Another week...Another Wipe Out

[beentheredonethat]

Great post BTDT! Now the question is can Maple restucture a bit to allow a more developmental approach at the younger years, or is Maple just by definition inadequate to the task?

There's that phrase again .. development. I always ask the same question, development for what? I don't mean to be entirely flippant when I ask this but what really is the end goal attached to that statement? Honestly I find that there is some thinking out there associated with the whole concept of "development" that actually causes just as many problems as the win at all costs mindset.

Consider that right now there is roughly 750 kids playing club soccer at the U13 level. If you have been around youth sports for any length of time you know that by the time these kids get to U15 more than half of them won't be playing soccer any longer. A lot of people look at this huge drop off and want assign some sort of blame to the development environment when in truth it is really just natural attrition. Parents need to realize that not every kid has the ability or the desire to go on to be an elite level athlete. The truth of the matter is that no more than roughly 20% of the current U13's will go on to play college soccer and only about 1% will actually have a significant career.

Everyone should also really understand clearly what it actually takes to seriously develop athletes before they start focusing their energies on things like the development process. The truth is, most kids and their parents are not actually interested in paying that sort of price just to play a game at a high level. What you end up learning about sports is that no amount of coaching is going to take a kid anywhere unless they have innate ability and the desire to go with it. The best develoment processes in the world are not going to make any difference for 99% of the youth athletes. Quite frankly after being involved with club soccer for many years now whenever I read someone writing about the lack of development I conjure up an image of a naive parent spouting club cool aide. Be careful what you wish for!

[Unregistered]

Don't forget Coervers....and juggling, kicking wall, etc.

Basic foot skills for BOTH FEET is not even an emphais for 99% of the U-10 to U-12 teams. When I asked my daughter's former coach about why time in training isn't set aside for stuftf like BASIC ball skills. His response...this is D1 MAPLE. They should already have these skills...at U10!!!

[Unregistered]

Don't forget Coervers....and juggling, kicking wall, etc.

Basic foot skills for BOTH FEET is not even an emphais for 99% of the U-10 to U-12 teams. When I asked my daughter's former coach about why time in training isn't set aside for stuftf like BASIC ball skills. His response...this is D1 MAPLE. They should already have these skills...at U10!!!

A lot of the basic foot skills can be done on their own - at home, backyard, basement.

the club training should focus on passing, receiving, small sided drills etc..

[Unregistered]

There's that phrase again .. development. I always ask the same question, development for what? ...

By 'development' it means help making the child the best soccer player that he/she is capable of becoming. Any training toward that end is development. Focus on winning at all costs is not development.

[beentheredonethat]

By 'development' it means help making the child the best soccer player that he/she is capable of becoming. Any training toward that end is development. Focus on winning at all costs is not development.

There actually is a difference between teaching and development. There is no question that every kid should be taught the fundamentals of the game and how to apply them however the term development implies a much greater degree of training. Proper athletic training goes well beyond just teaching Coerver foot skills and the like. If done properly it requires an awful lot of time, energy, and commitment. Why would you want to put your kid through something like that if all they aspire to be is a casual player?

[Unregistered]

There actually is a difference between teaching and development. There is no question that every kid should be taught the fundamentals of the game and how to apply them however the term development implies a much greater degree of training. Proper athletic training goes well beyond just teaching Coerver foot skills and the like. If done properly it requires an awful lot of time, energy, and commitment. Why would you want to put your kid through something like that if all they aspire to be is a casual player?

In the context of someone who just "aspires to be a casual player"- I agree. I'm referring to development in the context of a serious player- one who shows innate ability early AND works hard, forgoing other activities to hone his/her skills. IF the parents can support this kind of player, he/she has a shot of becoming "all s/he can be" in the soccer world- whether that means topping out at U14, High school, college, semi-pro, pro whatever...

I agree it does require an awful amount of time, energy and commitment both from the child and the parents. A lot of parents don't understand this and merely give the word 'development' lip service.

[Unregistered]

There's that phrase again .. development. I always ask the same question, development for what? I don't mean to be entirely flippant when I ask this but what really is the end goal attached to that statement? Honestly I find that there is some thinking out there associated with the whole concept of "development" that actually causes just as many problems as the win at all costs mindset.

Development for what??? Good grief, the answer is so simple. To be the best player that you are capable of being.

[Unregistered]

There's that phrase again .. development. I always ask the same question, development for what? I don't mean to be entirely flippant when I ask this but what really is the end goal attached to that statement? Honestly I find that there is some thinking out there associated with the whole concept of "development" that actually causes just as many problems as the win at all costs mindset.

