01/09/2026
Have we become a nation obsessed with tournaments?
I asked this before back in November, but seeing more pre-season tournaments has brought the question back again.
This isn’t anti-tournament or anti-winning and it certainly isn’t anti-competition.
A good tournament can be a brilliant experience, different opposition, competitive games, memories with teammates and, for many grassroots clubs, much-needed income that helps keep the club running.
→ When does more stop meaning better?
If children are playing tournaments throughout the summer (or whenever there is a break in the season) and then moving straight into pre-season tournaments, when do they actually rest?
Not just physically, but mentally too. Football isn't always their only commitment, some children move from one sport to another, each with training, matches and competitions of its own.
→ At what point does opportunity become overcommitment?
There’s another side to this as coaches.
We regularly talk about how difficult it is as volunteers to find time to plan sessions, reflect on our coaching or continue our own development.
Yet a tournament can take an entire Saturday or Sunday, before we even consider organising it, travelling there and everything else around it.
That doesn't make attending wrong, but perhaps we should ask whether another tournament is always the best use of that time.
There are family costs too, travel, entry fees, food, sometimes accommodation and another weekend organised around football.
⛔ None of this means tournaments should disappear.
There are thousands of coaches and volunteers creating excellent environments where children compete, play plenty of football and everyone feels involved.
The concern is when tournament success starts becoming a measure of whether a team is doing well, which players are considered good enough, or which children adults decide are worth investing their time in.
Children should compete and strive towards winning, and all those experiences that come with winning and losing.
Yet, development needs something else as well:
• Practices
• Recovery (Physically and mentally)
• Opportunities to make mistakes (without the pressure)
• Time away from organised sport altogether.
Maybe the question isn't whether tournaments are good or bad, it's simply:
How many is enough, and what are we giving up to fit in the next one? And at what cost?
