15/09/2026
When a coach builds a youth team purely to win, they’re essentially playing chess with people.
Put the fast kid on the wing.
Put the big, strong kid at the back.
Put the best technical player in the middle.
Then set the team up to beat whoever is standing in front of them.
And it works.
The team wins.
But what actually developed?
The fast kid ran fast again.
The big kid used his strength again.
The technical kid had everything go through him again.
They spent another game doing what they were already good at.
Nobody was stretched. Nothing new was demanded of them.
There’s winning.
And there’s learning.
They are not the same thing.
A comfort zone might produce a comfortable performance.
It rarely produces growth.
Yet so many parents in Dubai judge youth football through the scoreboard.
Are we top of the league?
Did we win the tournament?
How many trophies have we won?
But the great development academies aren’t simply asking whether their U10s won at the weekend.
They’re developing technical ability, decision-making, game understanding, adaptability and coachability.
Because the objective isn’t to create the best 9-year-old team.
It’s to develop the best 16, 18 and 21-year-old players they can.
A trophy at nine might feel brilliant.
But a trophy isn’t a pathway.
And sometimes, the obsession with winning is more rewarding for the parent than it is developmental for the player.
So if the first question you ask about your child’s academy is:
“Did they win?”
Maybe the better question is:
“Did my child get better?”
And if the answer is no, maybe they’re at the wrong academy 🤷🏽
