Home                              Developing a Program Philosophy

Richard Stratton

One common problem that can arise in youth sports is a disagreement among coaches and parents ( and often, subsequently, program boards of directors) over the direction a particular program seems to be going. This is usually manifested in the context of "which athletes are getting the most playing time?" The discussion usually goes something like "we believe that all athletes should get equal playing time so they have the opportunity to develop their newly learned skill in competitive conditions" or, conversely, "my child is a good athlete and needs to play as much of the game a possible to hone her skills to be ready for the next level". Neither of these perspectives is necessarily wrong; it is, rather, a matter of program philosophy.

A philosophy is an outgrowth of the attitudes, beliefs, and principles that guide your actions. When asked about their youth sport philosophy, many people make rather specific statements such as "to teach children sports skills". These statements are actually goals which the program and coaches will strive to achieve during the season. A philosophy and its accompanying objectives provide the framework for setting these specific goals. In some cases, the philosophy also serves as one of the primary objectives of a program or coach. For example, Rainer Martens, in his book Successful Coaching, discusses the philosophical foundation of the Bill of Rights for Young Athletes which is Athletes First, Winning Second. He goes on to discuss how this philosophy can also function as the primary objective for a program. Coaching Youth Sports, as you may have noted in the masthead of our index page, use the philosophy of The Main Thing is to Keep the Athlete the Main Thing. This philosophy maintains that everything in youth sports programs is done for the betterment of the child.

Many programs have as their main objective Winning and how their program is run reflects this attitude. Are they wrong? Not necessarily! As was indicated earlier, each individual's philosophy is based on his or her personal set of beliefs. In fact, neither of the philosophies described in the previous paragraph rule out winning as a goal, they merely suggest that it be a secondary goal in youth sports programs. Both of these philosophies are based on the study of sport science literature and child development literature. Athletes in youth sports programs are in the developmental phase of their lives. All of the children in these programs must be given adequate opportunities to acquire the various skills and behaviors coaches are trying to teach.