16/04/2026
I came across this on another Facebook football group. What are your thoughts?
Who says results at U11 don’t matter?
Yes, football is meant to be fun — and we should never lose sight of that. But let’s be honest: losing isn’t fun for most kids.
Sport, by its nature, is competitive. Whether it’s football or any other discipline, the goal is to improve, to push yourself, and ultimately — to win.
No matter what anyone says, lifting a winner’s medal will always feel better than settling for runner-up. That’s not toxic — that’s human.
In development football, we stream players and seed leagues to ensure fairer matchups — so kids have a better chance of experiencing success. That’s still results-based thinking, even if the scores aren’t always published.
From U12 and above, leagues become fully competitive, and results are published. So why are we pretending the switch flips overnight? Kids know what’s at stake long before that age.
In the summer, tournaments are all about trying to win. We celebrate champions. That’s part of the excitement.
Football should absolutely be for everyone. But let’s stop pretending that wanting to win is wrong. It’s not. It’s natural. And in every area of life — school, work, sport — there are winners and losers.
If you want to be a winner, you have to put in the effort. Train harder. Sacrifice. Improve.
And when you lose? Learn from it. Bounce back.
That’s the essence of sport — and the essence of life.
