Pulling back.
It is a word coaches hate to hear. However, adhering to the AYSO philosophies, it is a necessary component of play. Most of the coaches who have been around a while have been on both sides of this argument. Neither side is fun, but I'm almost willing to bet that a lot of people would prefer to be on the side where you are still giving it all you can than the side that is trying to figure out how to NOT score.

The common goal differential for pulling back is five. If you are up by five, you need to start figuring out how to pull back. Some teams start sooner than that. Of course, starting to pull back too early can cause you to lose. Here is where we have the difference between AYSO and other sports:

• When you would rather have a fun, fair game that is close vs. a cake walk.
• When you can take the "Win at all costs" mentality out of the game ... then it becomes a true game.
• A chance to watch young men and women compete with one another as individuals and as a team.
• To watch them learn a sport that is intelligent, beautiful, and athletic.

We all like to win, we can be honest about that. However, if you win every game, every year ... by a lot ... that is not a reflection of you as a coach. That is a reflection of a bunch of good players getting on one team that is unbalanced and unfair. If you have to pull back on more than half of your games you need to rethink the AYSO philosophies and whether you have created an unfair advantage for your team. You need to move up or break up at that point. If you really need the wins I believe we can supply any coach with an undefeated certificate that you can hang on your wall. (Click here to have your own certificate).

Some coaches try to pull back by putting everyone on defense, but that doesn't really work. All that does is make it impossible for the other team to score. Other ideas:

• Placing players in different positions.
• Requiring more passes before a shot be taken.
• Play short.
• Try not to get up 7 to nothing.
• If you know you have the better team, don't start with the best players out there.Move them around from the beginning.
• Crushing the other team's spirit in the first quarter almost makes it impossible for you to pull back and give the other team a chance.

Remember that while you are in AYSO everyone needs to follow the philosophies. Pulling back is a way to make it fair for every team. The reason we are out there is for the kids, not for the coaches, not for the parents, but for ALL the players that come out to have fun.

Send us your ideas on how you have pulled back. Send e-mail to Russ to add to the web page. The more ideas we can add to this page the better we will all be able to handle the different situations in regards to pulling back.