Sports coaches shouldn't be picking favorites based on who they like more, which results in putting their favorites in front of others even when the favorites are inferior. Coaches should want their players to succeed and move up the chain. Favoritism doesn't occur only in sports. It can happen in any group or team that has a leader. I have experienced this, I met a friend this summer that got put behind kids that the coach liked more, and this year I am experiencing the right way a coach should handle relationships with players. If coaches and leaders put the right kids out there, and not their favorites, they would have a better success rate.

Coaches that coach their own kids are faced with a decision: do they favor their kid, or are they going to be impartial to the whole team? A few years ago I was playing for my Peewee hockey team in a regular game, and for two weekends, or four  games, I was sitting the bench for no reason. My coach was playing his kid every other shift instead of playing everybody. This wasn’t a situation where he was playing the best players in an effort to win. It was in the middle of the game that wasn’t very important. A coach putting their kid before other players because it’s “their kid” can ruin another player’s view on hockey, especially at the young age that my experience took place. When a kid is playing hockey to get better and have fun, but he doesn’t play because the coach doesn’t “like” them as much, it is unfair, and frustrating for the player.

Hockey players looking to advance their hockey career to a higher level must have encouragement from their coaches. One way coaches can encourage players  is by playing the kids that are playing well. This summer I became friends with a kid that wasn't encouraged by his coach. My friend was drafted by the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL, a Major Junior hockey league in Canada. He was one of the last kids cut from the team during the tryout, so he tried out for his local team in the CCHL 1. This league is a Junior “A” league in Canada, just one step down from the acclaimed OHL. My friend was cut from this team because he wasn’t fully committed to the whole season, but instead, he wanted to move up to the OHL. As his last option, he tried out for the local team that is in the CCHL 2, a Junior “B” league in Canada. Because he was beyond skilled enough, he made this team, but he was buried as a third liner. Even though he was playing at the low level of Junior “B”, when the OHL team had injuries, they called him up to play. The Junior “A” and “B” coaches were picking the kids that didn't want to move up that season to be who they favorited. The coaches would rather have their favorite players play, than watch kids wanting to succeed, succeed. This shouldn’t be the case. The goal that I, and many other have, is to get to the highest level of hockey possible. This won't happen if coaches are holding players back by picking favorites.
        

The argument can be made that it is the coach’s team, so they can do whatever they want. If they don’t want to put a kid out there, that is his decision, but why favor a kid when he might not be the best option for the team in that moment? Coaches can have favorites though. One acceptable way to show this is to play the player they favor more, if that player, and another player, are both right for the moment in the game, so the favorite is chosen. They shouldn’t blatantly show it by putting their favorite out in the wrong situation. Whoever is the best fit for the events happening in the game should be played. Not the favorite.
        

Coaches shouldn’t show a bias toward their players. It can hurt the players by changing their view on the sport. If the kid is enjoying hockey, or good at it, and gets sat for no reason, that can changes their view on hockey to a sport that isn’t fun, and and provoke them to stop playing. That isn't good because the kid could succeed in the future if they keep playing. It can hurt the team if the coach puts his favorite player out on the ice. This could lead to the team giving up a goal or not score a goal when one is needed, and then lose the game. Overall, a coach should put the right kid out there in order for the team and players’ success, and not play favorites.