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Interesting Sports with Brian Gumbel on Tom Byer, soccer development coach ..discovered you give a 2 year old a soccer ball and leave them alone they develop incredible skills very early
He got the Japanese kids playing early and transformed their national programs...just happens organically at super early ages

He got the Japanese kids playing early and transformed their national programs...just happens organically at super early ages.

Having seen some of his Japanese players in person, gotta say he is on to something.

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Different cultures, different results.

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Interesting Sports with Brian Gumbel on Tom Byer, soccer development coach ..discovered you give a 2 year old a soccer ball and leave them alone they develop incredible skills very early
He got the Japanese kids playing early and transformed their national programs...just happens organically at super early ages

He got the Japanese kids playing early and transformed their national programs...just happens organically at super early ages.

Having seen some of his Japanese players in person, gotta say he is on to something.

USSF just hired him

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I saw the show and the success isn't based on the Japanese work ethic we read about every time we have this discussion. Rather he says focus on ball control at young ages, not kicking. And he does short cartoon like blurbs highlighting ballwork and positions them on TV shows kids watch.

Japan embraced soccer relatively recently. And they stunk for years. Their recent improvement deserves examination.

Byer is attempting his theories in Washington State, so we'll get a chance to see if they succesfully transfer to the US. We sure need better skills.

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I saw the show and the success isn't based on the Japanese work ethic we read about every time we have this discussion. Rather he says focus on ball control at young ages, not kicking. And he does short cartoon like blurbs highlighting ballwork and positions them on TV shows kids watch.

Japan embraced soccer relatively recently. And they stunk for years. Their recent improvement deserves examination.

Byer is attempting his theories in Washington State, so we'll get a chance to see if they succesfully transfer to the US. We sure need better skills.

Saw the show and found it very compelling. It will be interesting to see where he takes it here. He also has worked extensively with China which has seriously ramped up its soccer efforts.

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Interesting Sports with Brian Gumbel on Tom Byer, soccer development coach ..discovered you give a 2 year old a soccer ball and leave them alone they develop incredible skills very early
He got the Japanese kids playing early and transformed their national programs...just happens organically at super early ages

He got the Japanese kids playing early and transformed their national programs...just happens organically at super early ages.

Having seen some of his Japanese players in person, gotta say he is on to something.

This is common sense! Ask Bobby Orr when he learned how to skate. Pretty sure he was barely out of diapers. This is probably true for most Canadian kids. Soccer is still the redheaded stepchild in America. As a 40 something year old American I had a baseball glove and played catch with my dad when I was 3. Baseball is/was American pastime. Times are changing and maybe someday soccer will get there in America. I asked my daughter what sport she would want her kids to play and she said "soccer!" I said not baseball and she said "no way".

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This is common sense! Ask Bobby Orr when he learned how to skate. Pretty sure he was barely out of diapers. This is probably true for most Canadian kids. Soccer is still the redheaded stepchild in America. As a 40 something year old American I had a baseball glove and played catch with my dad when I was 3. Baseball is/was American pastime. Times are changing and maybe someday soccer will get there in America. I asked my daughter what sport she would want her kids to play and she said "soccer!" I said not baseball and she said "no way".

Unless soccer in the US can compete monetarily with pro Baseball, Football, Basketball and collegiate lacrosse it will always be the red headed stepchild for male athletes.

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Different cultures, different results.

So right, young US kids are absolutely incapable of focussing on foot skills at early age!

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simple as that

So right, young US kids are absolutely incapable of focussing on foot skills at early age!

Time on the ball. simple as that - technical skill dev - pure fun.

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Interesting Sports with Brian Gumbel on Tom Byer, soccer development coach ..discovered you give a 2 year old a soccer ball and leave them alone they develop incredible skills very early
He got the Japanese kids playing early and transformed their national programs...just happens organically at super early ages

He got the Japanese kids playing early and transformed their national programs...just happens organically at super early ages.

