Is Training More Hurting American Youth Development?

Funny you should say that. In Romania players are moved from teams by giving the other team some cattle that is true.

We had a kid training at our field he had a pro scout going to get him on a team in Romania. Why did the kid want to play there? Because then if he did well he had better chance to play on a big club in Europe then he had if he played here in the US.

If he had coming here with a uefa pro license.

 

I agree @nicklaino. Boys need to get to Europe as soon as they're 16 if they ever want to play for the big European clubs.

 

Didn't mean to pimp a school. Meant to pimp the opportunity of private scholarship scholarships, many of which are far far more generous than the institution we are involved with.... some cover it all if you make less then 200k.

These places are not going to scout your kid. They need to hear about him (maybe her?) and see game tapes. Or hear from coaches (more than one). It's calls visits interviews more visits applications.. and waiting.

These places often mandate repeating of 9th grade for non-geniuses. ...

Then there's your kid living in an environment with many from astronomical lifestyles.

The last big point worth mentioning is you get ripped off of your kid. Four years before college sending away your own kid might not be entirely bareable. It isn't to me.

 

I think sometimes we lose sight of the fact that placing a kid from the US at 16 what have you, means displacing a European kid OR an existing Academy player.

You have to be THAT exceptional and I think its getting harder with current FIFA regs etc.

Even at that, clubs seem enamored with Americans with size and strength which makes the Pulisic ( though not a good example ((dual citizenship)) signing refreshing, he is slight with speed and skills.

I would say also, I just drove 8 plus hours for my sons team to really be tested by other regional teams. The fact worth noting is that WE HAVE to drive that far to face elite teams from other states etc. We are not challenged in our own state\city where, if you live in London,Munich,Madrid you do not have to leave your city to face 20-40 teams of equal talent.

 

An interesting article about the Dutch developing system. It says that we the Dutch have our stars not because of our development system, but despite it. You have to use google translate.
https://decorrespondent.nl/5422/ste...ks-de-jeugdopleidingen/1617395851368-bce690be
Especially this part is telling for my posts about Dutch amateur clubs in the development of youth players:
"
De werkelijke succesformule van het Nederlandse voetbal – de echte talentmachine, fabriekslijn, kraamkamer – is een fascinerend en verrassend efficiënt mechanisme voor de opsporing en ontwikkeling van talent, die luistert naar een doodgewone naam.

Amateurvoetbal.
Nederland het ideale voetballand

Het is makkelijk om eroverheen te kijken, maar Nederland is een vrij uniek voetballand.

Waarschijnlijk zijn er nergens zo veel voetballers, clubs, velden, trainers en vrijwilligers bijeen op een stukje grond als in Nederland.
Het belang van de vrijwilliger in de sport bleek deze week nog uit een rapport van het Sociaal Cultureel Planbureau.
Van de 17 miljoen Nederlanders zijn er liefst 1,2 miljoen lid
Hier te lezen in het jaarverslag van de KNVB.
van de KNVB, zo'n 600.000 daarvan jeugdleden. Elk kind dat wil voetballen, kan dat bij een vriendelijke vereniging met een prima accommodatie.
Er is zo veel keuze, dat veel spelers niet eens bij de dichtstbijzijnde club spelen, schreef het Mulier Instituut deze week nog.

Bovendien is in een klein en goed bereisbaar land als Nederland een intensieve competitie mogelijk. De beste spelertjes spelen snel tegen elkaar, en maken elkaar beter. Lelijk gezegd: Nederland heeft een zeer fijnmazige voetbalinfrastructuur.

Dit systeem functioneert als een soort superscout en supertrainer ineen. Geen groot voetbaltalent gaat verloren – of in elk geval veel minder vaak dan elders. Voetballertjes die ook maar een beetje goed zijn, worden snel opgemerkt door de vaders, moeders, ooms en andere Guardiola’s-in-de-dop, en belanden in de F1’s en E1’s van hun lokale clubs.

Het leereffect van deze schifting is aanzienlijk. Spelen tegen spelers van vergelijkbaar niveau is ideaal voor verbetering. Speel je tegen te slechte tegenstanders, dan verlies je interesse en leer je niks. En word je telkens ingemaakt, dan verlies je ook je interesse, en leer je evenmin iets.

