Will Farrell’s
Kicking and Screaming is supposed to be a comedic look at
parents and youth coaches gone crazy. Unfortunately, the coffee-induced, win at all costs, pass it to the Italians mantra he adopts is all too familiar in youth sports today, and the
movie could serve as a documentary examining the negative effects of youth sport participation on the psyches of
American children. As with the character Phil, every coach means well initially. No adult consciously volunteers to coach thinking, “Ah, the glory in winning the Pee-Wee League Championship. How glorious the trophy will look on the wall of my office. I will be the envy of my co-workers.” The most poignant and comical line in the
movie may have been Buck when he says that for
kids between these streets and these ages who are available on these two days of the week, this is the Big Time. But, it’s not. As Coach K says, “If what you have done yesterday still looks big to you, you haven’t done much today.” Once the
season ends, nobody worries about who won or lost; few
children quit playing sports because they
lost too many games; many
children quit because the sport is no longer
fun to play. In past generations,
children played sports informally as often as formally. Even a decade ago, I spent as many hours shooting in my front yard, playing at the park and playing in loosely controlled off-season leagues as I did playing for my school team (and AAU was not even a thought). Now, sports are almost always structured activity. This change has sociological implications, but also manifests itself in the manner we
play today. According to Sport Sociologist Jay Coakley, “Childhood has been changed from an
age of exploration and freedom to an
age of preparation and controlled learning,” (Coakley, 116). Furthermore, “playing informal sports clearly involves the use of interpersonal and decision-making skills. Children must be
creative to organize
games and keep them going” (122), while “organized sports demand that
children be able to manage their
relationships with adult authority figures,” (123). From a sports perspective, the greatest scenes in the
movie are when the
Italian players
work with the Tigers on their technique, teaching the players how to do moves like the spin and the back heel pass. In these instances, the
children explored and tried
new things; when Phil attempted to lead a drill, it was useless, poorly run and the
kids failed to listen or improve. With peers teaching peers, each group learns; the novice players learn
new skills, while the advanced peers learn communication skills and gain a greater appreciation for a skill that may come naturally to them. Because sports are increasingly formal, structured activities, coaches need to incorporate more informal
play into practice sessions. These young athletes are not going to war; sports should be fun, and the goal of a coach should be to teach the players some skills and provide an encouraging environment that increases the player’s interest level and desire to
play in subsequent seasons. Research illustrates that
children who enjoy sports in their youth are more likely to stay active throughout their lives, and active adults are less likely to suffer from
heart problems, obesity and adult diabetes. One way to create informal opportunities during practice session is to teach through smaller games, not just drills. Small
games (like 5 v 5 soccer, 3 v 3
basketball or 7v 7 football) increase each participant’s activity level and mimics many of the same movements and skills necessary to successfully
play a full game. Through these games, coaches can teach skills and tactics and use mistakes as an opportunity to learn. Rather than criticizing mistakes, coaches should encourage players to attempt
new things during practice and then teach through these experiences. If playing
basketball and a player makes a turnover, explain the difference between an inside hand and outside hand pass; by using a
game specific event, the learning has a higher transfer than simply doing drills with the outside hand with no defender and a stationary target. In a 3 vs. 3
basketball environment, the coach can teach pick and rolls, the give and go, a screen away, etc. These tactics form the basis of any offense. Instead, many coaches merely teach a standard offense; if the offense breaks down, the players are uncertain how to play. Informal pick-up
games used to supplement a player’s
game understanding and enable players to
play when things broke down. But, without any informal play, players are confused and unable to
play when things are unstructured. Playing small practice
games helps players learn similar
game skills previous generations learned on the playground and complements the structured teaching of the coach. Additionally, these smaller
games are more
fun for players than simply playing games. As an example, when I coached an u-9
basketball team, I wanted to press and fast break. We were quick and small and a fast-paced
game played to our strengths. Because of parent’s schedules, the first half-hour or practice was wasted by the other teams in the gym because players often arrived late. In our practice, we started as soon as the first player arrived. When one player was there, we shot. When two players were there, we played a structured one-on-one game. We eventually worked to full court two-on-two and three-on-three cut throat
games where you went out if your team gave up a basket. During these games, we worked on conditioning important to the press, the run and jump and the recovery if beaten. Offensively, we worked primarily on full court dribbling and making lay-ups under pressure. In all, it would have taken 5-6 drills to accomplish everything we did with one game, and the players enjoyed the
game much more than a bunch of drills. Eventually, we ran a very sophisticated press (for nine year olds) based simply on things taught during smaller games. Coaches often get excited and want to teach as much as they can, perfecting every detail. However, sports are fluid environments; they are unpredictable, and coaches cannot control every action in a game. Therefore, players must prepare for these uncontrolled environments, and carefully constructed drills often fail to prepare players for the uncertainty of the action. While they may be great at teaching useful skills like shooting form, they fail to teach a player to shoot over a defender, or make a shot over a taller player or other useful skills needed for successful
game play. Therefore, some players are unable to transfer skills from practice to a game, which leads a coach to talk to a player as Phil did to his team when he told them to pass it to the Italians immediately upon contact. Sports should be enjoyed by everyone, not just the stars. Games should be played for
fun and evaluation of progress as much as to win. Practices should be viewed as a
fun learning environment, not drudgery. When a coach accomplishes these things, his teams will learn and improve and he will be viewed as a good coach, whether his teams win the championship or not. The unfortunate message in the
movie is that Phil was only vindicated because his team did win the championship; in reality, this may be the case. However, those who know know, and coaches appreciate coaches whose teams
play hard, enjoy playing and improve throughout a season.
