04' Player Development - Trophies v Development

K

Kongzilla

SILVER ELITE
Relatively New to So Cal Soccer - I have a few questions I would like to put out there.

Q1. What Club does the best Job at Player Development?

Q2. What Clubs in 'So. Cal' are more interested in Trophies vs. truly developing players?

Q3. What club balances both Championship "Trophies" and player development - which can be a challenge to some clubs

Thanks in Advance of your Opinions and insights
 
My 2¢

Q1. What Club does the best Job at Player Development? Background - DD is in her 5th year of club soccer and we live in north OC so she doesn't play for this team/club nor has it ever been an option - but, in our first few years of club, we played this team a lot: I'd give the nod here to CB from the old Laguna Hills Eclipse/new Strikers OC team. He is an excellent coach, well respected by other coaches, and really challenges his players to learn the game. For example - he really challenged a lot of his players to play multiple positions at the Ulittle stage - this was really obvious the times we played his teams. Striker moves to center back, wing goes to mid...that kind of thing. A coach that just wants to win plays each girl at her best spot and doesn't move her around much. I also noticed he was pretty fair with playing time (again mostly at Ulittle when we played his teams more). He didn't just stick with the starters, with the bench girls getting the 'pity minutes', it looked like most girls played at least half of each game. Lastly, he coached thru an entire game. My DD's team beat his team every time we played them and sometimes beat them by a lot (again Ulittle, NOT his current team). CB NEVER stopped coaching his girls. He gave instruction the entire time. Sometimes you see coaches stop coaching when their team is getting a beat down but not CB's teams. He used every game as a teachable event. As I said at the start, we don't live near his team, but I greatly respect him as a coach.

Q2. What Clubs in 'So. Cal' are more interested in Trophies vs. truly developing players? I'm sure others can add more to this but I don't really have much of an opinion. The usual suspects will be named.

Q3. What club balances both Championship "Trophies" and player development - I don't really have an answer here but I will say that my DD's current coach has team development first and foremost on the agenda. He's an older girls coach coming 'down' to coach DD's team. This team is about 2 years younger than what he is used to. I wouldn't say he puts player development first but I've never seen a coach work as hard as he has at TEAM development. He is getting them to unlearn every bad habit they've ever acquired, play a totally different style of soccer than they are used to and challenging them to be the smartest players on the field. It really is a joy to watch. I'm not sure we will get the numbers in the wins column that we want, but I know for sure my DD and her team will all be better team players after this year. Club soccer just isn't new to us but I'm shocked at how my DD and her team has developed over the last few months with this coach. This doesn't really answer your specific question but this must be the 7th or 8th coach my DD has had and he really is a standout.

To just name clubs would be so hard here - each parent has so many different experiences with different coaches and so few players stick with one club over the life of their playing career that my guess is there is no right answer at the club level. I stuck to coaches in my answer because they matter so much more than clubs.
 
Buckyballer said:
My 2¢

Q1. What Club does the best Job at Player Development? Background - DD is in her 5th year of club soccer and we live in north OC so she doesn't play for this team/club nor has it ever been an option - but, in our first few years of club, we played this team a lot: I'd give the nod here to CB from the old Laguna Hills Eclipse/new Strikers OC team. He is an excellent coach, well respected by other coaches, and really challenges his players to learn the game. For example - he really challenged a lot of his players to play multiple positions at the Ulittle stage - this was really obvious the times we played his teams. Striker moves to center back, wing goes to mid...that kind of thing. A coach that just wants to win plays each girl at her best spot and doesn't move her around much. I also noticed he was pretty fair with playing time (again mostly at Ulittle when we played his teams more). He didn't just stick with the starters, with the bench girls getting the 'pity minutes', it looked like most girls played at least half of each game. Lastly, he coached thru an entire game. My DD's team beat his team every time we played them and sometimes beat them by a lot (again Ulittle, NOT his current team). CB NEVER stopped coaching his girls. He gave instruction the entire time. Sometimes you see coaches stop coaching when their team is getting a beat down but not CB's teams. He used every game as a teachable event. As I said at the start, we don't live near his team, but I greatly respect him as a coach.

Q2. What Clubs in 'So. Cal' are more interested in Trophies vs. truly developing players? I'm sure others can add more to this but I don't really have much of an opinion. The usual suspects will be named.