De profclubs krijgen door dit uitgekiende systeem de beste talenten op een presenteerblaadje aangeboden - bijna als vanzelf. Dankzij de clubs, de vrijwilligers, de competitie, de ondersteuning van de KNVB, en de nationale fascinatie
Lees hier een stuk van KNVB-wetenschapper Laura Jonker hierover.
met het spel."

"The actual formula for success of Dutch football - the real talent machine factory line, nursery - is a fascinating and surprisingly efficient mechanism for the identification and development of talent, listening to an ordinary name.
Amateur.
Netherlands the ideal football country. It's easy to look over it, but the Netherlands is a fairly unique football country. There are probably nowhere as many footballers, clubs, fields, coaches and volunteers together on a piece of land as in the Netherlands.
The importance of volunteers in sport appeared this week in a report by the Social and Cultural Planning Office. Of the 17 million Dutch are no less than 1.2 million member.
Here to read the annual report of the KNVB. KNVB, about 600,000 youth members thereof. Every child who wants to play football, that can in a friendly association with an excellent accommodation. There is so much choice that many players do not even play at the nearest club, the Mulier Institute wrote this week. Moreover, in a small and easy driving ingot country like the Netherlands intense competition is possible. Best spelertjes play fast against each other and make each other better. Ugly words: The Netherlands has a very fine football infrastructure. This system functions as a kind of super super scout and coach in one. No big football talent is lost - or at least much less common than elsewhere. Soccer players with even a little good, are quickly noticed by the fathers, mothers, uncles and other Guardiola's-in-the-shell, and end up in F1 and E1 of their local clubs. The learning effect of this separation is significant. Playing against players of similar level is ideal for improvement. Play against bad opponents, you lose interest and learn nothing. And you are potted in each case, then you lose your interest, and you will learn something either.The professional clubs get through this ingenious system the best talent offered on a silver platter - almost automatically. Thanks to the clubs, the volunteers, the competition, the support of the KNVB and the national fascinationRead a piece of KNVB scientist Laura Jonker this.with the game."

 

YOUTH FOOTBALL IN HOLLAND


1. INTRODUCTION
2. EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT
3. AGE GROUPS
4. LEAGUE STRUCTURE
5. CLUB STRUCTURE
6. RELATIONSHIPS WITH PROFESSIONAL CLUBS


INTRODUCTION

There is and always has been very limited Schools football in Holland, which has traditionally meant that The Amateur Clubs have always been the main providers of youth football. For this reason many clubs are long established and well structured.

Whilst Dutch Football has had a good reputation over the last 30 years in terms of the footballing culture, this did n’t stop the KNVB in 1997 undertaking the biggest research into football in Europe, with the aim of improving the quality of Dutch Football. The result was the publication of ‘The Dutch Master Plan of Youth Football’ (March 2001). Very broadly this identified the unmistakable link between the bottom and top of the football pyramid and has provided a number of initiatives to optimise the structure of the game in Holland at all levels.

Fundamentally there are a number of key differences between the English and the Dutch football culture.

‘EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT’

The whole ‘Dutch System’ at youth level is based around ‘education and development of the individual’. It allows for a talented boy to play above his age against older boys, if the ‘Youth Committee’ at his Club think this is in his best interests. This is illustrated later.

In Holland each Club and therefore each team has very clear ‘Rules and Agreements’ for the players, parents and coaches. These are well known by each party. It is very noticeable that the game ‘belongs’ to the children in Holland, all boys play the same length of time, the coaches keep a strict record of playing times for each boy. In England it is more usual for the stronger players to play for longer and the weaker players to spend more time on the bench. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, in England there is a bigger emphasis placed on the result of the match and there is little player development. Secondly, the English Club structure means that most clubs have only ‘one team’ per age group, because of this there are usually a number of different ability levels within one team. In the end the ‘subs’ usually drift away (from the game in many cases) and the stronger players become frustrated and little learning takes place. It is also unusual in England for ‘Pre Season meetings with the parents and players to explain the aim of the season.

