Winning badly vs. Losing greatly

If it is a close game, you want your best players on the field. However, what happens if they are not playing up to standard? What if they are throwing the disc away many times on errant hucks but you know they can throw that I/O off a stopped disc to get it immediately to the break side? Or what if they are forcing bad decisions and causing confusion in the backfield but yet they can sky any girl out there? It is my personal opinion that if a player is not playing up to the team’s standards, that player sits. I would rather lose the game 13-9 playing our best Ultimate than win 13-12 with us somehow scoring amidst all of the trash on the field. (Now, that might change if we were in the finals of the College Championships. I would like to say it wouldn’t but honestly, who knows – I’ve never been there). It is a really tough call and I’ve found myself on both ends of the dilemma. I’ve been the player that sees all of the things going wrong on the field but still found myself sitting on the sidelines. But I’ve also been the player that when the game is tied and about to go into cap and I am not leaving the field.

Once I was elected captain, I read the book Bo’s Lasting Lessons to get some leadership advice. It is a book written by one of the best, if not the best, Michigan Football coaches Bo Schembechler. In his writings he talked about this dilemma and how to choose between winning badly or losing greatly. I adopted his thinking after reading his book and I stand by that feeling. It does no good for your team if you can only win by having your best players out there forcing bad throws or decisions. It makes your practice time worthless. During practice you have a certain agenda and certain goals that you want your team to accomplish. You draw out a game plan and adopt a certain identity throughout the year. The people who deserve play time are the players that implement that into games. Your star players do not deserve to be on the field just because they can run faster, jump higher, or throw farther than other players. In fact, they do not deserve ANYTHING unless they earn it – just like anyone on your team.

I think it is essential for your program and its future if captains/coaches implement this. You have to follow by your words and encourage your rookies to try really hard at practice so they can get the valuable playing time. Like I’ve stated in my previous post, captains and other star players can be wrong. Just because you have been elected to a position or have been named All-Region does not mean anything if you can’t play FOR YOUR TEAM. By playing for your team you are acknowledging when your star players aren’t playing well or when your rookies actually are playing to your system. And it isn’t just acknowledging, it is acting upon it as well. It is really easy to get in the mindset of “Well, I know we aren’t dumping and swinging and we are making terrible decisions with the disc but ____ can throw better than almost any other player on the opposite team so we are just going to let her work out her kinks on the field” – or something of the like. Players can work out their kinks on the sideline after you talk to them about what they are doing wrong. Additionally by doing this, you are putting trust in your other players to make the plays as stated in game plans or practices. Putting trust in EVERYONE on your team is essential for a championship caliber team. And really, it is essential for a successful team whether you make it to Natties or not.

So I challenge all the teams out there to implement this. (Of course, that is if you agree with this post. If you do not, well – you are entitled to your own opinion.) It will help the development of your team throughout the season as well as in the next year as well. You need to put trust in your rookies and you need to not let your star players run all over the place. Keep your team balanced and shoot to be a better team, not just to win.