Q3. What club balances both Championship "Trophies" and player development - I don't really have an answer here but I will say that my DD's current coach has team development first and foremost on the agenda. He's an older girls coach coming 'down' to coach DD's team. This team is about 2 years younger than what he is used to. I wouldn't say he puts player development first but I've never seen a coach work as hard as he has at TEAM development. He is getting them to unlearn every bad habit they've ever acquired, play a totally different style of soccer than they are used to and challenging them to be the smartest players on the field. It really is a joy to watch. I'm not sure we will get the numbers in the wins column that we want, but I know for sure my DD and her team will all be better team players after this year. Club soccer just isn't new to us but I'm shocked at how my DD and her team has developed over the last few months with this coach. This doesn't really answer your specific question but this must be the 7th or 8th coach my DD has had and he really is a standout.

To just name clubs would be so hard here - each parent has so many different experiences with different coaches and so few players stick with one club over the life of their playing career that my guess is there is no right answer at the club level. I stuck to coaches in my answer because they matter so much more than clubs.
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Thanks Bucky ... very helpful, lots of good points appreciate it
 
Develop: LA Galaxy, Surf, West Coast, AFC SD, Beach at younger ages
Trophy Chasers: Arsenal, Blues, Legends, Eagles, CDA Slammers at younger ages
Recruiters: Blues, Blues, Surf, Arsenal, Strikers, Legends at younger ages
Results: Surf, Blues, Legends, Slammers, Beach, West Coast, Galaxy SD
 
Spartan said:
Doubt it--What team does your kid play for?
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PM'd you - to add, 3 games were played at Acacia Park and one was played at SJC High School on a Sunday morning at 8AM (won't forget that one). There were also games in tournament play but I just don't remember them all.

I don't keep score for meaningless scrimmages played by 8 year old little girls but I remember one 8-0 game - I call that lopsided.
 
Maybe one team beat the other so bad because of the title of this thread.
Losses at u9 turned into state cup champs at u11 (not that u11 is anything to be all that excited about).
My kid doesn't play for this club, but we have friends who do. Most really like him.
 
Somehow my quote of Kongzilla's post didn't work out - so here goes....

Q1. Q2. Q3. Q4. - Lots of questions - new to local soccer - roll call yourself.
 
Who really gives a crap which club supposedly develops or gets the most trophies. It took more than just my DD's club to get her to the level that she was given a substantial soccer scholarship and is now in her second year of college soccer. In all actuality, her clubs emphasized the boys program and did not really support the girls even though the girls were more successful. My DD did the majority of her development (skills) working with a trainer such as Juaquin Huerta, Jen Lalor and The Catalyst a Training Center in San Diego. Game tactics primarily came from watching a ton of soccer on TV and talking to me about the games and player tactics, and two great coaches, Jen Lalor (US National team player) and Gus D. She trained with Jen long before she played for her. Jen is now an assistant coach for the US youth national teams. It takes motivation by the player to want to get better and make it to that next level. She started college workouts and tryouts last Monday. The players went into the gym on Wednesday to do some weight work and a third of the girls could not do one pull-up, bench press the bar (45 lbs) or squat the bar. Most of them had never done any weight work or gym work. DD knocked out 18 pull-ups (I can't do that and most of you can't), 150 lbs bench press and 200 lbs squat and still ran the 40 in 5 seconds. Does your kids coach have them do weight training and teach them proper techniques? Probably not. This is part of development. Does your kids coach teach them proper running and sprinting mechanics which will make them considerably faster on the field? Probably not which is part of development. Does your kids coach constantly yell direction to them or let your kid work it out on the field and talk to them when they come out of the game? Most coaches constantly give direction. Don't forget, I am a referee and have to listen to 90 percent of coaches, even at U19, constantly yell instructions to the players. Development is not a singular entity that s controlled by a coach or club but is a team effort from the coach, club, trainer, parents, and player. IMHO the coach has about a 25 percent influence on the players development. Trainers make up 50 percent. The player and parent, yes the parents, make up the other 25 percent. Soccer is a very mental game and if the player is not focused, motivated, and goal driven, all the skill in the world will get them no where.

