During these years of study and research two facts became apparent. It seems impossible to convince another person of one's own position through written data or verbal information. Emotions and prejudices hinder progressive dialogue when personal opinions and experiences are attacked. One must understand that each side, on this issue has logical data and personal stories to support their viewpoints. Both sides must be heard! In order to listen common ground must be found to begin a dialogue.

In my opinion there is only one irrefutable way to reach common ground on the 'non-result oriented tournament' issue. Each side must experience the players' ordeal before they can make any sensible comments and recommendations on the player's behalf. In other words, 'Adults, walk a mile in these children's shoes."

What I propose is that MYSA establish the "Coaches' Empathy Tournament." All coaches of the age groups' subject to this debate must play in this tournament. The standard two day tournament must be organized by '1997' MYSA tournament rules; that is, the number of games, the length of games, the playing time per player -per game, etc. must be strictly enforced.

Discussions as to the benefits and drawbacks of this type of event for young children are to begin immediately after the trophy ceremony. First place winners to be allowed to talk first, second place talk second and so on...Those who did not participate should not be allowed to voice their opinions! These discussions should resume on the following Wednesday and continue until a 'child oriented,' 'player beneficial' event has been established. If necessary schedule another weekend to play "Adult Empathy Tournament II." This could become a fund raiser for the state association.

The second fact that became extremely apparent was, that the experts are leaning very heavily toward the MYSA position. They believe that there is high potential for harm to children playing in the current youth tournament format. Some examples include: Physically, the demand on the growing children can cause stress injuries due to overuse. Technically and Tactically there are no opportunities to correct bad habits. Mentally, we do not know how coming in second or third can effect the individual child. Statistically 75% of our children quit playing soccer between the ages of 10-14 in the USA. Many experts believe that one of the reasons lies in this adult oriented beginning. Since it is possible to eliminate this potentially damaging environment; Why aren't we doing it for the children's sake?

My research will continue and hopefully your experiment with 'Adult Empathy Tournaments' will give us more insights into adjusting our programs to benefit the younger children. Until then, be assured that your MYSA non-result oriented play proposal is receiving national attention and overwhelming support from the national/international coaching community. Two examples: On March 19, 1998 at the Dallas adidas workshop the USYSA Coaching Committee unanimously supported non-result oriented play for U10. On April 19, 1998 at the Region 4 State Coaches Symposium in New Mexico, the State Coaching Directors of Region 4 unanimously took the same position.

Congratulations to you, your staff and the MYSA Board of Directors, who made this innovative decision to gear your program toward player development. You are 'trend-setters' and the rest of the country will soon follow your lead, as the votes by the state coaching directors indicated. On behalf of the young children whose soccer playing lives you will be influencing 'positively', thank you for taking this courageous step!

Here are some suggested questions that should be covered when discussing tournaments:

1) Why don't children of this age organize tournament type events on their own?

2) If children don't organize tournaments on their own -what should that tell us?

3) When children play..and one team is getting wiped out -they re-chose teams.
Why do we make tournament rules that give more points for more goals?

4) There is always fanatical support from parents, coaches, players and communities that win tournaments.
-Why don't we get the same kind of response from the other teams?

5) If the accepted game to practice ratio is 2 to 1 -Two practices for one game.
How does one prepare for a tournament?

6) If youth soccer is all about technical development and development depends on correction and repetition.
-When can a coach work development during a tournament

7) What professional league play games in a youth soccer tournament format?
-None, they need one day rest between games!

8) Why do soccer players have to play for a championship after fatigue?

9) Why are there more stress injuries in soccer players than any other sport?

10) Why do we have a chronic knee injury problem with female soccer players?

11) We copy the professional example in almost all aspects -Why don't we copy the World Cup format? At least -Two days rest between games?

Karl Dewazien
CYSA State Coaching Director
Author - FUNdamental Soccer Series
Past Cochairman USYSA Coaching Committee