When I first turned my coaching attention towards soccer over 20 years ago I knew I needed help to do justice to the young players placed in my charge. Although I had coached various sports for a number of years I possessed a rudimentary knowledge of soccer in general. So, I set about educating myself about soccer.
One of the first things I did was to attend a "clinic" presented by the local high school coach. This clinic was part of a coaches meeting for the local recreational league and lasted all of about 30 minutes. Thus armed, I began my career as a soccer coach. We won the league championship that year with a 6-0-1 record! This had little to do with my coaching acumen and much to do with the fact the biggest, fastest, strongest player in the league played for our team. As a coach, I knew to get the ball to the kid who couldn't be stopped.
What I did not know was how to teach technique. So I went looking for that information. I looked at the local library for books on soccer - there weren't many. So I went to local books stores to look for books only to discover there were none. Not a single book on soccer. I searched out stores that specialized in soccer and found The Soccer House in Ft. Wayne Indiana. It was, at that time, a mom and pop store offering all things soccer. They didn't have many books or videos but what they did have was a gold mine to me! From there I learned some of the large national chain book stores carried soccer books and videos, As the Internet was just becoming a thing, I learned about sites like Reed Swain, Championship Productions and Kwik Goal which all had educational offerings, As I have reported before, today I have an extensive library of soccer books and videos.
I also learned of coaching courses which I was greatly excited about. I thought, what a great way to learn how to (coach) teach soccer! The first caching course I attended was the State Goalkeeping Course offered by the NSCAA. It was to this date the best soccer coaching course I have ever taken. Tony Waiters, Tony DiCicco and John Murphy were the clinicians. Murphy remains my favorite clinician of all time. I learned so much from their presentations. My next venture into the realm of coaching courses was a USSF course which I still view as the greatest waste of money ever spent on soccer education. The USSF course tested what I already knew. I was not a novice coach, so had an understanding of how to coach. What I needed to learn about soccer was what techniques to coach and how to teach the properly. I was almost completely out of luck in this regard with the USSF course.
I understand today's NSCAA and USSF offerings, at least at the entry levels, do a much better job of teaching coaching fundamentals before testing your knowledge. They also do a better job of instructing how to teach the fundamentals of the game. They have listened to complaints and suggestions from the grass roots of the game. Kudos to both organizations.
Knowing what I do now, I wish I had availed myself of the coaching clinics that were available to me. Quite frankly, I confused the pursuit of knowledge with the pursuit of Diplomas and Licenses. I have numerous of both and ... well, so what?
I have not attended a coaching course in five years. The last being the NSCAA High School Diploma Course in Georgia which was quite good. Probably second only to the State Goal Keeping course referenced earlier in this article. I did help host an NSCAA Level III coaching course last summer as the DOC for a local club. Our coaches needed diplomas / licenses to meet league coaching requirements so it had to be done. It was a decent course focused more on how to prepare a practice plan and what to present in that practice plan. Good information for the level of coach targeted.
I have continued to attend (and conduct) coaching clinics. Yesterday I attend a small and short but sweet clinic at Ohio Northern University. It was a one day clinic consisting of 3 sessions. I came away with perhaps a dozen different things I will be trying out in the camps I conduct and with the team I will coach next fall. There is some different nomenclature that I believe will benefit the players I work with to better understand the input I am providing them. Despite specializing inn goalkeeping instruction for two decades I saw a different exercise I think is practical and functional that I will give a try. And I rediscovered a tactical consideration that I believe the teams I work with might benefit form. It was a productive use of 4.5 hours on a wintry day.
Today, I view the NSCAA and USSF as necessary evils in the sense most leagues are demanding coaches be "licensed" before they are permitted to coach. Real education in the game remains in the purview of coaching clinics.
At coaching clinics many coaches become engrossed in the drill or exercise being presented. Excitement builds and they want to rush right out to try out the new drill on their own teams. I do not have a problem with this as long as the coach understands the reasons for having the team perform the exercise - the coaching points involved. The good clinicians explain these things before, during and after their presentations. It is important to grasp these things otherwise we turn it into an effort to train monkeys, so to speak.
The elite clinics, in my opinion, will follow a day's practice plan. The warm up, individual, small group and eventual full-team or game phase of practice will be presented by a variety of clinicians. There is a flow and structure based around the theme of the sessions. A picture is painted for the coaches in attendance of what a well thought out and organized training session should look like. The exercises and accompanying coaching points are icing on the cake. The different ways of organizing a team and the nomenclature used are bonuses.
At yesterday's clinic they provided us with a nicely done written synopsis of the what was to be presented, I still ended up with 7 pages of my own notes. Most of my notes are of ideas the clinicians and or the exercises they presented prompted in my own mind. I diagrammed some variations of the exercises they present that popped into my mind while watching theirs presentations. I jotted down terms and phrases I think may convey my own ideas to teams better than what I have been using. And as noted above, I will be borrowing an exercise or two to use with my teams, if not in there entirety then certainly in there general intent. Hey, it's what coaches do!
So, my message to you is to know he difference between a coaching course and a coaching clinic. My personal experience has been coaching clinics are far more valuable learning experiences. They have met and continue to meet my needs better that coaching courses that award diplomas or licenses based on what you already know.
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Showing posts with label coaching courses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coaching courses. Show all posts
Sunday
Tuesday
Help!
One of my pet peeve's is the person who needs help, but will not ask for nor accept help. I think this stems from a time in my life when having lost my father I needed help in the form of a male role model, but so many turned away from helping me. No big brother. No other family or family friend. No one from the congregation. It was a lonely time in my life and I admittedly struggled to find my way. I knew I was struggling. When I married I held hope the new father-in-law might fill some of the void, but part of me knew before I ever said "I do" that was not going to happen either. Quite literally I Thank God and his Holy Word for helping through that time in my life.
At some point in time I made a conscious decision to offer help anytime I saw someone in need. This was noble but misguided as well. Some people just don't want the help. They might be confident in their own ability or they might view "help" as a threat to themselves or their position - for whatever reason they simply are not ready or willing to ask for or accept help.
The very act of asking if someone needs your help can be intimidating to the person your offering help to. This is especially true when the person being offered help does not realize (or agree) that help might be needed.
Let's be honest, those of us who are parents have had to deal with children who think they are prepared to go it alone. It is often a case of not wanting help even when they recognize they need help. The struggle to be independent and accountable. It's what we want for our children, but we want to "help" them get there as seamlessly as possible. Again, a noble, but misguided idea.
What does this have to do with soccer and coaching?
