Player Retention

by | 19/07/20 | Uncategorized

River Juniors Player Retention

As a club we have produced a small report on player retention issues we are finding as a club and what steps we are taking moving forward.

For a couple of seasons now we are seeing some players leave our club who have been with us for a long time.  There will always be a natural change of some players leaving and some players joining, this is usually as our club operates different to others and that suits some players/parents and doesn’t suit others, that’s just personal preference.

One reason we are seeing more than others is due to an imbalance of ability and commitment within a squad of players, this is the main reason we are not retaining players.

As a club we:

  • Give all players we can fit in an opportunity to play football.
  • Give fair/equal game time across all age groups.
  • Retain players who’s parents aren’t committed to training and games.
  • Retain players who will be part of the natural drop off when players reach 11v11 football.
  • Retain players that we feel although they love football in general, they could take it or leave playing it.
  • Allow managers to recruit their own players.

The Positives of this are:

  • We are giving all children an opportunity to play, socialise, exercise, develop.
  • We are creating an inclusive environment.
  • We are creating somewhere all children can build confidence and play football.

The Negatives of doing this are:

  • Parents are taking advantage of an inclusive philosophy, they are putting in minimum commitment and some are expecting maximum results.
  • Players who aren’t committed fall behind the players who are committed.
  • Players/parents who are committed become unhappy with those in the team who don’t show the same commitment.
  • Parents/players don’t want to stay because of the gap in commitment.

The problems this causes for us as a club:

  • Unhappy parents discussing/messaging/emailing about other players lack of effort, commitment etc impacting on their child’s football as there becomes a clear ability divide within teams. This creates hours per week of negative additional communication for the club.
  • Players who have committed to us, and we’ve invested a lot of time and effort in leave to join like minded players/teams. They don’t feel comfortable moving within the club because they know the team they’re leaving behind will struggle.
  • We can never back fill these spaces because when we advertise for players to come to training there’s about 30-40% of the team attending, so why would any new player wish to be part of a team that doesn’t train.
  • Players left behind who have been carried by committed players now don’t want to play because their games are now too hard, they aren’t at the level required because those committed players who have left are usually more able, confident, fitter, competitive players. They were ‘carrying’ the uncommitted players.
  • We have large gaps between team ability levels once people leave and have great difficulty in merging teams to keep players in teams and attending.
  • Training/coaching quality is diluted because we can never plan properly, we can’t work to our set 6 week plans because too many players miss it.
  • We can’t retain coaches because coaches (and many parents agree) spend too much time begging, managing, dealing with players who admit they don’t want to be there instead of helping the players who want the help and guidance.

At other clubs if players aren’t at the same ability level or show a lower level of commitment:

  • If you don’t train you don’t start or don’t play.
  • If you aren’t in the best 5/7/9/11 players you don’t start.
  • If you aren’t in the best starting team you don’t get the same game time.
  • Non committed players are asked to leave, phased out or play a lot less.

I don’t think you will find many other teams who promote equal time and equal opportunity to play football like River Juniors.

Our philosophy is certainly football for all but it’s becoming clear that football for all and player retention do not work in perfect harmony.

Moving forward it is very important we, River Juniors, focus on player retention.

Whilst the majority of information that follows is aimed at the natural drop off at 11v11 it is clear that some teams become less balanced from how they started at 5v5 so if we feel it necessary or parents are not happy there will be instances were we will make changes at 5v5, 7v7 or 9v9 if we feel that decision in the long run retains more players than we would lose not making that decision.

It is a fact Player A (committed) will not be retained if they are within a group of players who are all like Player B (not committed).  Under our ‘football for all’ philosophy we don’t retain player A, but this then is a further loss because then we don’t retain Player B either who drops outs at 11v11 or having lost Player A now find games much tougher and doesn’t want to play.

This is not a criticism of kids who drop out of football, it’s a fact, even kids who enjoy football, play in strong teams, been to or play in Academy football can all drop out as they move to 11v11 and become teenagers.

Our experience shows the jump to 11v11 football is a problem and this is why:

  • Players get less touches of the ball.
  • The game becomes a battle of fitness and effort playing on such big pitches.
  • Players bodies change at different speeds and it can become an 18 year old build v a 12 year old build on a big pitch.
  • Players get different interests.
  • Players change, some become less bothered, some become far more competitive.
  • Due to players dropping out and all teams looking for players the mid teams lose players to the top teams and back fill from lower teams and the gaps between ability level gets wider.

