I am not sure if this directed at something I said, but of course it is…but like I said and you allude to, much of that would be contingent on the caliber of players coming into the program, not necessarily developed internally…
It is important to get regular touches on the ball from say, 5 to 14 years old....this can be done in different ways....all of my varsity players have played club soccer at some point but many have stopped and mostly for the same reason....it just wasn't any fun at all. Over the past 2 years I have had 5 varsity players (all starters) quit club soccer. They attend summer soccer camps, help out at school with our 7th-8th grade girls during their 3 times a week practice sessions (all with a soccer ball) which happen immediately following the end of the school day and run about 1 1/2 hours. They also get together each Sunday for an hour or so playing 5 vs 5 type games run by the senior girls, no adults involved and no coaching (against conference rules for high school age players out of season)....in other words they are keeping up their skill set by....wait for it...playing soccer. ALL of our 7th thru 8th graders have quit club soccer and now play for our school's middle school team during the winter season. They also play, fall and spring, together for a team (in a local league) that consists of ALL girls from our school (18 of them). So instead of driving all over the place for club practices (often of dubious quality) these girls are picked up at 5.30pm, rain or shine (we play futsal in one of the gyms if the weather is bad) instead of 3.45pm when the school day is done. They now have plenty of time for family dinners, homework etc., without having to spend an hour or so (each way) driving to some remote club practice sessions. It will be interesting to see if this group will be able to play for our high school at a high level, without having gone thru the 'traditional' route ('club' soccer)....I believe they will. Time will tell.
Traditional or not, it’s still pretty much the same concept…soccer development still occurs largely or considerably outside the official 2-3 month HS season…club or no club, it still sounds like these middle school girls are making a year-round commitment to train and play soccer….
I'm not disagreeing with you at all. Indulging spoiled players (or just as likely, parents) at any age isn't the answer for many programs. If I was part of a program that had a consistent stream of talented club players coming into my school year after year, it wouldn't be a concern. Or if I had enough talent that I'm playing for silverware every year, it also wouldn't be an issue. In those instances, I line up and play the best 11 and "sell" players on a winning program and having to compete for time. Perhaps in time, our HS program will reach that point. My only point in this continues to be that the coach needs to keep a perspective on the state of his/her program when making playing decisions. It's not just an issue of granting more time to older players because they've "earned" it, which is plausible in many programs. The varsity outlook in my circumstance looks good overall because we are starting to get more club players. Last year, of the 26 rostered HS players, only 6 played any club ball. Of the projected 18 for this year, a solid 9 do.
They are...and in a hell of a lot more fun, less stressful and positive environment than MOST (not all) of the club teams in this area provide. There was an article in the Dallas Morning News on Sunday, June 7th right at the start of the women's world cup. The headline reads. "In women's soccer we're the no-star state"...with the sub heading "It's been 16 years since a Texan has made the USA women's world cup roster" The article, written by Michael Florek, mflorek@dallasnews.com lays the blame for this squarely at the front door of the ECNL clubs in North Texas and there are several quotes from former Notre Dame women's coach, Randy Waldrum including this jewel " The parents pay to be with the clubs. Because of that, there's no patience with what we as coaches refer to as player development", Waldrun said. "They want to win, they want to win right now, and if they don't win they leave".... Most (not all) ECNL clubs in North Texas are populated with negative, verbally abusive, sarcastic club 'coaches' (I use the term loosely) who basically just will not shut up during games....they involve themselves in a 'running commentary' without benefit of a P.A. system and are so loud they can easily be heard on the other side of the field. berating the girls for most of the time. I have witnessed this behavior many times myself. Just pitiful. Almost all these clowns are in it for one thing: The folding green stuff. I can't speak for the rest of the country but generally in North Texas club soccer is a total joke.
Lots of posts since yesterday and I thought I should address this one. I want to be clear and go back to the one point. Last year's seniors that were given the 4-5 minutes a half instead of freshmen/sophomores, could barely touch the ball twice without it going out of bounds or being turned over and had never played anything other than fall HS soccer before. These players were being given time on pure seniority (get them a letter!) instead of ability. Two of the departing players had been in local travel clubs and had some (not a ton) talent, but were far superior to the specific seniors. Recall that one of the original discussion points here was the benefit of playing more time on JV vs. less time on varsity. The two underclassmen played almost all of the JV minutes (in crap games) and almost no varsity time. From there, we digressed into even talent levels, which I still state that in a developing program, you should lean toward players that will help you down the road. In all honesty, the coach could have done a better job of balancing the today with the tomorrow. The two senior that were awarded letters didn't really contribute their first three years and added nothing to play last year. As for my daughter, if she started, played and contributed significantly for 3 years and then was replaced as a starter her senior year, I'd be ticked, for sure, especially if there was no real shot at winning hardware. If, however, her "demotion" meant advance of the program and possibly winning something, then that may change my mindset.
Forget about state, we came in 3rd in our small league and it was by far the best finish they'd ever had. 3rd place there meant being bounced out of the 1st state playoff round 10-0. I don't see playing younger players as a short term fix, myself. Really it's more of an eye to the long term, IMO. Truly, it is both a small school and one that HAD a crappy soccer program. From 2004-2011, the team won a total of 6 games. So winning 8 last year was a step in the right direction. My concern is whether the program goes from 8 to 10 or 8 to 4 and by not nurturing younger players (I know, there's many ways to do that), you increase the chances of the latter.
God I frickin' hate that kind of coach. Sometimes I get the feeling they think they're playing a video game and their mouth is the controller.
