What is the representation of a game?
The weekend game is the most chaotic event inside a kid’s mind. Motivation, anxiety, excitement, fear, happiness, competition, opposition, unknown field and opposing teams, etc..
Imagine, as a beginner of a sport, you are dealing with all this new information and trying to process, analyze and make decisions under pressure of time/space, and at the same time you hear “Shoot! Pass! Dribble!” and much more.
As parents, have you caught yourself coaching your child when they are playing? It’s is a natural reaction, you want your child to succeed, but have you thought about what you are saying might affect their performance?
Expectation vs Reality
Level of playing and current experience, how much can you demand?
Technically speaking, all the fundamentals of the game are not an easy thing do, so, first, can they execute a good pass? Dribbling? Shooting? Good first touch?
On top of that, let’s add more components of the game, such as understanding of the game, space, time. When to make those decisions.
“Okay, how are they going to learn then?” By themselves.
If there is no risk, there is no mistakes. There is no learning without mistakes! Of course, no one, especially a 8-years old, they don’t want to be the ones who made that mistake. They are not mentally ready to understand that is part of the process and they have to overcome that (I wish I was that simple), but that is exactly where we try to fill.
Having this type of conversations and make the kids reflect is a good way to build their confidence and their ability to make decisions in the game. Trust me, it is already a challenging task to get the team to understand a style of play or a team behavior to be followed, and every time, instead of the kid make the decisions, they are hearing constant information.
Culture of Playing
There are already many variables that can influence every play and player behavior (pressure, weather, emotions, new opponent, field conditions, etc). It seems impossible to find something that will help the kids. What to do?
Are they playing? How much to they play? Do they join free play events? How much time are they spending with the ball?
Without the exposure in different environments, the only time they will be playing are in the chaotic events, such as league games and tournaments. But, if they are being exposed to appropriate training and playing opportunities, we believe this to be key to help kids grow their confidence.
Have you thought of this topic through this perspective? If you need help, send us a message!