In Holland a lot of Amateur Clubs have a well defined structure laid out by way of a ‘Plan’. Each age group has more than one team, from the strongest teams to the weaker teams (see below). All these teams have players of similar age and ability levels, this enables each player to perform to his own level. Within this structure there is the method where a player who shows improvement can move to a team above. The coaches of both teams along with the ‘Youth Co-ordinator’ would discuss the situation and after involving the player and his parents would make a decision.
Yet another major difference to many Leagues in England (2,200 in total!)is the very relaxed stance on ‘Player Registrations’. There is no ‘card checking’, proof of age etc, again the reason for this is because their football culture puts the child first, ‘why should they cheat’? for whose benefits would this be? Winning matches for matches’ sake is simply not the issue it seems to be in England. Likewise players can freely move between their own teams if it is deemed to be in the boys interest by the appropriate ‘Youth Committee’. There is no inward looking in terms of holding on to someone ‘because he will help the team win’.

It is even possible for Clubs to request ‘special dispensations’ – these allow for older players to play in the age group below their own. Reasons for this may be that they are physically too small or are recovering from a bad injury, or have no previous football experience or there are not enough players in one age group to make up a team. Can you imagine this happening in the leagues in England? The circumstances are obviously checked by the KNVB. Again it’s all about player development.


AGE GROUPS

Children come to the clubs as young as 5. These are sometimes referred to as ‘smurfen’ and play recreationally under the watchful eye of the ‘Youth Co-ordinator’. These ‘Mini’s’ play lots of 4 v 4 on fields of 40M X 20M. The most talented can play in the earliest age group which is the ‘F – Youth’ (roughly Under 8), if it is felt right for their development.

The first major difference to England, is that they divide their age groups to span 2 years not 1. The other difference is that they use actual years (Jan to Dec) not school years (Sept to Aug) as most leagues in England. This changed in Holland a few years ago.

The reason for this system in Holland is to give the ‘Clubs’ the opportunity to level out the playing ability in the teams. The strongest with the strongest and the weaker ones with each other. You do not have to play with your friends but you are still playing for the same club and so support each other and have fun before and after the game. Because of this system, together with the ‘Rules and Agreements’, and the different criteria for ‘age group training’ it is easier to give more beneficial training sessions. The children know exactly what the coaches are expecting of them.


LEAGUE STRUCTURE

The following ‘key points’ are important and covered below: -

1. In Holland all Leagues and Competitions are operated by the KNVB.
2. Amateur Club’s will compete at ‘District Level’ but the system allows for progression through to ‘National Leagues’.
3. Each ‘Club’ will identify a ‘Selection Team(s) and Recreational Teams at each age group including the Seniors.
4. The composition of many Leagues at the younger age groups are changed at Christmas to ensure appropriate opposition levels after Christmas.


· The KNVB – ‘League and Competition Structure’.

This is another MAJOR difference to that in England. The Dutch FA, ‘The KNVB’ controls all competitions both Senior and Youth. The country is divided ‘geographically’ into ‘6 Districts’, with their associated headquarters indicated below.

1. West 1 -Amsterdam.
2. West 2 -Rotterdam.
3. South 1 -Eindhoven.
4. South 2 -Venlo.
5. East -Deventer.
6. North -Assen.


For all age groups including adults at ‘District Level’ there is a ‘grading system’ based on the following descending structure.

1. Hoofdklasse - Head Class
2. 1e Klasse - 1st Class
3. 2e Klasse - 2nd Class
4. 3e Klasse - 3rd Class – The smaller Districts stop at this class.
5. 4e Klasse - 4th Class
6. 5e Klasse - 5th Class
7. 6e Klasse - 6th Class.- The biggest Districts go down to this class.

Above the ‘Hoofdklasse’ is usually a ‘Top Klasse - District Division’ and above that the ‘LANDELIJK’ i.e. National Competition sponsored by Shell, many BVO’s (Professional Youth Teams) compete in these . It is therefore possible for the champions of a ‘District Hoofdklasse’ to get promoted, in this way ‘strong amateur clubs’ are able to compete with Professional teams.

· Selection Teams

‘Selection Teams’ are effectively a ‘Club’s strongest team(s) that are picked on merit with a view to competing and progressing as far as possible, they train 2 times per week to a structured coaching programme. So as you can see far from this system abdicating on performance it actually provides the best possible environment for competition to flourish.

· Recreational Teams

‘Recreational Teams’ are effectively ‘the other teams’. However, it is important to recognise that many players from these teams form the ‘selection teams’ in future years as the system allows for development and progression both during at the end of the season.

