Beautiful Soccer: Creating Passion and Confidence in Young Players
224
Beautiful Soccer: Creating Passion and Confidence in Young Players
224eBook
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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781935937531 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Tracks Publishing |
| Publication date: | 07/17/2012 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 224 |
| File size: | 5 MB |
| Age Range: | 9 - 15 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Beautiful Soccer
Creating Passion and Confidence in Young Players
By Ryan Marquez, Doug Werner, Cristina Martinez Byvik
Tracks Publishing
Copyright © 2012 Ryan Marquez and Doug WernerAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-935937-53-1
CHAPTER 1
The Problem
We don't realize that the more our kids are skilled, the more they can benefit from systems and the more we can bring out of a system. We need to fully commit to skill sets even though there may be a price to pay.
We develop kids that show immediate talent and everyone else is sort of filling space.
We are not preparing kids for the long term — five to ten years. We are preparing kids for this Saturday.
Is there a problem with competitive youth soccer in the United States? The main thing is the structure. In the U.S., coaches are judged by how many wins they get this season.
Success is based on immediate results? Yes, immediate results. By contrast, European coaches are judged by how many players they groom for the professional levels. For us, it's winning right away. We are not preparing kids for the long term — five to ten years. We are preparing kids for this Saturday.
When you say kids, what ages? In Europe and South America, development can start very young. Like 7, 8. The very serious stuff is probably 14 and up, but the younger kids are already getting base skills.
You have one or two kids learning a lot and all the other kids learning how to play it safe.
Development lags here in America because our professional league is not yet established. Our leagues are starting to grow, but it's going to take time. Our professional league has been around 18 years or so, but it's taken time for them to grow youth leagues, to create academy teams.
Why aren't most clubs developing to the next level? The biggest problem is that coaches and the club are judged by the next game.
Are coaches looking for kids with the natural talent and then just getting them the ball? Often there are kids that have a little more talent. And on some teams, players are asked to feed those talented kids the ball while everyone else plays a little safer. You have one or two kids learning a lot and all the other kids learning how to play it safe.
It's sort of have a star system, a kiddie star system. To an extent.
We develop kids that show immediate talent and everyone else is sort of filling space. Because Saturday is such a big deal. That's why a lot of coaches put organization first and skill second. You can organize players and make it work for the time being, but teaching a skill takes repetition over a long period of time. It might be years before a kid performs skill sets well. Right now, coaches think they don't have years. If he doesn't keep winning, his team is going to explode. Parents and players are going to leave. So a coach organizes.
So the number one thing lacking in youth soccer in the United States has been a lack of skills? Yes, a lack of skills. Let's look at our highest levels. Look at the national team — the best we have. When they play physical teams, like Ghana, there are big problems. Ghana has big guys and they are just as athletic, if not more athletic than us. We cannot use our skill to play around them. You can see our guys panic just like the little kid on Saturday who kicks it out of bounds or forces a bad pass or makes a bad collection.
Even at the higher levels there's a lack of skills? I would say so. Big, strong and speedy are not the only answers. Barcelona is one of the best teams right now and have players well under six feet, but they have this smooth technical ability where they can play big, strong guys. They are able to compensate with their skills and savvy.
Skill and savvy can compete with fast and big? Yes. To be sure, if you are small, you still have to be able to move fast. I mean, it's just the reality. But fast with no skill won't work. You must have the technical ability to keep the ball close. Otherwise they are going to bump you off the ball.
Skill is something that no one can take away from you. It's an asset a player can learn — that skill, that coordination with the ball. And I think that's where we're missing out. You take tennis lessons but do not learn the tactical side at first. It's just how to do the basic things like how to hit forehands and backhands.
But so much of our soccer training doesn't emphasize skills. We want our kids to play like professionals right off the bat. We start teaching them tactics that are important down the road, but it's not a skill set. If you don't have the skills to create something out of that organization, then you're limited. Our soccer culture is all about being organized. Being fast and strong. But now what? What happens when everyone catches up with organization, speed and strength?
Skill is something that no one can take away from you.
Take skateboarding. It isn't cool to simply be the fastest skateboarder in the world. Push, push, push and wow! You got to here in ten seconds! That's not so impressive. But say you do a move. You get creative. You do a trick no one has ever seen. That's different. That's cool. That begins to build a culture attractive to kids. And I think that's something we are missing out on. The Win Now mentality is taking away from the Passion Now.
Parents and some coaches give lip service to skill development. Yeah, sure. I want my kids to dribble. I want my kids to have skills. But what happens when a given player has trouble executing during a game? If the player keeps losing the ball during a dribble? Those same parents and coaches scream, "Kick it long! Get it outta there! "every time he or she gets the ball. Now this kid has lost everything. Yeah, she's turning the ball over, but the only way to get better is to keep at it.
