Over the last few years since my emergence onto the scene of coaching youth soccer in the United States I have read, watched and listened to people talk about development of the youth soccer player. A while back, here in r/bootroom I wrote a comment that touched on the topic and my thoughts about it.

I post here today to give my thoughts and to ask for yours in return.

I believe that the core of this discussion should focus on the level of competition you're coaching. I know that geographically the levels of competition are called different things, so I will only break this down in to two separations for the sake of simplicity:

Recreational: Everyone who signs up plays. There are no try outs. Every player plays equal minutes.

Select: Players are selected through a tryout process. Teams play at a higher level. Players tend to be more dedicated to the sport.

I understand that that last line may cause some uproar among the r/bootroom or even the r/soccer communities. But, I stand by it. The Select level player, in general, is more committed.

If you are coaching at the recreational level this Development versus Winning discussion is a tricky one. "Soccer People" will always tell coaches that winning at the youth levels isn't important and that development is the goal. If you're in the United States it's the new manta in the soccer world. I can't count on both hands the times I've seen "soccer people" ridiculing coaches who just "win on athleticism".

Now, if you're coaching at the select level, you have an even tougher decision. You are expected to do several things for your players. This may be different in other parts of the world, sorry, I can not speak to that. But in the United States select level coaches are expected to develop players, win and play in high divisions.

This brings up the topic of paid, professional, youth soccer coaches. If this post gets a good discussion going, maybe I will write another about my thoughts on why professional coaching in the United States is a lead weight on the proverbial foot of youth soccer.

At the recreational levels, I have serious mixed thoughts on the topic. Sure, you want to develop players, we all do. But, to what end?

Are your players setting their scope on the EPL, MLS or D1 NCAA? I doubt it. So, at what point do your efforts en route to development become fruitless? Your players are playing because they want to have fun. Soccer is fun! Winning, however, makes it more fun.

I go back to my previous comment from another thread:

Let's say Timmy plays for you when he's 8 years old.

When little Timmy is 13 or 14 is he going to be thinking about his chances to play USC or Chelsea?

No, he's going to sit down in his bedroom and look up at his shelf full of participation awards. He's going to think back to how he loved being out on the field with his friends and that time they all ate pizza together when the coach gave them their medals. He'll remember the times he drank Capri Sun and ate Goldfish craskers after the game he scored his first ever hat trick in.

He'll say "Man, I used to love playing soccer as a kid!" and he'll see it as a positive experience in his life that he's better off for having. He'll be the adult who turns on the MLS and helps soccer grow in the United States. He may not be able to go out in the front yard and execute an elastico on his buddy, but he had a lot of fun. If he lost every game by 10 goals, he never would have made it through season 1, and that same 13 or 14 year old boy down the road would be looking at his participation awards from baseball and basketball with his short-lived 1 soccer season a distant and menial memory.

At the select level, you MUST develop your players. But, you must win also. If you don't win, your team will fall apart. Kids will leave for different clubs and your team will fold. If you don't develop your players, your team will be staring down the same barrel when they get a little older.

So, now I ask you r/bootroom. What is the balance between Development and Winning in Youth Soccer?