There is a close working relationship between the clubs and the KNVB, when it comes to finding the appropriate level at which a team should compete, especially with the ‘Selection Teams’. It is pointless to have very strong teams and very weak teams in the same league all season. For this reason, many of the competitions, particularly at the younger age groups, usually D Pupillen Recreational teams and below, are split into an ‘Autumn League’ (‘Najaar’) and a ‘Spring League’ (‘Voorjaar’), with around 6 teams in each competition i.e. 10 matches each. The way this works is that an evaluation will take place at the end of the ‘Najaar’ competition (around Christmas) and the composition of the ‘Voorjaar’ league will change to provide more suitable opposition, based on najaar results etc.


CLUB STRUCTURE

This is where the really significant differences to England are apparent.

1. English Club Structure

The average number of teams per club is only 4. Very few Clubs have adult sections in order that boys can progress with the same club through to senior football.

The education and development at the majority of the clubs is limited and many players can and do move freely between different clubs. The make up of some teams can change significantly from season to season. Because of the small number of teams per club and more particularly the almost non existence of more than 1 team per age group per club there is a massive drop out of boys playing football if they are considered not to be good enough to play in ‘the team’. England has the highest fall out rate at the ages of 13 onwards than any other country in Europe.

Until recently very little has been done to provide any meaningful structure to Junior Club Football. The FA recognised that something had to be done to address this situation, to tackle the problem they established ‘The National Game Division’ in July 2000. It has identified 6 key areas to address. The most ambitious of these is to develop hundreds of ‘Community Clubs’, with a minimum of 10 teams. Here you can start as a youngster and finish as a ‘veteran’. Such clubs will have a social area and a bar, where life can go on before and after the game. This approach is based on the model of ‘GRASSROOTS CLUBS IN HOLLAND’.


2. Dutch Club Structure

An example of the structure of a ‘Dutch Club’ is covered in the separate document – ‘The Youth Plan – v.v. OJC Rosmalen’.

It is important to remember that the ‘club structure’ in Holland is longer established than in England. What it has meant is that there is a much smaller gap between the amateur and professional game. Each amateur club has its own complex, floodlit pitches, changing rooms, committees, juniors and seniors together, and above all ‘qualified coaches. The professional and amateur clubs work closely together, which means that when a player moves to a professional club he is ready technically, mentally and at a team level. This means the step from amateurs to professional is much smaller than in England.

· Example Club Structure – v.v. OJC Rosmalen

This example is based on the information already provided by using an actual club v.v. OJC Rosmalen (population 30,000) 3 km from Den Bosch (population 140,000) we can illustrate how things work in practice. The Club has the following teams:

Seniors (Mens) 10
A Juniors (Under 18) 3
B Juniors (Under 16) 5
C Juniors (Under 14) 8
D Pupillen (Under 12) 10
E Pupillen (Under 10) 14 (7 a side)
F Pupillen (Under 8) 16 (7 a side)
Mini’s 5 (4 a side playing internally)

TOTAL 71 Teams

There is an obvious progression pathway from the earliest age to the senior team. Indeed the majority of the present 1st Team have been at v.v. OJC Rosmalen since they were small boys. In contrast in England, it is usual after your ‘junior career’ to look for another club, which often means playing in ‘Pub Football’.

The following breakdown follows the format has discussed above.

1. SENIORS

· 1st Team - National Hoofdklasse Selection Team
· 2nd Team - District Hoofdklasse Selection Team
· 3rd Team - District 2e Class. Selection Team


· 4th, 5th, 6th,7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Teams
Recreational Teams; playing in the 4e, 5e and 6e Class at District Level.

2. ‘A’ JUNIORS – Under 18

· A1 Juniors - National 3rd Division. Selection Team.
· A2 Juniors - District 2nd Class. Selection Team.

· A3 Juniors - District 3rd Class. Recreational Team.


3. ‘B’ JUNIORS – Under 16

· B1 Juniors - National 3rd Division. Selection Team.
· B2 Juniors - District 2nd Class. Selection Team.

· B3, B4, B5 Juniors All District 3rd Class. Recreational Teams


4. ‘C’ JUNIORS – Under 14

· C1 Juniors - District Hoofdklasse Selection Team.

