The best part about beer leagues is there’s: - no coaches - no parents - no practice Show up 5 minutes before start, play, have beer, go home. Nobody quits beer leagues until they’re injured. Youth leagues should give up developing pros and focus on developing future beer leaguers. Since they account for 90-95% of the kids who won’t otherwise play past high school.
Interesting that Belgium does 2 v 2 until age 6 or 7, then 3 v 3, then 5 v 5 for the U10s, then 8 v 8 up to U13, with 11 v 11 only being introduced at 14 years old at the earliest, and even then on a smaller field. And this little nation went from number 50 in the world twenty years ago to number 1 in 2019. Seems that starting small works…
Oh my goodness! Our ten-year-old son has brain damage! How on Earth did that happen? Well, you forced him to practice football since he was eight years old. He's lucky to be alive. Oh my goodness! Our son barely graduated from high school! How on Earth did that happen? Well, you forced him to practice sport for 20 hours every weekend so he didn't have time to study or sleep. What did you think would happen?
“Being patient is not holding someone back.” So true. But so hard to do when you’re in the middle of it. “They’re afraid. They don’t want their kids to be left behind. So, we push. We gotta keep up.” Parents really are desperate for the tide to turn on this, but it’s not going to happen. If anything, it has gotten far worse since this video was made 8 years ago. Son was a professional pitcher during the time this was made - right when the focus on velocity really started to rule the day. Just look at the injuries in Big League pitching today. To me, it’s pure, empirical evidence that the sport is headed in the wrong direction because of the unbridled focus on velo and hyper training. It’s rampant and not going away. Teams just bring the next kid up….. And the financial incentive for kids to throw hard at a young age makes the situation worse.
I just don’t believe a group of kids stayed together for 3 years of losing and they and their parents were ok. Kids want to win! As a coach I want to develop but kids want to win! They can become demoralized and just as likely to quit if they don’t find success. There has to be a healthy balance of development and winning for kids to stay passionate and motivated.
The best part about beer leagues is there’s:
- no coaches
- no parents
- no practice
Show up 5 minutes before start, play, have beer, go home.
Nobody quits beer leagues until they’re injured.
Youth leagues should give up developing pros and focus on developing future beer leaguers.
Since they account for 90-95% of the kids who won’t otherwise play past high school.
Interesting that Belgium does 2 v 2 until age 6 or 7, then 3 v 3, then 5 v 5 for the U10s, then 8 v 8 up to U13, with 11 v 11 only being introduced at 14 years old at the earliest, and even then on a smaller field. And this little nation went from number 50 in the world twenty years ago to number 1 in 2019. Seems that starting small works…
Oh my goodness! Our ten-year-old son has brain damage! How on Earth did that happen?
Well, you forced him to practice football since he was eight years old. He's lucky to be alive.
Oh my goodness! Our son barely graduated from high school! How on Earth did that happen?
Well, you forced him to practice sport for 20 hours every weekend so he didn't have time to study or sleep. What did you think would happen?
How dare you point out their faults!!!
“Being patient is not holding someone back.” So true. But so hard to do when you’re in the middle of it. “They’re afraid. They don’t want their kids to be left behind. So, we push. We gotta keep up.”
Parents really are desperate for the tide to turn on this, but it’s not going to happen. If anything, it has gotten far worse since this video was made 8 years ago. Son was a professional pitcher during the time this was made - right when the focus on velocity really started to rule the day. Just look at the injuries in Big League pitching today. To me, it’s pure, empirical evidence that the sport is headed in the wrong direction because of the unbridled focus on velo and hyper training. It’s rampant and not going away. Teams just bring the next kid up….. And the financial incentive for kids to throw hard at a young age makes the situation worse.
I just don’t believe a group of kids stayed together for 3 years of losing and they and their parents were ok. Kids want to win! As a coach I want to develop but kids want to win! They can become demoralized and just as likely to quit if they don’t find success. There has to be a healthy balance of development and winning for kids to stay passionate and motivated.
Coach Steve Locker,
Tremendous talk and tremendous message! Thank you and hope it reaches parents far and wide.
Very Well Done Steve! Nice to see a Roxborough kid do good.
This one is good 👍