The formula for playing time success
September 14, 2012
Many parents are obsessed with their child’s playing time, like a playing-time junkie.
Although I believe that the playing time addiction many parents suffer from is not a good thing, I do understand the desire for you to see your children play, and not get stuck on the bench.
For some kids, the playing-time war is easily won; for others it is a heart-wrenching battle every practice, every game. If your child is one of those who struggles with it, then you must remind him that there are things he can do to help his chances.
A formula for success
If your child is to have any chance at reaching his playing time goals, he must exhibit these traits.
Hard Work. In games and in practice. Coaches love kids who give their all.
The extra mile. If your athlete is serious about improving and getting more time, he must be willing to go the extra mile by staying after practice to work on his weak areas or work at home or go to the batting cages–whatever it takes. I’ve seen my daughter stay after volleyball practice so the coach could hit balls to her. I’ve seen my son stay after football practice and throw extra passes, and I’ve seen my softball daughter spend extra time in the cages. Each one was fighting the playing time battle and looking for ways to improve.
Team player attitude. This not only means that your child doesn’t complain about playing time, it means he does what is best for the team, whether it’s passing the ball to a better shooter or giving his position to a better player and playing another spot.
Coachability. Coaches love kids who listen and follow instructions.
Leadership. Often when your child is neck-and-neck with another athlete, one thing that could give him the edge is leadership. Not bossiness, mind you, but a willingness to speak up by helping and encouraging, as well as leading by example. We always told our kids to be someone that the coach did not want to take off the field or court. Someone who made a difference when they were playing. Often that difference was in their leadership.
Consistency. Coaches look for athletes that they can depend on to do their job. Help your child see that he doesn’t need to be the hero, the home-run hitter, the star. He just needs to play his position and do his job to the best of his ability every time.
Not a fair fight
I know that sometimes the playing time battle is not fair. Your child may do all of the above and still be overlooked because of youth sports politics.
It truly sucks when that happens.
But when your child learns to “leave it all on the court”–as we used to tell our kids–then the measure of his success will not be in minutes played, but in character developed.
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Twitter: stats_dad
September 14, 2012 at 11:10 am
As Lou Holtz famously said “Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”
In your piece you mentioned Motivation and Attitude – but you did not really mention ability. There are a lot of great kids out there trying their best, but they are just not good enough to earn more playing time from kids who are clearly / naturally better. I think that parents need to be realistic – often times they are not.
This comment regards highly competitive select sports, not recreational sports where I think that everyone should with the right attitude and motivation should get equal playing time regardless of ability.
Look what Stats Dad recently posted: Youth Football: $60 Million High School Stadium
Fran, you are right about ability. How well I know this as I am seeing my own kids fight for playing time on the college level. I stand by my formula, however, for athletes even in high school. My own husband, who coached for 28 years, has often said, “give me a kid who works hard and is coachable and I will teach him the skills”. Depending on the sport and situation, kids’ skills can be developed if coached properly. That’s not saying that ability doesn’t win out, it’s saying that if a kid follows this formula, often a coach will do his very best to see that the kid plays somewhere. That’s the way my husband coached high school sports for 28 years. It may not have been the position the athlete preferred, but he was at least contributing in some way in the game.
Twitter: ginavalley
September 14, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Attitude and effort make such a huge difference!
Look what gina valley recently posted: Why Don’t Dancers Wear Numbers?
Yes, they do, Gina. And Coaches do take this into consideration many times when they see a kid really busting their butt with a great attitude.