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.

According to Wikipedia, the song was written on a train ride into New York.  Of course, James Cagney’s Yankee Doodle Dandy version is a bit different.  Either way, ALL of us Yanks should be singing this every time our boys take the field, and hoping they perform as well as our boys did in 1917.

You can watch the video below, but of course only the chorus is used.  The lyrics in their entirety follow.

As sung by early-20th century recording artist Billy Murray:

Johnny, get your gun, get your gun, get your gun.

Take it on the run, on the run, on the run.

Hear them calling you and me,

Every Son of Liberty.

Hurry right away, no delay, go today.

Make your Daddy glad to have had such a lad.

Tell your sweetheart not to pine,

To be proud her boy’s in line.

Johnny, get your gun, get your gun, get your gun,

Johnny, show the “Hun” you’re a son-of-a-gun.

Hoist the flag and let her fly.

Yankee Doodle do or die.

Pack your little kit, show your grit, do your bit.

Yankee to the ranks from the towns and the tanks.

Make your Mother proud of you

And the old red-white-and-blue

Chorus

Over there, over there,

This is the first in a series of three articles on national coaching manuals.  FIFA is the  governing body in soccer world wide.  Below that, there are regional bodies (Concacaf in our case).  At the national level, US Soccer is the governing body that oversees all national/olympic team, professional (MLS, USSL, PSL, WPL, etc.), and amateur play.

The manual is self described as:

“The definitive playing and coaching manual for youth soccer.  Compiled by the coaching, educational, and technical staff of U.S. Soccer, this book offers extensive information on all aspects of the game: technique, tactics, laws, prevention and care of injury, coaching preparation, organizational structure, model training sessions, and more than 100 practice games suitable for developing aspects of every player’s game.”

Obviously that is a lot to cover in just over 300 pages, but it does a remarkable job.  Most techniques are covered in one or two pages with a description, tips, illustrations and common mistakes.  Goalkeeping actually receives as much attention as the field players.  Since this position is unique, it is usually the focus of or ignored by most manuals.  Tactics are described at an introductory level, but include graphics that explain the text.  The laws are described briefly with some diagrams, but off-sides requires a much better definition.  The coaching section focuses on an age appropriate environment.  There is a small blurb on each age/development group and what to expect from these players.  The book includes details field sizes, warm-up/cool down and injury prevention.

The final section of the book is the games.  They are grouped by technique/tactic in order to make practice planning easier.  Each game has a name, rules/set-up, benefits (targeted techniques or tactics), phase (tactical group size – i.e. individual or large group), and age recommendation.  Some games also have diagrams to explain the field set-up or appropriate player movement.  Most of the games are less than a page in length and would run 10 to 15 minutes in practice.

The book itself is visually stunning.  It has hundreds of full color photographs and 3D graphics to illustrate the material on heavy bond paper.  The margins are wide and there is room to write notes.  It is every well organized and can be read cover to cover or as a hunt and find reference manual.  Unfortunately, it is a paperback with a glue binding.  As I move through the book, I found myself wishing it had been published as a binder.  I would love to be able to insert my practice plans for future session.  I also wanted to lay the book flat to make it easier to highlight and read while writing.  I wonder how long it will take for the binding to break and for pages to start falling out.

 Over all, this manual should be in every coaches library.  For recreational coaches, this probably covers every topic you need.  For club and amateur coaches/players, this provides insight into the US strategies and development program.  For professional coaches, this is THE Official Manual.

Soccer: How to Play the Game; The Official Playing and Coaching Manual of the United States Soccer Federation is published by Universe Publishing.  Universe is a division of Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.