Consider that right now there is roughly 750 kids playing club soccer at the U13 level. If you have been around youth sports for any length of time you know that by the time these kids get to U15 more than half of them won't be playing soccer any longer. A lot of people look at this huge drop off and want assign some sort of blame to the development environment when in truth it is really just natural attrition. Parents need to realize that not every kid has the ability or the desire to go on to be an elite level athlete. The truth of the matter is that no more than roughly 20% of the current U13's will go on to play college soccer and only about 1% will actually have a significant career.

Everyone should also really understand clearly what it actually takes to seriously develop athletes before they start focusing their energies on things like the development process. The truth is, most kids and their parents are not actually interested in paying that sort of price just to play a game at a high level. What you end up learning about sports is that no amount of coaching is going to take a kid anywhere unless they have innate ability and the desire to go with it. The best develoment processes in the world are not going to make any difference for 99% of the youth athletes. Quite frankly after being involved with club soccer for many years now whenever I read someone writing about the lack of development I conjure up an image of a naive parent spouting club cool aide. Be careful what you wish for!

I slightly disagree. The whole development concept is a two edged sword. In theory, as a new parent to the game you naturally presume that the best development is provided from the top teams because of their success and practicing with top talent. However, in truth, the top teams are always going to take the best athletes at the respective age with the win now mantra. None are on the five year plan. Moreover, playing time in the games will always favor the better athlete who gives you the best chance to win over the more technically-sound & later developing kid.

At the younger ages it is tough to keep a kid motivated if they do not play a lot in games as they don’t understand that it’s rare for the best athlete at 12 to still be the best athlete at 16. My oldest was cut from a top team at U12 and fortunately hooked on with a fairly comparable team although certainly not as prestigious. While devastating to her at the time, it was the best thing that ever happened as the new club really worked with her, had an entirely different practice philosophy of more drills and less scrimmaging, she loved her new coach and now she is a Freshman starter on a very good HS team & on a R1 club team.

Had she stayed with the better “team” I’m convinced she never would have developed into the player she is now. Her desire was always to simply be the best she could be and not collect yet another medal or trophy (although she likes those too). It will be easier to navigate this with my younger kids because you never really know what you are getting into until you live through it.

[Unregistered]

There actually is a difference between teaching and development. There is no question that every kid should be taught the fundamentals of the game and how to apply them however the term development implies a much greater degree of training. Proper athletic training goes well beyond just teaching Coerver foot skills and the like. If done properly it requires an awful lot of time, energy, and commitment. Why would you want to put your kid through something like that if all they aspire to be is a casual player?

For the self satisfaction one gains in learning to be a better athlete and soccer player???

[Unregistered]

There actually is a difference between teaching and development. There is no question that every kid should be taught the fundamentals of the game and how to apply them however the term development implies a much greater degree of training. Proper athletic training goes well beyond just teaching Coerver foot skills and the like. If done properly it requires an awful lot of time, energy, and commitment. Why would you want to put your kid through something like that if all they aspire to be is a casual player?

BTDT, you seem to view learning the fundamentals as something separate from development as a whole. Learning fundamentals is the earliest developmental stage, but that which all other stages are built upon. A young athlete has to move from one stage to another. How high they rise within the developmental ladder is up to many factors, including inate ability, but without good development, even the those with inate gifts will fail.



http://www.karatebc.org/BCTeam/docs/...evelopment.pdf

[beentheredonethat]

BTDT, you seem to view learning the fundamentals as something separate from development as a whole. Learning fundamentals is the earliest developmental stage, but that which all other stages are built upon. A young athlete has to move from one stage to another. How high they rise within the developmental ladder is up to many factors, including inate ability, but without good development, even the those with inate gifts will fail.

I absolutely recognize that there is essentially a learning curve and that athletes have to be challenged in order to maximize their potential. The issue that I am really trying to address is the tendency many seem to have to want to accelerate that learning curve by calling for hard nosed training regimes. I personally don't think that many of these parents have any sense what they are actually asking for nor how unlikely it is that their child's efforts will produce any tangible results. In my opinion way too many people seem to think that they can manufacture athletic greatness and they have no real sense of just how good an elite level athlete is nor how hard they had to work to attain that status. That is why I keep asking essentially, "what is the end goal".

[Unregistered]

In the context of someone who just "aspires to be a casual player"- I agree. I'm referring to development in the context of a serious player- one who shows innate ability early AND works hard, forgoing other activities to hone his/her skills. IF the parents can support this kind of player, he/she has a shot of becoming "all s/he can be" in the soccer world- whether that means topping out at U14, High school, college, semi-pro, pro whatever...

