Lets face it, in sports there are some teams that are simply better talent-wise — and this is definitely true in youth sports. On paper, lesser teams don’t have much of a chance when facing a far superior team, but upon closer inspection you do in fact see some underdog teams win in these kinds of games. How does a team less talented pull off these upsets? While there is not a specific formula to follow, there are key features you see with well-coached teams that often allows them to make up the difference against better teams.
Tips to helping teams over-achieve
So how do lesser teams compete with better teams? A challenging task indeed, but not impossible! Below are some of the more common things I see successful coaches do in order to help their team buy-in and play their best:
- Attitude and hustle. Getting kids to keep a healthy, positive attitude and to hustle on each play can definitely help lesser teams make up ground on better teams. When kids compete like this, they play with better energy, focus, and resiliency, all factors that help with mental toughness.
- Coach buy-in. Coaches who develop trust through positive relationship building and consistency create an environment where kids can thrive and play their best.
- Belief. Often when kids see that their team does not appear to be very good, they check out. Coaches who build up kids through positive reinforcement and showing them examples of great underdog victories can help the team begin to believe they can win, and belief is always the first step toward future improvement!
- Deal with adversity in healthy ways. Lesser teams know they will have frustration and losing to deal with, prompting savvy coaches to think ahead of time of ways to capture winning moments in a game, and any other small positives to build from for the future.
- Pursuing smaller goals that lead to team success. Winning a championship is a long-term goal, but what about smaller, daily goals? When kids learn to embrace and take care of the little things each day (i.e. arriving early to practice prepared, getting good workouts in the weight room, learning the specifics of their position, etc) they develop confidence about the program, leadership, and future challenges.
It is truly something special to watch when we see a team that appears to be outmatched based on size, speed, or even total number of kids on a team, yet always play hard and compete to win with the best teams. This almost never happens by chance, but instead by means of great coach leadership that values each kid, builds each kid up, and provides meaningful playing time in games.
Final thoughts
While many coaches quickly lean in to getting the best players for their team, it is important to note how great coaching can take an average group of motivated kids and do some amazing things in sports. Building kids up through genuine relationships, praise, and support helps kids play beyond what others think they are capable of, leading to better team results. And the best part? Seeing kids who originally thought they did not have much of a chance witness through hard work and commitment how amazing things can happen — especially in youth sports.
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