What's going on with Youth Soccer in USA

[Filipe Bento do O]

What really most of the youht soccer clubs are doing for the kids and the future of each single one, in my opinion and after what I see and feedback from the parents that enroll their kids on our Academy is just incredible what's going on out there with youth soccer clubs; does anyone cares about develop the player; the problem is no one really knows what youth soccer in professional clubs is or even had the experience of being there and see what needs to be done in regards to player development and building the youth to become an adult, most of the coaches really don't know how to do it.
Here's a letter from our School that is given to all coaches, parents and managers; this is our philosophy and anyone that comes to work with us needs to live this day by day.

BSA – SL Benfica Soccer School

Subject: Parent, Player, Administrator and Coach Education

A successful Youth Soccer Academy must have and maintain a soccer culture, which includes but not limited to, a Clear Mission Statement, a Progressive Player Development Curriculum, a Continuous Coach Development Program and a Constant Parent Education Program.
Player, parent, administrator and coach education is vital. Through communication and explanation of long term goals and rewards, an Academy must bring all parties to a consensus in support of this soccer culture. In order for these ideas to work properly, the Academy must demonstrate the ability to develop players and teams. ‘Winning,’ is not a measurement of coaching or Academy success. Yes, we live in a competitive society but we need to take the word ‘success’ and make it meaningful. The technical and tactical ability of the player and team improvement during the course of a season or seasons, player and team satisfaction, and player matriculation are the best yardsticks for success. This develops a ‘winning lifestyle’.

In the club soccer circles today, an over emphasis is being placed on winning. In sports, we are obsessed with the ‘outcome’ rather than the ‘process.’ It seems that as long as we win, we are happy. Many Clubs and coaches often coach game to game, trying to solve the problems from the last game that will produce a win in the next match. Quite often this translates into creative recruiting of players in order to find ‘winning’ solutions. There is a big difference between coaching to win and coaching to develop. A good coach is able to do both. I don’t want to be caught in a contradiction here. Every team should ‘try to win’. That is why the game is played. But this should not be the focus of any training session or player motivation. As the players get older, a careful balance between winning and development must be considered. Development is a very long and endless process that must be undertaken patiently by both the adult (coach, parent and administrator) and the player. But we still evaluate coaches/clubs only on their win-loss record. What about enjoyment of the process, the journey, the experience and its ultimate influence on us as people, coaches, parents and athletes? What about evaluating coaches/clubs on the improvement, growth and development of their players? After all, we can’t control the ‘outcome’, but we can control the ‘process.’

Studies on the subject have classified individuals as having a ‘task’ or ‘ego’ orientation. ‘Ego’ oriented individuals view success in terms of winning and out performing others. They do well as long as everything is going positive. However, when things don’t go their way, they tend to make excuses, jump from one team to another, and a lot of times stop playing the game. On the other side, ‘task’ oriented individuals view success in terms of trying hard and getting better. Research has shown these players will remain motivated even at times of adversity. Since they view success in terms of attempting to improve, these players will stay with the game and will become better and usually will achieve their goals.
With sound technical, tactical, physical and psychological skills encouraged through a ‘process’ oriented philosophy, players will develop the necessary tools to maximize their potential. A thoughtful plan based on the level and needs of the players significantly increases the rate of retention, improvement, and enjoyment. Therefore we’ll strive to place players in an environment that is challenging but offer realistic chances of success. We will not keep players in conditions that result in self-imposed frustration and frustration from peer pressure. Players make adjustments at different rates and different times. It’s where they end up when they are 16 and 17 years old that really matters. Nobody has the magic dust to produce Division I and professional players. But we will give all the players the necessary tools to play the game and to take them where their talent level and desire allows them to go.

Staying in line with this philosophy and to reinforce the soccer culture, I want the coaching to follow a holistic approach rather than a linear one. The coaches should and will take ownership of the development of all the players not just their own team. This way, they’ll be more in tune of the curriculum of each age group and have a better understanding in implementing it. The player’s well being and development will and should come first, always. Therefore, when the player is placed in the appropriate team, the coaching staff will be assigned or re-assigned to complement each team.

Pele, world best player ever, said “Success and excellence are not the same thing. Excellence is something that is lasting and dependable and largely within a person’s control. In contrast, success is perishable and is often outside our control… If you strive for excellence, you will probably be successful eventually... people who put excellence in first place have the patience to end up with success”.

Johan Cruyff, perhaps the second best player in the world after Pele, used the word ‘trust’. He said to develop good tactics the players must ‘trust’ each other. You must ‘trust’ that you’ll have your teammates’ support and cover. This allows you to play more freely, take more chances and become more creative. ‘Trust’ is a very powerful word and a must for a healthy soccer culture. We must ‘trust’ the administration to work diligently in managing the Academy and finding the best deals to keep the Academy fees competitive. We must ‘trust’ the coaching staff to keep up with latest developmental theories and methodologies and work patiently and tirelessly in all areas of player improvement. We must ‘trust’ the parents to support the Academy, the administration, coaching staff and become the best fan for all the players. Finally, we must work together in this ‘journey’ and collectively let’s spread the word to everyone about our ‘process’ and our ‘success’.

Sincerely,
Filipe Bento do O
CEO of BSA – SL Benfica Soccer School

[Footballers FC Founder]

Filipe,

Amazing discussion and commentary. I could not agree more and commend you for running a club with such a philosophy.

Cheers,

Jason

[Steve Arters]

Filipe:
Great discussion and you make some really good points. As you may well know, the continued development of the USSF Development Academy could completely change youth soccer in the U.S. in the coming years.