What goes round comes round.

They say, what goes round comes round.

Some years ago during a conversation with Steve Burns, then head men's coach at the University of Michigan I asked, "In what one area of the game would you like to see club and high school coaches do a better job of preparing players to play in college?"   Coach Burns' immediate response was "First touch."

This morning I was asked, "Given all the high school soccer you watch, what do you believe is the weakest part of the high school game?"  My immediate reply was, "Lack of intelligent attacking play."

As I reconsider both the question and my response several hours later I find I remain comfortable with my answer. No doubt Coach Burns was spot on with his reply and the quality of first touch remains an area in need of improvement in high school soccer.  In some ways that contributes to the lack of intelligent attack in the high school game. There are also many other factors between first touch and the finished product of intelligent attacking play. Still, when I consider the general state of the high school game in our area I find the style of play to be the biggest impediment to improved attacking play.

If you go out to watch nearly any youth soccer game it's all about the biggest, fastest, strongest (bfs) kids. It does not take a lot of skill to whack the ball up the field for that bfs kid to run on to. The vast majority of freshmen entering high school soccer are sorely lacking in basic soccer skills in part because of the kick and run style they have played through the youth ranks.

The first high school staff I was on recognized the weak skill sets kids coming into the program had and would spend their contact days in the summer trying to address this issue. The high school staff would conduct a week long mini-camp consisting of two 2 hour sessions M - F.  A couple of weeks later we hosted a team camp conducted by Graham Ramsay. Graham would hold 3 sessions a day M-Th with anywhere from 1 - 3 more sessions on Friday dependent on his travel plans.  By the time actual practices began, the kids had a huge head start on almost every other squad in the area. The team played a possession style that was instrumental in establishing a winning tradition and took the team to its only State-semi appearance.

Now it is some years later and the program does some fundamental skill work during the summer months but has also been participating in a team camp at a local college. This team camp involves a session or two of technical work but is largely based around playing two games a day against other teams attending the camp.  The high school program has been able to maintain its success but now plays a very direct game reminiscent of youth league bsf kick and run games.

On the one hand, it's easier just to work with the skill sets kids come to the program with. They play kick and run coming up through the youth ranks so instead of expending a lot of time and energy to improve or simply teach them sound fundamentals, why not just go with what they already know how to do? Less work on the part of coaching staffs and probably a lot less stress too.

When a kid does enter high school with a good skill set, they are often promoted directly to the varsity level.  Certainly not always, but often enough to consider it the norm. One of the oddest aspects of high school soccer is watching coaches try to turn skilled athletes into kick and run players. More often than not these days the skilled player is found at a forward position waiting to run onto "through balls" or "dump and runs" regardless of if their individual style, physical build or mental make up is suited to a forward position or not.

Where do the rare skilled players come from these days?  Club soccer teams where coaches take time to teach techniques, tactics and develop soccer IQ. Our local club has long defined its purpose as preparing kids to play high school soccer. The path we have followed has had strong emphasis on teaching fundamental technique, tactics and developing soccer IQ.  As I listen to feedback from players and parents this fall I get the sense many of the local high school coaches do not appreciate our efforts.  In general the high school coaches wish to restrict, restrain and simplify the players individual games. Thoughtful and intuitive play is largely eschewed for simple "pass the ball here" and "whack it forward" play devoid of thought or the freedom to take advantage of what an opponent leaves open. It amounts to taking the on-field decision making process away from players which in turn stifles creativity.

On the surface this is a risk aversion approach to attacking play, but upon closer inspection it is not. If a team attacks in the same manner every time it has possession, the attack becomes very predictable and easily game planned for.  It actually becomes a higher risk proposition as the attack goes against a defense prepared to defend against it. Then the reliance really does become on having the bsf players or better athletes.  This weaves us back around to the lack of intelligent attacking play that I cited earlier. If a team can vary its attack, be unpredictable, they become much more efficient on the attack. 

So, Coach Burns was definitely spot on regarding quality of first touch and by extension other fundamental techniques of the game. My answer is also spot on for what I address is how the lack of foundational skills has served to perpetuate the dump and run freeway soccer reliant on big, strong fast kids found in the youth ranks.

I'm not sure of the answer to this situation.  I have a suspicion if the high schools do not address some of the issues raised in this article the truly good players of high school age will drift away from playing for their school and choose to play for their club or academy teams year round.  That will hurt the high school game even more.