Results Don't Matter For Younger Teams says Davies

Last week BN pulled an article about the result of a Hereford United Under 18 match after some comments were made on the forum that to report 'poor' results wasn't helpful to the side. A day or two later we carried an article which made the point that in Shropshire some youth team results are simply described as 1-0 wins or 1-1 draws.

Former Hereford United player Gareth Davies, who is now a Coach and Player Football Development Officer for FAW in Central Wales, has given BN his view on the subject.

"In any football environment whether it is a Professional or Junior club you've got to be looking at development over winning up until the age of 18. The chances of being a first team player up until the age of 18 are few and far between these days compared to when I got my chance as YTS player 20 years ago, therefore it is paramount that we guide these young players appropriately.

"Right from grass-roots level we have to make sure that children just play the game for the right reasons with their peers. Yes we want them to be competitive, but it is how you win and how you get to this point.

"You need to make sure each child is rewarded for their particiaption in the game and not punished due to a result based focus. If you reward the A's and B's then the C's and D's will stop playing and we must not forget that without the C and D players the game is not sustainable and that's when football will lose out and WE as the football family will see the negative long term effects and a drop off in participation at all levels of the game.

"For me results don't matter. There are a lot of games at junior level that you could lose as much as 10-0. Why punish and ridicule (by reporting the result) the team that lost 10-0 and rub their noses in it and reward the team that won 10-0. They both know what the result was so why does it need to be published which could effect long term confidence. There are no positive learning outcomes for either group of players in huge scorelines of this nature.

"Why did that coach want to win 10-0? Why didn't he condition his team to have a challenge in that game - that team could have gone two touch or three touch or had to get ten passes in before they were allowed to score another goal or have a strike on goal after seeing the game was going to be one sided. That's not rocket science, that's common sense and vital in helping the game grow and develop each invdividual correctly what ever their ability.

"They are not going to become better players by winning 10-0. The team that won 10-0 have not achieved many positive outcomes to improve and learn more about the game. Do you need to report that result as well? Why do we need league tables at Primary school age?

"Why are coaches (ADULTS) reluctant to follow successful models of good practise and evidence proves that smaller sided games support the player pathway and help raise standards. (U7-4v4, U8 5v5, U9 6v6, U10 7v7, U11 8v8 U12-U14 9v9) For me this is a great format for 'ALL' players to learn the game at the level they are best suited. If you are more elite then there is a pathway for you to follow and players should be guided in to this environment if they so wish to play at a higher level and be challenged.

"I am active as a volunteer coach within Junior football and continually see poor practise due to ADULTS wanting to live out their own failures through children due to having the ethos of 'WIN WIN WIN' at all costs. Ask your self WHY?

"The players just want to play. They don't care about the results like adults and by 18 their philosophy is going to be better about the game if they follow a better model of good practise. Hopefully they will understand that football is about their development not winning.

"More players, better players."

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