Coach People, Not Potential

Potential

In working with athletes, it is easy to coach based on the potential of what we imagine they might become (rather than the person they are right now); this is the basis of recruiting, drafting, and scouting. In sport, potential is a multi-billion dollar business. The financial landscape of sports is what gets a ton of attention, and not just at the professional level, where the money is being doled out in amounts that almost no normal person can comprehend. The business of sports and the commodification of athletes exists now at all levels. Today, let’s talk about youth sport (since this is my jam, and something I never tire of trying to improve).

Potential, and the ways in which we invest in it, do not guarantee any kind of success no matter how many ways we invent to give children the developmental “edge” for the sake of competitive greatness (that they may not even care about; another piece of the conversation). This doesn’t mean that we don’t believe in our children’s ability to achieve, or that we don’t want them to find whatever fulfillment lives within them. It means putting aside what our projections of who they might become in order to let them discover who they are. In the case of sports, it’s critical to push kids in ways that are appropriate to their current level of development, not based on what they might be someday. After all, they are kids, incomplete mentally, physically, socially, and emotionally. We have to meet them where they are in order to open the path for them to get where they’re going.

We might be able to guess at their potential, but that’s all it is: A guess. If you are a parent, and a coach or program director has approached you about your child who is a “guaranteed future star,” I recommend that you walk away. That person is not in it to support the well-being of your child, and they don’t care about your kid as much as how your kid’s “stardom” will reflect on their team or club’s reputation. Despite how enthusiastic and well-meaning they may be, that kind of approach and the pressure it creates is one of the main drivers of 70% of kids dropping out of sport before age 13.

Real, grounded, scientifically-sourced knowledge about human development is sorely lacking in youth sport (although, thankfully, this is changing). It’s not the coaches’ fault; there is a shortage of coaches and it is often an act of altruism, courage, and love to step up to coach a team that needs one. However, this lack of knowledge and the resulting lack of best practice is hurting our kids. We see it in the burnout statistics above; it’s also evident in the epidemic of ACL injuries among female athletes and concussions in youth sport. The drive to specialize - rooted in a belief that only complete dedication to the exclusion of everything else will lead to success - is pushing too many kids out of physical activity.

We have to begin shifting perspectives by understanding that no child is what they’ll become athletically, technically, and cognitively until they reach their mid 20s. Therefore, we should NOT be training them as if they are in their prime, nor should we be mandating that they only do one thing; your 12 year-old soccer player does not need to train the way pros train, she needs to train like she’s 12, which means playing soccer when she’s playing soccer but also doing other things - other sports, other activities, and taking time to just be a kid. Football should have no tackling under the age of 14 at the minimum (and there’s compelling evidence that the age should be higher), and no youth sport should be year round.

The necessary move away from our current paradigm opens up time for other activities and pursuits, plenty of recovery time, and an emphasis on joy and process rather than performance and comparison to peers.

Early Specialization

The reality is that what kids need most is variety in order to develop a wide range of versatile and transferrable physical, mental, emotional, and social skills, and to keep them interested, engaged, and moving their bodies. We must avoid the impulse to specialize or adultify them too quickly; they are not “mini adults” or even “mini older kids.” Losing sight of these truths puts us in a position where we are often asking them to do things they’re not ready for or capable of - things that may even be physically dangerous for someone at their level of development - and setting unrealistic expectations. This can lead to frustration and unhappiness on all sides; it also puts kids at a much higher risk for serious injury.

It is a dangerous myth that kids have to choose a sport early in order to “succeed,” perpetuated by people across the spectrum in sport; some have a vested financial interest in your child specializing – think private coaching and AAU and year-round youth sports – who may just be looking to boost their bottom line or “elite” reputation, or who think that their season, club, or priorities are more important than any others. Sometimes, we just give in to the perceived pressure of recruiting, the allure of scholarships, FOMO, or fear of our kids being left behind. Others, it’s just a lack of good information; in our highlight-driven and recognition-obsessed culture, we see Instagram reels about the next ______ who is only 9 years old, perpetuating a cycle of dealing only in snapshots rather than complete reality.

Expectations

Adding to the challenge, parents are told that specialization is the only way for their kid to “have a chance.” But a chance at what? The reality is that most young athletes DON’T end up playing in college. Does that mean that their journey through sport has been a waste or that they might as well not even play as kids? We do children a grave disservice by placing such a narrow expectation and definition of success on them, and we rob them of the joy and satisfaction and growth opportunities and all the other non-scholarship benefits that sport participation can provide.

If they are among the small percentage that continue to play - about 7% of high school athletes go on to play at any level in college - there is good competition and high skill at every level, from junior college to club sports, city and rec leagues to NAIA to Division 1 and everywhere in between. It is part of our responsibility to dispel dangerously narrow and misleading ideas and definitions of success, and to encourage optimism, versatility, range, joy, and perspective.

This is accomplished through developmentally-appropriate coaching practices and practice plans, appropriate sampling of activities, cross-training, and by encouraging and celebrating diverse interests. It is accomplished by emphasizing their humanity and uniqueness, avoiding comparison to others, and giving them plenty of time to recover (this is when skills get embedded and strength is built; recovery is a critical part of training). It is not necessary, healthy, or supportive of long-term growth OR performance for them to focus on a particular position or a single sport before they’re later on in high school, or to play one sport year-round without meaningful breaks.

Rather than narrowing their scope too early through specialization - cheating them out of healthy developmental opportunities and important growth processes and pushing kids to burn out – we need to take the pressure off by listening to what the science says about the pathway to well-being and longevity in sport.

For a change, let’s encourage kids to be kids.