Why Tournament?
Director of Coaching Joanna Tucker
The most recent eight-hour trip is behind me as I enter into my stay-to-play accommodations for yet another out of town soccer weekend. From the balcony of my room that overlooks all of the competition fields, I can see, hear, and feel the buzzing energy from all of the players. It’s tournament time!
In my relatively short 11 years of coaching, I have attended more than 35 youth soccer tournaments. As a parent, add another 25 plus to that at the local, state, regional, and international level with US Youth Soccer, US Club Soccer, ECNL events, and English Premier League clubs. Needless to say, I have seen great competition as well as poorly matched games, elated celebrations and distraught defeats, individual and team successes and breakdowns, and full spectrums of sideline conduct and referee effectiveness. So why tournament?
If I were to pick the most significant things that remained a constant throughout all of these competitions is the excitement and anticipation players have going into the event and, despite the outcome, the take away experiences that grow these youth as players and human beings.
There still remains questions and uncertainty from club members on why we attend tournaments and how each one is set up.
How Teams Can Benefit From the Tournament Experience
1) League Play vs Tournament Play:
Tournaments provide a unique environment for athletes. For remote clubs such as DYSA, tournaments give a look into the soccer world outside of the local area. Teams are afforded the opportunity to experience more competition and, oftentimes, the exposure to different styles and speeds of play which can be hard to come by in rural areas and mountain towns. This is one facet in developing players, teams, and the overall program.
2) Time with Peers/Teammates off the pitch: The additional connections teammates can develop off the soccer field (mealtimes, pool time, hotel downtime) is invaluable and grows the overall relationship and bond of the group which transfers to successes on the field.
3) Development of Time Management Skills: Soccer tournaments can be long, all day or even weekend events in some cases. The ability to learn how to balance school, work, and leisure time while regularly competing in weekend events is a tool kids will be able to take with them for the rest of their lives.
4) Mental/Emotional Aspect: While it might be difficult to actually gauge, the mental and emotional struggles one must overcome to participate successfully in any sport are crucial for personal development. Hyping yourself up for a game, learning how to control emotions after a call that doesn’t go your way, and of course coping with a tough loss are all things that can be taken from the soccer pitch and into real life. Knowing how to handle yourself after a big win with grace and good sportsmanship are also important lessons to learn. (Global Team Events)
Tournament Specifics and Details
1) What does ‘Stay to Play’ mean:
'Stay to Play' has become a common policy used by event organizers that require registered participants to use one of the official partnered hotels designated by the event organizers. This is not a choice of the individual team or team’s club. Usually these partnerships create a kickback to the hosting club/organization entity.
2) How Tournament Brackets are Determined:
Tournaments vary in competitiveness which draws different levels of teams. When signing up for tournaments, there are opportunities to request a certain level of competition (least competitive-most competitive, bronze, silver, gold, recreational, etc.). Depending on the tournament, coaches and directors decide which division would best fit each team based on what the needs are of the group (more challenge and competition, more development and success, etc.). The tournament director uses this information along with a team’s previous results to make final placements based on the strengths of all teams in the age group pool. It is not uncommon to have the same team be in the lowest division one tournament and the top division in another tournament.
No matter what the tournament setup is and the outcome, the most important piece to keep in mind is that this is for the players’ OVERALL development. We expect and hope to see successes AND failures that benefit a player. Impacts can be seen immediately or take some time to flourish and come together. Game play can always be molded as a positive experience no matter the results as long as coaches and parents can properly guide the player’s processing towards positivity.