Youth Development

[pstain]

I found an interesting quote regarding youth development from Arsene Wenger.

"When I started at the academy at Strasbourg, I worked mornings and afternoons with 18-year-olds who couldn't cross," Wenger said. "After a year I thought I must be useless because they still couldn't cross. We then had a meeting with all the coaches at other club academies. I said: 'Can someone tell me how can I improve my players? I work the players hard twice a day - and no change.' There was relief all around! Everyone had the same problem.

"At 18 years it is too late to improve players. We decided to go down to 16. Then 14. Now in France they go to 12. Technically, at 13 the basics are done. After that you could bring in every professor and they will not turn a guy with no technique into a good technician."

So I'm just wondering if this is the reason why there aren't that many great technical players in Canada right now.

[bettermirror]

it's exactly why.

we don't recognize talent until they are in there elder teens. it's too late. this occurs because coaching in this country is done by fathers and mothers who are more cheerleader than they are coaches. even at 12, if they aren't in the right environment prior you have a lot of trouble. as witnessed by the troubles with my team!

it's the entire soccer environment in this country.

[Richard]

And yet some people complain about clubs and associations hiring paid professional coaches to assist with youth player and volunteer coach development and are critical of the private soccer academies. It is precisely this kind of thing which will help address the problem of enthusiastic but typically inadequate coaching of young players during their formative years. The clubs that have had the courage and foresight to take this approach should be commended.

[bettermirror]

the more associations with professional coaches the better i say. i was ecstatic the day chilliwack finally had hired one as i had been discussing the validity of it for 10 years since i left the association to play further west in the valley.

[Richard]

Yeah, for too long the attitude has been they're just kids, let them have fun and just kick the ball around. Coaches needn't really do much more than be team organisers and babysitters. Shouldn't get any serious training or competitive play until they're 10 or 12 years old. Trouble is by then it's too late for the ones that have potential. The odd prodigy will make it through despite the system but in the main it's this attitude that has kept us where we are in the world soccer rankings.

[The Ref]

quote:Originally posted by Richard

Yeah, for too long the attitude has been they're just kids, let them have fun and just kick the ball around. Coaches needn't really do much more than be team organisers and babysitters. Shouldn't get any serious training or competitive play until they're 10 or 12 years old. Trouble is by then it's too late for the ones that have potential. The odd prodigy will make it through despite the system but in the main it's this attitude that has kept us where we are in the world soccer rankings.

I never thought I would find myself agreeing with you. But hey! I do. I would like to add to your comments if I may, when you say "...by then it's too late for the ones that have potential" that also, we fail to recognize kids with potential and tend to be unduly influenced in our selections.

[analyst]

Wenge has a good argument but he's exagegerating when he says the kids have to acquired skills at age 12. Soccer players need the skills at age 14, or else they will not end up highly skilled enough to play at a skill position in the Pro's.

Someone said that soccer skills and paid Head coaches for clubs are needed. That makes sense, but has it worked?

Roman Tulis has run a soccer school for 20 years and he not produced anyone who has made it big in Europe. Why not?

Abbotsford is the first BC Club to hire a big time head coach, (Colin Miller) but Abbotsford has not produced any high level players. Why not?

[Richard]

I suggest the reason for the dirth of high level players is primarily the lack of domestic opportunities. Only a few youngsters really have the option and desire to play overseas without the complication of no EU passport or work permit hassles. Unless they make the big time fairly quickly it is mostly a pretty dismal slog with not much future in the lower level leagues. Many players who might be capable of and willing to ply their football trade locally in the only just semi-pro USL for a living wage for a few years opt for another occupation with better pay and a more secure future. Roll on the MLS in Canada.

[Canuck Oranje]

Key point seemingly lost in Wenger's comments is the step by step process of moving back from 18 to 16 and then to 14.

Rather that trying to implement a new system that changes things begining at 12, I think it is important to get a system that works for 16 year-olds and up first. Once that is in place, the earlier years can be looked at.

The bigger problem is the soccer culture/environment that kids are in.

I would argue that we place too much emphasis on coaching (or lack of coaching) for younger age groups. If anything, we tend to over-organize and over-coach. As a result, coaches tend to coach the creativity out of kids rather than encourage it.

