Local Youth Game

A few months ago, when Jurgen Klinnsman was named head coach, we posted a survey on our Facebook page.  The question asked if the US can really change our international soccer fortunes without a fundamental change in the way we teach the game and way players progress.  We believe that a foundational shift in the way soccer is taught in America is necessary to really make a difference.  If the games I saw this weekend are indicative of what is going on around the country, I am completely convinced.

One of the best examples was a coach who should stick to “football” and stay away from the football pitch.  I don’t think he shut up for more than 30 seconds.  This coach started all 8 of his field players on the center line with the a big boot for the kick-off.  The idea was to just kick the ball as far down field as possible and hope that having numbers up would give a chance for a quick goal.  Something that might work once at this level, but they did it every single time.  He also yelled out every single pass (they couldn’t string two together), every single throw-in, every attack, every defensive assignment and every decision.  At one player stood on the sideline waiting for the coach to tell her to throw-in the ball.  She was the only one allowed to throw it in for the whole game, and yet she couldn’t do it without being told.  In general, the game plan was very simple: “Jane” the striker was the designated offensive player.  She was fast and relatively experienced and skilled.  “Sally” was the enforcer.  Her job was to bump, push, elbow the ball away from everyone on defense.  Everyone else was just supposed to kick the ball out, kick it up field, or kick it to Jane.

This type of coaching might win a few recreation league games, but it doesn’t teach the kids anything about how to play soccer.  Players other than the anointed ones get very few touches.  No one dribbles the ball for fear of losing it.  The players are not taught the tools to play at a higher level.  In fact, it isn’t really any fun.  This is a big part of the reason kids stop playing after U-12.  By the time they reach 14, most have either moved up to club or they have quit altogether.

If the US is going to have any chance to truly progress, we need to reset the way we train coaches, the way we train players and the way we play the game.  In the 70′s, the Netherlands went through the Total Soccer transformation.  That took a small country from an also ran to two World Cup Finals.  About 10 years ago, Germany initiated a similar transformation.  They changed the way soccer was taught at all levels and created a unified curriculum.  The US needs to do the same thing.  We must begin training coaches on how to train the game.  Both US Soccer and NSCAA offer good courses, but the percentage of coaches that attend these classes is very small.  Large recreational organizations like AYSO also offer coaching classes, but the quality of instruction and the level of participation by the parent coaches is generally low.  We need to do a better job of training the people that will train the next generation.

We also need to do a much better job of identifying talent and getting them into proper training.  Right now, the general progression in Southern California is rec league to travel team to club to ODP to National Academy.  There is little scouting that goes on outside of the premier clubs or ODP, leaving lots of talent unrecognized.  I have heard several ODP scouts tell me that “any one good enough to make the ODP team would already be playing on a premier club, so no one at the lower levels is worth considering.”  This bypasses the possibility of a player that cannot afford a premier club, has travel or time conflicts, is new to an area, or chose to play with friends.

The last fatal flaw in the US system is finances.  Clubs are expensive.  The premier clubs in Southern California can cost thousands of dollars each year and academies can cost tens of thousands.  In Europe and Latin America, smaller clubs survive by identifying talent and selling the players to larger clubs.  PSV Eindhoven has supported their youth academy this way for decades selling players like Ruud Van Nistory to Manchester United.  They only need to sell about two players every three years to support the academy and produce a top flight professional team.

If the US can start to produce real academies endorsed by US Soccer and sponsored by MLS/WPS and the manufacturers long enough to start identifying/training talent, not only would the US become the powerhouse it can be, but the entire game would be elevated.  If the academy is for profit, as it should be, there must be enough scholarship money to support talented players.  Others that can afford it, can pay, but the best cannot be a burden on their family or we will lose them.

The VIP Coach Pass sponsored by the LA Galaxy returns to Soccer Nation Expo. This year, the VIP pass will enable coaches, parents or other enthusiasts to have exclusive access to various activities and seminars to help them improve their training techniques or learn new game strategies from world-class coaching talent, or network with other coaches from all over Southern California. The pass, which costs $30 and is limited to the first 500 who register, includes:

§  Early, private access to the exhibition hall on Saturday, February 13, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. — one hour before the show doors open to the public at 9:30 a.m. Coffee and pastry will be provided during the early access hour.