I am sure we have all had encounters with players who we deemed "damn near uncoachable," as I phrase it. Strong willed, strong minded individuals who were convinced their way was the right way even in the face of mountains of evidence their way was detrimental to the team effort to achieve a common goal. We cut the player just to be rid of their disruptive influence or if the player is especially gifted we keep them on believing we can be the person to finally channel their attitude and ability in a positive and productive direction. Sometimes the player comes around and sometimes you end up wondering what the hell you were thinking in keeping them and praying for the last day you will have to deal with them.
It's not all about players though.
There is a young coach I have been mentoring for a few years now. I made the initial offer of help to John in the form of sharing resources I have with him. After several months passing, John accepted the offer. We have developed a great relationship over time. I was initially in a role of mentor to John, but as time has progressed we find ourselves friends and peers. This is a success story that goes far beyond the coaching relationship John and I enjoy for it's impact has been and continues to be felt by the players passing through John's program which itself has grown throughout the years.
Another example shows mixed results thus far. Several years ago I took on a former player as an assistant coach. There was a general consensus of opinion that Ryan had the makings of a very good coach. This had been discussed since Ryan was a captain for his high school team and in some corners it was hoped that he would eventually come back to lead the program. Maybe it was the expectations being heaped upon Ryan that gave him pause about coaching. To say he was reticent to the idea of coaching is somewhat an understatement. As time passed Ryan did become involved as an assistant with the high school program and was eventually named to succeed the long time head coach. All seems to be going according to long ago hopeful plans.
When I started coaching soccer I knew nothing about the game. Soccer wasn't even a school sport during my childhood. I had to become a student of the game. I bought books and videos to study, but the single best thing I did was to ask questions of established coaches. The local high school coach, Dick Hagen, was a starting point, but to be perfectly honest he did not know much about the game either having never played himself. He was simply more advanced on the same path I was beginning to travel. A good resource for sure, but not the be all / end all of a coaching mentor.
Graham Ramsay, a former professional player, coach and administrator who conducted camp for that high school team became a mentor to me. As did Ken White (University of Louisville / BGSU / NSCAA national staff). There were certainly others along the way - some I learned the "do's" of coaching from and some I learned the "don'ts" of coaching from. All have helped in one regard or another... because I was receptive to being helped. I knew I needed help and went looking for it from the most qualified individuals who could offer it to me including a couple of email lists of coaching peers who have been wonderful resources ... and critics when necessary.
Ryan's first year as a head coach was pretty much a disaster. It was the worst season in terms of won/lost/tied record in decades at the school. Coaching mistakes cost the team several victories. Because I had endorsed Ryan for the head coach position and even campaigned to the athletic director on his behalf it was difficult to see him struggle so. To make matters worse, Ryan chose assistants who themselves had zero coaching experience at the high school level. The learning curve was huge and to my knowledge they went it pretty much alone. I had offered to help in any way I could, but was never taken up on that offer.
One of my pet peeves is the person who needs help, but will not ask for nor accept help. Ryan needed help and you might think my offer was about mentoring Ryan but it goes far beyond that narrow scope or view of things. You see, another lesson I learned long ago was that when one person struggles there is a ripple effect. One person's struggles affect many other people. The young players on the high school team did not deserve the season they ended up having. They were too talented to be a sub .500 team. In fact, the pre-season consensus amongst experienced coaches in the area was the team had a chance at the league and district titles.
Help was offered to Ryan, but he was unwilling or unable to accept it. The program, this past falls team and individual players suffered for it. Help was offered to John and he eventually accepted it. John's program, this past falls team and the individual players that comprised the team are an improving lot. They continue to become stronger. While a tale of two programs, both can have bright futures. I know John's will because he constantly seeks help... and not just from me. He's open to help from wherever and whomever he can find it. Hopefully Ryan will grow into that mindset as well. There are plenty of people who are willing and more than capable of helping him - the question is, will Ryan be receptive to their offers?
James is a third coaching associate. I have known him for over a decade. His program is bottom tier in the league they play in. Has been the entire time I have known him. He could use some help. It's been offered repeatedly, but James continues to do what he has always done and unsurprisingly continues to have the same type of results he has always had. He continues as the head coach because ... well, I'm not real sure. Soccer is evidently not a real high priority at his school. Losing seasons are the accepted norm. It's a terrible rut to find one's self in.
Which bring me back to Graham Ramsay and the building of the Shawnee soccer program. There was a time when long-time coach Dick Hagen knew he needed help. He hooked up with Graham Ramsay who was key in helping to build and develop the program over the course of more than a decade. This culminated in a state semi-final appearance during Ryan's senior season. Shortly after that season Coach Hagen began to become disenchanted with Graham conducting summer camp for Shawnee. This eventually led to Shawnee looking elsewhere for help. Not coincidently this coincided with the Shawnee program beginning to decline. A decline that picked up speed in succeeding years and eventually culminated with Ryan's first year as head coach being the worst in recent program history. In a manner of speaking, Ryan now finds himself in a position similar to where Dick Hagen found himself in the late 1980's - the coach of an underachieving program in need of ... help.
What I encourage you as coaches (and players) to do is to actively seek help. Be open minded and receptive to the help offered. Take from each helpful person the bits and pieces of information that resonate with you. Continue to educate yourself and explore both the game and the coaching profession to its fullest. The minute you stop growing your trade, is the moment you should get out of coaching. There is always more to learn and more coaches and players to learn from. Be aggressive in seeking help and in accepting help when offered. Approach each day with enthusiasm to learn previously unknown to man-kind.
And for those of you offering help, remember to be patient. While watching someone needlessly struggle as they muddle through gaining experience is difficult it remains the responsibility of the person struggling to seek help, ask for help and accept help. No one can do it for them. It is much like alcoholism or drug addiction in that the addict must seek, ask for and be receptive to help before help can do them any good. That time may never come. Sad, but true.
At some point in time I made a conscious decision to offer help anytime I saw someone in need. This was noble but misguided as well. Some people just don't want the help. They might be confident in their own ability or they might view "help" as a threat to themselves or their position - for whatever reason they simply are not ready or willing to ask for or accept help.
The very act of asking if someone needs your help can be intimidating to the person your offering help to. This is especially true when the person being offered help does not realize (or agree) that help might be needed.
Let's be honest, those of us who are parents have had to deal with children who think they are prepared to go it alone. It is often a case of not wanting help even when they recognize they need help. The struggle to be independent and accountable. It's what we want for our children, but we want to "help" them get there as seamlessly as possible. Again, a noble, but misguided idea.
What does this have to do with soccer and coaching?
I am sure we have all had encounters with players who we deemed "damn near uncoachable," as I phrase it. Strong willed, strong minded individuals who were convinced their way was the right way even in the face of mountains of evidence their way was detrimental to the team effort to achieve a common goal. We cut the player just to be rid of their disruptive influence or if the player is especially gifted we keep them on believing we can be the person to finally channel their attitude and ability in a positive and productive direction. Sometimes the player comes around and sometimes you end up wondering what the hell you were thinking in keeping them and praying for the last day you will have to deal with them.