A typical 18 year-old player in Brazil will have been playing continuously in his free time from the time he can walk. A Canadian 18-year old player might play a little in his free time and will have a closet of nice uniforms going back to 5-years old (if he kept them all). The amount of time he has spent with a coach is probably about the same.

Coaching is important; but, it takes time (more than money) to build expertise and credibility. In Sao Paulo, you can send your kids to a soccer school operated by Roberto Rivelino (considered by many to be in soccer's all-time top 50). In Ontario, we have schools operated by Duncan Wilde and Barry McLean. No doubt, all are excellent schools; however, there is a difference in stature.

To use a hockey comparison, was the superior quality of hockey coaching in Brantford responsible for the creation of superstar, Wayne Gretzky? Or was it his desire and the backyard rink on which he played for many years the bigger difference?

[River City]

The best way to teach kids technique (and yes, every kid can learn technique) is through on the ball training. From my limited experience with youth soccer, most soccer drills involve a few balls and a whole lot of running around.

Kids 6 - 12 need as much contact with the soccer ball as possible in order to get confortable with it, and master their control of it. This means they need drills where there is 1 ball for every kid, less running around, and more fun.

From 12 - 16 they need to develop their tactical awareness and team play responsibilities. And from 16 on they need an integrated coaching system focusing on their specific positions.

At the adult level, doing on the ball training has immediate rewards (not as much as with kids obviously) in terms of confidence and ball control, but I find the biggest challenge comes in terms of positioning/team play attitude. My Latino players all want to press forward and score, my Kurdish players want to take on the other team by themselves, and my born in Canada players want to hang back and not make any mistakes.

[analyst]

quote:Originally posted by Richard

I suggest the reason for the dirth of high level players is primarily the lack of domestic opportunities. Only a few youngsters really have the option and desire to play overseas without the complication of no EU passport or work permit hassles. Unless they make the big time fairly quickly it is mostly a pretty dismal slog with not much future in the lower level leagues. Many players who might be capable of and willing to ply their football trade locally in the only just semi-pro USL for a living wage for a few years opt for another occupation with better pay and a more secure future. Roll on the MLS in Canada.

Richard - I beg to differ with part of your answer. Most Canadians who are willing to pursue a career abroad don't have the techincial skills to do so, because they were not taught them at an early enough age. That also is Wenge's conclusion of European talent as well, based on what he saw at Strasbourg. But Richard, you are correct that Canadians don't have a domestic league and Canadians kids don't have enough Canadian soccer players as role models.

River City's first comment is fairly accurate about kids practices. But for ages 6-12, he omits the need to develop socccer specific skills that are really only taught by coaches who can actually demonstrate the skills, not taught by parents who are not accomplished soccer players.

Last year, I heard Dr. Istvan Balyi speak about the blueprint to follow to develop elite athletes, including soccer players. I recommend his article to everyone. It can be found by doing a google search for his name.

[Richard]

Well we are not far apart then although I suggest there are many more young canadians who could find work with mid to lower level pro teams outside Canada if they had the necessary passports/work permits and the desire. I know of several young ex-university standouts who chose to follow a career/job locally rather than soccer overseas at the level I mentioned. My own son is one example. He could have started with an English 3rd division club and hoped to work his way up but chose to become a chartered accountant instead. The same argument applies to the player pool for clubs like the Whitecaps. There are far more players quite good enough to make the team but who out of choice or necessity follow another, better paying and more secure career path outside soccer. The domestic opportunities to which I referred need not necessarily include a domestic national league, just more Canadian pro or semi-pro teams. The Toronto MLS franchise will help in that regard, so would more USLD1 teams for that matter.

[Guest Jeffery S.]

quote:Originally posted by analyst

Roman Tulis has run a soccer school for 20 years and he not produced anyone who has made it big in Europe.

Dani Fernandes may disagree with you, he came late to football, as an all-round athlete, and though he was soon in Porto his first solid steps, as I understand it, were as a teen with Tulis.

I know of pro players who started at age 17, like Dani Garcia, who was at Barça and now plays for Olympiakos. But that is a rarity. They say that Tristán at Depor also started late, not sure if that is true though.