And because that, because of those few minutes of garbage play time those underclassmen didn’t get, half are now going to quit team….even after graduating 9 Seniors and only returning 4 or 5 Juniors, which means massive play time being available this year for last year’s freshmen/sophomores…I know they are just kids, but what the hell is wrong with these girls? I am finding very hard to sympathize with these young ladies… Developing or established doesn’t really factor in it to me…. I would certainly agree….just because I don’t think any coach should turn his back on those who have stuck with them and the team for 4 years, nor do I think he should completely ignore or take for granted his underclassmen….if that’s what happened… You are a better man then I, and probably most….
What you describe here reminds me of what J. Cruyff once (about 2 decades ago) said. He felt bad about the situation in the Dutch streets, where cars lined the streets and thus preventing kids from having fun playing soccer and in the process aquiring the skills of mastering the ball. So he set up a programm to fill neighbourhoods with "Cruyff courts", a fenced off square with artificial turf for kids to play soccer and have fun. When a young talent is being awarded the title of "best talent in the Netherlands" he also gets the right to choose a place for a "Cruyff courts" in his honour. Having fun by playing soccer is by far the best start you can make!
Johann Cruyff is one of the all time great players and I use his quotes with my varsity girls often. One of my favorites is.." When you play with possession you don't have to defend.....because there's only one ball"....We play a game (we don't do 'drills'....drills are for the army..) that the girls absolutely love and it is most definitely a 'soccer specific' fitness exercise.....9 vs 9....half field...possession only...first team to 50 points wins....all players can take as many 'touches' as they like but their team only gets a 'point' for a successful one touch pass to a teammate.....I count the 'points' for one team and my assistant counts for the other. The game can last 20 minutes or more and generally ends 50 to 48 or so... The girls are working their tails off, concentrating on their 'first touch', their decision making, keeping the ball on the ground (easier to control) and the weight, accuracy and direction of their pass....beats the crap out of 'fitness training' without the ball, silly arse 'drills' or running laps....
So no working on defense at all. No playing against a hard working high pressure defense? It will be easier to practice attack your way. But can they actually score against a great defense?
...Of course they are working on defense...where on earth do you get the idea that they aren't ? in the 9 vs 9 exercise I described, when the other team has the ball then everyone is a defender....
I got that idea because you neglected to mention any thing about defense. Do you make coaching points to both groups attacking and defending or just with the attacking group?
Seems fairly obvious that in a 9 vs 9 exercise one team is defending when the other has the ball...and vise versa...
That was not the question. The question was do you make coaching points to improve both the attack and the defense.
Kids of that age shold get as little as possible instructions during their play. They should learn to make their own decisions and learn from practice what goes wrong if they do this or that. The one thing kids of that age can do without is being robbed of the learning process of making their own judgement. Otherwise you end up with players like in Pro Football, where the coach by the sideline directs the Footballers as his pawns.
...Exactly correct. The players learn from the mistakes they make and I rarely interrupt the exercise unless there is a point to make. I try to let the girls figure things out for themselves. Of course we talk about situations that develop but generally during water breaks or at the end of the exercise.
Yes it sounds good. In that way the coach does not have to know anything. Perfect for the inept coach. Maybe they don't even need a coach to help them with their game. A coaching point takes a second. It's like at a try out the" some coaches just watch writes in his book, and says nothing. Sometimes players make the same mistakes over and over again because they have not been show better options. Player support position if it is off a foot they can't help support the player with the ball. If a player leaves his support position to become a forward option. In the second it took to leave the support position to become that forward option. The dribbler can become isolated and lose the ball. Let them learn not to do that through their mistakes. They will never learn just make the same mistakes again and again and again
Sorry, but we here are talking about the youngest to younger range of kids. The first thing they should learn and should be done without interfering adults, is being comfortable with the ball and learning to control it. That doesnot mean you never instruct them, but always in a positive way by showing what to do when they have a difficulty with a certain thing, sort of a push in the right direction. Cruyff would never interfere in the situation you describe. He just would watch and smile when the kid just keeps on trying and not give up, because that's the way the kid will learn the means to eventually keep the ball and beat the opponents and not by a coach telling him or her to stop it and give the ball away.. You instruct by example, by showing how to manage the ball, not by instructing them at that age team tactics.
I coached through demonstration. You could put them in a street soccer format and they would learn from that if the kids in it were of all different age groups playing together. Not at the same age group. Excuse me England was posting how he coached his varsity HS girls team not the youngest to younger range kids. I answered his post.
There is a few years difference in the ages of my high school players, (9th thru 12th graders). Of course we don't JUST do the exercise I mentioned earlier, we do a lot of 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2 4 vs 4 etc., when it is easier to point out basic defending on a smaller pitch. For example if someone dives in or makes a positional error, then 4 vs 4 quickly becomes 4 vs 3 or 4 vs 2. The Dutch generally spend a lot of time with 4 vs 4 type games and believe that if you can't play 4 vs 4 the right way then you'll never master 11 vs 11 so it becomes a progression type exercise. Also the players are much more involved and get more touches on the ball (while working on their skill, fitness, attacking and defending and tactical understanding). We also do a lot of 1/2 field (with full size goals and gk's) 7 vs 7 games and often use 2 or 3 'free' players (they play for whichever team is in possession) so 7 vs 7 becomes 10 vs 7 for the team with the ball. This approach to coaching developing players works for our team and may not be everyone's 'cup of tea'....but the players enjoy practice and playing for their school in a positive learning environment and I use the same approach with our younger, middle school girls.