NB/ Whilst we were in Rosmalen the C1 were crowned ‘Champions’ of their League and will next year play in the National Divisions against other strong amateur teams and lower professional clubs.

· C2 Juniors - District 1st Class Selection Team.


· C3, C4, C5, C6, C7 Juniors All District 3rd Class.

It is interesting to note that both C3 and C4 compete in the same league. C4 are at the top of the league whereas C3 are in mid-table. Closer investigation reveals ‘player development’ in action : - C3 are actually on average a year younger than C4 the club are effectively planning ahead to earmark some of these boys for next years ‘Selection Teams’.


5. ‘D’ PUPILLEN – Under 12

· D1 Pupillen - District Hoofdklasse Selection Team
· D2 Pupillen - District 1st Class Selection Team
· D3 pupillen - District 2nd Class Selection Team*

*The D3 is a ‘Special Class’; all these boys are 2nd Year E Pupillen i.e. a year younger, mainly Under 10. This allows the most talented boys at that age to play 11 v 11 on a full size pitch. This division is made up of local professional teams (PSV,NAC,Willem 11 and RKC) along with strong amateur sides.

· D4**,D5,D6,D7,D8,D9 and D10 Pupillen. Recreational Teams.

These are all ‘Recreational Teams’ playing in the ’District 3rd Class’ competition. It is at this point that the ‘split season’ arrangement as mentioned above comes in to operation. All teams at OJC Rosmalen below D4 play the ‘najaar’ and ‘voorjaar’ arrangement of competition. This ensures that the level of competition is as appropriate as possible avoiding ‘silly scores’.

**Interestingly, D4 has been established by OJC as a ‘Shadow Team’ for D2. This means that it is club policy for boys to transfer freely between the 2 teams through out the season. This is another example of having the flexibility to develop individuals.

All ‘D Pupillen’ play on a ‘Full Size Pitch’ with a size 5 ball made of a lighterweight material than the adult ball.


6. ‘E’ (Under 10) and ‘F’ (Under 8) PUPILLEN.

v.v. OJC Rosmalen has 30 teams across this age range. Apart from the D3 Team above ( who are effectively E pupillen playing up an age), all the E Pupillen play Mini Soccer i.e. 7 v 7. However there are some interesting differences to the ‘Mini Soccer’ played in England, as discussed below.

Generally speaking the arrangement in Holland is remarkably easier to accommodate than in England and serves to ensure an easier transition from 7 v 7 to 11 v 11.

All E and F Pupillen play in one overall Class, but the leagues are selected on ability wherever possible. The 2 stage (najaar/voorjaar) season also ensures that really big scores are avoided and teams are matched in ability as much as possible.

7 V 7 is played on a ‘Half Size’ pitch width ways across a ‘full sized pitch’, there is no need for any additional pitch markings. 2 matches are played side by side on one full sized pitch at the same time. Even though there is no gap between the 2 pitches this does not provide a problem. This is Holland, there are no arguments about “whose throw it is?” or “has the ball gone out of play?”. The games quite simply run themselves. It is very noticeable that the game belongs to the children not the watching adults!.

The next big difference to England is that the goals are bigger. They measure 7’ by 16’ (6’ by 12’ in England) on observation this seemed to be a positive move and certainly no detriment to the players/goalkeeper. These are portable heavy-duty steel and stay at the side of the pitch permanently, moved into place by a couple of adults for each game.

The ball is a size 5 made of lightweight material. On observation this seemed to be perfectly fine for the children with no obvious problems.

Corners are taken from a spot between the corner flag and the goals, depending on the age and size of the children.

If the Managers agree the numbers on each side can be increased to 8 v 8 to allow everyone to get maximum playing time.

At the end of every game there is always a penalty shoot out.

For the ‘lower’ matches the referees are usually from the home club.


RELATIONSHIPS WITH PROFESSIONAL CLUBS

Rosmalen is 3 km from ‘Den Bosch’ (population 140,000). Their Professional club plays in the ‘Dutch 2nd Division’. The 2 clubs enjoy a close working relationship. We were given a presentation by the ‘Head of Youth Development’ at Den Bosch; the main points are covered below.


