Comparing International Youth Development

[soccrfn]

I am doing a comprehensive study which may turn into a book on how different countries, outside the US, develop their youth players, beginning from recreational u-6 to high-level u-16.

Looking specifically for what techniques and tactics are taught at different age groups. Please only send legit knowledgable facts. Don't want drills, only what age-apprortiate topics are taught and also what should NOT be taught, such as for u-6, teach dribbling, but not heading.

Thank you

[The Wanderer]

PM Karl Keller if you haven't done so already. Dan Roudebush is another.

As far as my personal experience is concerned, kids that I've seen in Latin America play pick up ball in the street until they get close to the teenage years, i.e., 11 or 12 years old. These kids grow up watching the game on TV, playing in the streets for the most part, and have no formal coaching. They try and imitate their idols in pick up games, and that forms their technical skill base.

In Europe they've started taking 'organized' play as far down as U10 IIRC, which I'm not sure how I feel about.

[JohnR]

You'll want a copy of Kevin McShane's book, if you don't have it already. "Coaching Youth Soccer: The European Model." Based on in-person observations of several professional youth development programs.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0786410884/qid=1049325727/sr=8-7/ref=sr_8_7/102-6338469-6866521?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

[kayasoleil]

Anyone care to give a review of this book and why it may be worth buying?

Cheers

[JohnR]

Originally posted by kayasoleil
Anyone care to give a review of this book and why it may be worth buying?

Cheers

Uh, me?

McShane spent several months witnessing youth training programs at several European clubs, and interviewing the coaches. If memory serves me, some of those clubs were -

Munich 1860
Ajax
Barcelona
Nottingham
Celtic (?)

Book is worth buying if you want fairly detailed information about the training approach of European clubs. How often they train, what they focus on, what the similarities and differences are between the various coaching approaches, what they look for with talent identification, how they promote/demote players, etc. Also worth buying if you are interested in McShane's comparison with American youth training programs. (I was.)

Basically, a book for very specialized tastes. A must have if you don't know a lot about European professional youth training, and you care to learn. If you're already pretty familiar with the subject, or you don't really care to learn (which would cover about 99.999% of the populace, I would figure), then forget about it.

I liked the book a lot. Which tells you something about me.

[The Wanderer]

JohnR, how about detailing some of the differences between Euro youth training and US Youth soccer.

[JohnR]

Wanderer -

Yah, OK. Give me a bit of time to find the book and I'll highlight its key findings. (I remember most of them but the summary will be a bit more accurate if I have the book at hand.)

[The Wanderer]

Originally posted by JohnR
Wanderer -

Yah, OK. Give me a bit of time to find the book and I'll highlight its key findings. (I remember most of them but the summary will be a bit more accurate if I have the book at hand.)

Damn, been reading a lot lately have ya? :)

[JohnR]

OK, here goes.

1) Organization - European development is much more centrally organized. As a generalization, American soccer "clubs" are a collection of soccer teams while European clubs are true clubs. In Europe, central management polices the quality of coaching much more closely, oversees a host of club-wide decisions, and does things such as promote younger players to older teams, if the situation warrants.

This has been discussed on these boards before. McShane confirms it.

2) Facilities - European soccer clubs tend to have better facilities - better fields, locker rooms, exercise facilities, etc.

Not much we can do in the U.S., since our clubs are not subsidized by professional senior clubs. However, McShane does note that the U.S. might want to copy the European practice of using artificial turf for practice fields, which greatly increases their ability to practice no matter what the weather.

3) Prospect Evaluation - European clubs tend to evaluate prospective players by watching them play with their normal teams, rather than through tryouts. In addition, the clubs will often bring players in on a trial basis before offering them a full-time position with the club.

Super Y says it will be doing the former (watching kids play with their normal teams) for ODP selection, although it won't be doing the latter (trial basis).

4) Prospect Attributes - In selecting prospects, European coaches primarily focus on: a) athleticism (speed in particular), b) awareness (kids who seem to see what's going on throughout the field), c) attitude (specifically, work rate, aggression, and bravery), and d) technical ability.

In general, the U.S. approach would be pretty similar.

5) Player Evaluations - European players tend to receive formal, written evaluations 2 or 3 times each year. Report cards, in essence.

As McShane notes, this is not so common in the U.S.

