Former MLSers take over youth coaching

[Stan Collins]

http://www.socceramerica.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=30393

Thought this was an interesting article. One quote in particular:

But Baicher says that the credibility of a coach who has impressive experience can be particularly valuable when parents use game scores to judge coaches while the coaches are focusing on developing talent.

"If you look at my club's younger teams," Baicher says, "they're not at the top of the standings at all the divisions because teaching these kids to play soccer is more important than winning games. The parents say, 'I want to win games.' But when you have an Ian Russell, who's the assistant coach of the San Jose Earthquakes and played professionally, explain what we're doing, they're more likely to appreciate the approach."

I think it's a very good thing that a more and more of the kids coming up, especially through the DAP, are getting coached by guys who know the rigors of pro game. I think it may ultimately be one of the greatest contributions of MLS to the US 'soccer culture' and to the improvement of the level of play here.

[mattmanp]

I was actually wondering the other day how MLS retirees would affect youth coaching in the US. I was hoping to see a system in place to help players move in to coaching and using the DAP not just as a foundation for the soccer pyramid for players but for coaches as well. I think it will be interesting to look back in 10 years at the club coaching state and see if it's changed as more and more MLS players retire.

[jeffenbauer]

I was actually wondering the other day how MLS retirees would affect youth coaching in the US. I was hoping to see a system in place to help players move in to coaching and using the DAP not just as a foundation for the soccer pyramid for players but for coaches as well. I think it will be interesting to look back in 10 years at the club coaching state and see if it's changed as more and more MLS players retire.

If Dallas is any indication, MLS will dramatically effect youth coaching. The old Dallas sidekicks indoor team has put dozens of former players into the youth coaching ranks in the area (Kevin Smith, Tatu, Billy Phillips, Beau Brown, Marcio Leite) and Dallas Burn/FC Dallas has added a few already too (Bobby Rhine, Dave Dir, Chad Deering, Oscar Pareja).

[monster]

This is the stuff that far too many voices on this site won't get. The development of what many people want MLS to be takes time. Part of that maturation is this - former players sowing the seeds for the future of the league. It will take time, but the baby steps have started.

The USSF also had a nice story (http://ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_12124162.html) on the group taking the B coaching course recently.

[boomersooner027]

If Dallas is any indication, MLS will dramatically effect youth coaching. The old Dallas sidekicks indoor team has put dozens of former players into the youth coaching ranks in the area (Kevin Smith, Tatu, Billy Phillips, Beau Brown, Marcio Leite) and Dallas Burn/FC Dallas has added a few already too (Bobby Rhine, Dave Dir, Chad Deering, Oscar Pareja).

Don't forget Chris Hayden who is the director of coaching for FCD Youth and the assistant for the U-16/U-18 squads. I'm actually pretty surprised the article didn't mention Oscar Pareja with him being the coach and all, but it was a good article.

[QuakeAttack]

This is the stuff that far too many voices on this site won't get. The development of what many people want MLS to be takes time. Part of that maturation is this - former players sowing the seeds for the future of the league. It will take time, but the baby steps have started.

The USSF also had a nice story (http://ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_12124162.html) on the group taking the B coaching course recently.

Check the list of attendees:

Sacha van der Most van Spijk

Real Name? LOL...

Fully agree with your comments. I was a part of the first wave of players on the 70s. However, I was turned off by the failure of NASL to invest in US players.

However, from day one, MLS has been about developing US players. We are now beginning to reap the benefits of the first ten years of MLS at the youth level.

[Stan Collins]

Check the list of attendees:

Sacha van der Most van Spijk

Real Name? LOL...

Apparently so:
http://web.mlsnet.com/t120/youth/coaches/

[Stan Collins]

This is the stuff that far too many voices on this site won't get. The development of what many people want MLS to be takes time. Part of that maturation is this - former players sowing the seeds for the future of the league. It will take time, but the baby steps have started. Some people (who shall remain nameless because they probably won't wander around here to defend themselves, and I may be caricaturing them a little, but I'll do my best because it's useful for the discussion) have voiced the opinion that former MLS pros in the coaching ranks doesn't bode much for the game. The opinion is essentially that of, "they learned it wrong, so they'll teach it wrong."

Occasionally that may wind up true, but there are a number of problems with that belief:

* First of all, a number these former MLS pros, like Pareja, didn't happen to grow up here. And a number of those who did, like Vanney, who did, at least got a taste of what it was like in Europe.

* Secondly, players have open eyes and they are observant to what was lacking in their own development, and how they could have been better players themselves. Guys can be better coaches than they were players.

* Third, there's two separate problems in US Youth Soccer parents: one is imparting knowledge to the kids, and the other is selling it to the parents. As this article suggests, the trend of former MLSers should help at least the second. Parents often come into this with high hopes but little knowledge, and they've been led down the path before by a lot of guys who've carved out a nice little racket for themselves by getting a lot of Mommy and Daddy's money to win unimportant tournaments and send little Johnny to minor college programs. Now, at least there are other 'bullet points' that parents that may not understand too much about soccer can pick up on ("I was a three-time All-Star, and played in two World Cups" doesn't take deep knowledge of the game to get) besides how many trophies are in the case (the less important the tournament, the bigger the trophy often is).

The USSF also had a nice story (http://ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_12124162.html) on the group taking the B coaching course recently. The video associated with that story "The Pros Get Schooled" is also worth watching. Some of the players make the points I just went over about imparting to the next generation of players stuff they never got at that age.

[monster]

Some people (who shall remain nameless because they probably won't wander around here to defend themselves, and I may be caricaturing them a little, but I'll do my best because it's useful for the discussion) have voiced the opinion that former MLS pros in the coaching ranks doesn't bode much for the game. The opinion is essentially that of, "they learned it wrong, so they'll teach it wrong."

They also thought an American coach could never get us out of the group stage in the World Cup too probably. :p

Thanks for the video tip - I need to check that out.

[boomersooner027]

Some very good points Stan. Also, a number of the former MLS players going into coaching have played in Europe at some point.

Another key selling point to parents is the MLS programs(at least FCD's U-16 and U-18 teams) are FREE. All travel expenses and everything paid by the club. This may not be a big deal for Hunter and Chance, but for Alejandro and Luis this is huge.

[Stan Collins]

They also thought an American coach could never get us out of the group stage in the World Cup too probably. :p Yeah, I would guess that to be true. :D

Thanks for the video tip - I need to check that out. One impression I got is that Jim Conrad seems to have an ambition for coaching. I had always seen him as a future color guy.