BC Soccer Conference 2006

[bettermirror]

I just participated in the conference. A well-run, highly organized conference. Roy Hodsgon, and Bob Gansler were two of the presenters, along with some other very accomplished speakers of (unfortunately) less prominence.

I was thrilled to be a part of it - anyone could have been.

The sessions Bob, Roy, and the others ran were of the highest quality. They were fantastic.

However, I found a major negative.

The conference should be used more as a symposium to discuss the shortcomings of the game in Canada in general and BC specifically. I believe topics discussed should be relevant to the areas requiring improvement in this province/country to move the game forward. It should be used as a tool to get each individual youth soccer association in the province moving toward the same goals, using similar formations, and promoting the same individual player techniques and tactics to bring this country forward as a cohesive unit.

I believe professionals from around the globe and country should be brought in as objective participants to relay their perspectives on the topics we have identified as needing improvement. Use these experts to move our game forward.

Opinions???????

[Cheeta]

Might be tough pulling it off, no?

Is there a concensus on what areas of the game need improvement in BC? And is it even possible to be able to build a broad concensus?

By this I mean specificaly is if it were possible there was a broad concensus about the formations, techniques and learnt player tactics that are needed in modern football wouldn't the game naturaly enough evolve in that way without some outside, but learned opinions?

Are the local associations and academys that open to possibly different ideas? And if they are, are they flexable enough to adapt and take them on effectively?

If there is a confidense that the associations/acadamys are, or at least a healthy minority are adaptable anyway, then it sounds like a great idea if they could give it a test period long enough to prove it's merits (or otherwise).

[River City]

It would be nice to have a series of conferences, in every province to gather input from all interested parties to set a clear direction for soccer in this country.

I don't think it'll ever happen as an initiative of the CSA though. Who put on the BC Conference?

[bettermirror]

Cheeta: Yes it would be tough pulling it off. Tough should not be an obstacle. Is there a consensus for areas needing improvement? No. Bring coaches together twice-yearly and from those conferences organize the BC Soccer Conference so these areas can be addressed.

Are the local assocations open to different ideas? I think they would be if they were included in the process of change. No one likes being forced change, but accept it if they are part of the vehicle forcing the change.

RiverCity: Yes a series of conferences is a fantastic idea.

The BCSA put on the conference.

-I suggest the experts brought in address the issues we have self-diagnosed.

[I Caramba]

Hmm.

Big changes afoot in BC though.

At the top end (in terms of developing world class players)

Whitecaps will not be participating in the Super Y League in future.

- Whitecaps Y league programs were at least as good as BCSA provincial teams programs Any tension BCSA-Whitecaps?

Has BCSA made full use of the golden opportunities presented by Whitecaps?

There are lots of paid staff at BCSA.

Mostly seem to start their work at the point where they cream off maybe 20 players per age group for the provincial team.

But who is taking care of business at the grass roots?

There are few or no admin staff in districts/clubs. Is there a volunteer burnout crisis in the running of these playing opportunities - "leagues" ?

We are OK with paying coaches now- but coaching is fun.

Administration IS a chore- but done by self-selected volunteers. Many of whom have no kids in the sport any longer.

Maybe most of the $BCSA player levy should go to paying staff to run districts, clubs, "league scheduling"? (See article on Canada Kicks by Mr Ault).

Or paying for the people who actually make decisions in clubs and districts to go to conferences like this one? (Heads up folks, some of the key people who actually make the most important decisions, couldn't name a player on our national mens team)

<gets on soapbox> The biggest shortcoming to my mind is over-organization and too much control. A bunch of kids can't kick a ball here without an adult to tell them what to do, waivers signed by parents, permission to play on the same team etc etc etc. Adults also impose inflexible tactics (we all have to play 4-3-3 at U13), a win-at-all-costs approach to the game and a lack of ethics in many cases. Examples: As a kid playing soccer we would never have played 11v9. It happens here every weekend in flu season, with teams "organized" by adults. And a 13 year old defender who deliberately stamped on a strikers toes would have been thumped, rather than hiding behind the protection of a 15 year old "referee" on the lookout for "retaliation."

