klinder
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2016
- Messages
- 230
- Reaction score
- 76
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- 28
There has to be a balance of focused work to get better, competition, fun, and taking time to build your team chemistry. All of it is important. The challenge is finding the balance.
If we don't have competition in practice how do we learn to compete and be mentally tough in games? My best teams had kids who loved competition. They hated to lose at anything and everything. In todays world I think we have lost some of that competitiveness. Kids are ok with losing because there is always another game. It doesn't hurt to lose.
If we don't have fun in practice, kids check out and don't want to work or play anymore. I have had many discussions about today's kids quitting because its not fun anymore. Well what is fun? For most kids you would hope competition is fun. You would also hope that winning is fun but in today's world winning may not be fun for the kid who never gets to play. Earning playing time has gotten lost somewhere a few years ago. Probably when we went away from straight up double elimination tournaments.
Coaches have the challenge of creating a culture that makes competition fun and yet motivates kids to work to want to win.
If we don't have competition in practice how do we learn to compete and be mentally tough in games? My best teams had kids who loved competition. They hated to lose at anything and everything. In todays world I think we have lost some of that competitiveness. Kids are ok with losing because there is always another game. It doesn't hurt to lose.
If we don't have fun in practice, kids check out and don't want to work or play anymore. I have had many discussions about today's kids quitting because its not fun anymore. Well what is fun? For most kids you would hope competition is fun. You would also hope that winning is fun but in today's world winning may not be fun for the kid who never gets to play. Earning playing time has gotten lost somewhere a few years ago. Probably when we went away from straight up double elimination tournaments.
Coaches have the challenge of creating a culture that makes competition fun and yet motivates kids to work to want to win.