When the parents learn what soccer is really about things will change. Parents, the paying customers, don't know what soccer looks like, what it takes to be a soccer player, nor the difference between development and a sham.Agree...it'll be a slow crawl to get where many other countries are. I see the DA as about the most/best training my teen can get and maybe better access to the college soccer pipeline. Enjoy! I'm gonna miss this so much in a few years
Agree...it'll be a slow crawl to get where many other countries are. I see the DA as about the most/best training my teen can get and maybe better access to the college soccer pipeline. Enjoy! I'm gonna miss this so much in a few years
Agree...it'll be a slow crawl to get where many other countries are. I see the DA as about the most/best training my teen can get and maybe better access to the college soccer pipeline. Enjoy! I'm gonna miss this so much in a few years
From what I’ve seen of DA, the coaching is good but the talent identification sucks ass. The coaches have their favorites, or players who have been in the organization for a long time that they are loyal to, and it blinds their judgment. At some point they realize the kid is not going to work out but in the meantime the wrong player has taken playing time away from better talent.
Some fair points regarding athleticism and soccer IQ.
One thing I would add (which might seem obvious) is that slower 12 year olds tend to remain that way and the ‘fast’ young kids generally remain the fastest. You can make incremental improvements through training but speed and athleticism is largely genetic.
There was a large scale study at pro academies (in Holland I believe) regarding speed and the fastest/slowest kids. Regardless of developmental age or growth spurts, the fast kids at young ages remained the fast kids when they were older. Same goes for the slower kids. Nothing much changes in that regard with age.
I believe the research to date indicates that what you wrote for boys is generally true. Puberty for boys tends to simply enhance athletic performance, shoulders widen and muscle mass increases. The rich get richer.
Girls are not-so-lucky. Puberty causes the female skeleton to go through some negative changes from an athletic performance standpoint, the pelvis becomes wider, total bone density peaks, and the center of mass decreases (i.e. weight goes to hips). The wider pelvis causes two problems (again, athletically speaking). Speed declines because the hips widen, which also causes the legs/knees to rotate inward. The fact that females have looser joints and the increased pressure on the ACL due to the rotation of the legs causes by the widening of the pelvis puts post-puberty female athletes are greater risk of non-contact knee injuries.
So yes for boys, but no for girls.
So you guys are saying the most athletic boys remain the most athletic boys after puberty. Which accords with what I’ve seen.
But the most athletic girls are not the most athletic girls after puberty?
Great article and pretty much accords with what I’ve seen. In my observations, the “elite” girl is one who either 1) is naturally low on female hormones and was always very slim hipped and slim breasted as a girl and after puberty, and/or 2) was exposed to a lot of male hormones in the womb during mom’s pregnancy which can happen for a number of reasons (male fraternal twin, mom has endometriosis and produces excess androgens), so she develops more like a man.The elite generally make it through, but about half are negatively impacted where performance drops. Read this:
https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/hi...0513-Track-skills-often-decline-as-girls-6083
I have to disagree on this statement. At 15 yo you don't know yet how big, strong or fast some of those boys will be. I will pick smart player any day over a track star. And you absolutely right, that's exactly how US Soccer thinks and that's why we can't make Olympics or a World Cup. We currently have great athletes with zero soccer IQ's.
I know this first hand, My kids evaluation was praised on IQ, speed, decision making and technical abilities. BUT his coach actually referenced his size as part of not having more playing time... TWICE! Just goes to show where the development is.