They don't say you can't ever drive if you have trouble at first. You just learn to get better!
When you learn how to drive a car, you're not a perfect driver as you begin. There's some swerving, stopping and starting and the like. But if you keep practicing, you become competent. You become a good driver. They don't say you can't ever drive if you have trouble at first. You just learn to get better!
American soccer culture needs to change. In Europe there are rules that say parents must stay in a designated area during games and curb what they say. They have this section cut off where all the parents have to sit and are permitted to say very few things. They actually give them words they can say! This is happening even in England, where soccer is their whole world.
And that's a good thing? Keeping the parents quiet? I think it can be a big help. But I think the better solution is having the coach create an atmosphere that facilitates learning and that the parents and kids buy into. If that doesn't happen, if the coach is not strong and effective at developing this atmosphere, things will fall apart. But if everyone — club, coaches, parents, kids — buys in, it creates this atmosphere that's about learning.
But if just one of those pieces is missing, it can be hell. We have created great learning atmospheres on my teams, but if a new kid arrives and doesn't buy in and doesn't care or try to learn, there will be problems. There will be a crack in this great atmosphere, and it's my job to fix it. So it's very important that the coach is aware of it. But for a coach to be aware of it, he has to know what we are battling. We are battling safety first. That's the big problem. Like I said, you hear it during every game when it appears the action is turning against a team. People yelling, "Oh man, kick it out! Never go across the middle!"
Safety in terms of preventing a score. Yes or losing the ball. We all shout, "Don't lose it!" when a kid fumbles a bit with the ball. What does that mean? The player thinks, "If I shoot, I lose the ball, so maybe I don't shoot either." We've got to be very careful about the things we say as parents and coaches. I've heard coaches say, "I believe in Beautiful Soccer. I believe in skill development," but then you hear them coach. It doesn't sound like they believe in Beautiful Soccer. They sound like they're freaking out and, in turn, freaking out their kids.
Sometimes competition gets the best us, but we've got to remember what we are really looking for. What are we saying? Does what we say and do promote what my end result needs to be? I know during an important game there are things I want to say when it looks like the game is on the line. Say we are ahead by one and the other team is pressing on goal. I may want to say, "Kick it as far as you can!" But that's not what we've been teaching, so we use phrases like, "Find your forward," which means get it out, but it's linked to our ball control mindset.
I've heard coaches say, "I believe in Beautiful Soccer. I believe in skill development," but then you hear them coach. It doesn't sound like they believe in Beautiful Soccer. They sound like they're freaking out and, in turn, freaking out their kids.
At least you are passing to someone versus just booting it out of bounds. Yes, and we took away the panic mode. Let's find an objective. Let's not panic and merely kick it out of bounds.
They are learning. This is a game. And they must learn how to feel the game. Uh-oh, we're under pressure, this is not good. I can't play a short five-yard pass because they are pressing us high. I need to play maybe a 20-yard ball because they are pressing so hard. I need to find the space so we can attack again. Why do we use moves? To deceive someone. Or to find that new space, to make them go one way so you can go the other. It's all about telling these kids, "Hey, figure out the game." The game is going to give you different problems, and now you have to solve them.
It's all about telling these kids, "Hey, figure out the game." The game is going to give you different problems, and now you have to solve them.
But it all starts with that skill. The skill gives you the ball control and the confidence to hold onto the ball and look for the proper passing or scoring opportunities. Yes. Skills are everything at the end of the day. The best finisher is the one who has a great touch on the ball. The first touch is good. Their second touch is good, their finishing touch is best. Look at the best team in the world, Barcelona. Their centers are unbelievable with the ball. Unbelievable. I mean look at the passing technique!
Fitness and physicality are not enough. And skill alone isn't enough. You still need to be fast. You cannot be the slowest guy in the world and get by on skill. There's been a few, but it's not normal. You have to have it all at the elite level. I have seen where some guy is fast and figures out how to play at a high level without really learning the skills. But as he continues to play for better and better teams he begins to flounder. His options decrease because everyone at the higher levels is fast. Everyone is strong. Now what's the difference? It comes down to skills. Maybe the guy thinks he can develop skills later on — Good luck!
So the skills should be learned at a young age. The younger the better. Obviously some kids are going to learn faster. Someone said you have to have a marriage with the ball. If you want to play at a high level, you should have a marriage with the ball. You should be trying to juggle it all the time, manipulating the ball. Figuring out different surfaces with your foot. You should try different things. Shooting against the wall, for example. You have to have this commitment to get better. A player needs to build a better and better feel for it.
