Ask Coach Wolff

A few years ago, I was approached by Danny Bernstein, a listener of my show who was eager to launch a new kind of activity for kids who play sports. Specifically, Danny’s vision was to set up soccer, basketball, and other programs in which kids of all different ages and abilities could simply have a chance to pick up teams and play games.

That’s right. No parents, no refs, no uniforms, no league standings, no A or B teams. Just kids left to choose up teams and play.

So what happened? I mean, in a day and age where kids are driven to compete at the highest levels, specialize in sports at a very young age, have private coaches, and even go to specialized camps to focus on their sports, Backyard Sports has been a refreshing and resouding success.

As Danny said on my show yesterday (that’s right – I brought Danny back on the show again), the kids who come to play at Backyard are kids who currently play on travel teams, high school teams, and so on. The difference here is that when the kids play at Backyard, they’re free to simply enjoy themselves. No pressure to win. No parental pressure to appease.

For example, if a kid always play fullback on his travel team, at Backyard he can play forward. If a kid plays outfield in Little League, here he can try and pitch a few innnings. In other words, it’s fun as kids instinctively love to experiment and try different things out in sports.

But these days, parents and coaches tell me all the time that kids rarely have the luxury to try and experiment. There’s just too much pressure to keep doing what they do well, and if they ever veer off the path, there’s a coach to bring them back into line.

Thank goodness for Danny Bernstein. You should check out Backyard Sports – nothing like going back to the future.