Loses “all” handball matches, but more and more children join the team

My hairy dream is to manage and find the key to how to recruit more children to the sport (for this applies not only to handball), and at the same time reduce the dropout rate in adolescence. The dropout rate is greatest between the ages of 12 and 16. In my search for success factors, I weekly contact coaches around the country of Norway.

This week the phone went to Verdal'n, because if anyone is going to make it, it has to be here. At the other end of the phone tube, I bumped into the coach of boys 15, Ben Arild Engan.

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Verdal G15 has grown from being 4-5 kids, to becoming a team of 22 players. Many teams can point to such numbers, but the startling thing about this story is that the team pretty much loses all of its games. Part of the reason is that Ben Arild distributes playing time equally between everyone on the team, even in situations where they have the opportunity to win. Of course I got curious!

What moves have been made? How have they managed to create an environment with no results focus? What makes them able to keep the children? Especially recruiting more people?

But first, who exactly is this Ben Arild?

Ben Arild is 41 years old, married and has 3 children. He is a teacher at Levanger VGS on media and communication. He has played handball himself, and has both coaching and refereeing courses.

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Ben Arild quickly gets into how the playing group is not concerned with winning, but that they focus on the team's performance. As 11-year-olds, the boys had to play against children who were a year older and this resulted in very many losses. The highlight of the season came in the last league match against archrival Skogn, a game they lost only by two goals. Earlier in the season they had been swept off the field and lost by 20-1 against the same team. It peaked with cheers of joy on the field, and the opponent's coach came into the locker room and praised the team for a great effort.

Guardians, coaches and children with a strong focus on results are not among the rarities, which is often evident far down the age groups.

Ben Arild's method

I decided to test out Ben Arild's method in practice on my son, a slightly above average results-oriented little guy. The choice fell on a school tournament in football for first graders. After several losses, I experienced tears and dejected mood among many of the children because they did not bring home the long-awaited trophy.

My son, on the other hand, was delighted! Why? Yes, because he had mastered a feint he had been practicing for a long time. A feint he conducted in the middle of the pitch, without any players around him.

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Tired of the pressure to win

Kids are tired of the pressure to win, claims Ben Arild. He finds that children are weighed and measured in almost all arenas, which I have to support him in. His main goal has been to create an environment where children can release this pressure, and he believes sports can be just that arena.

Ben Arild has individual player conversations with the children, where the players are given specific tasks. In these conversations, he is also very keen to find out how the children are really doing.

Reactions from parents

I wasn't late to ask Ben Arild if he's experienced reactions from results-focused parents.

“I have received inquiries from parents who disagree with the philosophy and values. I think anyone who chooses to try something of the same will experience this. Being a parent coach at a club can sometimes be a lonely task where you feel like you have to make a lot of important choices while being under pressure from different teams. Then it's important to believe in what you're doing, and preferably have a coaching team or someone else around you who believes in the same philosophy. Ideally, you should have a club in your back that has laid a clear value base for the activity to be run. This is something I think we are succeeding at.”

I am interested in getting on the table solutions for how to avoid such situations. Ben Arild mentions that clear communication with the parent group has been important so that everyone is aware of, and agrees with, the team's philosophy.

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Differentiation — the most difficult challenge in sport!

Finally, we discuss differentiation. Possibly the most difficult challenge in sports!?!

For differentiation versus not differentiation is plague or cholera. There are pros and cons to both solutions, but one thing Ben Arild and I completely agree on: differentiation does NOT mean topping the team! All children should be allowed to play the same amount — regardless of outcome.

In Denmark, level training is recommended, with it being meant that 25% of training should be done with someone who is better, 50% with someone of the same level, and the last 25% with children with lower skill levels. Children should learn, but also learn.

I'm not sitting on facet. There may not be a facet, but this was a conversation I wanted to share with you along the way in my quest to get a little closer to my big hairy goal.

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Handball greeting from Bjarte Myrhol