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Player Development vs Winning Matches

Everyone enjoys winning and if you lose, particularly by large margins, it gets miserable very quickly. Winning can be the currency you use to get players or people to believe in your philosophy, but equally, a good philosophy and approach should lead to improve player development.

To that end, would argue player development it matters more than winning, particularly at the younger ages (grassroots football). The good news is, you can do both - win and develop your players.

The younger a player, the more confidence can be built by winning. If the team win, it raises self-belief as individuals and by being part of a team.

Player development success is not necessarily built by winning, it’s more the effort put into the game that counts – BOLDLY STATED: Short Term vs Long term.

A Short-Term winning-focused coach will make all decisions based on affecting the outcome of the game every time for win.

Some examples include:

• Picking the same team for every game
• Players being made to play through injury
• Not allowing other ‘weaker’ players to play very long in games
• Will win games by large margins for their own ego.

A Long-Term development-focused coach will focus on improving their players’ weaknesses through select challenges.

Some examples include:

• Playing players out of position to work on specific areas of their game
• Making sure to rotate all the players to ensure everyone gets to start games
• Manipulating the game during one-sided affairs, creating challenges for their players.

Winning matters. But development matters more. Mistakes will happen and games will be lost.

Focus on Individual Growth: In grassroots football, player development should take precedence over winning at all costs.

Trying your best, being treated with respect by the coach, and getting playing time are the most important factors that kids define fun by.

In Conclusion - Don't write off the smaller, slower, less confident players at a young age. If you keep them interested, engaged, involved and practicing, some of them will grow into your best players in the long term. If they never play, they can't do that though.