09/08/2025
Developing Ownership in Young Athletes
One of the biggest challenges I see in youth sports today is that kids aren’t always given the space to think and anticipate for themselves. When we coach every single moment, we unintentionally turn players into robots... reacting only to commands, instead of thinkers who can solve problems on their own.
I’ve watched this play out on the soccer field too many times. Coaches shouting nonstop from the sideline might feel like they’re proving something to parents, that they’re “coaching.” But in reality, it takes away the most important part of development: the athlete learning to process the game for themselves.
At Mesa and with the young players I work with at Warner Athletics, I’ve seen the best growth happen when athletes are encouraged to read the game, take risks, and yes, make mistakes. That’s how they learn. If we punish failure or remove all decision-making, we rob them of the chance to build ownership, resilience, and confidence.
Too often, the emphasis is on short-term wins, like a a perfectly executed drill, a result on a weekend game, instead of the long-term process of developing players who love the sport, think critically, and stay in the game. If kids grow up relying only on coaches to tell them what to do, we shouldn’t be surprised when they burn out early or fail to reach their full potential.
Our job as coaches isn’t to control every move. It’s to create environments where athletes can think, explore, fail, and grow into the type of players, and people, who take ownership of their journey.