It's not all about players though.
There is a young coach I have been mentoring for a few years now. I made the initial offer of help to John in the form of sharing resources I have with him. After several months passing, John accepted the offer. We have developed a great relationship over time. I was initially in a role of mentor to John, but as time has progressed we find ourselves friends and peers. This is a success story that goes far beyond the coaching relationship John and I enjoy for it's impact has been and continues to be felt by the players passing through John's program which itself has grown throughout the years.
Another example shows mixed results thus far. Several years ago I took on a former player as an assistant coach. There was a general consensus of opinion that Ryan had the makings of a very good coach. This had been discussed since Ryan was a captain for his high school team and in some corners it was hoped that he would eventually come back to lead the program. Maybe it was the expectations being heaped upon Ryan that gave him pause about coaching. To say he was reticent to the idea of coaching is somewhat an understatement. As time passed Ryan did become involved as an assistant with the high school program and was eventually named to succeed the long time head coach. All seems to be going according to long ago hopeful plans.
When I started coaching soccer I knew nothing about the game. Soccer wasn't even a school sport during my childhood. I had to become a student of the game. I bought books and videos to study, but the single best thing I did was to ask questions of established coaches. The local high school coach, Dick Hagen, was a starting point, but to be perfectly honest he did not know much about the game either having never played himself. He was simply more advanced on the same path I was beginning to travel. A good resource for sure, but not the be all / end all of a coaching mentor.
Graham Ramsay, a former professional player, coach and administrator who conducted camp for that high school team became a mentor to me. As did Ken White (University of Louisville / BGSU / NSCAA national staff). There were certainly others along the way - some I learned the "do's" of coaching from and some I learned the "don'ts" of coaching from. All have helped in one regard or another... because I was receptive to being helped. I knew I needed help and went looking for it from the most qualified individuals who could offer it to me including a couple of email lists of coaching peers who have been wonderful resources ... and critics when necessary.
Ryan's first year as a head coach was pretty much a disaster. It was the worst season in terms of won/lost/tied record in decades at the school. Coaching mistakes cost the team several victories. Because I had endorsed Ryan for the head coach position and even campaigned to the athletic director on his behalf it was difficult to see him struggle so. To make matters worse, Ryan chose assistants who themselves had zero coaching experience at the high school level. The learning curve was huge and to my knowledge they went it pretty much alone. I had offered to help in any way I could, but was never taken up on that offer.
One of my pet peeves is the person who needs help, but will not ask for nor accept help. Ryan needed help and you might think my offer was about mentoring Ryan but it goes far beyond that narrow scope or view of things. You see, another lesson I learned long ago was that when one person struggles there is a ripple effect. One person's struggles affect many other people. The young players on the high school team did not deserve the season they ended up having. They were too talented to be a sub .500 team. In fact, the pre-season consensus amongst experienced coaches in the area was the team had a chance at the league and district titles.
Help was offered to Ryan, but he was unwilling or unable to accept it. The program, this past falls team and individual players suffered for it. Help was offered to John and he eventually accepted it. John's program, this past falls team and the individual players that comprised the team are an improving lot. They continue to become stronger. While a tale of two programs, both can have bright futures. I know John's will because he constantly seeks help... and not just from me. He's open to help from wherever and whomever he can find it. Hopefully Ryan will grow into that mindset as well. There are plenty of people who are willing and more than capable of helping him - the question is, will Ryan be receptive to their offers?
James is a third coaching associate. I have known him for over a decade. His program is bottom tier in the league they play in. Has been the entire time I have known him. He could use some help. It's been offered repeatedly, but James continues to do what he has always done and unsurprisingly continues to have the same type of results he has always had. He continues as the head coach because ... well, I'm not real sure. Soccer is evidently not a real high priority at his school. Losing seasons are the accepted norm. It's a terrible rut to find one's self in.
Which bring me back to Graham Ramsay and the building of the Shawnee soccer program. There was a time when long-time coach Dick Hagen knew he needed help. He hooked up with Graham Ramsay who was key in helping to build and develop the program over the course of more than a decade. This culminated in a state semi-final appearance during Ryan's senior season. Shortly after that season Coach Hagen began to become disenchanted with Graham conducting summer camp for Shawnee. This eventually led to Shawnee looking elsewhere for help. Not coincidently this coincided with the Shawnee program beginning to decline. A decline that picked up speed in succeeding years and eventually culminated with Ryan's first year as head coach being the worst in recent program history. In a manner of speaking, Ryan now finds himself in a position similar to where Dick Hagen found himself in the late 1980's - the coach of an underachieving program in need of ... help.
What I encourage you as coaches (and players) to do is to actively seek help. Be open minded and receptive to the help offered. Take from each helpful person the bits and pieces of information that resonate with you. Continue to educate yourself and explore both the game and the coaching profession to its fullest. The minute you stop growing your trade, is the moment you should get out of coaching. There is always more to learn and more coaches and players to learn from. Be aggressive in seeking help and in accepting help when offered. Approach each day with enthusiasm to learn previously unknown to man-kind.
And for those of you offering help, remember to be patient. While watching someone needlessly struggle as they muddle through gaining experience is difficult it remains the responsibility of the person struggling to seek help, ask for help and accept help. No one can do it for them. It is much like alcoholism or drug addiction in that the addict must seek, ask for and be receptive to help before help can do them any good. That time may never come. Sad, but true.
Dealing with Expectations
A valuable lesson I have learned concerns expectations placed on players, teams and coaches. I am not sure there was a specific point in time when I realized addressing expectations was a coaching technique, but there is a necessity to train on how to handle expectations. If we accept there are four basic facets to the game - technical, tactical, physical and psychological, - then handling expectations falls in the psychological category.
Recruiting often brings a lot of hyperbole to athletes and builds expectations for them to an unrealistic level. When an athlete does not live up to expectations he is them considered a "bust". One need not be a highly recruited athlete to have expectations thrust upon him. Consider the best player(s) on a high school team. These are the athletes expected to lead their team to victory, a winning season, a league title, a state championship even.
Similar expectations can follow a coach. Successful coaches tend to be upwardly mobile and are recruited to new positions after having success in their current situation. Some coaches move every couple of seasons while others remain in the same position for years seeking to build a dynasty.
