Borrowed Players -A Coaches Dilemma
With preseason tournaments in full progress, the thorny problem of borrowed players is once again facing coaches and parents. One certain way to create a Desperate Parent is to restrict their child’s playing time, because the coach plays a borrowed player for many minutes. How much should a borrowed player play? Should they ever start the game? What happens if the team reaches the Finals? There are several reasons for borrowing players for Tournaments. When a team suffers a string of injuries and the team is simply struggling for sufficient numbers.
In the case of my club CVMSC we have many children away on family vacations which is understandable during Summer school break. A more unique situation involves my U13 boys team playing in the upcoming Surf Cup Tournament. We currently have 14 very strong players on the roster, if we were to advance to the Finals on the Monday, we would be required to play 6 tough games in three days!!! Even avoiding injuries, we have seen from past experience that few of the players can perform at top level in the Semi Finals and Final game without regular breaks. We know we need at least 16 or 17 players should we continue to advance requiring us to borrow 2 or 3 TOP Quality players. Problem 1, we don‘t really need them for the first game because my own regular 14 players are fresh and fit. Maybe the same for game 2! Can you really ask elite players to sit out and wait 2 games? What happens if we don ‘t advance and we only play a Total of 3 games? Also note that two of the boys (and their families) are travelling from Las Vegas to San Diego a 600 mile round trip just to play for us! Keeping our own parents and players happy is obviously vital, at the same time being fair to these quality borrowed guys and in this case all the players are high quality.
In past problems when teams have borrowed players with much greater skills than the regular team members, obviously the coach is tempted to play the borrowed star player to hopefully achieve greater success during the game and in the tournament. To lessen potential problems the coach should have a frank open discussion with the parents on their team before borrowing players. The coach should also have the same discussion with the players on their own team. It is also vital to be clear with the borrowed player and parents what the playing time policy will be throughout the tournament. It should be understood that the borrowed player and parents is giving up their weekend to help out the borrowing team.
I will let you know how it works out after the Surf Cup is over.
If you have opinions or have experienced these types of issues share with me the end result.
Best wishes for a great season,
Jeff Illingworth
If I pick up guests, it is usually a player who I want to recruit, so I always find local talent. Takes the hassle of feeling that you owe something for giving them the opportunity to play in a tournament instead of watching cartoons on Saturday morning.
I always address the possibility of recruiting a guest for a tournament at the first team meeting and let everyone know that a guest is coming in to help us if we are down players.
I have never added a guest with my roster full and even though we have had to go with no subs later in a tournament, it was awesome to see the players respond. They seem to get a second wind knowing that they are going to go full time. I also condition them for this exact scenario.
I have picked up guest players who had superior skills to my regulars yet I make it my policy to give the regulars their normal playing time. When it comes down to a final, I need to go with my regulars to finish on the pitch. I don’t always start my regulars in a final but they are smart and always understand what the goal is. If the guest is an elite player, my regulars will respect that. I never start guests, elite or otherwise, in the first game or second game of a tourney. I always have the guest go over what is happening with me and ask them what they are seeing. If they are elite, they respond very quickly to my inquiries. Once they are in the game, the team notices their ability and there is never a question about time. Plus, I make sure I get guests who I feel will get along with the team. It makes it more fun.
Good luck in your tournament.
Dear friends
Jeff is a very experienced coach and in his book he gives instructions to parents and coachs how to help the kids to improve their skills and their strategies in life.
Everybody should read this book
Roberto
Jeff:
We as parents always want what is best for our kids, with this book I truly have a better understanding of my role as a soccer parent and recommend your book not only to moms and dads but also the coaches, especially if your kid has played soccer and wants to go to the next level.
Melissa (a proud mom of a goalkeeper)