Does club soccer shy away from forming lasting teams?

[Unregistered]

I've been through the whole deal with multiple kids. Each time one aged out I would look back and try to find out what happened to the kids that were on the team when they were U10-11. Usually less than 1/3 were even still playing soccer at that point. Of those that still are most are scattered amongst various clubs and teams. The thing is it all always happened quite naturally. Kids lose interest. Families set different priorities. Friends stop being friends. Coaches come and go. Clubs come and go. I tell you one thing though, not once did we end up with a group of families that were as committed to the team and their kid's future in soccer as we all thought we were at around U12. Not once. Don't even get started about how nasty things get during the recruiting years. As soon as kids start committing half the families on the team freak and throw it into neutral. Talk about head games galore. The bottom line is keeping a group of families all on the same sheet of music for years is next to impossible but it aint all the club's fault that is for sure.

[Unregistered]

I don't think clubs "shy away from it" (thread title) but it's mostly a natural progression. Some clubs F it up and make a team break up/players leaving go faster or in more numbers. But there's many other reasons why many teams aren't together after a few years, especially past middle school

[Unregistered]

We do appreciate that coaches are focusing on individual development but wonder why there is very little game play focus. We realize skills needed 1st before anything else. But again, shouldn't there be some game play teaching? Isn't that part of soccer development too? Is this scenario familiar with most clubs at U11?

No. tactics are not part of teaching at ulittle. If your coach is practicing corner kick defense you should run. How often for you see a dominant ulittle team get pasted two years later because now the other teams are actually playing tactically. Worry about skills not outcomes.

[Unregistered]

Our D's team, brand new last fall, played some teams in the fall that already played with tactics @U11. Our thoughts were that these teams had been playing together for a couple years, we also thought that the competition selection might have not got the attention it should have.

[Unregistered]

Our D's team, brand new last fall, played some teams in the fall that already played with tactics @U11. Our thoughts were that these teams had been playing together for a couple years, we also thought that the competition selection might have not got the attention it should have.

Sure, so they won a u11 game. Instead of hours of tactical practice I hope your d got meaningful touches now practice. I can promise those touches will advance HER more than a few extra wins because a set play scores a goal. Think about all the standing around while ptscticing these plays. You're only getting 3-4 hours of practice a week, I don't want my kid standing around

[Unregistered]

No. tactics are not part of teaching at ulittle. If your coach is practicing corner kick defense you should run. How often for you see a dominant ulittle team get pasted two years later because now the other teams are actually playing tactically. Worry about skills not outcomes.

My kid's U11 coach was very focused on tactics, with maybe only a quarter of the practice focused on technical skills, which were really more like warm-up exercises. I was actually happy with it at first, because half of the players on the team spent a lot of time on their own with the ball, so were already very strong technical players. The team did extremely well in games and ended up beating many teams who had complete rosters full of technical players.

By the end of the year, though, the half of the team that clearly spent little time with the ball outside of practice improved very little as individual players and are now feeling the impact at U12. The other problem was that some new players joined the team this year, coming from clubs with only a technical focus at the younger ages. Since they had no previous tactical training, the well oiled machine from the previous year quickly broke down and the coach had to start from scratch again. I'd say the tactical focus only works if you have a complete team of dedicated players consistently working on their own to improve technical skills and where there is very little roster turnover from year to year, neither of which are very likely at the U11 and under ages.

[Unregistered]

No offense, but your kid's U11 coach had his head up his azz. While kids have to know where to play and how to play in the role they happen to be in, that's as far as it goes.

We once played a team at U10, maybe it was U11, and on corners the coach from the sidelines is yelling "Alpha" or "Beta" and the kids start running all over. So, they knew where to go, but their skills were so rough they didn't have a clue what to do with it once they received it.

[Unregistered]

We do appreciate that coaches are focusing on individual development but wonder why there is very little game play focus. We realize skills needed 1st before anything else. But again, shouldn't there be some game play teaching? Isn't that part of soccer development too? Is this scenario familiar with most clubs at U11?

