Success and failure

The goal of a soccer game, much like any other contest, is to win the game.

Get one more goal than your opponent.  Make sure that they don't score more than you.  Right?

Mostly.  But club soccer, like other kids' sports, can and should define success differently.

If you're playing a team that gets up on you 5-0 in the first half, the game is pretty much over.  But how do you handle yourself in the second half?  If you come out and play better defense, and the score winds up 5-1, have you had success?  Of course.  Your team didn't win, but you played much better in the second half.  Any way you could have come out playing that way?

If you're right-footed and have been practicing more with your left, and you make a nice pass with your left, or a nice shot, is that success?  You bet.

If you've lost your first two or three games in a tournament, then win the consolation game, is that success?  Absolutely yes.

We as parents are very focused on one result:  winning games.  Please don't get me wrong; I like for my kids' teams to win just like all of you do.

But since we have our kids in club soccer, with paid coaches and nice facilities, shouldn't we look for other things as well?  More important things?

Is my child growing and developing as a player?

Are they learning to play soccer the right way, by sharing the ball and helping their team maintain possession?

Do they handle themselves well in defeat and victory?

Are they making the same old mistakes, or are they improving?

Winning is great and fun.  Losing is not fun.  But often the kids can learn a lot more from mistakes made in losing than in a 10-0 win over a poor team,.

A 0-0 or 1-1 draw is my favorite result in club soccer.  Honestly.  Even game, both teams played equally well.

A 0-5 or 5-0 result is my least favorite.  What did anyone get from this?  The winners or the losers?

Player development should be the main focus of any youth soccer club.  Period.

If we win, great.  If we lose, not great, but why did we lose?  What could we have done differently?

Here's to 0-0 draws.

Peace and soccer,

Eric