Just because an expectation exists does not mean it is based in reality. In fact, many expectations are more hopeful in nature than they are grounded in reality. In the construct of today's youth sports where big, strong, fast can be valued over technique and tactic in pursuit of wins this is ever increasingly a truth. Time and again I have witnessed the dominant player in U12 fade away and abandon the game entirely as other players catch up to him (or her) physically and surpass them technically and tactically. And it's not peers alone who can surpass once dominant youth players but the game itself can leave them behind.
This is where managing expectations comes in. And let's be honest about this, very few youth coaches actively seek to manage expectations. Youth coaches tend to ride the best player for as far as that player can take them. They may seek to put a better supporting cast around the dominant player or recruit other dominant players to play along side him. Our local youth sports organization has followed this path for the last 10-12 years to disastrous results.
A one time well-oiled feeder program that regularly produced 10-15+ athletes for the high school teams has in recent years has produced 4 or 5 each fall. Why the drop in numbers? A change in philosophy that produced initial results that proved to be false in the long run.
When my sons began coming through the SSA teams were randomly selected each year. Those WCOSA league teams were not always successful against teams from opposing school districts.We put together all-star teams comprised of the best players from each team to play in local tournaments and generally had very good success. During this time the high school team was the dominant program in the area.
The change in philosophy was to begin placing all the best youth players of an age group on one team and leave them there from year to year as they progressed toward high school. At first glance, this may appear like a good idea and while the SSA WCOSA league teams initially fared better, the high school program began a sharp decline both in terms of numbers and competitiveness.
Some of the best youth players are leaving the sport. And not necessarily to play another sport either. Those youth teams (regardless of the sport) that enjoyed so much success coming up through the system cannot achieve a .500 record on the varsity level of play. Obviously there is a short in the system somewhere. In my opinion, this short can be found in a general category I term "Dealing with Expectations."
We need to go back to the idea of big, strong and fast (BSF) youngsters dominating youth sports physically to produce wins. There will come a time when your best BSF is not as good as an opponents BSF is. This is adversity. The expectation was for your BSF, your "best" player to carry your team to victory and now that has not happened.
What now?
I remember a young lad by the name of David. Now, David was BSF to an extreme extent. As a 10 year old he was physically capable of playing U14. He scored at will and when in goal, no one scored against him. I coached David as a U8 and recommended that he be moved up an age group or two, It didn't happen and we never lost a game. Only one team came close to competing with us (David). I coached David again as a U12 on a tournament team and quickly realized the need to adjust my own expectations. In a close match I had turned to David and said something like, "We need you to bring your "A" game today. Put us on your shoulders and carry us to victory." Yeah, definitely not one of my better moments as a coach. I was young and dumb coaching my eldest sons team and wanting the win. I placed unrealistic expectations on David who failed to live up to them leaving everyone dissatisfied with the experience. I messed up BIG time.
I learned the lesson though.
From that point forward my teams had no "stars" in terms of expectations. More importantly I learned even the best players need to learn to deal with adversity and the expectations that can lead to adversity. This is where our local youth program, the SSA, is failing kids and thusly failing the high school program as well.
As I stated earlier, when my eldest came through the youth ranks teams were randomly selected each year. This lead to a competitive imbalance against teams from other local associations who stacked their best players all on one team. Let's also remember that it was our local high school that was the dominant program in the area while the high schools those other teams fed into were weaker. Although the transition was slow, those roles have now entirely reversed.
My contention is that by placing all the best players on a single team and leaving the remaining teams in the program with the "leftovers" many of the important lessons necessary for eventual success were denied to players who would have benefited greatly from those experiences when they arrived to the high school program.
If your BSF never experiences adversity, how will he know how to overcome it when it does arise? Splitting up the best players during their youth years almost guarantees those BSF players will meet with adversity, aka losing or failing. And if you have talent divided among multiple teams with each team having a dominant BSF of it's own (relative in nature, of course) then more players will learn how to lead through adversity. Spreading the wealth (talent) in the youth ranks serves to develop better leadership depth. It also serves to prepare a larger group to deal with the hyperbole of expectations.
Then when you bring everyone together on one team in middle school or freshman soccer the pecking order amongst players can sort itself out. But now when the best player, no longer necessarily the BSF, meets adversity there is depth behind him (or her) to help guide the team through and on to victory. The phrase used to describe such players today are "outliers", those kids for whom expectations are moderate at best, but who are capable of stepping to the fore when necessary to carry their team. They give "surprise" performances that catch opponents off guard, The confidence necessary for such performances are rooted in their experiences in youth soccer. At some point in time, they persevered in the youth ranks. They had that one game when they got "hot" or were "in the zone" and carried their team. The seed for the expectation that they could do so again was planted in that youth game.
So too were the realization that the BSF or best player cannot carry the day each time out. These players need to realize they are not expected to do so each time out. The expectation is for them to be consistently good each time they take the pitch but the realization is that some days they will perform below average. This is when other teammates need to understand the expectation for them to step up. They need successful experience in order to do so and that type of experience is found in youth sports.
I harp back to recent articles I have written where I recounted one coach's lamentations about being unable to scout our club team the last couple of springs. "We played you 3 times this season and watched you several more. Your team is impossible to scout. It's a different player having a big game every time we watch. You generate goals differently every time we watch. How do you coach that?"
Expectations have a lot to do with it. I consciously sought to lower the expectations for some players and raise the expectations for others. I did not want one or even two dominant goal scorers. I wanted a team full of players capable of scoring goals. Take the pressure, the expectations, to score off the best goal scorer and make him even more productive by doing so. Raise the expectations for outliers to score goals by giving them the confidence to do so and enabling then to explore the game to it's fullest extent in pursuit of doing so - we raised the bar for these players and they strove to meet the expectations. Some might say we had certain players over-achieve, but not based on our expectations for them.
This past fall, the new high school coach set very low expectations for the team in general and many players specifically. He just did a terrible job of managing the expectations in general. The results were the worst season in decades for the program. Many players and the team as a whole lived down to the expectations he set for them. There was emphasis placed on BSF when such really did not exist on the team. Too little emphasis was placed on tactical and technical considerations when a solid foundation was present to be built around. Everything was topsy-turvy and as a result individuals and the team as a whole underachieved even to lowered expectations.
There is a very real need to establish expectations for each position on the team and for the players who will be playing those positions. Matching players to positions in this manner is important, but not necessarily the end-all for positioning. Do not sell players short, but also do not place unrealistically high expectations on them. Watch closely how players respond to situations. Their (re)actions will often indicate whether you need to raise or lower expectations. And please watch how players interact with one another. Do not mislabel an outlier nor the star - this past high school season saw the coach do both leaving a confused, disappointed and largely directionless group of players. The players absolutely know when a coach does this. Dealing with and managing expectations for the individual and the team is not something normally found in textbooks or coaching courses, but it should be. It can make or break the individual, the team, the season.
