Player development in a global environment.
Soccer is a truly global sport where most nations around the world participate in the simple game of running around, chasing a ball, and putting it in goals. As a global sport, it has now become big business. The big leagues in Europe now are getting the attention of investors from nations not considered Football nations. Player development is changing from local neighborhoods to global markets. Africa, Asia, and now North America are becoming inexpensive markets for shopping talent.
So, how does this change Youth Soccer in America?
The United States Soccer Federation has a goal of winning a World Cup. The rest of the world is not too keen on this idea because we win everything. Yet, we are far from having the talent to truly compete against any nation that has a tradition of Football. A big part of this is the sports culture in this country. The systems we have in place are currently focused on school sports systems. High School sports is a big part of our culture. Before professional sports, it was and has been the primary entertainment for small communities around the country. In the global game, does this model support Soccer development to compete for a World Cup?
The answer is no. The High School sports associations are run like communist organizations with rules that prohibit true player and team development. Here in Indiana, I am amazed at all the restrictions and rules they have placed on the schools. Set times in which a player and coach can interact. Set times in which players can actually play. Anything that takes individual choice away from players and coaches is nothing more than a communist system in my opinion. It is so unAmerican.
Youth development used to be similar as it was in the United States for other sports. Kids had nothing better to do than be outside with their buddies playing their favorite sport. They played all the time. As soon as the snow was gone, everyone pulled out their baseball mits and bats and were out on the field playing baseball as often as they could. In the fall, everyone was out playing Football as often as they could. In the rest of the world, this is how Football used be played. Puskas, the famous Hungarian forward who grew up during pre-war Hungary and during the war said, "They played 8 hours a day because they had nothing better to do."
Kids no longer do this today. Fear of pedophiles and child snatching keep kids in the house. No longer do kids play in the neighborhoods they live in. Kids have computers, TV, video games enabling them to avoid interactions with other kids. Everything is organized with adult supervision. Our kids socialization process no longer gives them the freedom to learn through experience. We have now sanitized their world to the point that we no longer give our kids freedom to solve their own problems or be creative in their play. For boys especially, they no longer have the outlets to get their aggression out and employ their natural instincts. It all has to be organized and sanitized.
Club Football in the United States has done a good job of helping the sport grow in the minds of youngsters and they have done a good job of adjusting to American culture. The emphasis on teams and tournaments. Winning is everything. What ranking does your club have nationally is important. But important for whom?
The players or could it be for the parents? A challenge soccer will have is convincing parents that winning at youth level is not everything. What is important is your child needs to :
1. Pass
2. Shoot
3. First touch
4. Tactical Awareness
5. Mental strength
So, what is needed? Other nations are experiencing the same issues as we are in the United States. Everyone is trying to find solutions to a similar problem. There needs to be a balance between organized training and free play. The old system no longer works. Kids are not spending enough time outside honing their skills that they can take to a coach to teach them the game. We need to provide kids the environment where both can be accomplished. But to win a World Cup, American culture needs to adjust its emphasis on winning at youth level to allowing kids to develop on their skills to compete at the highest level. in order to win a World Cup, we need creative players that are technically sound who can play in a team environment.
Football needs to change in the United States. It is a global sport and we have to adopt a global approach to developing our players. US clubs need to change from always needing to win to developing players to help our country win the World Cup. Player development is the what is important now and the soccer community needs to galvanize itself to this end. Clubs need to cooperate with each other to identify those players that are exceptional and need to compete at a high level to develop their game. Individual club teams are not the emphasis.
Currently, there are two academy environments in the United States. IMG in Bradenton and PSA in Lorain, OH. These academies provide residence to players wanting to become professionals. They have state of the art facilities that provide year round player development and training. Having been to PSA and seeing first hand the impact of this type of training, the United States needs more of these type of environment for players. Credit Brad Friedel for putting his vision into action by opening up PSA.
US Clubs should look at what both IMG and PSA are doing. While their players are not in residence at their club, is there a way to provide the facilities and environments that players can get the level of training enjoyed by academy players? I think clubs can. And, I think clubs need to decide what they want to be. There is only so much talent in a given market. Clubs need to let go of the talent and allow them to grow in a competitive environment that will challenge them in ways that a simple club team can not.
We need to challenge the culture in this country. Our kids get everything today. No longer do kids earn much of anything. They kind of expect everything to be given to them. Yes, I know, our parents complained about us in the same way, but let's face it, I have not heard many stories about my kids mowing lawns to buy the latest and greatest soccer boot from Nike. They simply went to the store and Mom or Dad bought it for them. We need to bring back the notion of earning what you get into the Football environment.
Uniforms are an area that could use an overhaul. The Nike and Adidas kits that kids wear today are great and everything, but they should be used as an incentive. Clubs should consider only 1st team players get the real kit and 2nd team players get the T-Shirt to wear. You want the uniform, you have to work your way to the 1st Team to get it. Also, player numbers should be assigned each game. Long ago, the number on your shirt determined where you played and if you were in the starting eleven. We should consider bringing it back. If a kids wants a number 10 jersey, he needs to earn it by his play on the field.
Everyone pitches in to buy uniforms, but the coach holds it or has a parent be responsible for washing after every game. The jersey is distributed before the game based on the starting line-up. Put some meaning back into what the uniform means. Besides, it prepares them for both professional environments and college environments where competition occurs every week for a spot in the starting lineup.
For the United States to win the World Cup and compete against the best in the world, we need to adopt best practices of Brazil, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands. These countries are competitive because their youth systems are the best. They focus their youth development on training highly technical players that can touch the ball in tight spaces and slow the game down in their minds. Players that compete in the best clubs in Europe because the reputation of their youth development is known around the world. England is not the example to follow. They are even questioning their own practices and realize their shortcomings against other nations in Europe.
We have a challenge ahead of us, if we want to win a World Cup. There are cultural challenges and organizational challenges. There is a need to for the Soccer community in this country to unite in our efforts to develop talent that can compete for a World Cup. We have to move away from the cult of ego in training our players to a performance standard. We need to create a Football culture that takes the best of American culture for excellence while using the the best practices used globally. We need a little Yankee ingenuity that borrows the best practices globally. I think we can do it and I look forward to seeing what transpires over the years ahead.
