Introducing players to interscholastic athletics means getting them acquainted with the convention of competitive athletics between schools. Pretty obvious, huh? However, I think this aspect of middle school athletics is far less evident to coaches and parents. I remember how surprised (and honestly disappointed) I was in my first year of coaching middle school soccer by how little the players knew about the game. I realize now that I should not be surprised. After all, I invested 16 years of training in soccer before I coached. Many players did not have 10% of my experience yet.
In some ways middle school athletics should resemble the highest level of interscholastic varsity athletics. Most of the rules of the game are the same. Teams represent schools against one another. Seasons have championships. At the same time, though, middle school athletics should differ from varsity because of the students playing. They are beginning adolescence. They are generally weaker physically. They are more awkward and insecure. They have less skills and experience. Because of where they are developmentally, middle school athletics should be less intense, less organized, and less stressful than varsity. I think middle school athletics should allow a broad range of players because middle school is a season of broad and unique changes. In other words, athletics in this season should be as broad as the players coming out to play. Of course athletics at this level and all levels should also be fun. We are playing a game after all. Here's the bottom line: middle school athletics lays a foundation upon which JV and varsity build layers of sophistication and intensity.
Another way of saying all of this is that middle school athletics should not be elite. How can it be elite when many of the players have not developed enough to know whether or not they can perform at an elite level?
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