Recruiting often brings a lot of hyperbole to athletes and builds expectations for them to an unrealistic level. When an athlete does not live up to expectations he is them considered a "bust". One need not be a highly recruited athlete to have expectations thrust upon him. Consider the best player(s) on a high school team. These are the athletes expected to lead their team to victory, a winning season, a league title, a state championship even.
Similar expectations can follow a coach. Successful coaches tend to be upwardly mobile and are recruited to new positions after having success in their current situation. Some coaches move every couple of seasons while others remain in the same position for years seeking to build a dynasty.
Just because an expectation exists does not mean it is based in reality. In fact, many expectations are more hopeful in nature than they are grounded in reality. In the construct of today's youth sports where big, strong, fast can be valued over technique and tactic in pursuit of wins this is ever increasingly a truth. Time and again I have witnessed the dominant player in U12 fade away and abandon the game entirely as other players catch up to him (or her) physically and surpass them technically and tactically. And it's not peers alone who can surpass once dominant youth players but the game itself can leave them behind.
This is where managing expectations comes in. And let's be honest about this, very few youth coaches actively seek to manage expectations. Youth coaches tend to ride the best player for as far as that player can take them. They may seek to put a better supporting cast around the dominant player or recruit other dominant players to play along side him. Our local youth sports organization has followed this path for the last 10-12 years to disastrous results.
A one time well-oiled feeder program that regularly produced 10-15+ athletes for the high school teams has in recent years has produced 4 or 5 each fall. Why the drop in numbers? A change in philosophy that produced initial results that proved to be false in the long run.
When my sons began coming through the SSA teams were randomly selected each year. Those WCOSA league teams were not always successful against teams from opposing school districts.We put together all-star teams comprised of the best players from each team to play in local tournaments and generally had very good success. During this time the high school team was the dominant program in the area.
The change in philosophy was to begin placing all the best youth players of an age group on one team and leave them there from year to year as they progressed toward high school. At first glance, this may appear like a good idea and while the SSA WCOSA league teams initially fared better, the high school program began a sharp decline both in terms of numbers and competitiveness.
Some of the best youth players are leaving the sport. And not necessarily to play another sport either. Those youth teams (regardless of the sport) that enjoyed so much success coming up through the system cannot achieve a .500 record on the varsity level of play. Obviously there is a short in the system somewhere. In my opinion, this short can be found in a general category I term "Dealing with Expectations."
We need to go back to the idea of big, strong and fast (BSF) youngsters dominating youth sports physically to produce wins. There will come a time when your best BSF is not as good as an opponents BSF is. This is adversity. The expectation was for your BSF, your "best" player to carry your team to victory and now that has not happened.
What now?
I remember a young lad by the name of David. Now, David was BSF to an extreme extent. As a 10 year old he was physically capable of playing U14. He scored at will and when in goal, no one scored against him. I coached David as a U8 and recommended that he be moved up an age group or two, It didn't happen and we never lost a game. Only one team came close to competing with us (David). I coached David again as a U12 on a tournament team and quickly realized the need to adjust my own expectations. In a close match I had turned to David and said something like, "We need you to bring your "A" game today. Put us on your shoulders and carry us to victory." Yeah, definitely not one of my better moments as a coach. I was young and dumb coaching my eldest sons team and wanting the win. I placed unrealistic expectations on David who failed to live up to them leaving everyone dissatisfied with the experience. I messed up BIG time.
I learned the lesson though.
From that point forward my teams had no "stars" in terms of expectations. More importantly I learned even the best players need to learn to deal with adversity and the expectations that can lead to adversity. This is where our local youth program, the SSA, is failing kids and thusly failing the high school program as well.
As I stated earlier, when my eldest came through the youth ranks teams were randomly selected each year. This lead to a competitive imbalance against teams from other local associations who stacked their best players all on one team. Let's also remember that it was our local high school that was the dominant program in the area while the high schools those other teams fed into were weaker. Although the transition was slow, those roles have now entirely reversed.
My contention is that by placing all the best players on a single team and leaving the remaining teams in the program with the "leftovers" many of the important lessons necessary for eventual success were denied to players who would have benefited greatly from those experiences when they arrived to the high school program.
If your BSF never experiences adversity, how will he know how to overcome it when it does arise? Splitting up the best players during their youth years almost guarantees those BSF players will meet with adversity, aka losing or failing. And if you have talent divided among multiple teams with each team having a dominant BSF of it's own (relative in nature, of course) then more players will learn how to lead through adversity. Spreading the wealth (talent) in the youth ranks serves to develop better leadership depth. It also serves to prepare a larger group to deal with the hyperbole of expectations.
Then when you bring everyone together on one team in middle school or freshman soccer the pecking order amongst players can sort itself out. But now when the best player, no longer necessarily the BSF, meets adversity there is depth behind him (or her) to help guide the team through and on to victory. The phrase used to describe such players today are "outliers", those kids for whom expectations are moderate at best, but who are capable of stepping to the fore when necessary to carry their team. They give "surprise" performances that catch opponents off guard, The confidence necessary for such performances are rooted in their experiences in youth soccer. At some point in time, they persevered in the youth ranks. They had that one game when they got "hot" or were "in the zone" and carried their team. The seed for the expectation that they could do so again was planted in that youth game.
So too were the realization that the BSF or best player cannot carry the day each time out. These players need to realize they are not expected to do so each time out. The expectation is for them to be consistently good each time they take the pitch but the realization is that some days they will perform below average. This is when other teammates need to understand the expectation for them to step up. They need successful experience in order to do so and that type of experience is found in youth sports.
I harp back to recent articles I have written where I recounted one coach's lamentations about being unable to scout our club team the last couple of springs. "We played you 3 times this season and watched you several more. Your team is impossible to scout. It's a different player having a big game every time we watch. You generate goals differently every time we watch. How do you coach that?"
Expectations have a lot to do with it. I consciously sought to lower the expectations for some players and raise the expectations for others. I did not want one or even two dominant goal scorers. I wanted a team full of players capable of scoring goals. Take the pressure, the expectations, to score off the best goal scorer and make him even more productive by doing so. Raise the expectations for outliers to score goals by giving them the confidence to do so and enabling then to explore the game to it's fullest extent in pursuit of doing so - we raised the bar for these players and they strove to meet the expectations. Some might say we had certain players over-achieve, but not based on our expectations for them.
This past fall, the new high school coach set very low expectations for the team in general and many players specifically. He just did a terrible job of managing the expectations in general. The results were the worst season in decades for the program. Many players and the team as a whole lived down to the expectations he set for them. There was emphasis placed on BSF when such really did not exist on the team. Too little emphasis was placed on tactical and technical considerations when a solid foundation was present to be built around. Everything was topsy-turvy and as a result individuals and the team as a whole underachieved even to lowered expectations.
