Last year, my daughter’s 3rd grade team played a neighboring community team.

Our team was very good - we had a number of girls who had experience playing. Our opponent was not very good - you could tell that their girls were new to the game.

I had a pretty good idea before the game began that it was not going to be a competitive game. Sadly, I was right.

The final score was 37-1. After the game, I didn’t feel very good. We didn’t run the score up or do anything unsportsmanlike. However, I felt for the other team.

Blowouts aren’t good for either team. In part 2, we will talk about how to handle being on the losing end of a blowout. Today let's look at how you can handle it when you’re the winning team.

5 Ways To Handle A Blowout (When Ahead)

Here are some principles to follow when you find yourself well ahead in a game.

• DO NOT tell your kids not to compete - some coaches do tell their kids not to score. They tell them just to pass the ball around. This is well intentioned but misguided.

  Yes, it prevents the score from getting further out of hand. However, I’d argue it’s more humiliating to the opponent. To have a team hold the ball or pass it around for 2-3 minutes is incredibly demoralizing. It also cheats the players on both teams from getting developmental reps.

  Now, should you be pressing or trapping in a situation like this? Of course not. Maybe you work on a zone defense or a new offensive concept. That’s a way to balance still playing hard with respecting the game and your opponent.

• Speaking of respect. . . be aware of body language (yours and your players) - in a blowout, you sometimes see players laughing or joking around at the expense of the losing team. This is never acceptable. Even worse, coaches can sometimes get pulled into this type of disrespectful behavior.

  If you play or coach long enough, you’ll be on both sides of a blowout. Think how you would want to be treated if you were on the losing end.

  Be respectful and conduct yourself with class. Your players will follow your lead.

• Speaking of leading. . . don’t stop coaching - this happens on both sides of the blowout equation. Coaches stop coaching. Because the game is no longer competitive, coaches disengage.

  If you do that, so will your players. That’s when bad habits and behaviors tend to appear. You don’t have to rant and rave (you shouldn’t be doing this, anyways). But you do need to continue to coach your team until the final buzzer. That’s the commitment you made when you signed up to coach. That’s what you owe to ALL your players.

• With regard to your players, make sure you’re subbing liberally - not much is more infuriating than getting blown out by a team who still has their best players in towards the end of the game.

  Do not be that coach. First of all, that is unsportsmanlike to your opponent. But beyond that, it’s unfair to YOUR players.  Undoubtedly, you have kids who come to practice and work hard but don’t play as much as the best players. Blowouts are a chance to reward them for their hard work.

  That’s also a reason to keep playing. Those kids on your team deserve the chance to show what they can do. They may not get a lot of those opportunities. Don’t take this one away from them.

• Put kids in new places - Breakthrough Basketball Owner Joe Haefner and I were discussing this recently. He was talking about one of his son’s soccer games. They were beating the other team badly.

  One thing he did was put players in positions they hadn’t played before. This does a couple things. First, it should level the playing field a little bit. Presumably, your players will not be as effective in the new positions because they aren’t as experienced there. That’s okay - the game is decided.

  Secondly, it gives your players a chance to learn new skills and positions. Who knows what position they may end up playing. Even if they never end up playing a different spot, they’ll still benefit from seeing the game from a different perspective.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

As Aretha Franklin sang, “All I’m asking is for a little respect.”

As a coach who’s winning a blowout, you have multiple angles of respect to balance.

You need to show respect for the game. You need to show respect for your opponent. You also need to show respect for all the players on your team.

It’s challenging - but it can be done. If you use the techniques above, you’ll be well on your way. Even more importantly, you’ll be setting an example your players will follow.

Coaches, do you have other thoughts on ways to handle blowouts when winning? If so, please reply and share!

Comments Most Likes First   Oldest First   Newest First JGMills says: 5/23/2025 at 11:50:05 AM One thing that I will do is tell my kids to only use their weak hand (or foot...depending on the sport). That means they are still challenging themselves but at the same time leveling the play a bit. Like     login   register

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