By: nmlavoi

nmlavoi — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 12:08:03 +0000

d’Alary, Glad you have found these posts on playing time engaging. To be honest I didn’t even think about putting winning in this model, so you raise a good point! To me winning in implicit in sport as it is inherently a zero-sum context. I need to think about including it due to the point you raised. Let me think about this and I’ll make an additional post when I’ve flushed this out a bit more. Thanks! -nml

By: d'Alary Dalton

d'Alary Dalton — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:23:10 +0000

Thank you! I have been looking forward to your follow-up post to the issue of playing time. I wondered if you could say more about your figure and in particular the absence of winning as a consideration. I see how an emphasis on winning is implicit in a few of the other considerations, but did you intentionally choose to leave the emphasis/de-emphasis on winning aspect out of your figure? Showing that an emphasis/de-emphasis on winning is a distinct consideration in making playing time decisions may highlight the tension between the goal of winning and the goal of developing a young athlete. And, since making explicit an emphasis/de-emphasis on winning as a distinct consideration may also create opportunities to reflect on some of the common struggles that coaches face without getting caught up in the clichés of a win-at-all-cost approach, I see a particular need for models of coaching to include an emphasis on winning.

Comments on: More Thoughts on Equal Playing Time in Youth Sports

By: nmlavoi

By: d'Alary Dalton