Slowly, I am starting to see the disappointing connections between the fall of the last youth football organization I was a part of and this one. Before it was parents who brought down the beast. We had a team that worked well together and most everyone was happy with how things were going. The players who got time on the field were the best available at every position. As a result some didn’t get the growth at the positions they preferred. However, they did get in and they did play and they did succeed. This is the nature of the sport in many ways. Here, with this new squad, I am watching it unravel, because choices are being made based on relationships vs. production. We are not seeing the best kids at the positions all the time and it shows on the field and it shows in the frustrations.
Back then we fell apart over one parent. The parent brought their kid in and brought other kids (and money) with them. They had connections and created the possibility of us going further than before. We brought these kids in–we tried to assimilate the talents of another team–and it backfired. We assimilated the culture of that team. We brought in their angst and expectation of playtime and position and it did not work for what we had going. In the end I left. I pulled my kid off the team mid-season after being with the org for years. After I left I watched the team implode. Others stayed and we started to play to the wishes of the new parents. We lost games we should’ve won. In the end the parents completely turned on the coach and refused to compete for the nationals. They ended the season in last place and never played as a team again.
Our team is in that boat. Already new folks are complaining about how we’ve always done things. A new coach on the staff has chosen his favorites and they are the ones from his old team as opposed to the best suited. I thought for a while it was simply me having too much faith in my kid’s ability, but the fact is the starter is not better than him. The second string is better than the starter but not better than him. He’s officially the 3rd string but only sees the ball once a game if lucky. I’ve taught him to make that touch count. He took his one to the house today.
Youth football teaches a lot to the kids but it also teaches a lot to the parents; specifically I am learning that the in and out crowd situation never changes no matter how old you get. My kid wants to stay with the team and tough it out. He likes his friends and he supports them. He bristles at his role on offense, but they’ve given him a shot at a spot on D he truly enjoys. So, he will stay one more year. I won’t coach though. I think I have had enough.