LET THE CHILDREN PLAY

However, when coaches decide the position for the young players it is a huge mistake. In my opinion, players that are between 14 to 18 years old have to go through several positions on the court. Young players have to try all of them before they specialized to one position. Therefore, federations create many different categories like under 15 or under 17 for young players, so they will have many opportunities to play. 

For example, in one unnamed hockey club, they fired a coach of their youth team. This team was winning almost every game, but the problem was that the coach only focused on the results of the team and paid no attention on the development and creativity of the players. The young players followed the strict tactics of the coach. So, only the best ones played and they did not have the space to improve much and the players on the bench did not even got the chance to play at all. 

My concept of work for young players are built in the opposite philosophy as the coach that was fired in this team. All young players should have the possibility to play and should be able to show what is in them: their talent, strengths as well as weaknesses. The coach should help them improve and discover new things about their playing style. There is no chance the coach can know which 14-year-old kid will become an amazing professional player and which excellent 15-year-old player in 20 years will only be a recreational player.

LET THE CHILDREN PLAY AND DEVELOP, THERE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS THAN YOUR VICTORY. IT’S ABOUT CHILDREN AND VOLLEYBALL, IT’S NOT ABOUT US.