6) Player Releases - European clubs spend quite a bit of energy finding new homes (i.e., lesser clubs) for kids who they release. In many cases, the kids who are cut still end up feeling as if they were "alumni" of the program, and are proud of that association.

Uh, doesn't happen in the U.S.

7) Training Time - European clubs have 2-3 training sessions per week at U10 age, about 4 sessions per week at U14s, and pretty much everyday sessions for U17s. About 40 weeks per year.

As McShane notes, this is far more training than is customary in the typical U.S. club.

8) Training Approach - European clubs tend to use similar drills/training sessions as in the U.S., albeit often at earlier ages, since their players are an elite group. However, European coaches also spend quite a bit of time on the mental aspect of the game -- teaching the kids how to become a professional, in terms of how they conduct themselves at training and on the field, how they deal with failure, etc. An important part of how European clubs evaluate youth players is how they are developing mentally.

Those would be some key highlights. I am happy to be a pseudo-McShane and answer additional questions that you might have about his findings.

[soccrfn]

Well, I bought McShanes book and it is pretty good so far. It is geared towards developing players for professional careers. What I am l really looking for is what specific things are taught at specific ages beginning with recreational players. For example, the book speaks of developing technical skills at the early ages, but it does not get specific in what skills to work on at specific ages by the different clubs. Examples: at what age should heading begin? When do you spend time developing long passes? At age 6 should they just play small games the entire time, or should you try to incorporate a specific skill development that is approriate for that age level? and if so, what do different countries do.

I would to see if it is possible to develop guidelines for recreational leagues, such as AYSO, which is where many in the US start playing. If we can increase this level slightly at this level while maintaining "fun", then that can only help the club program which may grab the top players from these recreational leagues. Now, it seem many times these players who move to club have a steep hill to climb to catch up. But improve the recreational level level, even if slightly, and it helps the whole soccer system in the US.

[kevbrunton]

The problem is that at the youngest rec levels, 90% of the coaches are parents who don't know anything -- just like I was when my kids started at age 5. So we go learn a few drills and then try to teach them.

To try to address this issue, as soon as I get my son shipped off to college year after next, I'm going clear back down to the bottom of the ladder.

Our local rec league starts them at the U6 level. I am putting together a proposal right now to revamp our U6 rec program. Rather than forming the teams and then letting the moms and dads go their merry way, I am going to propose that, that ALL of the U6 teams are trained in groups together at the same time. We'll get 2 to 4 trainers and we'll run sessions 4 nights a week -- the same trainers doing the same sessions. The teams would be split into 2 groups with group A on Mon/Wed and group B on Tue/Thu. This way all the kids are getting the same skills taught to them. In addition, the mom and dad coaches who would still be the individual team managers and would still be the coaches during games on the weekends would be learning all this stuff.

After doing that for 2 years, then start doing the same thing for the U8 rec teams. By the time THOSE kids have done it 2 more years, you'll have kids who have been training under good trainers in the basics for 4 years. At that point, you can take the best athletes of the bunch and those most interested in soccer and form your travel teams.

[JohnR]

Soccrfn -

Sorry. I never did address your original question. McShane's book is good, but it doesn't really get at what you want.

I know a guy who has a prescribed program starting at U8. He's an experienced coach who has had several players (not all necessarily who started with him at U8!) play on national U.S. youth teams and in college. One of his players (Jason Cole) was recently drafted in MLS. I'll see if I can get that program for you.

Kevbrunton -

An excellent idea!

U.S. youth soccer excellence desperately needs more of an organized/teaching approach -- one that starts young & gives both the kids and parents the proper fundamentals. As you say, teach the skills first and then only later start to separate the wheat from the chaff -- the kids who clearly have the athleticism, desire, & mindset to be serious players. But don't make the cuts too early, and then use the superior athleticism of these little kids to win games with mediocre soccer and fool yourself that you're a great coach. As we know, that has tended to occur in the U.S. :)

Let us know how your program goes, please.

[soccrfn]

JohnR.- That would be great if you can get that. I agree with everthing you just said.

kevbrunton-that is a great idea. I would be interested in your proposal. What are you basing what you will train on? I plan on doing something like this too. You are right, we have to start teaching the volunteer coaches just as much as the kids. Fortunately, there are a lot more knowledgable parnets than even 5 yeara ago. And former players are starting to coach more which is great. As much as we get impatient, soccer is dramatically improving in this country.

Thanks