they are fighting for an opportunity to play when a starter gets hurt or a starting spot the following year.
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True if the starters are left in the game long after it's decided.
But what about when the third string is put in and they're still better than the opposing team. So you're telling me that the kids who ride the bench, who never play, are supposed to lay down and not score. That isn't gonna happen and it's really unfair to those kids.
That's why the running time idea is a better one.
But running game time hurts both teams. Its time for the 2nd and 3rd string to play. But its also game time for the lesser of the two teams to play against a better team. The more time you spend playing a better team the better your team will become. Think about how one can learn tons from skiing with more talented skiers. We used to scrimmage the varsity team when I was on junior varsity. Some years that was the only real competition we got.
hammer
Active member
I guess the local soccer league works like that as well for the fall season...here's a clip from their web site:
"In the fall, each player will play 50% of the game. The spring is more competitive. Players might not be played 50%, however no player will be on the bench for the entire game."
My kids are in the rec leagues so I don't know this for sure, but I'd guess that not too many kids on the travel teams sit on the benches the whole time, since in theory the tryouts would have eliminated kids that should really be in the rec league.
Congrats on having your son in the upper league...if he's good enough then the challenge should suit him well.
Jaytrek57
New member
Again...justify all you want...it is still bullshit.
A coach can dictate plays, timeouts, subs, etc...and have a hand in controlling this issue. A "good" coach doesn't tell their team to lay down, they use their soft skills to facilitate an outcome.
To preface, I am against "trophies for everyone" and "everyone plays the same amount" in youth sports.
A coach can dictate plays, timeouts, subs, etc...and have a hand in controlling this issue. A "good" coach doesn't tell their team to lay down, they use their soft skills to facilitate an outcome.
To preface, I am against "trophies for everyone" and "everyone plays the same amount" in youth sports.
It's what he wants...he's been practicing every day all summer, working on his footskills and endurance. It's the most focused I've ever seen him. As long as he stays that way, I'll absorb the costs and time commitments.
I'll be very specific with my example. Lacrosse has always been my main team sport. If its there are 15 minutes left in the game and we try to kill clock on offense to not run up the score we can be called for stalling and lose possession of the ball. So are we supposed to give up the ball every two minutes and give the other team an opportunity to crawl back into the game or get some momentum? Our coach would require us to make about 5 passes on offense before we took a shot. And even with our 2nd and/or 3rd team in the game we would easily make the requisite number of passes and have a solid shot on cage. And for that lucky bench player who has the ball in his stick, it might be his only chance to score a goal that season, or in his career. So should we take the reward out of it for this kid who will probably never play come the post season? And then there were times when the bench players couldn't maintain that lead and the starters had to go back in the game. The ironic thing for me is that I'm a defenseman. I should be completely against running up the score. ;-)
Perhaps I should preface by saying that running up the score is BS, I agree. I'm not justifying running up the score in any scenario. But then again, I don't think it's fair to the second string to tell them to go out and play half speed either.
My middle son Peter's team won a blowout this past spring...the coaches asked the kids to stop scoring when the score was 5-0. In soccer, that's a blowout. The kids were very good about it and were gentlemen. In their next game, the opposing coach allowed his team to run the score up and Peter's team lost 7-1. The bastard had his first team on the whole game and was shouting and taunting our kids on top of that. It was the first time ever that the opposing team's parents came over to us and APOLOGIZED.
The kids were not put off by it at all...they played a bad game. They haven't played a bad game since and they won the next meeting with that same team 2-0. Totally outplayed them.
It's not fun, and it sucks when someone does it to you on purpose, but sometimes life gives you a total ass kicking. You can turn that negative into a positive you know.
