‘Playing Up’ Is Not Always A Good Idea

There are benefits to “playing up,” but there are also inherent problems.

The term itself was first used in the early 1980s when tournaments were short of filling an age bracket. Tournament directors would call coaches they knew in the age bracket just below and ask them to fill in “just this once.”

Soon, teams were volunteering to do the same thing and, before too long, “playing up” was a big deal to the point of teams registering in tournaments in higher age brackets.  Tournament directors went along with it in most cases, and the term and practice stuck.

There are definitely teams capable of playing up. The athletes have trained hard and played at a high level for a number of years. Athletes, coaches and parents want the challenge. They make the conscious decision to risk being shut down by older, more experienced teams for the sake of seeing stiffer competition.

But, in the process, some coaches have pushed the envelope too far. Their teams simply aren’t ready.

When athletes are not prepared — physically, fundamentally and mentally — to endure what could potentially be a severe beating, the damage to their confidence can be devastating. In these circumstances, coaches are putting kids’ well being on the line, and it sometimes goes beyond teaching them a lesson. It can douse dreams.

Playing a sport quickly can become a chore instead of a passion if coaches and parents aren’t careful. Pride and nearsightedness can obstruct joy in athletics and devolve into the opposite of what the culprits originally intended.