Do we need a lot of organization to produce great players?

How about a book of "Best Practices" ? We could start and end with this one:

How much organization went into generating a player called George Best in Belfast in the 1950s-1960s?

[bettermirror]

quote:Originally posted by I Caramba

1. At the top end (in terms of developing world class players)

Whitecaps will not be participating in the Super Y League in future.

...

2. But who is taking care of business at the grass roots?

...

3. <gets on soapbox> The biggest shortcoming to my mind is over-organization and too much control.

4. Adults also impose inflexible tactics (we all have to play 4-3-3 at U13),

5. a win-at-all-costs approach to the game and a lack of ethics in many cases.

6. "Best Practices" ?

7. George Best in Belfast in the 1950s-1960s?

1. Please cite your source where the Whitecaps say they are no longer in the Super Y League. Bobby L. seemed pretty excited about the Y League at the conference.

2. Exactly, "who" is taking care of the grassroots? Answer: Overextended volunteers with little knowledge of the sport (in many cases)

3. Yes there is far too much "organization" in this country regarding sport. Such is the Age of Lawyers.

4. All u13+ teams in Vancouver play 4-3-3? I find this difficult to believe since I've only seen one metro team at u14 playing something similar to three forwards. I also find it difficult to believe Burnaby, Coquitlam, North Shore etc have all had a meeting and agreed to pretend to be Barcelona. 4-3-3 is far too challenging for kids in this country to play at u13. It requires top fitness, and top "soccer minds" on the pitch.

5. Sadly this is far too prevalent - IE, coaches teaching young 8-12 year olds to just shoot over the head of the 3 foot tall goalie so they can win a game. Clearly this technique hinders in the long-run as shooting high becomes a joy for goalies as they age.

6. A best-practices symposium would be awesome and just what I suggest. What must come with these best-practices is in-house (association) and objective (provincial) reviews to be certain each coach/association is satisfying the agreed-upon mandates.

7. George Best, Pele, etc...they were exceptions to the rule. But I get what you are saying for sure.

Good post!

[I Caramba]

I believe the technical departments of CSA (and in our case BCSA) looked at "shortcomings of the game in Canada in general and BC specifically" 3+ years ago, and they did something momentous that they never fully got credit for. They formed a new player development plan. And they came out and talked to many clubs and districts about it. They put a lot of time into meeting club and district organizers to try to give direction on things that they thought were potentially changeable.

Folks like Bob Lenarduzzi, Frank Yallop, the then BCSA president Mr Montagliani and others came out to meetings and, over a beer and a buffet told districts and clubs what they thought was needed to go forward from a technical point of view. This was a grand tour in BC, leading in to the WCQ games. The "stage" was a who's who of the coaching staff for the national teams and (in BC's case) whitecaps; and it was a privilege to get an inside look at how these folks think. Personally- I couldn't thank them enough for this. It showed guts- there was a lot of straight talk and I gather they weren't always that well received- and they showed commitment that would put some "soccer-playing countries" to shame.

I well remember Mr Yallop outlining what he was trying to do in the (limited) time available to him to prepare for the WCQ, and he gave an outline of what we all need to do with young players so his successors (and he joked about how soon there would be a successor, if he didn't manage to work miracles...) - would have a larger pool of skilled players to work with, so we could not just qualify but do well in the group stages of the WC in the future....

There's a lot that probably can't be changed. We could all get pretty depressed thinking about that.

So the CSA and BCSA focussed on what is potentially fixable. At a technical level - kids playing small sided games, focus on skill development with young kids, de-emphasizing win-at-all-costs with the kids - players being free to play, player-centred organization - we know what we have to do. The CSA and BCSA have put a lot of this stuff on the web, so if people can't make it to the conferences, the tools and guidelines for continually improving the system is there.