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December 23rd, 2011 Archive | Starting Lineups | Ask The Expert

Positive Coaching Alliance Each week, we ask fans of Responsible Sports "What Would You Do?" in response to our weekly Responsible Sports Scenario Question. And many of you write in with scenario questions of your own! So we've asked Tina Syer, Associate Director at Positive Coaching Alliance, to answer one of your suggested questions each week.

Posted on December 23rd, 2011: Starting Lineups

Your son's soccer coach has asked the team to not be concerned with who starts the games, and consistently has better players as backups. Some of the backups are losing interest because of what they see as unfair decision making on the starting lineup.

Does a coach have a responsibility to start the top players, or is that an effective strategy for a youth team?

Bart

Dear Bart,

Thanks so much for writing in with this unique question.  I think the answer all comes down to how well the coach is communicating with the players about how he/she selects the starters.

It sounds like some of the better players may be wondering why they are not starting, as that is the norm on many sports teams.  (Even if the coach has told them not to be concerned with this, that’s not an easy request to comply with without further explanation.)  Ideally, the coach would have had a conversation at the start of the season with the team about what goes into his/her decision each game about who plays when.  Then the coach could review this with the players periodically throughout the season to make sure everyone is on the same page.

I’ve certainly known youth coaches that start the players they feel are giving the most effort in practice.  (And they let this rationale be known to all players.)  I’ve also known youth coaches that believe all players should be given an equal number of starts.  Again, this should be communicated to all players (and likely to their parents at a parent meeting at the start of the season).

If the “better” players understand the coach’s thinking behind who starts, hopefully this will help them understand why they are not starting each and every game.  If the coach is not giving this explanation, I think it’s fine for the players to ask the coach to explain his/her thinking behind who gets the start.

- Tina

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Tina Syer Ask the Expert
Tina Syer is the Chief Impact Officer of Positive Coaching Alliance, a nonprofit founded in the Stanford University Athletic Department.  Tina played Division I field hockey at Stanford University, where she graduated with honors in psychology and was named an Academic All-American. 

Her twelve years of work for PCA have included keynote presentations for national organizations such as US Lacrosse, USA Water Polo and Special Olympics, more than 300 PCA workshop presentations, and production of multimedia products featuring PCA's National Spokesperson, Phil Jackson.  Tina's coaching experience includes seasons at the high school, college and Olympic Development levels.

Want to submit a question of your own - either to get feedback from the Responsible Sports community or from Tina?

Submit your scenario!