If you take the Walton and Kirkdale League (2019/20 season) U7 and U8 teams there are 40 teams, at U13 and U14 there are 20 teams.

Based on average squads this works out as follows

U7 & U8, 5v5 football – 40 x 8 = 320

U9 & U10, 7v7 football – 39 x 10 = 390 (22% increase)

9v9 football – 35 x 12 = 420 (8% increase)

11v11 football – 20 x 15 = 300 (29% decrease)

So you can see as formats go up 5v5 to 7v7 etc there is player growth, once we get to 11v11 that drops massively.  The reason for this I believe is the Player A, Player B, scenario mentioned above.  Players are becoming more aware of the efforts they make and others don’t and football for them becomes a lot more competitive. 

They want to play in the best teams they possibly can, at U9 or U10 the friendship and social side is more important to children at them ages.  Fast forward to U13, 11v11, they’ve got new friends and they’re changing their ideas on what football means to them.  They’re also playing a game were they may get the ball 10 times in 70 minutes, the enjoyment of the game decreases.  These scenarios leave behind groups of players who don’t want to play anymore because they are getting beat by heavy scores every week and hardly getting a kick of the ball.

That drop of 120 players is alarming.

So what are we going to do about it?

More people aged 16+ play 5 a side or 7 aside than play 11 a side.  The reason being, its less serious, there’s more touches, there’s more opportunity to get on the ball, the fact its smaller pitches it’s a more level playing field (physique and fitness doesn’t have as much of an impact) which again makes it competitive and more enjoyable.

Academy football comes in for a lot of criticism, it takes players down a pathway with a very small success percentage but in my opinion so does this part of grassroots football.  For whatever reason, society, facilities, work or family commitments it’s most likely that players once they reach 16 will play 5v5 or 7v7 so why do we push kids and teams who aren’t technically or physically able (which impacts on enjoyment) to get around that huge pitch at U13 in to 11 a side football so soon?  We can’t change the FA rules but we will change aspects of our club to keep kids playing football.

There is this insistence on getting up to bigger pitches, apart from those stronger handful of teams per age groups it makes football far less enjoyable.

As a club we are looking to speak with parents and players and work with them all on what pathway we feel is best for their child.

The biggest problem I find is ‘Real’ football, “The league’s are 9v9 so I’m not having my child playing 5v5”, “It’s not a proper game” etc etc. 

Ask yourself what it is you want from your child’s football?  What do they want from football?  Enjoyment, exercise, socialising?  They get that playing 5v5 or 7v7, in fact I’d go as far as saying I’ve seen more teenagers smiling and enjoying their football at Goals playing 5v5 than I’ve seen playing 11v11 in the Walton and Kirkdale League.

We are moving to towards a 3 stream pathway that includes:

  • River Academy
  • River Grassroots
  • River Rec (Recreational)

River Academy

For players who we aim to be at a level that’s either just below professional academy football, highest level grassroots players or long term potential to play Non-League football.  They are expected to train twice a week with a higher attendance percentage than other groups with a clear focus on development and learning at sessions and away from sessions.  They would play in the higher ability local leagues or the Junior Premier League.

River Grassroots

For players who are of a competitive nature, enjoy their football and play to a good level in the local leagues.  They are expected to train once a week (possibly attend additional sessions if players want to) with a high attendance percentage and would show a willingness to improve at sessions.  They would play in the local leagues at the level that suits them.  This group wouldn’t be ability based as such, there are no issues with lower level teams being part of the Development group but there must be a commitment to attend.

River Rec

For players who aren’t fully committed to attending or improving, football is 100% social and recreational.  There would be no expectation to attend more than once a week but it would be a combined training session and a game all in one.  This group would be a mix of ages, abilities and attitudes towards football which we would organise in to teams and play smaller format football matches.  We would still have set teams for those who want it but there would just be a ‘kickabout’ for those who don’t.

We are going to have to consider which players fit in to which stream moving forward, everyone is welcome to be part of the club but we may disagree on which stream players fall in to.

Thank you for reading.