§  Free gifts from participating Soccer Nation Expo exhibitors including an LA84 Sack Pack, Cal South T-Shirt, Success in Soccer DVD, and Field Diagram Pad.

§  Reserved VIP seating around the Center Pitch, where coaching clinics by professional, world-class coaches will occur on the hour, every hour, throughout the two-day expo.

§  VIP access to private classroom sessions given by, Oscar Gil, James Parry, Jeff Tipping, Bob Gansler, Klaus Pabst, Jan Smisek, Steve Hoffman, and other Soccer Nation Expo clinicians.

§  Videos of Center Pitch sessions will be available on line after the event.

§  SoccerOne VIP Coach Pass, a discount card offering 10% to 60% off SoccerOne merchandise.

The VIP Pass is available by registering at www.soccernationexpo.com or at www.calsouth.com.

For the first time, an indoor beach soccer field will be set up at the expo. The field, with eight tons of sand, will have a goal and penalty box so that players can practice shooting on the sand, a considerably different pitch for most players. The sand soccer field is being brought to Soccer Nation Expo by Copa Cabana Soccer, which holds beach soccer tournaments on both U.S. coasts.

Additionally, Fox Soccer Channel newscasters Nick Webster, Eric Wynalda and Temryss Lane of Fox Football Fone-In will be attending Soccer Nation Expo and signing autographs from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13.  University of North Carolina standout and U.S.  Women’s Gold Medalist Tobin Heath will be signing autographs in the Nike booth on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 1 pm.

Soccer Nation Expo will also feature renowned soccer coaches who are schedule to participate as guest speakers and clinicians. The list includes:

Dave Sarachan, Los Angeles Galaxy. Currently an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Galaxy, Sarachan spent nearly five seasons as the head coach of the Chicago Fire.  In 2003, his first year as head coach, Sarachan took the Fire to the MLS Cup Finals, claimed the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, and was named MLS Coach of the Year.  He also led the Fire to capture another Lamar Hunt trophy in 2006. A former pro player in the NASL and MISL, Sarachan spent 10 years as head coach for Cornell, before moving to the MLS as an assistant coach for DC United. He also spent four years as an assistant coach on the US Men’s National Team.

Bob Gansler, former U.S. Men’s National Team & MLS head coach.  Gansler was the Kansas City Wizards’ head coach from 1999-2006, winning the club’s first MLS Cup in 2000 and the U.S. Open Cup in 2004.  He was also MLS Coach of the Year in 2000, and coached the U.S. U-19 National Team (1979-82), U-20 National Team (1987-89), and then the full Men’s National Team (1989-91), taking them to the 1990 World Cup, the U.S.’s 1st appearance since 1950.  Gansler played for the U.S. National Team (1963-69), captaining the 1964 and 1968 Olympic and 1967 Pan-American teams.

Jan Smisek, USSF National Staff Coach. Smisek, who was the first woman to earn an A license, holds a KNVB Dutch National Youth Certificate.

Oscar Gil, Club Atlético Boca Juniors. Rincón is not only the head coach for the U17 Boys Academy of the renowned Club Atlético Boca Juniors, but has also served as the club’s International Director of Coaching and Player Development since 2004. In addition to founding a Boca Juniors Developmental Academy in Columbia, he recently founded a similar academy in Southern California in conjunction with the North County Pacific Football Club.

Klaus Pabst, Soccer Academy Cologne in Germany. Pabst is a former Yugoslav Premier League Player and Coach with FC Vojvodina and was the Head Manager of the National Team of the Malta Football Association for five years.

James Parry, Liverpool FC Youth Academy. Parry recently served as an assistant coach for Liverpool FC’s U18 Youth Academy squad, which he helped guide to the finals of the FA Youth Cup last season. He has worked for Liverpool’s Youth Academy through the last decade in a variety of roles, including as a full-time U16 coach, director of soccer camps, and a development and community coach. He currently serves as a talent identification scout for the Liverpool FC, and also acts as a recruitment identification scout for Fulham FC.

