Skill vs team development

Here’s a simple framework we use to think about varsity player development throughout the year. Simply put, the offseason is about player development and the season is about team development. The way we design practices (and the freedoms or structures we reinforce) directly reflect these goals.

Of course, given how we play offensively (through concepts) and practice (with competitive games and constraints), this isn’t all black and white. In 4v4 or 5v5, players are still sharpening skills that directly transfer to games, and in 2v2 or 3v3, they’re still operating within many of our offensive concepts.

It’s also important to note that player development looks different for different players depending on their age, time commitment, and context. For one, expanding their role might mean lifting up a weakness. For another, it might mean building on a strength (like a shooter developing movement shooting, or a driver adding more complex finishes). And for some, development might even mean trimming away certain parts of a skill (like weak-hand finishing) in order to further amplify its counterpart (like strong-hand finishing).

Keep in mind this is our varsity framework. At the freshman and JV levels, the in-season focus is more on the physical and technical aspects of player development. Those environments act as a training ground, giving players the foundation to one day have a chance to thrive at the varsity level. They still need certain tactical understandings of our offense so they can improve and showcase their skills (no one is good enough to showcase their skills without proper spacing)…but again, it falls into this 80–20 model.

While we may think we can forecast development trajectories at the lower levels, experience has taught me that players often surprise us—revealing new skills when given the right opportunities to show and improve them. Let's give them those opportunities.