For Menace Fan's benefit, here's is the Reader's Digest version: MISSION STATEMENTS The guiding force behind every association and club should be its mission statement. This statement should be adopted into the bylaws after the board agrees upon it. Once agreed upon, this statement should guide all decisions in the club. Sample 1: Recreational Philosophy To provide each player the opportunity to play soccer in a supportive and rewarding environment that emphasizes fun, enjoyment and skill learning, through equal participation, regardless of ability. Sample 2: Developmental Philosophy To provide each player the opportunity to play soccer in a supportive and rewarding environment that emphasizes fun, enjoyment and skill learning, at a level that fits his/her interest and ability." ............appropriate for associations that have a mixture of recreational and intermediate level (travel) programs. The club will therefore provide opportunities for players to play at a level that is commensurate with their abilities and provide more challenging environments for players as they improve and wish to play in a more challenging environment. Sample 3: The Quest for Excellence Philosophy .......appropriate for clubs that have a mature program, with a large recreational base supporting a well developed select team program comprising intermediate and top level teams. .......The top select teams will be geared towards players who have the potential to play at a high level (ODP, college, professional) and the commitment and desire to reach their full potential. However lofty our goals, we must never lose sight of the fact that players will not improve at any level without playing. Players at the top level should still play in every game. This does not mean that players should be guaranteed equal playing time, but rather that they will have to compete for more playing time, with the best and most committed getting more time than the rest. If a player is not getting much playing time with the top level team, the club should find alternative avenues to insure that the player is getting playing time, as there is no developmental replacement for having to play at game speed. This approach satisfies both the basic youth sport convention that everyone must play and the need to create a competitive environment where players are constantly monitored, evaluated and challenged to do better to earn more playing time. Other Objectives for the Mission Statement Whether a mission statement is for a youth sport organization or another organization involving youth there are some general objectives that are common to all youth organizations. We should all be concerned with character building, moral development, instilling the values of honesty, sportsmanship and responsibility, etc. Often times we can use the sport experience or structure to help teach our players greater life lessons and the meaning of community responsibility as well. Whatever our goals, it is important for members behavior to be consistent with the mission statement. Sample 4: The Result Oriented Approach To create a challenging environment that enhances team development and to make our teams competitive at the state, regional and national level in order to win state, regional, and national championships. Implication Although clubs may have hopes to win championships, focusing their efforts on said championships and having winning as a primary motivation is not appropriate in youth sport! This is an example of a mission statement that is harmful to players both on and off the field. A result-oriented objective in a mission statement implies that winning is the most important thing. Development of players is not a concern, nor is the method of winning. This statement implies that success can only be measured by the amount of trophies won. Such a result-oriented philosophy leads to a high player attrition rate and often turns players away from sports for life. Fun becomes dependent on winning and improvement is not appreciated in the event of a loss. There are many other ways to measure success in youth sport that are more meaningful and relevant, and most importantly, not harmful. Winning should always be seen as a by-product, not as the measure of success. http://www.mayouthsoccer.org/download/129_21st_century_player_development_manual.pdf More in the next post.
The problems seen in recreational programs across the state and the country are amazingly similar. They are often related to the fact that strong technical supervision is missing. The most common problems observed are: 1) Too much emphasis on kicking the ball aimlessly forward, with no specific purpose in mind. This is not conducive to skill development. 2) Too much emphasis on results, especially at the U-10 and U-12 level. 3) Players who are good enough for the competitive level are kept at the recreational level by coaches who want to win. 4) Parental behavior on the sidelines. Often parents are yelling directions loudly, bombarding players with too much information and, thus, resulting in young players not having the opportunity to grow out of their dependency on the adults. 5) Parental behavior on the sidelines. Often parents yell at young referees or coaches, demonstrating poor sportsmanship and decreasing the enjoyment of the game for everyone. 6) The 11v11 game is too difficult for U-10 or U-12 recreational players. They need to play small-sided soccer. 7) Clubs have difficulty recruiting and maintaining volunteer coaches. 8) Due to lack of coach education, coaches do not have enough variety of activities to make the practices fun and effective. 9) Pre-game warm-ups are very poor, and do not prepare the players for the demands of the game. 10) Too many substitutions during games kill the flow and make games chaotic. 11) Drafting of teams at the recreational level is a problem at some clubs, with some coaches manipulating the system to stack teams. The following pages address these concerns and provide some hints to help with these difficulties. Each community will find problems that are unique to their environment and some of these solutions may not work due tothe environment in your town. However, the hints can likely be adjusted a bit one way or another in order to help in any environment.