Jeff Tipping. The NSCAA’s Director of Coaching Development, Tipping is a well-respected speaker and clinician, representing the NSCAA at educational forums and other soccer-related events throughout the country and the world. He joined the NSCAA in 1983 as Assistant Director of Coaching, promoted to Director of Coaching in 1996, and promoted to his current position in 2002. Previously the director of soccer at Muhlenberg College for 15 years, he also served as an assistant soccer coach at Hartwick College for four years. He played professionally in the American Soccer League for five seasons, was a four-year varsity player for Hartwick and holds a master’s degree from Lehigh University.

Sacha Van der Most, Chivas USA U18 Head Coach.  Van der Most has many years of coaching experience in different youth levels, starting with Quick’s youth teams in Holland, ranging in age from U-8 to U-16.  He joined the Chivas USA youth system when it was established in 2005.

About Soccer Nation Expo

Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the two-day, action-packed and interactive experience, where fans, coaches, players and their families will enjoy free admission and host of events and activities to entertain everyone from observers to seasoned players and fanatics.

The first Expo in 2004 attracted 3,500 people and has grown exponentially each year.  With the rising popularity of soccer in America and especially in the soccer hot bed of Southern California, Cal South officials are planning for record attendance to the delight of sponsors and exhibitors, who increasingly seek marketing channels and opportunities that reach and impact target consumers.

Expo attendees encompass the full spectrum of soccer in Southern California. Cal South members, players and families from local AYSO teams and independent leagues, international ex-patriots and fans of soccer of all ages attend.

The Expo will utilize more than 150,000 square feet of exhibition space in the massive convention center located in downtown Los Angeles. More than 100 exhibitors will be on hand to demonstrate and showcase the latest in soccer gear and equipment, with participation from national and international soccer clubs, and consumer goods and service companies reaching active Southern California families.

Participants include corporations such as General Mills, Fox Soccer Channel, Time Warner Cable, Jamba Juice, Herbalife, Cuties and official sponsor Nike, which will host the popular US Futsal Southwestern Regional Championship open to adults and boys and girls ages 10 and up. Nike’s extensive exhibit space will display the newest spring lines, the latest equipment, and allow attendees the opportunity to test-drive the hottest shoes on the market.

For more information about Soccer Nation Expo 2010, visit www.soccernationexpo.com.

About Cal South

The California State Soccer Association – South (Cal South) is a 501c(3) California public benefit corporation and is the official youth and adult state soccer association of the United States Soccer Federation, United States Adult Soccer Association and United States Youth Soccer.  Cal South represents 230 Member Leagues and Clubs comprising our membership of more than 160,000 registered players, coaches, referees and league administrators. The organization, with a service area that extends from San Luis Obispo to San Diego, provides rewarding recreational and competitive opportunities for players of all ages, genders and skill levels.  For more information about Cal South, visit www.calsouth.com.

The SPY Awards, emceed by Mike Jerrick, host of Good Day Philadelphia morning news program, were developed to celebrate the best and most innovative soccer products available. Winners of the first annual SPY Awards include:

• Awards & Trophies: Skillzys®, Tagzyz™ & Bragzys™
• Coach/Team Equipment & Training Aids: Kixsports America, Kixkube
• Web & Software Services: iSoccer
• Soccer Balls: Adidas, 2010 Official World Cup Match Ball
• Goalkeeper Gear: Under Armour, Eliminate MPZ Goalkeeping Top
• Goals: GOLME, Golme Professional Training Goal
• Field Maintenance & Equipment: Expand-A-Sign, Horizontal A-Frame pop-up
• Player & Team Apparel: CALLE, Herrin Windbreaker
• Protective Gear: S1 Sport, Revolutionary Shin/Ankle/Achilles Protection
• Boots Category: Adidas, Predator_X Boot
• Best Product of the Year: Adidas, Predator_X Boot

Additionally, the SPY Awards featured a few of soccer’s most notable names, including:

• Bill Nuttall, President of Diadora
• Caleb Porter, Head Men’s Soccer Coach, University of Akron
• Dani Collins, Philadelphia Independence 2010 draft pick
• Becky Burliegh, Head Women’s Soccer Coach, University of Florida

NCAA Rankings Pre-Season Men’s Division I Pre-Season Poll

NCAA Rankings Pre-Season Women’s Division I Pre-Season Poll

* Final 2008 Record and Ranking shown