Mix Them Up

I was at game recently where one coach was extremely animated along the sideline to his own players.It got to the point that the players were afraid to try anything, afraid of making a mistake.

I'm sure this scenario is repeated across the country every week, and to me represents a serious problem in player development, especially when it comes to creativity.

There are a few problems nowadays :
1) Children aren't organising their own and playing as much unstructured games ( in any sport) as they used to. I.e. Street games, playground games, etc. These games were the foundation of creativity.
2) The only games most play nowadays are structured and refereed by adults.
3) No matter how hard adults or parents try, winning can sometimes completely take over. It's easy to say " Development", but it's not always easy to do.

These problems aren't going away.

As possible solution: Up to U16

For a 60 minute game,
Play the first 15 minutes mixed teams from both clubs, everybody plays. - Let them play
Play a competitive 30 minutes ( 15 minutes a side) in the middle ( Club V Club) - The result
Play 15 minutes to finish with mixed teams from both clubs, everybody plays. - Let them play

Would love to hear your thoughts.

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