Interesting post on the 05 page. Curious to see if any real answers are provided....
Since there are a few TA honks in this forum, apparently--tell us what is different about the Timbers Academy? Other than the teams they play:
* Where do you train? Prov Park? King St. in Beaverton? Other fields?
* Do you train with the older TA teams? With the Timbers' adult teams--even the first team?
* How many hours a week in training? Is this the same schedule at U14 that it is for U15, U17, or U19?
* How many coaches at training? Just one? Multiple? Do players ever stand around, waiting their turn to complete drills?
* What technology or equipment (beyond the standard balls, cones, pop-up goals, and other stuff that anyone can buy at Dick's or Tursi's) is used to assist with training?
* Does the coaching staff measure and record things--footspeed, shot accuracy, pass accuracy, etc, or does the coach depend on his "eyeballs" when evaluating players?
* Does everyone do the same drills? Is instruction customized for particular players--"you need to work on this", "you need to work on that"?
* How much is "fitness" (strength, agility, endurance, and other activities without the ball) part of the curriculum? Do players (particularly at older age groups; U14s may not benefit so much) have access to the weight room, etc?
* Are players given "homework"--stuff to work on outside of training? Is it checked if they accomplish these tasks, and are their consequences if they don't (other than the nebulous threat of "if you don't keep up, you might get cut some day")?
* What sort of feedback do players get? Video review? Written evaluations? Verbal "attaboys" or "need some work"?
* How is futsal part of the curriculum? Team views on cross-training (basketball or other sports that don't involve kicking a ball).
Likewise for the other clubs: How does your team's training sessions compare to the above quesitons?
I'd love to hear the answer to those. For most local clubs (WashT is the only one I've heard that seems to do better), the standard seems to be a single coach (maybe one assistant), in some local park, with no tech whatsoever, doing monolithic drills, with nobody recording anything.
Since there are a few TA honks in this forum, apparently--tell us what is different about the Timbers Academy? Other than the teams they play:
* Where do you train? Prov Park? King St. in Beaverton? Other fields?
* Do you train with the older TA teams? With the Timbers' adult teams--even the first team?
* How many hours a week in training? Is this the same schedule at U14 that it is for U15, U17, or U19?
* How many coaches at training? Just one? Multiple? Do players ever stand around, waiting their turn to complete drills?
* What technology or equipment (beyond the standard balls, cones, pop-up goals, and other stuff that anyone can buy at Dick's or Tursi's) is used to assist with training?
* Does the coaching staff measure and record things--footspeed, shot accuracy, pass accuracy, etc, or does the coach depend on his "eyeballs" when evaluating players?
* Does everyone do the same drills? Is instruction customized for particular players--"you need to work on this", "you need to work on that"?
* How much is "fitness" (strength, agility, endurance, and other activities without the ball) part of the curriculum? Do players (particularly at older age groups; U14s may not benefit so much) have access to the weight room, etc?
* Are players given "homework"--stuff to work on outside of training? Is it checked if they accomplish these tasks, and are their consequences if they don't (other than the nebulous threat of "if you don't keep up, you might get cut some day")?
* What sort of feedback do players get? Video review? Written evaluations? Verbal "attaboys" or "need some work"?
* How is futsal part of the curriculum? Team views on cross-training (basketball or other sports that don't involve kicking a ball).
Likewise for the other clubs: How does your team's training sessions compare to the above quesitons?
I'd love to hear the answer to those. For most local clubs (WashT is the only one I've heard that seems to do better), the standard seems to be a single coach (maybe one assistant), in some local park, with no tech whatsoever, doing monolithic drills, with nobody recording anything.
Comment