There is a very real need to establish expectations for each position on the team and for the players who will be playing those positions. Matching players to positions in this manner is important, but not necessarily the end-all for positioning. Do not sell players short, but also do not place unrealistically high expectations on them. Watch closely how players respond to situations. Their (re)actions will often indicate whether you need to raise or lower expectations. And please watch how players interact with one another. Do not mislabel an outlier nor the star - this past high school season saw the coach do both leaving a confused, disappointed and largely directionless group of players. The players absolutely know when a coach does this. Dealing with and managing expectations for the individual and the team is not something normally found in textbooks or coaching courses, but it should be. It can make or break the individual, the team, the season.
Monday
Communication and Relationships - The Art and Science of Coaching
Back in my college days I took a couple of courses on coaching. The "professors" were basketball and football coaches. Both courses were largely anecdotal with a fair smattering of logistical considerations thrown in. I'm not sure how much I actually learned about coaching, but they were fun classes.
Soccer is one sport that actually promotes coaching education through the USSF and NSCAA as well as a few smaller organizations. Even so, many people in our area are given a whistle, clipboard and roster of players then declared a coach as is the standard in most sports.
Even within the soccer family the quality of education provided and required is a bit murky. The USSF largely tests ones knowledge to an extent if you do not know what you are doing the only real benefit to be gained from some of their courses is the re-verse engineering of them so that you might pass on your second try. The NSCAA does a much better job of teaching the art and science of coaching but in no way, shape or form provides an extensively inclusive education.
While the two organizations are friendly rivals competing for your dollars they are also complimentary in the sense many coaches take the NSCAA courses as preparatory work for the USSF courses. For all I know, the two organizations may be in cahoots with one another?
The fact remains, if you wish to coach at the upper levels of the game - college or professional - one must have passed the USSF "A" licensure course or a foreign equivalent. There is not another major sport that requires such a license to coach. In sports like baseball, football, basketball and hockey the "license" a coach obtains is from experience and success. If your teams are successful, your experience as their coach is deemed proof of your ability to coach.
That leaves many people to stumble upon the art and sciences of coaching. Playing experience becomes a factor, but the most important aspect of learning to coach will be those you learn the game from - your coaching mentors. When it comes to soccer, for me this is Graham Ramsay and Ken White. I learned the "do's" of coaching from these gentlemen. I have learned what not to do from the school of hard knocks - my own mistakes and those of people who have coached me or my sons.
Becoming a student of the game is something I have written often about, but as I type today I think a better description of that process would to become a student of coaching and a student of the game. Even in this context the single most important thing to recognize is the relationship aspect of coaching. Building the coach / player relationship is the very foundation of coaching.
Over the years I have certainly learned more about soccer. I know far more about each component of the game - technique, tactics, physical and psychological - then I ever dreamed existed when I started out as coach of an undefeated U6 team 20+ years ago. I've learned even more about relationships - how to build and maintain them - and this has been the enduring life lesson soccer has taught me.
It's not all been positive though. I recently wrote a letter of recommendation for a coaching candidate and closed it by offering the highest form of endorsement I have - I would not only allow, but welcome the opportunity for my children to play for the candidate. There are very few people who receive that endorsement from me. For example, my wife and I allowed our sons to play for the local high school coaches even though we did not welcome their opportunity to do so with open arms. We recognized the coaches as trustworthy men even if we did not always appreciate or respect their coaching methodology. More specifically we did not appreciate the lack of quality in the coach / player relationships.
Going through the college selection and recruiting process with your youngest son the considerations are finding a school Lance likes that offers the degree he seeks and has a coaching staff he connects with. Trust me, that is a tall order. Lots of good schools. Many offer the course of study he wants to pursue. Several have soccer programs with coaches who are expressing interest. Do any of them meet his expectations in all three areas?
As I contemplate this, I cannot help but wonder how many parents approach youth soccer or youth sports in general in this manner? I know there were youth coaches I did not want anywhere near my sons. We either avoided them or in the one instance with Lance we pulled him out of the program to avoid his exposure to her "coaching."
I know there are some who do not wish to play for me. I understand that. With me, I do not play favorites. You might believe you are the best player around, but if you expect special considerations you might as well go elsewhere. Not happening in my program. A classic example of this was a player named Kelly. Kelly and her parents had the perception she was the best player the program had ever produced and somehow based this and her value / worth as a player on Kelly scoring a great preponderance of the teams goals. When I introduced a system of play with balanced scoring, they thought Kelly's soccer playing world had come to an end even as the program enjoyed its most successful seasons ever on the field. I understood this even as I never understood this.
We are speaking to the "art" of coaching in the sense that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Kelly and her parents never really challenged the science behind my coaching. They readily admitted that I knew the game as well as anyone they had encountered, they just didn't appreciate how I applied that knowledge when it came to Kelly. Their contention was I held Kelly back even as the team was wildly successful. The disconnect was on a relationship level.
The art and science of coaching are tied together by the relationship bond between coach and players. Sometimes I feel salesmanship is one of the most important aspects of coaching. Being able to sell players (and their families) on the programs goals and ideals is crucial to achieving "buy-in" which in turn is the single most important determining factor in a teams success. Of course, we are talking about communication. The players, the team must be receptive to what the coach is selling and effective communication is the cornerstone for success in this area.
If a team does not buy into the coach's program - his formation and system of play, his expectations for standard of conduct - it's going to be a long season marked by underachievement and discontent... even if the team happens to be winning. A team that buys-in tends to be a happy team even when the on-field results are not as good as they might be. The perception that they are improving each time they step on the field, that the process is working, can cover for a lot of disappointment and frustration. Again, we address not only the art and science of coaching but the importance of building relationships. Coach / player relationships. Effective communication.
What about player / player relationships? Team Chemistry. Team Bonding. This too is very important and within the purview of the coach. It's not about fostering an environment in which everyone loves one another. Its all about building trust and respect within the team setting. It's all about individuals being able to effectively communicate with one another and trust what is being communicated to each other.
Relationships.
Trust is the glue of life, the most essential ingredient in effective communication. Trust is the foundational principle that holds all relationships together. The beauty of art will always be in the eyes of the beholder and the science of the game will always hold certain truths therefore the difference maker from a coaching perspective is found in relationships. Coach / player and player / player relationships. Effective Communication. Trust and Respect.
Soccer is one sport that actually promotes coaching education through the USSF and NSCAA as well as a few smaller organizations. Even so, many people in our area are given a whistle, clipboard and roster of players then declared a coach as is the standard in most sports.
