"Loitering" or "Cherry Picking" in Small Sided Games For Under 10 and Under 11

Now this is a really sore point for many coaches and brings howls of objection from parents on the sidelines, who are otherwise silent. No one likes"offside" in Football at any level, its the equivalent of pushing in at the front of a queu. There is no provision for "Offside" in the small sided games that our Under 10 and Under 11 children play and our referees will not rule on it.
But ask any coach at these ages, they nearly all agree that its better for the players to respect the existence of offside, often talking to each other before the game to make sure each will do what they can to ensure their players don't "loiter" in an offside position. In the USA they call it "cherry picking". When young players do find themselves well forward as they do, with the game heading off down the other end of the field, the coaches usually tell them to make the effort to transition and get back on side. Near enough is good enough and a lot better than "loitering".
When a coach leaves a player down near the opposition goal, ready to recieve or pinch a ball and shoot at goal, you know one thing for certain - the coach is chasing the win and development has been abandoned. When it happens, no one of comfortable, because it feels like cheating.
There is another school of thought that says you just let them play and if they want to sit up at the opposiiton goal well let them. But that produces nothing of value is my experience and develops bad habits.

Cherry Picking

Sam Snow
Apr 26 2010, 12:00 AM
http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/Blog.asp?post_id=1020
Sam Snow is the Senior Assistant Technical Director for US Youth Soccer.

I had an interesting question from a parent of a youth player that steers us toward a piece of the player development puzzle.


"Why would a U-9 coach from a top program in this area allow and encourage her players to "cherry pick". There is no offside rule in U-9, but shouldn't coaches be working to educate the players on what is going to happen when Fall League starts? Or is it more important to get the win? Thoughts? Oh, as additional information, the referee is not allowed to instruct or stop the cherry picking from happening because it is a loop hole."

Telling players to "cherry pick" can indeed win games on the short term but it will delay competitive development in the long term. A forward on a U-12 or older team who "cherry picks" will find that she is often in a poor tactical position. Once the game becomes faster, and is played over larger fields in older age groups, the cherry picking player is disconnected from teammates who will now be unable to find her for passes. The cherry picking forward will often be in an offside position once opponents learn how to play the 'offside trap' as a tactical ploy. The tactical concept of compactness is much more important to present and future performance for these young players than the fleeting gains offered by cherry picking.

Finally, at elite levels of play forwards are required to contribute to defending when the other team has possession of the ball. The cherry picker will be out of position to contribute to the team effort to get the ball back. At elite levels of soccer when our team has the ball all players are expected to contribute to the attack and when the opponents have the ball all players are expected to defend.

U-10 Age Group - Law 11 Offside: there shall be no offside called during these games. This rule was put into place for the U-10 age group to make it easier for them to play a fluid game. Furthermore, the typical 9 or 10-year-old does not understand the many situations in which offside may or may not be called. In fact, many adults have a difficulty comprehending the shades of grey within this Law.

For the sake of keeping youngsters in the game for a lifetime, proper development through childhood and the teenage years is important. Taking shortsighted actions such as the "cherry pick" inhibits that development.