Why We Prioritize Player Development Over Winning
(A Letter From Head Coach Walter Altamirano)
Dear Centaurus FC Families,
As we wrap up a great fall soccer season and head into winter training, I’d like to share a message about our mission—who we are and what we stand for at Centaurus FC.
While it was wonderful to have such a winning fall season, I want to emphasize that our focus is always first and foremost on player and team development.
We want to look back after each season and ask ourselves, not just what the win-loss column looked like, but whether our team and players have grown.
That doesn’t mean we discourage our players from winning — in fact, it’s the opposite. We want every player to step on the field with the mindset to compete, to give their best effort, and to strive for victory.
Yet, we don’t want a focus on winning to become the “enemy of excellence”, as youth sports advocate and coach John O’Sullivan has written:
“Players who play to win is one thing, and has nothing to do with coaches who only coach to win, and organizations that create environments focused on winning and not development. That approach actually robs kids of their athletic education, and sets them up for failure later in life.”
With youth players, we could choose to win games by sticking to the same old tactics, positions, and opponents, but our players will not learn as much.
We could recruit kids who are taller or faster for their age and rest on those laurels for a few years.
Or, we can instead challenge each of our players to try new roles and new skills, focusing on growing their long-term potential—even if that means we don’t win a particular game.
This letter is to talk about why we choose the latter option.
Winning a match can bring excitement for a day, but developing a player brings benefits that last a lifetime. As parents, it’s easy to measure success by goal tallies. But we must remember to ask the most important question:
Has my child LEARNED over the course of the season?
Our coaching staff is strongly committed to helping kids grow step by step, improving their technical ball mastery, agility and athletic performance, confidence, soccer IQ, and most importantly, their love for the game.
We are introducing tools like our goal-setting worksheets, and athletic testing not meant to see who’s already the best, but instead how each player can grow.
When we focus on the process of improvement, with each player allowed to try, stumble, try again, and learn at their individual speed, the results follow naturally. This is the “growth mindset” that leads to success.
The more our players believe in that process — training with intent, playing with joy, and working with their teammates — the better prepared they will be for the next stages of their journey, especially as they advance to the full 11v11 game.
Thank you for believing in this process and for being such an integral part of our Centaurus FC family. It’s been a joy to work with your children this season and we’re looking forward to seeing them continue to have fun together as they strive toward new milestones and build a united team.
With gratitude,
Walter Altamirano
Founder & Technical Director
Centaurus FC
