Benching Your Players

  Sooner or later, you'll come to your wits end, after endless reinforcement, after endless practices, after endless conversations, after endless pleading, you'll be forced to bench one of your players. Depending on the age group, the "benching" is a message being sent by you, to the player, to basically "smarten up" and "do your job assignment".

With younger youth players, probably missing a shift would suffice and give them a moment to reflect on your message without disrupting too much. The older players probably need to sit a little longer. The most important thing is that they get the message and they understand the benching. Probably, they already know. But sometimes you need to communicate the reason. Don't make a scene when you do it, quietly inform the player of your decision.

Chances are they already knew it was coming.

The benching time is entirely up to you. Bottom line, be fair, but be firm. They have to get the message! The downside is that they could get emotional and make comments. Ignore them and discuss the comments after the game or before the next practice. For the most part consider the benching like a "time-out". Tell the player to reflect on his responsibilities and assignments. Let them think about it awhile. Then, pat them on the back and send them out to try it again.

That's about all you can do.

Cheers