Youth training....what is missing?

[Unregistered]

You can't replicate free unstructured play if it's organized.

The US is better off adopting an approach similar to a Holland or Germany. Super regimented. But everything has a desired end product.

Look at Holland as a more population dense form of New England. Very little free space. Not exactly the best weather. But they produce some amazing players.

KNVB and Coerver training. Different approaches, but because of how ingrained these are into the culture, most players experience a little of both growing up. And they develop world class players and teams.

Same with Germany but on a bigger scale.

The current curricula being implemented by US Youth and US Soccer are both heavily influenced by what is done in Germany and Holland.

It's not a strict comparison, there are way more factors. But the similar factors are heavily industrialized cultures, parents who are afraid to just send their kids out into the streets, climates that are not ideal all year.

You have to control what you can control. You can't force a culture to be something it's not. You can't just be poor and not have adequate organization or fields and invent futsal, that happens organically. You can't organize something to be unstructured.

Yes it's more about who is in management and coaching. Iceland is another example of what you can do with a program that is run right. Imagine - the country has 331,000 people! We have 673,000 in Boston proper and 4.4M in the metro area, and we have the Revs.

[Unregistered]

I don't see why town/rec programs don't offer a pick-up soccer evening once a week. Let's face it, it would be rare today that enough kids were out messing around on the fields at any one moment to get a real pick-up game going. With the local town organization advertising the time and place to gather, maybe a nominal fee for field use ($30 a season?), kids would have a regular opportunity for completely unstructured play. For rec kids with one practice a week, this would be an additional option, and for those with two practices a week and tight on time, pick-up could be counted as one of the practices. Club kids living in the area would be welcome. Seems this would be a low cost and minimal effort program to get started, and would have a big impact on player development.

Seems like a good idea- why don't YOU volunteer to run it for your town program?

[Unregistered]

Seems like a good idea- why don't YOU volunteer to run it for your town program?

Sounds like too much work now, what with people bringing up insurance issues, etc. I'll just wait to see if someone else does it.

[Unregistered]

I don't see why town/rec programs don't offer a pick-up soccer evening once a week. Let's face it, it would be rare today that enough kids were out messing around on the fields at any one moment to get a real pick-up game going. With the local town organization advertising the time and place to gather, maybe a nominal fee for field use ($30 a season?), kids would have a regular opportunity for completely unstructured play. For rec kids with one practice a week, this would be an additional option, and for those with two practices a week and tight on time, pick-up could be counted as one of the practices. Club kids living in the area would be welcome. Seems this would be a low cost and minimal effort program to get started, and would have a big impact on player development.

I am the OP. We are fortunate to live in a town with opportunities to 'just kick around'. While I agree with your sentiment....I might go one step forward or backward depending on your interpretation.
My original point was that youth players are missing the free-style play with a ball with friends. To take it one step further (or backward) I would include in this 'free-style' play with or without friends. Above you said that you 'don't see why town/rec programs don't offer...' The fact is that this requires someone to organize it which is not always the case. Another option is for your child to go to the field and just fool around....or, as I have done, go with him/her and have some father/child fun.
Either way, the more kids can have the opportunity to just go crazy, 'fool around', experiment , without being evaluated each and every minute, the better off, I think, they will be.

[Unregistered]

Town sounds like recess, Club sounds like school.

Only you can decide which is better for your kid and development.

Well said.

[Unregistered]

We go with the club stuff for a structured environment but also a much less formal Futsal clinic/open play 1-2x per week where its all very free and fun for the kids. There's a coach there who more or less makes sure the court is set up but he only spends maybe 10 minutes on warmup/drills before he gets the game going. Then he just keeps it moving and helps balance the teams if things are lopsided. For my daughter it has been great because the kids are a mix of ages, boys and girls and almost all either play aged up travel or are club players. I'd say look to see if that is available where you are as a supplement to your team stuff.

[Unregistered]

If this forum were called Talking-Basketball what would the answers be? One for sure would be "Go shoot in your driveway for a couple hours every day". Great players don't wait for their AAU structured practice to work on their game, they are out playing and shooting on their own constantly, either by themselves in the driveway at home or pick-up games around town. Soccer culture just not the same here in the US in my experience. A lot tougher to find kids playing pick-up soccer than it is basketball.

[Unregistered]

If this forum were called Talking-Basketball what would the answers be? One for sure would be "Go shoot in your driveway for a couple hours every day". Great players don't wait for their AAU structured practice to work on their game, they are out playing and shooting on their own constantly, either by themselves in the driveway at home or pick-up games around town. Soccer culture just not the same here in the US in my experience. A lot tougher to find kids playing pick-up soccer than it is basketball.

But you don't even need an actual pick up *game*. The best thing we ever did was put a regulation sized goal in our yard. Our 3 kids play all the time. No, they don't get game experience, but I'm convinced it's what's given them grit and skill. Plus one of my kids takes every free kick for their team. That may have something to do with the HOURS they spend practicing free kicks in our yard.

[Unregistered]

But you don't even need an actual pick up *game*. The best thing we ever did was put a regulation sized goal in our yard. Our 3 kids play all the time. No, they don't get game experience, but I'm convinced it's what's given them grit and skill. Plus one of my kids takes every free kick for their team. That may have something to do with the HOURS they spend practicing free kicks in our yard.

not the poster - yes players need to work on their own. The good ones do A LOT. But free unstructured play helps too. We lived in Europe for three years and my kids (much younger then) had no trouble finding kids in the neighborhood to goof around with. Here the kids in our neighborhood are in cars going to lax or football or some other structured activity. Net/net our kids don't have the ball at their feet nearly as much as their international counterparts - formal or informal.