Two Ways to Measure Progress

The progress of a team — and of individual players — can be measured in two ways: Results and Performance.

It's not uncommon to have a great performance but not get a result. Your team possesses the ball, creates chances, plays with intelligence — and loses 1-0 on a counter-attack.

Likewise, a result can sometimes come without a good performance. You win 3-2, but it was scrappy, disorganized, and you were outplayed for 70 minutes.

The goal is to achieve both simultaneously. But when forced to prioritize, we believe focusing on performance wins more games in the long run than focusing on results.

When neither is present for a sustained period, discontent follows. Just ask the U.S. Men's National Team after failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup — a painful reminder of what happens when performance and results both disappear.

The Results-Focused Trap

In the youth game, we often see teams playing a direct style of football: leverage athleticism, capitalize on mistakes, loft the ball up the field, chase it down, and overpower opponents physically.

This approach doesn't require much skill, tactical intelligence, or creativity. And in the short term — especially at younger ages — it works. Players haven't yet developed the technical foundation or problem-solving ability to deal with high-pressure, physical play. Results come quickly.

But here's the problem: those results are borrowed from the future.

As players age, the developmental gap becomes painfully clear. The teams that prioritized athleticism over intelligence find themselves outplayed by more skillful opponents. And the players? Many quit altogether.

Soccer requires foot-to-eye coordination that takes years of repetition to develop — far more muscle memory than hand-to-eye sports like basketball or baseball. Players can pick up those sports at older ages with relative ease.
Soccer doesn't work that way. If the technical and tactical foundation isn't built early, it's exponentially harder to catch up later.

This is why so many players in the U.S. drop out of soccer. They realize they're not that skilled. They lose the joy that comes from development and improvement. And they walk away.

The enjoyment doesn't come from winning games. It comes from the journey of overcoming challenges through personal and team growth.

The Development-Focused Overcorrection

On the other end of the spectrum, some coaches overcorrect. They become so focused on "development" that they forget a fundamental truth:

Winning is a skill.

It requires tactical understanding, strategic thinking, mental fortitude, and technical execution. The desire to win should be present in every practice and every game.

Here's an example: A team attempts to play out of the back because it's "supposed to encourage development." But every defender is being man-marked by an opposing forward. There's no attempt to punish the high press by playing in behind. What happens?

The opposition is rewarded for overcommitting. Easy goals are conceded. Players lose confidence in the system. The belief in attractive football deteriorates.

Spain experienced this at the highest level. In 2010, they dominated world football with their possession-based tiki-taka style. By 2014, they were knocked out in the group stage. By 2018, the Round of 16. The same philosophy that made them world champions became predictable when opponents realized there was no threat of balls played in behind.

Development without competitive intent is incomplete.

The Trifecta

At Dutch FC, we don't believe in sacrificing anything. We seek what we call The Trifecta:

• Enjoyment — because players who love the game show up ready to work.
• Development — because technical and tactical growth is the foundation of long-term success.
• Competition — because the desire to win sharpens everything else.

We want it all. We believe you can have fun and develop and win — not by choosing one at the expense of the others, but by building them together in the right order.

Let's play the game the right way. Let's develop intelligent, skillful, adaptable players. And let's lift trophies doing it.

This is the standard we're setting. This is the culture we're building.

Join us as we raise the level of North Texas soccer — one player, one team, one season at a time.