This is where one of our big problems is. We don't realize that the more our kids are skilled, the more they can benefit from systems. Then the more we can get out of a system. We need to fully commit to skill sets even though there may be a price to pay. OK, I'm going to lose games and it's going to suck and I'm going to hear some parents complain about playing time because they complain when you lose. You might even lose some players. Players decide not to play for me or anyone who is teaching a really good technical program and leave.
They leave because they don't want to do the necessary work to learn skills. Well, they say something like we need to win; we are not winning enough. They look for a greener pasture and think they see it with another coach.
This other coach is winning, but they do not realize what this means. What is he doing to win? It might be a better team that's still learning technical skills. That's great, but you have to ask yourself, are they at the same level as me? What if I jump to a team that's technically good, but I'm not there yet. Now I'm playing catch up and missing out on the training I could have had if I stayed.
I have had kids leave my teams and say, "Coach, we didn't win enough." Their parents say that.
If you want to play at a high level, you should have a marriage with the ball. You should be trying to juggle it all the time, manipulating the ball. Figuring out different surfaces with your foot.
And they leave. But later, if they return, they see that our kids are better. And since they were not around for the improvement, they do not start.
The more technical you become, the more options you have. Soccer is all about solving problems. When a problem arises, you have to solve it or create more options. If you are limited, so are your options. For example, if you are proficient with your right foot only, your options are limited. You can't do moves and juke a defender out. You are limited if you can do only one or two touches. If you can't hit a long ball, well, then you are limited to five-yard passing.
Parents have to realize that we might have to put aside winning right now, and that's frustrating. Suzie just lost the ball right in front of the goal because coach is telling her to dribble a little bit and then pass instead of kicking it.
The more technical you become, the more options you have.
That's a hard thing for parents to accept because they might have scheduled the time and traveled a long way to a tournament. I've heard it all: I spent money on hotels, restaurants, fees and all Suzie had to do was kick it up and we probably would have won. But she tried to hold the ball to find something and lost it.
So you get that a lot, from parents who are upset about not winning enough? Yes, yes, it's a big problem.
Is that a bigger problem than other things like, "My child isn't playing enough?" Winning and playing time are obviously big issues. But it's funny, you hear about playing time when you're team is not winning. If you win, parents think, He got the win, ah, we're not going to say anything.
Obviously, if you lose, people are unhappy so we may have to try new things. But sometimes solving the problem is more of the same. Just more repetition. And that's something the coach has to decide. Do we do more of the same?
I don't make big changes. I go back to the basics. We identify our breakdowns and talk about them, but there are no major changes. We've got to continue to do what we've been doing. It will be more consistent. I think a big problem is the Win Now! mentality. The coach should say, "Look I know you are pressing me to win, but I need to do what's right." And that's a tough thing to do if you lose or don't win a lot. Kids leave. Kids leave from year to year. I have met kids who have not played on the same team in four or five years. That's terrible.
These days there's a club on every corner. You have an issue with one of the kids, they go. Parents say you didn't play my daughter, you asked her to do this and that, we're going shopping.
The coach should say, "Look I know you are pressing me to win, but I need to do what's right."
Coaches are faced with these pressures and they think, I must win. So they find a way to win now — at the risk of development. That's why I refer to Europe. There you are not judged on how many games you win this week. You are judged on how many kids become professionals.
That's a big difference. If that's how I'm judged, I'm not missing a beat. We are not skipping a single developmental step. This kid is working on playing with outside foot, left foot, right foot — we are not missing a beat because that's how I'm judged.
I don't know if we can completely overhaul the system. That would be quite a task. I know U.S. Soccer is trying little by little. They are trying to educate coaches and have released a new manual. Claudio Rania, the technical director, came up with this whole new philosophy and talks about what we're talking about. Skill first, work on the skills. He has some tactical ideas in there as well.
Soccer education should be like a conveyer belt. Taking young players to higher and higher levels of competence. Just like a first grade teacher sees them to a second grade teacher to third, then fourth, then fifth ...
He also talks about how a coach should be more calm. He even suggests that coaches sit down during a game. Don't get up. It might settle you a little bit. If you sit down, you may not yell as much. European and South American coaches sit on their chairs and just watch. They don't get as wild as some.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Beautiful Soccer by Ryan Marquez, Doug Werner, Cristina Martinez Byvik. Copyright © 2012 Ryan Marquez and Doug Werner. Excerpted by permission of Tracks Publishing.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction,Interviews with Coach Ryan,
The Problem,
Mission,
Adult Roles,
Ideal Program,
Team Identity,
Skill,
Juggling,
Against the Wall,
Moves of Deception,
Chaining Moves,
Sample Session,
Index,