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"The gold fish is never bigger than the bowl."
Choe Mahn Zenz, Chinese National Team, Ming Dynasty
At the end of the day, or season, you'll want to sit down and evaluate how things went. You'll need to answer the question, are the children and the team playing better soccer? Have they "progressed, shown development" in playing the game? The following will examine a method of how to get a consistent and reliable evaluation of both teams and individuals using small sided games.
Evaluations
Evaluations can be divided into two types, objective and subjective. An objective evaluation requires some form of measurement. For teams this is the won/loss record and for individuals it could be expressed as a number of juggles, how many passes they can make in one minute or how fast they can dribble through a set of cones. Using this system, achievements are quantified and measurable. Subjective evaluations don't offer this type of clarity and can be difficult to "prove." They can become a matter of "what you like," open to cultural bias and difficult to support outside of opinion. This type of evaluation is useful in aesthetic fields where quantified measurements are difficult.
Evaluating small sided games poses a problem of which type to use. While there are a number of things that can be measured, i.e. score, number of (passes, tackles, successful 1v1's and so on) the games have a life of their own, so what you want to observe might not occur making an objective evaluation difficult. On the other hand a subjective evaluation will need some standard in place to serve as a measure. The criteria must be meaningful, universal and capable of being applied to the different forms of small sided games.
An evaluation needs to be valid and consistent. The first step to ensure validity is to decide what measure will be used as the criteria by which to judge individuals and teams. It will need to take into account the nature of the game and enjoy universal application. Second, establish how to measure the criteria to insure consistency.
What - Speed Of Play As The Criteria
Anyone who has ever played long enough in competitive sports knows the feeling when they are playing at a level that is over their head. The game is simply too fast. Not just physically but mentally as well. Indeed, the inability to adapt to the increased demands made by the faster game is the single biggest factor in keeping players from advancing to a higher level. Speed of play is the standard by which individuals, teams and levels can be judged and differentiated. It will serve as the criteria for evaluating individuals and teams in small sided games.
Why Speed Of Play
Speed of play applies to all forms. SOP can be observed in every small sided game from soccer tennis to 8v8.
Speed of play applies to all of the moments. In possession, losing possession, opponents in possession and regaining possession. It does not stop with one or begin with any other.
Speed of play can be evaluated in both individuals and in teams. Teams are limited by how fast the individual's can play and individuals are limited by how fast their team mates can play.
Speed of play is dependent on TIC, physical qualities and mentality. Evaluating individuals and teams SOP is not restricted to any isolated part but includes all.
Speed of play can be observed. When you're watching a game you can ask yourself "are they playing faster than they were the last time they played this game?" The game can be compared to itself at a different point in time.
How - Setting Standards For Evaluating Small Sided Games
Compare the game to itself. Evaluations are a snapshot in time. They show how far you've come and give you an idea how far there is to go. Therefore comparing 4v4 to 7v7 is invalid. It's comparing apples to oranges. To judge players in any small sided game they should be judged by how they played the same game previously, and not against some other form.
Look at the whole game. Avoid breaking the game down into parts. That comes later. The 'whole game' means to judge it by the standards of TIC, physical qualities and the players mentality working together. The purpose of this evaluation is to measure the individuals or team against the game and not an isolated part.
Speed Of Play In Small Sided Games
Speed of play is relative to the level. For young children the optimal SOP is to "get the ball and do it yourself." The most dominant child gets to over power the opponents and team mates. As children get older, two or three players will form a clique and solve all of the problems themselves ignoring their lesser, i.e. slower teammates. Finally, at the higher levels and with older ages, players accept that everyone will have to contribute in some fashion to the common objectives of the team. The lesser players take a smaller supportive role, the top players take the larger responsibilities.
Progression in speed of play. In the orientation phase SOP will be slow. As the children get use to the game their SOP will increase. It can improve, level off, stop, even go backwards. Your job is to watch the game and analyze what factors can be influenced in order to help the players increase the SOP of the game. From the factors you've identified select the most important one and focus on that. When players have mastered a game at a certain level and the resistance is increased their SOP will slow down.
Speed of play is mastered in incremental steps. SOP is effected by indirect means over time. If the biggest problem concerns an individual, that player needs time to solve that problem. If it's in an aspect of play for the entire team, then the team will need time to master the solutions for the problem. The problem becomes the focus for the next training.
"Learning is a permanent change in behavior." When the players are capable of consistently playing the game at the higher SOP, then it can be said that they have learned that game at that level.