Even within the soccer family the quality of education provided and required is a bit murky. The USSF largely tests ones knowledge to an extent if you do not know what you are doing the only real benefit to be gained from some of their courses is the re-verse engineering of them so that you might pass on your second try. The NSCAA does a much better job of teaching the art and science of coaching but in no way, shape or form provides an extensively inclusive education.
While the two organizations are friendly rivals competing for your dollars they are also complimentary in the sense many coaches take the NSCAA courses as preparatory work for the USSF courses. For all I know, the two organizations may be in cahoots with one another?
The fact remains, if you wish to coach at the upper levels of the game - college or professional - one must have passed the USSF "A" licensure course or a foreign equivalent. There is not another major sport that requires such a license to coach. In sports like baseball, football, basketball and hockey the "license" a coach obtains is from experience and success. If your teams are successful, your experience as their coach is deemed proof of your ability to coach.
That leaves many people to stumble upon the art and sciences of coaching. Playing experience becomes a factor, but the most important aspect of learning to coach will be those you learn the game from - your coaching mentors. When it comes to soccer, for me this is Graham Ramsay and Ken White. I learned the "do's" of coaching from these gentlemen. I have learned what not to do from the school of hard knocks - my own mistakes and those of people who have coached me or my sons.
Becoming a student of the game is something I have written often about, but as I type today I think a better description of that process would to become a student of coaching and a student of the game. Even in this context the single most important thing to recognize is the relationship aspect of coaching. Building the coach / player relationship is the very foundation of coaching.
Over the years I have certainly learned more about soccer. I know far more about each component of the game - technique, tactics, physical and psychological - then I ever dreamed existed when I started out as coach of an undefeated U6 team 20+ years ago. I've learned even more about relationships - how to build and maintain them - and this has been the enduring life lesson soccer has taught me.
It's not all been positive though. I recently wrote a letter of recommendation for a coaching candidate and closed it by offering the highest form of endorsement I have - I would not only allow, but welcome the opportunity for my children to play for the candidate. There are very few people who receive that endorsement from me. For example, my wife and I allowed our sons to play for the local high school coaches even though we did not welcome their opportunity to do so with open arms. We recognized the coaches as trustworthy men even if we did not always appreciate or respect their coaching methodology. More specifically we did not appreciate the lack of quality in the coach / player relationships.
Going through the college selection and recruiting process with your youngest son the considerations are finding a school Lance likes that offers the degree he seeks and has a coaching staff he connects with. Trust me, that is a tall order. Lots of good schools. Many offer the course of study he wants to pursue. Several have soccer programs with coaches who are expressing interest. Do any of them meet his expectations in all three areas?
As I contemplate this, I cannot help but wonder how many parents approach youth soccer or youth sports in general in this manner? I know there were youth coaches I did not want anywhere near my sons. We either avoided them or in the one instance with Lance we pulled him out of the program to avoid his exposure to her "coaching."
I know there are some who do not wish to play for me. I understand that. With me, I do not play favorites. You might believe you are the best player around, but if you expect special considerations you might as well go elsewhere. Not happening in my program. A classic example of this was a player named Kelly. Kelly and her parents had the perception she was the best player the program had ever produced and somehow based this and her value / worth as a player on Kelly scoring a great preponderance of the teams goals. When I introduced a system of play with balanced scoring, they thought Kelly's soccer playing world had come to an end even as the program enjoyed its most successful seasons ever on the field. I understood this even as I never understood this.
We are speaking to the "art" of coaching in the sense that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Kelly and her parents never really challenged the science behind my coaching. They readily admitted that I knew the game as well as anyone they had encountered, they just didn't appreciate how I applied that knowledge when it came to Kelly. Their contention was I held Kelly back even as the team was wildly successful. The disconnect was on a relationship level.
The art and science of coaching are tied together by the relationship bond between coach and players. Sometimes I feel salesmanship is one of the most important aspects of coaching. Being able to sell players (and their families) on the programs goals and ideals is crucial to achieving "buy-in" which in turn is the single most important determining factor in a teams success. Of course, we are talking about communication. The players, the team must be receptive to what the coach is selling and effective communication is the cornerstone for success in this area.
If a team does not buy into the coach's program - his formation and system of play, his expectations for standard of conduct - it's going to be a long season marked by underachievement and discontent... even if the team happens to be winning. A team that buys-in tends to be a happy team even when the on-field results are not as good as they might be. The perception that they are improving each time they step on the field, that the process is working, can cover for a lot of disappointment and frustration. Again, we address not only the art and science of coaching but the importance of building relationships. Coach / player relationships. Effective communication.
What about player / player relationships? Team Chemistry. Team Bonding. This too is very important and within the purview of the coach. It's not about fostering an environment in which everyone loves one another. Its all about building trust and respect within the team setting. It's all about individuals being able to effectively communicate with one another and trust what is being communicated to each other.
Relationships.
Trust is the glue of life, the most essential ingredient in effective communication. Trust is the foundational principle that holds all relationships together. The beauty of art will always be in the eyes of the beholder and the science of the game will always hold certain truths therefore the difference maker from a coaching perspective is found in relationships. Coach / player and player / player relationships. Effective Communication. Trust and Respect.
Sunday
Coaching Clinics can be Dangerous
As I watched a soccer webinar (on-line seminar) this morning I had to ask, who is the target audience here? The clinician is fairly well known and has published a couple of books on systems of play. The webinar is on the 1-4-2-3-1 formation. The exercises and drills being used seek to explain how professional sides play out of the formation - what their systems of play are.
Those in attendance range from coaches of U8 teams through high school and college coaches. An organization with a national base is hosting the event and will take anyone's money who wishes to attend. And of course, I am watching the webinar (for free) six months after it took place.
The clinician is very passionate about the virtues of the formation and is clearly excited to be presenting its secrets to the audience. He has a decent girls side working as the presentation team. What he is actually doing is using a combination of pattern play and shadow play to illustrate the teams shape in the transitional phases of play - going first from defending shape to attacking shape, then back again to defending shape.
I find myself wondering how many of those present or who have watched the on-line webinar actually know what the phases of play are?
As I continued watching I witnessed the clinician allowing improper or poorly executed technique to take place as movement of the ball was utilized to demonstrate the morphing of the teams shape from defending to attacking and back again.
I have attended many coaching courses, clinics and seminars over the years. I suppose the actual number may stand at 100 or more. Very few made a lasting impression on me, but those that did were the ones in which the clinician explained the details and reasoning for what (s)he was doing and demanded the presentation team provide excellence within their ability level to what they were being asked to do.
Traveling back in time to this past July and August I recognized the tactical application of the 1-4-2-3-1 being presented as what my son's high school team was working on in preparation for their high school season. My immediate thought was "that lasted all of about a month before his high school coaches abandoned it." And that is largely a fair and true statement although the final flameout would not occur until their 4th game of the season in an embarrassing misapplication of attacking shape during a goal kick restart.