So, find an outstanding trainer ( 1-on-1 and 3-on-1 training) and a decent coach. But, most of all make sure your kid's head is in the game and actually wants to put in the physical and mental work. Also, make sure your kid knows how to and does lift weights. Last year one of my DD teammates dropped the bar on her chest and broke 5 ribs. Soccer is more than just a few passes and shots on the field, but a game that demands great levels of both physical and mental preparation.

DD remembers who she played and how the game went for every trophy and medal going back to U10 AYSO. So, those $5 medals do mean something to the motivated players.
 
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I would definitely wait on the weights until at least 14-15 years of age. Depending on the physical development of the player, you might hurt a full growth cycle. But thanks for the helpful insight, surfref., very helpful!
 
US Soccer said:
I would definitely wait on the weights until at least 14-15 years of age. Depending on the physical development of the player, you might hurt a full growth cycle. But thanks for the helpful insight, surfref., very helpful!
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I agree with you. Don't start the weights until they are in high school. But then have them with someone that will teach them proper technique and not push them to too heavy of weights too soon.
 
Surfref said:
I agree with you. Don't start the weights until they are in high school. But then have them with someone that will teach them proper technique and not push them to too heavy of weights too soon.
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Body-weight stuff (pushups, lunges, body squats) and some light plyometrics are ok though, right?

From about age 11 and onward, girls should be doing some variation of these exercises:
http://www.uwhealth.org/sports-medi...ucation-acl-injury-prevention-exercises/42908

When we started doing it, it was very interesting. As stated in the article, when our girls jumped, they landed like a brick. When they squatted, their knees were all over the place. They could play a full game without having sore muscles. The first time we did these exercises, they could barely walk the next day. You don't want them to be that sore every time, but it was eye opening how little we had been working those important areas from "normal" soccer stuff.
U12/U13 is the age where injuries starts to appear. If your coach isn't doing anything mentioned in the article, have your daughter do it at home 2 or 3 times per week.
 
timbuck said:
Body-weight stuff (pushups, lunges, body squats) and some light plyometrics are ok though, right?

From about age 11 and onward, girls should be doing some variation of these exercises:
http://www.uwhealth.org/sports-medi...ucation-acl-injury-prevention-exercises/42908

When we started doing it, it was very interesting. As stated in the article, when our girls jumped, they landed like a brick. When they squatted, their knees were all over the place. They could play a full game without having sore muscles. The first time we did these exercises, they could barely walk the next day. You don't want them to be that sore every time, but it was eye opening how little we had been working those important areas from "normal" soccer stuff.
U12/U13 is the age where injuries starts to appear. If your coach isn't doing anything mentioned in the article, have your daughter do it at home 2 or 3 times per week.
Click to expand...
My DD trains 2x's a week on things like stability, lateral strength, core and HR recovery. It has done wonders for her in game performance and will hopefully help prevent ACL and other non impact injuries as she continues to grow. They mix in some soccer specific movements and touch for the last 15 min of each session. She loves it!
 
Kicker4Life said:
My DD trains 2x's a week on things like stability, lateral strength, core and HR recovery. It has done wonders for her in game performance and will hopefully help prevent ACL and other non impact injuries as she continues to grow. They mix in some soccer specific movements and touch for the last 15 min of each session. She loves it!
Click to expand...
My DD also trains 2x per week and recently was introduced to the beep test. The training has helped her speed and core strength. In about 2-3 months the results showed on the field. The training does a good job of putting to use those muscles that they normally don't use during soccer games. The training routine changes approximately every six weeks and that's when my DD gets home a little sore.
 
timbuck said:
Body-weight stuff (pushups, lunges, body squats) and some light plyometrics are ok though, right?

From about age 11 and onward, girls should be doing some variation of these exercises:
http://www.uwhealth.org/sports-medi...ucation-acl-injury-prevention-exercises/42908

When we started doing it, it was very interesting. As stated in the article, when our girls jumped, they landed like a brick. When they squatted, their knees were all over the place. They could play a full game without having sore muscles. The first time we did these exercises, they could barely walk the next day. You don't want them to be that sore every time, but it was eye opening how little we had been working those important areas from "normal" soccer stuff.
U12/U13 is the age where injuries starts to appear. If your coach isn't doing anything mentioned in the article, have your daughter do it at home 2 or 3 times per week.
Click to expand...
Thanks Timbuck - great link appreciated!
 
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