CLUBS are currently running trials for the 2025 season, and team selections are well underway. Club coaches will be aware of what changes are required to improve upon the previous season.
“If you keep doing what you always did, you will keep getting what you always got.”
Clubs have a responsibility, along with their coaches, to improve teams each and every season. This means that they are obliged to select the best talent available at the trials.
It is always difficult being tactful to parents who are not satisfied with team selections when their children are not selected in the team that they wanted.
Coaches can only be so tactful when responding to parents.
“What does my son/daughter have to improve upon to make the squad?”
The response will always be one or more of the following: 1. Attitude; 2. Skill; 3. Fitness; 4. Talent; 5. Coachability; 6. Determination.
I can assure everyone that coaches do NOT want to leave out any exceptional players. Certainly at Academy level, it must be about selecting the best players available.
As to the duration of trials, experienced coaches can often recognise immediately when a player trials for a team that is beyond their ability.
No coach can make an average player into a superstar in a couple of hours.
The reverse applies in that a talented player will often stand out and it would be astute of the coach to select that player sooner rather than later.
Selectors have a difficult job, especially when there are 50-plus players attending a trial to select 16 players.
The players already at the club will be known to selectors and therefore it becomes a question of, “Is the new player a better fit for the team than a current player?”
Youngsters must develop resilience and accept that from an early age football reflects life on many fronts.
Dealing with disappointments; being punctual; working in a team environment; being tolerant of others and having a good work ethic are just some of the traits that coaches look for when selecting teams.
I look for players whose mindset reflects the notion that the harder one works, the luckier one gets.
I forewarn parents and players that not every player who attends the trials will be selected where they expected to be selected.
If the question asked is, “Why did my son/daughter not get selected?” you can expect a tactful response OR a blunt response.
Coaches will not fail to select talented players.
Coaches can only hope to ever come across 18 superstars vying for 16 spots. That is a problem every coach would welcome.
Clubs and coaches should never settle for good, when better is possible.