LINKS WITH AMATEUR CLUBS

There are 15 Amateur Clubs in the ‘Den Bosch’ area with which they have close working relationships, v.v. OJC Rosmalen is one the biggest. Because of the well-organised structure in these ‘amateur clubs’ there already exists a ‘natural selection’ process, which makes the scouts job easier.

It is seen as crucial that the ‘Scouting process’ works as accurately as possible, a key point in this objective is the ‘Communication’ between the 2 clubs in question. Den Bosch see the longer term benefits of ensuring that they contribute to ‘lifting’ the quality on both sides.

Den Bosch will provide regular ‘ Clinics’ with individual teams, individuals or goalkeepers for the amateur clubs. They will also give presentations on particular ‘topics’ and discussion groups. It is common for their ‘Under 17 Team’ to go into a club an help will the E and F Pupillen at ‘amateur Clubs’.

The overall aim is to improve the quality of ‘coaching and football in general’ in the locality in order that everyone benefits.

SCOUTING

Den Bosch have a ’Head Scout’ and 14 other scouts. Their main goals are; -

· Talent.
· Building a ‘Network’ of strong relationships with the local clubs. The continuity of ‘scouts’ is seen a very important in this respect.

UNDER 9’s (E and F Pupillen)

The most important age group for the ‘scouts’ are the Under 9’s.

· They must have a ‘fair chance’ of reaching the oldest youth teams and completing their education.
· Not everyone becomes a professional, but they must all have a solid education.
· A big responsibility is placed on ensuring that players do not drop out after only 1 or 2 years.


TALENT SCHOOLS

4 of these are held each year. 200 boys will attend in total of which 16 boys will be taken on as next seasons under 11’s at Den Bosch. The ‘Talent Schools’ each last for a period of 6 weeks, were there is a mixture of fun games and practice matches. Diplomas are given after as well as tickets for first team matches and photographs.

At the end of each 6 weeks there are 3 options the boy can either

1. Drop Out
2. Stay in the ‘Talent School’
3. Most talented boys move to the E Practice Team to prepare for next seasons Under 11 team.


OLDER TALENTED BOYS

Because Den Bosch’s system works so well there are only 5-6 players who drop out from the teams; i.e. total of 150 boys; per season.

However, it is still possible for older boys to force their way into one of the older youth teams. They must be “better than our own”. They would be brought to the club and play in friendly matches and practice with the team of their own age group during the testing period. After this a decision would be made.

ACADEMY STRUCTURE

Under 11 - 16 Boys
Under 12 - 16 Boys
Under 13 - 16 Boys
Under 14 - 16 Boys
Under 15 - 16 Boys
Under 16 - 16 Boys
Under 17 - 16 Boys

Under 19 - 16 Boys

Under 23 - Only 3 can be older than 23, this team is the 2nd Team.

The first ‘real decisions’ are made after Under 17. At this time the player has to show he has the ability to move up to the Under 19 Team. However, the system allows for talented boys who are physically not big enough to progress, to stay behind in the lower age group team.

6 of the present Den Bosch 1st Team have developed through this ’Youth System’.


TALENT DEVELOPMENT

Each ‘youth player’ at Den Bosch has an individually tailored programme. He will train at the club between 3 to 5 times per week depending on his age, physical condition etc. Progress is measured individually, and each player is ‘rated’ by his own coach.

There are 3 evaluations undertaken each season. One at the start, one at Christmas and the final one in April. These evaluations involve the player and his parents; the player must be able to communicate clearly his own thoughts.

All the ‘Coaches’ meet daily at a short meeting to discuss relevant issues and planning. They then meet ‘weekly’ each Monday to discuss the weeks programme and to hand in ‘Workbooks’ to the Head Coach.

 

@nicklaino Thanks for this extended mapping out of the way amateur football is the core engine of the Dutch successes for decades as I have been advocating in USA threads about development.
It is so comprehensive I will copy it to the Dutch forum with your name in it!

 

Indeed - to much time and $$$ spent on DA and very little for organizing Rec in an affordable and consistent manner.

 

Player development has to start at the youngest ages and needs to be consistent. What I love about focusing on player development over winning is that it works for ALL levels from parent coached park district to competitive travel soccer. It is beneficial for the most talented players as well as the ones who simply want to have fun and be a part of a team.

