Good coach or fee collector?

In the world of paid coaches at the youth level (U8-U19), how is a parent, league board or Director of Coaching suppose to constructively measure the performance of a coach. Many of these paid coaches use the “we want to win, but development is the most important aspect of what we are doing”, thereby taking any objectivity by record out of the equation. I don’t believe coaching only to win is the answer at the youth ages, but it also removes any accountability.

So, how do you objectively measure a coaches performance? The current systems aren’t set-up in such a way to measure coaches. In all of the leagues that I’ve been a member, the coaches are chosen in January. I believe early decision making on coaching appointments gives the DOC or Board only a couple of objective measurement tools – team records (not good for youth) or angry parents calling for a mutiny.

Just as tryouts are a great way to analyze player ability, it’s the perfect time to measure a coaches performance. Tryouts are the key here, because you can have multiple coaches analyze the talent of the players trying out for the team. If a number of players from the previous year don’t make the team, or rank lower than they did the previous year, the coach didn’t do the job.

1. How many players are still on the team from when the coach started? If the coach started with 11 players at U10 and by U12 there are less than half the players on the team, I’d begin to ask some questions. Is their generally high turnover in the league due to families moving – military? recurring natural disasters?
2. How many players from the  previous years team were placed a level down? If the coach is replacing more than 1-2 (10%) players per year with new players, I’d wonder why the coach isn’t developing his players ahead of the players coming in. Having a season (which is a year in today’s youth world) to develop players is an awful lot of time and they should be ahead of anyone that comes to the team later on.
3. How many players from the years previous team didn’t tryout again, or found another team? If this is the scenario, the league has some questions to ask the coach, because the players are voting as fast as their feet can take them somewhere else.
4. Does the team always win their flight, but never moves up to the higher flight? The coach that consistently makes this decision only wants to win and should be avoided. This coach will make decisions that are only in the name of winning. Development of skill, character, team work, and respect for the game probably don’t enter this coaches mind.
5. Does the team always finish at the bottom of your table? Here the record of wins/losses should be considered, because teams are placed in different flights based on their previous records. Teams should be playing in competitive flights, so that the kids develop. If the team always finds itself at the bottom of the table, you definitely have some questions to ask of the coach.

Currently, many coaches are chosen or re-hired before tryouts for the next season, destroying any opportunity for the most basic constructive measurement. Boards and DOCs should be asking themselves every year, “Are we putting the best coach in charge of our teams?”

How does a league measure coaching ability with tryouts when State Cup is in January? Have an assessment weekend or two in early December, when the league play is wrapped up and the teams are preparing for Cup play. Recreation leagues are just finishing too, so you will get all of the kids at the end of the season when soccer is fresh in their feet. You can’t have the “Assessment” weekend take the place of the tryouts at the end of February, because it will hurt your team for State Cup, but you can begin to compile the objective data on whether the coach should be asked to return for another stint of leading and developing the players on the team.