Athletic Support: Dads stacking teams causing problems eli.cranor@gmail.com March 20, 2022 Eli Cranor is a former professional quarterback and coach turned award-winning author. Please use the “Contact” page at elicranor.com to send in questions for “Athletic Support.”

Dear Athletic Support: I enjoy watching my son play sports. He’s only eight, but he’s pretty good, and the best part is he enjoys it too. We live in a pretty small town, so we already know who the best players are in his age group. What always seems to happen every year, though, is that the best players tend to wind up on the same team. I’m not a coach. I don’t know much about sports at all. I’m never in the rooms when they draft the boys for the teams, but it’s pretty obvious the dads are stacking the team. This makes for some really cruddy competition. There’s always one “good” team, and they just roll over everybody else all season long. I went and asked one of the coach dads about this. He said they wanted to get the best boys playing together from a young age because they would be the ones playing on the varsity team together one day. I guess that makes sense, but it sure doesn’t make it any fun for the other kids. Is that normally how it works in these youth league drafts? If so, could you explain the logic behind it?

— Stacked Teams Stink

Dear Stacked: I can’t tell you what goes on in a youth-league draft. I’ve never been involved in something like that. But I can tell you what’s best for kids, and that’s competition.

Playing with a stacked deck from early on and dismantling all the other kids in your age group isn’t good. Far from it, actually. It’ll have those boys thinking they can walk on water, all the way up until they hit 7thgrade and go play the best boys from another school down the road.

The Bible says, “Iron sharpens iron, just as one man sharpens another.” That scripture applies to this situation perfectly.

At such a young age, there's no guaranteeing who the "best" players will be by the time they make it to the varsity level. Through hard work and practice, some of the lesser players could be starters by the time they're seniors.

In the end, you want your son playing against the best his grade has to offer. You want him to learn how to compete, and more importantly, how to respond when things don’t go his way.

And things won’t always go his way. I can promise you that.

There’s always somebody a little bigger and stronger waiting just around the next corner. What will a team that’s used to rolling over lesser competition do when they finally face a formidable opponent?

That’s the question those “coach dads” should be asking. And if they’re not, then it might be time for you to pick up a whistle and get a little more involved.


Previous columns:

• When’s a good time to talk, Coach?
• Cat’s in the cradle
• Calling it quits after that halftime show
• I won’t watch the Olympics
• Pickup games causing trouble in neighborhood
• Do coaches still cut kids from teams?
• Son falling behind, again
• Forced to play on fractured ankle
• It’s not about winning in seventh grade
• Daughter can’t keep weight-loss resolution
• The Polish Goal Line Tactic
• Is dance a sport?

Athletic Support Columns 2021
Athletic Support Columns 2020


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