Having seen some of his Japanese players in person, gotta say he is on to something.

Not exactly rocket science or new. Comfort with the ball at younger ages has been preached and practiced in stronger world academy systems for years . USS has taken a few baby steps in that direction but nothing serious yet.

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Time on the ball. simple as that - technical skill dev - pure fun.

Here is my observation over 7 years at my tiny club: When my oldest girl joined as a u12 seven years ago, I'd occasionally watch the u7 coach run practice. (It didn't hurt that she was a pretty, outgoing, energetic young woman. Wait, can I still say that?) The little u7s would each have a ball the whole time, would all be moving and touching the ball, and playing little ball-control games (not scrimmaging). The charismatic coach would keep it light, keep them going, and yes, there were elements of 'baby-sitting' with these kids. But they came back twice a week, week after week, and kept doing the same things.
Three or four years ago she moved on, and a series of young men took over the u-littles. Their practices didn't look the same--there were scrimmages and this horrible thing called "World Cup".
Fast forward to today: I watch the now-u14s that the original coach had and I see pull-backs and step-overs and scissors and Maradonnas and yes, a lot of over-dribbling...but these kids can hold the ball and have excellent touch. When I watch games involving the now-u11/12s that missed out on her practices I see upfield kicks, fire-hydrant touches, and a pass-first mentality. I also see that the u11/12s win more games than the older kids.
Any wonder why the club isn't begging the original female coach to come back?

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Time on the ball. simple as that - technical skill dev - pure fun.

kids all over the world start playing at an early age - for fun - because everyone around them is doing it. Friends, neighbors, relatives. When you're surrounded by it you're that much more likely to participate and, as you get older, follow it as well.

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No lines, no whistles, and ball for all.

But, we need to discern who is rolling these balls out to 2-year olds. Clubs with professional coaches are needed, or can daddy do it after he gets out of work?

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I witnessed a similar example in our town soccer. 1 group of girls and boys had a South American coach as ULittles. He moved kids around the field and stressed ball control, bribed them with small rewards if they could master tasks outside of practices, played soccer tennis, ran practices whenever fields were available, and generally included every interested kid in a 2-3 year age group. He instilled a love of the sport. Sometimes indoor ran all Saturday for 8 hours straight. No parents. No coaches. Pickup games with kids picking teams. Score and stay on the field. Summer soccer whenever kids showed up.

The age groups above and below had typical parent coaches, most of who played the game. They held 2 practices a week. Most of it scrimmaging. They did their best, but were teaching what they had been taught.

Our town had a 3 or 4 year blip of success. Skilled boys and girls teams that played decent soccer. And more individual success across various older levels of soccer never seen before or since. A couple professional players, a few D1 (Neither had never happened in our town prior) and a bunch more D3 players (Previously town had only ever produced a few D3 level kids in total).

If you want to read, you have to learn the alphabet.

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No lines, no whistles, and ball for all.

But, we need to discern who is rolling these balls out to 2-year olds. Clubs with professional coaches are needed, or can daddy do it after he gets out of work?

Daddy can do it if he knows what he's doing.

The issue with pro coaches - while good coaching is needed from Day 1 - is that pro coaches cost money. Most introductory/rec programs are very low cost affairs as they should be. You want loads of kids learning the sport, seeing if it's for them. Volunteer coaches are they only way most programs can keep going. Even most travel programs need volunteer coaches. Having worked on our town programs I can say it's very hard to get volunteer coaches to do much training. They might get a low level license at most. Even if they get trained, most will do it as long as their kids play and then stop. Given the number of children we have in the US I don't know how you can possibly have enough paid coaches to teach them all. An army of well trained, enthusiastic volunteers is needed for the ulittles (I'm talking 4-7). Travel and up needs licensure, moving up and qualifications as you move up the ladder. If we had a system of consistency that could lay out a clear structure that would help too. Now we have too many leagues, doing whatever they want, often poorly managed.