PSW Coaching Library: Playing Up

Through a partnership with Soccer Source 360 and the Animated Coach\'s Library, Potomac Soccer Wire brings you one new library entry per week addressing common areas of youth development. Typically, we publish two coaching observations and the resulting planned practice session. However, this week, as the first wave of tryout notices are posted on club web sites throughout the country, we wanted to bring you this 2007 article on "playing up" , authored by John Dingle.

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http://www.potomacsoccerwire.com/news/458/5986


PSW Coaching Library: Playing Up, By John Dingle

Many players can benefit from the opportunity to play up an age group or more. Many considerations must be taken into account before players take on this challenge. Clubs should not set policy on this issue. The club’s role is to give the player and the family information so that they can make a decision in their best interest.

Issues to consider:

• The player’s physical development in relation to the team’s physical development (A player has a better chance of preventing injury if their size is close to their team mates and opponents.
• The player’s social development in the relation to the team’s social development (A player may be in the same grade which makes the playing up easier, if not the parents may have concerns and need to watch the team’s social development when considering playing up prior to pubescence)
• The player’s cognitive development in relation to the team’s cognitive development (The player needs to understand the coach will be challenging the players at the common cognitive level of the team. They may need to make alternative methods of learning if they are behind in this area.)
• The player’s soccer abilities in relation to the team’s soccer abilities (The player must fit in on the field)
• The player’s athletic ability in relation to the role they will fill on the team. (If the player is a gifted athlete, they do not need to be a starter, when they are not they may only benefit from playing up in the event they have a role on the team that takes responsibility in games. In many cases players playing up fill subservient roles and never learn to have an impact on the game.)
• The coaching philosophy in regards to playing positions, situational responsibilities, playing time, and player development (Do these fit the player’s needs?)
• The player’s self esteem. (A child can benefit from being the best on the field in their own age if they have trouble in school or other areas that begin to affect their self esteem.)

When considering these issues the parents need to prioritize the issues they deem most important and make a decision based on their conclusions. A concern in one area does not indicate a player needs to play in their own age group. The conclusion needs to be taken as a whole.

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About the Author: John Dingle has been active in youth coaching for the past twenty years.  He began his career in coaching conducting summer camps while finishing his playing career at Central Connecticut State University. When returning to Baltimore, John started his soccer company, Soccer Source 360.  Soccer Source 360 is a company devoted to player and coach development.  At this time he began to take licensing courses through MSYSA and USSF.  John now holds a USSF ‘B’ license and the National ‘Youth’ License.  John serves as the Director of Coaching for the Soccer Association of Columbia, an organization of 6000 players.  He started with SAC under John Ellinger as the assistant director of coaching in 1995.  John has been an instructor for licensing classes with MSYSA since 1997.  He has been a featured clinician at coaching workshops throughout the region and in 2006 launched the Animated Coach’s Library.  This electronic coaching education tool now contains over 1000 animated activities and over 100 articles on coaching.  Each animated activity is placed in an age appropriate coaching progression labeled by topic.  The members only site boast over 1000 members worldwide.
 
While coaching teams, John has shown a commitment to player development.  He has coached numerous players that have gone on to play at the ODP, region 1, Youth National, and college level.  In fact, his previous boy’s team now has 17 players participating as student athletes in colleges.