Youth Sports and Playing Politics

I can’t think of 3 words, when put into the same sentence; are so ugly. Who knows, who? It’s who you know, not what you know? Do you run in the right circles? Put into the right context, this is about ass kissing. Everyone has seen it and experienced it at some level in their lives, but does it have a place in youth athletics?

I can tell you one thing, that kind of crap does not happen in collegiate athletics or in professional sports. The basic job description of coaches at that level is to put the superior athletes on the field and to win games and championships. Not to play Billy because he is best friends with Bobby, or to put Kimmie on the varsity team, because her dad is involved with the club.

Let me tell you how this should work. At a youth sport tryout, 3-4 coaches from the surrounding area or from the high school or from a local organization or state organization should set up and facilitate the tryout. Professional coaches (paid for their services) have the ability in a very short amount of time to evaluate a prospects skill level and make a decision. Players should have an assigned number for the tryout sessions. Yes, the players are a number until selected and then given a name. No parents, no parent coaches, no input from the cronies and above all, no politics. At local tryout I recently attended, they even had the kids spend 10 minutes in front of the panel in an abbreviated question and answer session. Take the best players at tryouts, period. I am sorry if your little player was on vacation or was at some other practice or tryout. I am sorry if your player just shows up on the last day and makes the team. Part of making that team is a level of commitment from the player and his parents. Many sports are currently doing a 3-day tryout, of which a minimum of 2 days is required to make the cut. If a player is on the bubble, then have a call back to further evaluate the bubble players.
I really don’t care if your kid was on the team last year or not. I don’t care if you live next door to the coach. I don’t care if they are a senior and they deserve to be on it. I don’t care that your dads’ car dealer sponsored the team. Put the best players on the field.

This also gets the coach off the hook with making difficult decisions on a neighbors’ kid that you know should not be playing on your team. For club administrators and athletic directors, it’s an easy story to tell. It’s a non-biased tryout for an athletic team. I see many soccer clubs going to this format and it works. Many parents don’t see it but a competitive club needs to recruit, train and put the best players on the field.

Both my kids are in the ODP soccer program. My son plays age appropriate and my daughter actually played U13 at age10 and was once again at U13 when she was 11 last year. The program directors at the state, region and national level do a pretty fair job of putting the best kids on the field. Lots of eyes, lots of coaches, lots of ability to scout out the raw talent and turn it into future national level players. 800 plus players in Region 1 this year and they pull 25-30. From being involved with these programs, the only issue I bring to light is the round table discussion with the region coach and the state coaches who all have to sell their kids to the region coach. If everyone does their job properly, regardless of how the numbers work out, the best players make it.

In closing, there are recreation programs across the country that have thousands of kids involved with various activities and sports. At that level, all the kids should play and get to run around and have fun. My column specifically chastises the travel and premier level clubs and the middle school and high school organizations that let parents get involved in the roster selection process. Parents, enjoy your players' success from the sideline. Leave the selection and coaching to the professionals.