Back to Wenger though. I think the point about crossing is a bit silly, since it is not that difficult, at least it was one of the few things I did well being a terrible player, but I could cross well at full run with both feet, from either side.

The real challenge is to pass to a teammate's foot under pressure, it is the litmus test. To move without the ball to get the pass, and know what you are going to do when or even before you get it. To do that well, you must control with your head up and see the play as you do so, and to be able to accomplish that you have to experience competitive play against teams that are trained to do the same. Moving without the ball is important because it is the difference between receiving with time to make the next play or not; it is not a question of moving too quickly or too slowly, but having the capacity to change speed in function of where you are in the field, what the options are, what the status of the game is.

If you can't handle this you could still be a solid defender who will let a teammate move the ball out, you could be a utility wing and still create danger, you could be a tank of a striker with little passing ability but with a scent for the goal. But in all these cases you have to know how to at least control, and in all cases move without the ball.

I'll add one more thing about the ball and kids. There is no reason for kids to warm up without the ball, you can run with one or without one. You can even run a fitness circuit with touches on the ball. This way you do two things at once, it is basic but indeed amazing how even pro teams warm up without the ball. For this to happen, though, youth teams have to go onto the practice field with one ball per kid available. I love the idea that you pay a ton of money but the club then explains they don't have money for balls.

[analyst]

quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S.

Dani Fernandes may disagree with you, he came late to football, as an all-round athlete, and though he was soon in Porto his first solid steps, as I understand it, were as a teen with Tulis.

I ended my original statement with a qyuestion -, which is why haven't Tulis and similar schools been more successful? In BC the answer is probably structural. In BC the kids play year round for Club teams like Metro Ford or Surrey, but they train twice a week with someone like Tulis. The Club coaches may be undoing the good work that Tulis has put in. In addition, the kids may not take Tulis as serious because they don't play for him on weekends.

It would be better if Tulis's players played together as teams on the weekends, but the rules in BC won't allow that. In BC teams can only have three players from "out of District".

Take the case of Marcus Haber, a Tulis student. He was picked as the top player during Tulis's 2004 trip to Europe, and was picked to play striker for the U17 Canadian team when he was 16. But he plays central defence for his club team. To properly develop as a striker, he needs to play striker full-time, not play defence for his Club team. Tulis does not control Marcus's club team therefore he cannot ensure that Marcus gets trained on his Club team as a striker.

[Richard]

Roman Tulis has achieved a measure of success.

http://www.romantulis.com/awards.htm

I think he may be pushing his luck a bit claiming all the credit for these players' successes. It is the inherently more talented players who attend such schools and have parents willing to pay the bills. Certainly the extra time and attention would have paid dividends however.

[L.T.]

quote: In BC the kids play year round for Club teams like Metro Ford or Surrey, but they train twice a week with someone like Tulis. The Club coaches may be undoing the good work that Tulis has put in....It would be better if Tulis's players played together as teams on the weekends...

Don't know if you guys are aware but I'm part of a group that is planning to put their money where there collective mouths are in this regard.

Soccer Academy Alliance Canada (SAAC) has started up as a non-profit association based in Southern Ontario. Right now we have 6 members in Ontario but are hoping to expand across the country.

Basically, we're trying to do what the above quote suggessts - take on these players full time in a professional academy environment.

- 3:1 / 4:1 Practice-to-game ratios

- Professional licensed coaches

- Physio and GK on site

- Weekend games (no standings kept before U15)

- U10 play 7v7, U12 play 9v9

For more info, go to www.academysoccer.ca

[dutcy]

I agree with Richard's opinion that Canadian players could easily play for some lower division pro teams abroad but most of the time they opt for more secured career opportunities. There are many good soccer academies with some good training and with some raw talent, but Canada does not foster the environment nor the culture needed to foster the motivation of individuals to pusue a soccer career. So we can go on and discuss youth development and all the technicall skills one can teach Canadian players but my 15 years old a big percentage of the elite and truly talented players seem to find themselves out of the game. Youth development can only be implemented and tested through a proper infrastructure and here in Canada there is none, so in my opinion youth development and soccer academies offer just another option of recrrational soccer to Canadian soccer players. Perhaps this is the reason we do not produce the real professionals, and this is not a fault of any trainor nor any academy.