We were fortunate in that our son’s travel team coach from U7 to U11 emphasized player development over winning. Some parents left because they were frustrated that the team was not dominating. However, the coach clearly stated his goal was to win about 50% of the time while competing in the highest bracket. He was faithful to equal playing time and to rotating players consistently. Natural defenders had to play offense, and talented forwards who could score might spend most of a game on defense.

He also was very quiet on the sidelines and I began noting how other coaches acted during the game. For the first two years, our son’s coach barely spoke during the game. Again, some parents were upset by this. I was impressed. He was letting the players figure out on their own what they needed to do based on what he taught them during practice. As the team matured, he gave more directions, but he was prudent in his directives.

For our son, the end result was he developed into a strong forward and left back. At U14, he has a versatility that other players lack and he’s had the opportunity to compete and do well in national tournaments in both of those positions.

Most significantly, player development is a model that works for everyone. So if more training means focusing on developing the player (as opposed to winning), then I think it should start as early as possible and at all levels. For travel soccer, winning should only be used as a barometer to determine if a team is competing at the appropriate level. At the park district level, winning should be used to determine if talent is evenly distributed among the teams.

 

Excellent points IMO...for my money alot of crowing about how bad things are...oddly puts little culpability on the part of parents. And for my money this is a large obvious omission.

Parents deserve accountability in this.

In sum any "system" will be as good or as bad as we allow.

You point out that parents leave...If more parents were consistent and steadfast FOR development they would recognize what they have.

I have mentioned in other posts, it is common for coaches and parents to talk the talk but actions often fall short ( my son has been played as a left wing 99% of his relatively short time in the game. We have played on several teams and it is very common for players to play one position.

We win a lot of games, we win a lot of tournaments, but IMO wins make parents stupid and without a doubt make parents passive where otherwise they would see that perhaps development is not happening at all.

I have my son where he is 100% because of what the practices look like, the compromise I make is the culture that maybe surrounds the club and more so the whole environment here, we do have little choice but to play with the cards we are dealt.

He plays with an assortment of very good players, we play against the same....The games are not the issue, the games are needed to keep everyone focused and working towards cohesion and execution under duress.

Any "devil" in competition is more about how we execute games\tournaments.

 

I think if your son plays left wing he should not find himself always on the left side of the field through the whole game. If he just stays on the left flank he will disappear for short and long periods of time in games.

When Landon Donovan was in his first Olympic Games he stayed on the left flank and would disappear. His manager on that team benched him because of it. Of course the manager never showed him how the flank should be played either.

I could have a player always start the game on a flank. But as time and space changes the flank players position on the field should change as well.

So he might not start a game at different positions. But, he will find himself playing different positions in the same game as time and space changes

 

On when are games needed. They are needed to see how your time on the practice field is going. Also you can see what weakness during a game you need to work on in your next practices.

 

I did not explain myself well, him playing for mulitple teams always on the left as an attacker was evidence for me, that each coach had "winning" as top priority. This was the case for many kids always a mid, always at the back etc.

As a young guy he loved it, but he got comfortable and I wanted him learning and seeing the game from other perspectives.

 

Yup, focussing on winning is focussing on the here and now, wich isnot something you want when dealing with kids from 11-17 years old. With them the here and now must be in service of the then and there.

 

If he had being playing just a back all the time. I will guarantee you he will never be playing at a very high level when he got older.

 

I can say this about winning it is possible to win and still learn the game at a high level. Winning does not mean you will only win in the now and not later.

As kids get older managers concentrate on tactics more then their skill work.

Skill work has to be always practiced at every age. Skills are like milk don't keep at it they will go bad.

You can not do tactics well with the skill to make those tactics happen.

Watch a Countries national team play. If they can not control the ball with in two touches they will lose the ball. Lose the ball you will most likely lose the game.

 

Wrong. Elite (future) players have a competitive nature that need to be fed to keep them motivated. They sure as heck aren't going to trust, listen to, or respect a coach that sets them up to throw games in the name of a touchy feely philosophy by making them play positions they don't want to play. Can't think of anything more demotivating for a young elite forward than being forced to play defense and losing.

 

You really have no clue what you are talking about.
First what you quoted is what Johan Crijff, Wim Jansen and the Feyenoord and Ajax and PSV and AZ academies have as the leading philosophy for decades. Sure it failed to deliver us elite players
Second your comments contain things you cannot possibly have derived from what I stated, because what you posted is just ludricous. So read again, think about it and donot come back if you still think what you posted is correct in regard of what I posted.