There's only so much time at practice as well. Should the coach allocate valuable practice time so the team is kind of OK at everything including game play and tactics or structure it so they are very good and continually getting better at the foundational aspects of the game that will later be built on. I recall ulittle coaches my kids had who stressed passing passing passing but no one had first touch or other foot skills once the ball came their way (or better yet, the ball flew by them out of their reach because the pass was bad).

[Unregistered]

I see the tired argument again and again that if you teach tactics, you have to sacrifice foot work. This isn't true. You can work tactics into your drills. And tactics is more than just doing corner kicks. Most practices end with a scrimmage. If the coach stops play (yells "freeze") and discusses an error he saw, or makes a recommendations on positioning or posture before play resumes, that's 99% of it.

If the coach doesn't run scrimmages and spends all his time running drills, then the kids will mentally check out of soccer and they won't try as hard to improve. In my experience, kids who get the big picture improve their foot skills faster because they truly understand the purpose behind their drills and actively seek to improve.

Judgment is a skill. Knowing when you can beat a player one-on-one based on 8 years of experience instead of 4 years of experience can make the difference between a good player and a great player. Many, many times, I've seen kids at the U15 level make an ill-advised pass with nothing between them and the keeper but an out of position defender they could likely beat if they realized they had the advantage. Most often, the only real difference between a good striker and a great one is finely tuned decision making skills.

To the OP: Since this got sidetracked, I can tell you that the team may change over time, but the kid will adapt to the change and may still think of the team as the same team, even if it doesn't resemble its original personnel years later. Just look for a coach who won't tolerate bad apples and you'll be fine.

[Unregistered]

I think it depends a lot on what level soccer we are talking about. Most travel only or low club level teams will be lucky to develop even basic tactical and team problem solving skills at U15/U16. Players on a U13 National Championship Team are practicing advanced tactics and problem solving routinely. They start earlier because those players advanced faster through the technical & fundamental focused years of U8-U11, and this play on strong teams by U12 that can introduce tactics earlier than most. The two examples are at the extreme though ... I’d say U13/U14 Is the average median age that players can start developing team tactical and problem solving skills.

[Unregistered]

I think it depends a lot on what level soccer we are talking about. Most travel only or low club level teams will be lucky to develop even basic tactical and team problem solving skills at U15/U16. Players on a U13 National Championship Team are practicing advanced tactics and problem solving routinely. They start earlier because those players advanced faster through the technical & fundamental focused years of U8-U11, and this play on strong teams by U12 that can introduce tactics earlier than most. The two examples are at the extreme though ... I’d say U13/U14 Is the average median age that players can start developing team tactical and problem solving skills.

the problem with introducing comments like Players on a U13 National Championship Team is that its a relative statement.

You can win NTs by focusing on tactics. You can make a group of mediocre players effective relative to the competition, but they are still mediocre.

Im not a big collective tactics guy at youth levels and i differentiate between tactics and decision making. You can and should be incorporating decision making at all levels.

Tactics are a all about team development, less about individaul dewvelopment.

[Unregistered]

But team or collective decision making IS tactical, and you certainly cannot win a National Championship without some mastery of it (or in this case, a U13 version mastery of it). Individual decision making is technical, and should be developed from the beginning with foot skills and other building block fundamentals.

[Unregistered]

the problem with introducing comments like Players on a U13 National Championship Team is that its a relative statement.

You can win NTs by focusing on tactics. You can make a group of mediocre players effective relative to the competition, but they are still mediocre.

Im not a big collective tactics guy at youth levels and i differentiate between tactics and decision making. You can and should be incorporating decision making at all levels.

Tactics are a all about team development, less about individaul dewvelopment.

Don't really agree with this statement. Tactics is game play and can be introduced fairly early, but shouldn't be the focus at the early ages when technical skill development and comfort with the ball is the focus.