And that is one of the points I wish to drive home today. A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing when the person holding that knowledge does not have a foundational background sufficient to support its application. From past experience I know many coaches in attendance that day and also those who have watched the webinar will go back to their teams and put them through the exercises presented in this webinar anticipating great things will follow for their teams.
It's not that simple.
There is a process involved. One must start at the beginning of the process and work one's way through the process. What many of these coaching education opportunities do is to place their audience in a position of having to reverse engineer the information they receive. The information being provided is really solid stuff, but too many of the coaches receiving it will not have a sufficient foundation to set it upon. It's a bit like building a million dollar mansion atop of quicksand. There will be a lot of settling and in the end that million dollar mansion is going to be condemned.
We do not start our schooling with a 7th grade curriculum. We lay the foundation for 7th grade in the K-6th years. It would be silly to start a 5 year old in 7th grade, would it not? Yet this is what we do in education for soccer coaches when it comes to clinics and symposiums. It's a one size fits all approach that just doesn't work for many, perhaps a majority.
With this in mind, I have begun to alter how Conceive Believe Achieve Soccer presents coaching clinics and symposiums. We break things down by age and ability of the teams the coaches will be working with by matching phases of development with appropriate progressions of tactics. I also try to break down the presentation to an appropriate level of understanding for the strength of the participants foundation in the knowledge of the art of coaching.
It is not an easy undertaking for me, but it is one I feel passionate about. As I look at American soccer and compare it to the great soccer countries of the world the one thing that really stands out is game intelligence. Other countries simply play smarter than we do. A primary reason is we do not establish a solid foundation to build upon. We just go straight to advanced tactics without creating the foundation these tactics must be based upon. Here at CBA Soccer we are looking to change that one coach, one team at a time. A grass roots movement for soccer intelligence.
Those in attendance range from coaches of U8 teams through high school and college coaches. An organization with a national base is hosting the event and will take anyone's money who wishes to attend. And of course, I am watching the webinar (for free) six months after it took place.
The clinician is very passionate about the virtues of the formation and is clearly excited to be presenting its secrets to the audience. He has a decent girls side working as the presentation team. What he is actually doing is using a combination of pattern play and shadow play to illustrate the teams shape in the transitional phases of play - going first from defending shape to attacking shape, then back again to defending shape.
I find myself wondering how many of those present or who have watched the on-line webinar actually know what the phases of play are?
As I continued watching I witnessed the clinician allowing improper or poorly executed technique to take place as movement of the ball was utilized to demonstrate the morphing of the teams shape from defending to attacking and back again.
I have attended many coaching courses, clinics and seminars over the years. I suppose the actual number may stand at 100 or more. Very few made a lasting impression on me, but those that did were the ones in which the clinician explained the details and reasoning for what (s)he was doing and demanded the presentation team provide excellence within their ability level to what they were being asked to do.
Traveling back in time to this past July and August I recognized the tactical application of the 1-4-2-3-1 being presented as what my son's high school team was working on in preparation for their high school season. My immediate thought was "that lasted all of about a month before his high school coaches abandoned it." And that is largely a fair and true statement although the final flameout would not occur until their 4th game of the season in an embarrassing misapplication of attacking shape during a goal kick restart.
And that is one of the points I wish to drive home today. A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing when the person holding that knowledge does not have a foundational background sufficient to support its application. From past experience I know many coaches in attendance that day and also those who have watched the webinar will go back to their teams and put them through the exercises presented in this webinar anticipating great things will follow for their teams.
It's not that simple.
There is a process involved. One must start at the beginning of the process and work one's way through the process. What many of these coaching education opportunities do is to place their audience in a position of having to reverse engineer the information they receive. The information being provided is really solid stuff, but too many of the coaches receiving it will not have a sufficient foundation to set it upon. It's a bit like building a million dollar mansion atop of quicksand. There will be a lot of settling and in the end that million dollar mansion is going to be condemned.
We do not start our schooling with a 7th grade curriculum. We lay the foundation for 7th grade in the K-6th years. It would be silly to start a 5 year old in 7th grade, would it not? Yet this is what we do in education for soccer coaches when it comes to clinics and symposiums. It's a one size fits all approach that just doesn't work for many, perhaps a majority.
With this in mind, I have begun to alter how Conceive Believe Achieve Soccer presents coaching clinics and symposiums. We break things down by age and ability of the teams the coaches will be working with by matching phases of development with appropriate progressions of tactics. I also try to break down the presentation to an appropriate level of understanding for the strength of the participants foundation in the knowledge of the art of coaching.
It is not an easy undertaking for me, but it is one I feel passionate about. As I look at American soccer and compare it to the great soccer countries of the world the one thing that really stands out is game intelligence. Other countries simply play smarter than we do. A primary reason is we do not establish a solid foundation to build upon. We just go straight to advanced tactics without creating the foundation these tactics must be based upon. Here at CBA Soccer we are looking to change that one coach, one team at a time. A grass roots movement for soccer intelligence.
Friday
Coaching Courses
It has been my experience that many inexperienced coaches sign up for coaching courses or clinics with the idea that they will learn what to coach or what they should do at practices. Although you will see drills and exercises performed by demonstration teams at these events that is not actually what a coaching course or a clinic are all about. Even so, we find people signing up for coaching courses or clinics based on the topic and drill the clinician will present. The real intent of a coaching course is, or at least should be, to teaching coaching methodology.
Learning HOW to coach rather than learning WHAT to coach.
No doubt about it that knowing what to coach is important as well, but knowing what to coach without knowing how to properly coach it isn't very beneficial to you, or the players, is it?
Choose your courses and clinic wisely. Sometimes with coaching courses you have no alternative, but to take the courses within the structure of the USSF or NSCAA. In that case, you must select the course based on the clinician presenting the course. Research who will present topics and how well they do so from a coaching methodology standpoint. Google search or ask on a soccer forum, but find out ahead of time.
I have personally found I learn more about actual coaching in camp settings than I do in most coaching courses or at most coaching clinics. Spending several sessions observing and interacting with the same coach or group of coaches is more valuable to me than a 5 or 6 sessions with several different coaches each presenting a different topic for a half an hour or so.
You should understand why you wish to attend a coaching course or clinic. If you just want new ideas for practice activities, save your self the money of a coaching course or clinic and go to youtube for your fix. If you actually want to improve your coaching ability research and carefully select the course whenever possible. And do not forget the camp option if you really want first hand or hands on experience learning how to coach.
Remember learning HOW to coach is what a coaching course or clinic should be about.
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