The “Player of the Week” Doesn't Win the Game

By Regina Symons, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA

If you've been watching the World Cup, you've probably noticed the same thing everyone else has.

The cameras follow the superstars.

The crowd rises every time they touch the ball. The headlines celebrate the player who scores the winning goal. Their names are remembered long after the final whistle.

And yet, every great goal begins long before the ball reaches the back of the net.

It starts with a smart decision made under pressure from the back end. A defender wins possession. A midfielder makes a crossing pass. A winger makes a run that creates space but never receives the ball. Someone chooses the simple pass instead of the spectacular one.

Then someone scores.

We celebrate the finish. But the finish is only possible because of everything that came before it.

Youth sports often work the same way.

The "Player of the Week" is frequently the child who scored the most goals. But if they're playing striker, isn't scoring goals part of the job? What about the defender who quietly shut down every attack? The midfielder who created the chances? The teammate who encouraged others after every mistake and never stopped working?

Those contributions rarely make the highlight reel, but they often make the difference between winning and losing.

The same is true when things don't go as planned.

A goalkeeper lets in one goal, and suddenly that's all anyone remembers. Never mind the six saves that kept the team in the game, the calm distribution that started attacks, or the constant communication that prevented countless other opportunities.

Children notice what adults notice.

When we celebrate only the obvious moments, they learn that being valuable means being visible. But when we also recognize the teammate who made the extra run, the player who recovered after losing the ball, the defender who communicated early, or the child who lifted a teammate after a mistake, we teach something much bigger than soccer.

We teach children that great teams are built on making those contributions that lead to outcomes, not just putting the ball in the net.

One of the simplest things a coach or parent can do this week is point out one behavior that never appears on the scoresheet. An unselfish pass. A player talking to organize the defense. Someone sprinting back to help a teammate. Those moments deserve to be seen, too.

Because one player doesn't win the game.

A team does.