The Select/Travel Program is geared toward players who have outgrown the Recreational Program and are looking for a more challenging soccer environment. Players who play at the select level usually have a personal goal, such as to play for the high school varsity team, or to play college soccer, or to become a professional player and play for the National Team. Hence, the main objective of the Select Program should be to help each player reach his/her potential and achieve his/her goal. This should be done in a fulfilling and supportive way that continues to foster the love of the game while helping players achieve their goals. ........Compared to even ten years ago, our youth clubs have made impressive advances in organization, coaching education, professionalism, facilities, and high level competition. The players coming up are continuously getting better technically, tactically and physically........... ..........It seems peoples concern with calling themselves premier has actually overtaken the goal of becoming premier. Unfortunately, the players, who are unable to progress to the level they are capable of progressing to, and the parents, who are spending thousands of dollars for a sub-par soccer education, are the ones suffering because of this problem. ..........In looking at the big picture, it is fair for most clubs to not spend a lot of money or time on this top 1% as it is a minute portion of the playing population. In fact, if all clubs did try to service these players it would prove more harmful to all players (lack of attention to the bulk of players and improper training environment for the top players). However, there are a handful of clubs who do have the capability of developing these players. If your club is not one of these clubs, then your club should encourage the high level player to go play for the other club and take pride in the fact that you have developed a player who has been able to reach her goals and has the chance to see them all become a reality. Here is a list of problems commonly seen in clubs that are trying to help select/travel players of any level: 1) Too much focus on tactics and fitness at the U-10 through U-14 and not enough emphasis on technical development. 2) Too competitive at the younger ages. Unnecessary pressure on young players, coupled with pigeon-holing them into positions too early. Many 11to 14 year-olds already labeled as bench players with little playing time given. 3) Too much emphasis on playing games and not enough on practicing. Simply not enough contacts with the ball. 4) Too many multi-game-per-day tournaments, which promote a test of stamina rather than skill, and cause injuries. 5) An inherent emphasis on quantity at the expense of quality. 6) Players burned-out from too much competition and a tug-of-war between club, high school and ODP. Dual-rostering ending up in struggles and too many games. 7) Some clubs lack a central focus and leadership, and are essentially comprised of a collection of teams loosely connected, with each team left to blaze its own trail, fight for the same club players, and dilute the top level. 8) A rigid, team-oriented system that promotes the upward movement of teams over the upward movement of players. Players register for teams as opposed to clubs, with movement of players within the club restricted either by regulation or by policy. Good players are kept in mediocre teams to help the team get promoted instead of promoting the player. 9) Lack of coordinated effort and cooperation between neighboring youth clubs to combine resources. Unhealthy rivalries fester instead. 10) Too often, pre-game warm-ups do not properly prepare players for the game. 11) In some clubs, youth coaches lose their effectiveness by staying with the same team for too long. 12) No overall club curriculum of development so players lack a well-planned progressive learning track that is consistent as they grow and consistent across team and coaching changes. 13) Renegade clubs. A club is a program that has a full menu of teams across all age groups and allows players options to challenge themselves at the level they want to challenge themselves. A true club is like a family in which there is cooperation between team and movement in the best interest of players. A club is not comprised of a couple teams that exist because a coach had a problem with his old club and, in bitterness, decided to go off and start his own renegade club. This is only hurting play in our state. 14) The best coaches are, too often, working only with top level and older teams. These coaches need to work with younger players to stamp in good habits. 15) Clubs hanging on to their best players, rather than helping them play for a higher level team so they can continue to develop. The following section on the Select Program Structure attempts to deal with these issues and offers some solutions. Hopefully thatwets your appetite to keep reading the manual itself.