Can a defender play the ball back to the keeper when under pressure? That is a decision making issue, but also a tactic of maintaining possession under pressure, even at the risk of making a mistake and costing a goal. Can a team press high against an opponent who tries to build out the back? Tactic. Of course, this requires each player to understand his/her role in the high press. Is this exclusive of technical skill on the ball? No. If an opponent presses you high up the pitch, what can you do to relieve the pressure and break their line to create a scoring opportunity? A long ball placed over the heads of the defenders while forwards make their run. Again, tactic that requires players to understand their role to work effectively. Of course, a back needs to be able to kick a flighted pass somewhat accurately and a forward needs to be able to judge the ball flight and bring it down or run on it while shielding it from defenders.

I work with U12's on this. Doesn't mean they all understand or that they always make the right decisions, but introducing certain tactical concepts early, especially if you have strong technical players is possible. Have to know your audience, their skill level and cognitive understanding of the game and break it down in terms they will understand in practice. I've seen plenty of U15-16 teams struggle with this. Doesn't mean it shouldn't be taught to U12's who are ready.

If you look at academy players in Europe at the younger ages, they aren't technically more gifted than our best young players... it is their tactical understanding of their role within the team in the 4 stages of the game that shows through. We have to do a better job of teaching the game... not just skills at U10 and tactics at U15.

[Unregistered]

Don't really agree with this statement. Tactics is game play and can be introduced fairly early, but shouldn't be the focus at the early ages when technical skill development and comfort with the ball is the focus.

Can a defender play the ball back to the keeper when under pressure? That is a decision making issue, but also a tactic of maintaining possession under pressure, even at the risk of making a mistake and costing a goal. Can a team press high against an opponent who tries to build out the back? Tactic. Of course, this requires each player to understand his/her role in the high press. Is this exclusive of technical skill on the ball? No. If an opponent presses you high up the pitch, what can you do to relieve the pressure and break their line to create a scoring opportunity? A long ball placed over the heads of the defenders while forwards make their run. Again, tactic that requires players to understand their role to work effectively. Of course, a back needs to be able to kick a flighted pass somewhat accurately and a forward needs to be able to judge the ball flight and bring it down or run on it while shielding it from defenders.

I work with U12's on this. Doesn't mean they all understand or that they always make the right decisions, but introducing certain tactical concepts early, especially if you have strong technical players is possible. Have to know your audience, their skill level and cognitive understanding of the game and break it down in terms they will understand in practice. I've seen plenty of U15-16 teams struggle with this. Doesn't mean it shouldn't be taught to U12's who are ready.

If you look at academy players in Europe at the younger ages, they aren't technically more gifted than our best young players... it is their tactical understanding of their role within the team in the 4 stages of the game that shows through. We have to do a better job of teaching the game... not just skills at U10 and tactics at U15.

it depends what you call tactics. Every game involeves a combination of decision making and a tactical overlay. One extreme is for a caoch to say nothing , the other is to set up a tactical plan for every opponent.

You can let your players try and solve problems every game OR you can anticipate what they may see adn try and prepare.

In your possession example, surely maintaining possession is just a series of decisions by players strung together. the tactical piece would be to set then up in a formation and with support runs to the guy in possession making it easier to do. My point is I would not spend time in practice stressing the latter. Some do and I have no issue with that. Everyone sees things differently.

[Unregistered]

But team or collective decision making IS tactical, and you certainly cannot win a National Championship without some mastery of it (or in this case, a U13 version mastery of it). Individual decision making is technical, and should be developed from the beginning with foot skills and other building block fundamentals.

I disagree with yous last statement. Individual decision making is not technical. Tbh. I dont like pigeon holing what is what becasue it makes the game sound modular. You go from one block tot he next. Its a whole. An individual makes decisions in the context of what others are doing in the game. You process the picture and then act. the picture constantly changes.

to me, technique allows you to make the right decision in the most efficient manner ie with the least number of touches.

Great technique allows a player more time to make decisions. Great tactics put players in positions to maximize what they have collectively. Great tactics tend to take some of the decision making burden away.