Game two is in the books.    The team we played this week was much better than last week, but we still managed a victory with almost all egos intact.

I avoided an issue with a father, but ended up causing and issue with the child.  It is always so hard to keep everyone happy.

The age ranges in on my team are from 5-8 years old and there is a big difference is ability from 5 to 8.    Especially since these 8 year olds played with me last year and the 5 year olds are just playing for the first time.  These 5 years olds have to handles cautiously.   If I put them in a position they are uncomfortable with and they fail, the ramifications can be detrimental to the child, parent and, therefore, the coach too.

The way I am handling my two five year olds this season is to play them at linebacker on defense during the game.   At this position, they have one job and only one job…GO GET THE FLAG!    They don’t have to concern themselves with containment on the outside or letting anyone get by them.   The ball is snapped and they can go in “flag” mode.   I practice them in other positions, but I limit their decision making responsibilities until they are more familiar to the game.    

This is really puts them in only a position to succeed.   If they miss someone, there are people all around them.   As they advance in confidence, I can move them to other positions.

On offense, I will play them at receiver on plays that we are running the ball.    Most five year olds, when chased, will just turn and run in the other direction.   As cute as this is and as much as the parents laugh, the parent of the child running in the wrong direction is embarrassed and nothing good happens.   I can teach the five year old in practice and tell him before the play, but no matter what, they just turn and run the wrong way and they end up feeling bad for failing no matter how I try to fix it.

The theory is that I can teach them the basic skill set at five and advance them to more skilled positions as they advance in age and skills.   Not only do we have a football game to play, but I need to make sure that each of the kids (and the parents) leave the field with a smile on their face…if possible.

This makes the practices much more enjoyable than the games. 

At the practices, I get to teach, play and build up the confidence of the boys and girls. 

At the practices, I can spend one on one time with the kids.

At the game, I am just trying to make sure everyone plays about the same amount of time, doesn’t get hurt and hopefully leaves the field with smiles.

This dad insisted that he had been working with his 5 year old and that he wanted to be a running back.  We were about five minutes from the end of the game when he brought this to my attention.  

I gave him my “fragile confidence level of the kids” speech that I have perfected and what my plan was for the whole season.   This was only week two and we had many other games to build his confidence up to put him in at running back.  He insisted that his boy would run in the right direction (because he had older brothers) and he knew his son could handle this.

This cordial conversation went on for about a minute and it ended with me doing something that I usually don’t do…

I went against the plan that I use, and have used since I started coaching when i was 15, to help these kids gain confidence, learn skills and have fun all at the same time.

Just because I have been doing things with positive results for years on end, doesn’t mean that there isn’t a better way of accomplishing the same goals.

Sometimes, when you try a new process, things turn out even better than they were before…

This was not one of those times!

The boy froze, the quarterback ran to him and gave him the ball and the boy took two steps forward and darted in the other direction into the opposite end zone.  All of the parents we enjoying the “cuteness” of the events that unfolded in front of us except for me and the parent of the boy who had run in the wrong direction.

I had seen this before and ran out to the field to keep this 5 year old’s spirits up and get to him before he came to the sidelines.  By the time the I made it to him, he was already in tears. 

While trying to keep everyone happy, I allowed this little boy to be put in a position for this to happen.  

The father didn’t scold the boy or treat him poorly.   I really think that he was trying to give his boy some confidence, but was a bit blinded by it being his son.  My job was to put everything in perspective and do the right thing for the boy and not the father.

I failed to do so and this boy took quite a blow today that could have, and most certainly should have,  been avoided.

This wasn’t a case of a dad putting too much pressure on me.  This was a case of me being blinded by a father wanting to build up his son.  I understood him and when I looked into the 5 year old’s eyes before the play, he looked like he was ready.

I can fix this, it is just going to take a couple of weeks.   Many of you who are not fans of team sports will use this as an example of why they are bad.  But this is just a mistake by a coach, not an example of too much pressure and influence from a parent.    I have a very good plan for these kids and have been teaching boys and girls the skills necessary to gain the confidence and skills to enjoy these game, be good teammates and have good sportsmanship in the process.

I “dropped the ball” today.