You come across as one of those "coaches" in "pay for play" environments that coach to win with the kids they have to cater for parents that only have the short sighted approach of wanting their kids on a winning team, in stead of a club that teaches their kids how to play it properly. You really should read all the threads in here about talents and developing to learn about the shortcomings of that approach you seem to endorse. Just plain and straight in your face, what you promote has been done by the "Play for pay" crowd since the rise of soccer in the USA and has delivered you nothing. Just something to take with you.

 

First, losing is part of development…if you are not losing half your games, you’re not playing the right completion…never losing and beating everyone 10-0 may feel good in the moment, but it isn’t doing diddly to help your kid develop…you have to playing against kids who are as good, if not slightly better, in order to maximize development…and when you do that, you will lose as much you win…

Second, judging and teaching your kid to judge a coaches ability by his win/lose record is short-sighted…teaching you kid its ok to disrespect their coach, especially over some like that, is even worse…

Third, once again, losing is part the game, as is playing defense regardless of how far up the field you play or how elite they think they maybe…teaching someone that they are “too good” to play defense is probably not the best idea in the long run…at the club level, regardless of how elite, everyone is expected to play defense…

 

When my dd was 12 yo she was selected to an elite academy as a striker. (We don't live in the US). Her coach immediately put her at CB. He told her that to be an elite striker she needed to know how defenders think and react and interact with the GK.

If he's competitive he will love preventing the other team's superstar strikers from scoring goals as much as scoring.

 

Couldn't disagree with this any more. With three of my kids having played for a variety of coaches I can assure you the BEST coach any of them had focused less on winning and more on development. They never threw a game, but they recognized that some days their best scorer was playing GK, and they just had to deal with it.

(BTW, as they get older, injuries are far more common and kids go on recruiting visits etc. so the team has to be able to play without key players...the mentality that "it doesn't matter" is very Belichick-ian but it applies in all sports - eventually coaches look for what distinguishes two strong players from one another; attitude, demeanor on the field and interaction with teammates and coaches during warmups, walking off the field etc. send a message to the observing coach)

That team has ended up producing several outstanding players. They played 8v8 with 10 players, two subs per half on a rotating schedule so boys played the entire game unless it was their week to sub in/out. Everyone played every position and if we were dominating we took a player off the field. Can't remember the record or any season with that team but I can tell you when my son plays coaches take notice that he had a great foundation in skill development and an understanding of how to move the ball. We lost more than one game due to passing back to the keeper at U8 or passing along the back but that was what they needed to learn. Yeah, we lost a player or two who wanted to 'win'...those boys ended up being good players but haven't exceeded the performance of the rest.

Parents who 'pimp' their kids out to the best teams are hurting their kids more than helping...always looking for faults in coaches and teammates, always convinced another team is better than theirs. It teaches kids the opposite of trust and teamwork. Those are the kids who walk off the field by themselves, they can be heard complaining about teammates, refs etc., their reaction at mistakes or goals against tells you they are not team players.

Eventually a family needs to do what is best for their son/daughter but that can be done in a thoughtful and respectful manner that is consistent with basic ethics and character. Nobody will blame an excellent player from moving to a better club or academy. That should be done after 'other people' have identified the player as exceptional, not based on dad's conviction that junior is going to be a star someday.

 

To add to the supportive comments one also has to keep in mind that a kid will grow up to become an adult player. And if he is good enough to play professional, he will experience the situation the opponent has captured the ball and the chase sets of to get it back. By chasing players get into positions or have to cover positions left by the chaser that isnot yours. To do so you will have to know what the position calls for, otherwise you will become the weakest link in the chase for the ball, when the opponent tries to play out of the pressure. That's why it is necesary to play for some time in positions that arenot your natural one or preferred one. It teaches you what it takes to be in that position.

 

You learn that through film,Xs and Os, and practice, not by throwing games. The key at young ages is to keep them motivated and enjoying it. One must wonder why so many of the best players quit before they even hit puberty. The academies and one size fits all philosophies teach them to grow to hate it. When they dread going to practice and aren't excited for games, maybe you are doing it wrong?

 

??? We for decades produce players and teams that astonish te world. What are you talking about?