I agree it does require an awful amount of time, energy and commitment both from the child and the parents. A lot of parents don't understand this and merely give the word 'development' lip service.

There is way too much going on for young kids and parents these days to get the level of commitment you're implying. Not going to happen for the majority of us. Also, don't forget, kids burn out easily and it's finding the right balance that's key.

[Unregistered]

I slightly disagree. The whole development concept is a two edged sword. In theory, as a new parent to the game you naturally presume that the best development is provided from the top teams because of their success and practicing with top talent. However, in truth, the top teams are always going to take the best athletes at the respective age with the win now mantra. None are on the five year plan. Moreover, playing time in the games will always favor the better athlete who gives you the best chance to win over the more technically-sound & later developing kid.

At the younger ages it is tough to keep a kid motivated if they do not play a lot in games as they don’t understand that it’s rare for the best athlete at 12 to still be the best athlete at 16. My oldest was cut from a top team at U12 and fortunately hooked on with a fairly comparable team although certainly not as prestigious. While devastating to her at the time, it was the best thing that ever happened as the new club really worked with her, had an entirely different practice philosophy of more drills and less scrimmaging, she loved her new coach and now she is a Freshman starter on a very good HS team & on a R1 club team.

Had she stayed with the better “team” I’m convinced she never would have developed into the player she is now. Her desire was always to simply be the best she could be and not collect yet another medal or trophy (although she likes those too). It will be easier to navigate this with my younger kids because you never really know what you are getting into until you live through it.

Excellent post! My own experience tends to mirror yours.

[Unregistered]

There's that phrase again .. development. I always ask the same question, development for what? I don't mean to be entirely flippant when I ask this but what really is the end goal attached to that statement? Honestly I find that there is some thinking out there associated with the whole concept of "development" that actually causes just as many problems as the win at all costs mindset.

Consider that right now there is roughly 750 kids playing club soccer at the U13 level. If you have been around youth sports for any length of time you know that by the time these kids get to U15 more than half of them won't be playing soccer any longer. A lot of people look at this huge drop off and want assign some sort of blame to the development environment when in truth it is really just natural attrition. Parents need to realize that not every kid has the ability or the desire to go on to be an elite level athlete. The truth of the matter is that no more than roughly 20% of the current U13's will go on to play college soccer and only about 1% will actually have a significant career.

Everyone should also really understand clearly what it actually takes to seriously develop athletes before they start focusing their energies on things like the development process. The truth is, most kids and their parents are not actually interested in paying that sort of price just to play a game at a high level. What you end up learning about sports is that no amount of coaching is going to take a kid anywhere unless they have innate ability and the desire to go with it. The best develoment processes in the world are not going to make any difference for 99% of the youth athletes. Quite frankly after being involved with club soccer for many years now whenever I read someone writing about the lack of development I conjure up an image of a naive parent spouting club cool aide. Be careful what you wish for!

When I said "development", I meant giving players the training and experience that will give them a fighting chance to become the best soccer players they can be, and want to be. I am not talking about pretending to set up a U11 ID program for the National team so greedy clubs can hoodwink delusional parents into thinking they can buy "development" that will lead to an international soccer career.

These clubs have accepted these players, they've taken their parent's money, and now the question is how can they give these kids their best chance to do their best. And I was wondering about this ability to "develop" players in this sense in the context of Maple vs NEP, and was wondering if Maple was (perhaps) capable of incorporating the best of what NEP is trying to achieve into it's current U10-U12 program.

I have experienced both leagues, and in my opinion NEP is superior for these younger years. There is a learning environment in the NEP games that is almost completely missing from the younger Maple games, despite the best efforts by some really excellent Maple coaches to do so. Both leagues can train at a high level and can field A & B teams with fluidity between the two levels for the players who improve or decline in skill. But the real test is the actual competitions, and I am seeing a better way in NEP. Can Maple change?

[Unregistered]

BTDT, you seem to view learning the fundamentals as something separate from development as a whole. Learning fundamentals is the earliest developmental stage, but that which all other stages are built upon. A young athlete has to move from one stage to another. How high they rise within the developmental ladder is up to many factors, including inate ability, but without good development, even the those with inate gifts will fail.



http://www.karatebc.org/BCTeam/docs/...evelopment.pdf

A better link than the karate link that pertains to soccer.

http://www.academysoccer.ca/?page=csa

Note that at the Learning to Train stage (U8 to U11 females / U9 to U12 males) it says "League standings are still not necessary". If I'm not mistaken, that is what lead us to this discussion.