U.S. Soccer’s Player Development Initiatives

[Grace T.]

I completely understand this but that is the current climate we are in. To change the process we need to change our thinking and if it is an initiative that all have to follow then there won't be such uproar. Currently the playstation coaches who tell their players everything to do will get results over the ones sitting back and letting them play and as results are tracked this causes the discontent with parents. If all coaches sat back and said nothing in games, only before, half time and end then you will really start to see which ones are good trainers as the players will show what they are taught in practice without constantly being told what to do

Agree it would require changing the climate, but I think getting people to abandon the competitive model would be difficult. The U.S. soccer recommendations to reduce competitiveness at the younger ages have been widely ignored (they made them recommendations instead of mandates, and they were treated as such). The pendulum has also culturally swung hard from the Millenial everyone-gets-a-trophy days to the hypercompetitive iGeneration . I've made the point before: U.S. Soccer takes all these initiatives and wants to try and emphasize development over winning, we criticize the parents for following "winning coaches", but then we build a system where winning seems to be very important (whether for rankings, ascension, tournaments, or medals), then we act all surprised the parents are chasing the teams that kickball and win. I would see too much of a blowback: "that's what pickup is for" or "go back to AYSO".

 

[Keepermom2]

The problem is that goalkeepers are an afterthought for US Soccer. As I wrote, there was nothing in the E License for the goalkeeper and very little in the D. The instructor didn't even bother to hand out a goalkeeper assignment and I brought my gloves for nothing to the exam and got reprimanded for giving the keeper instruction during a crossing exercise (so since there were no keeper exercises, and I'm not supposed to coach the keeper during other exercises, that means the keeper gets no training from the coach?) And to get your keeper license, you have to get at least a B level on your field licenses.

Even if they wanted to, though, it would be tough since there isn't an agreement internationally of what keepers should be doing. It's an oversimplication but there are 3 basic styles of keeping...the tall keeper (where the keeper basically hangs back and uses extension almost like a basketball player, but doesn't catch....he punches...it's the most common European model), the fast keeper (where the keeper charges a lot and plays out of the box like Manuel Neuer) and the big keeper (which basically is used like a fusball keeper, and best associated with the old English style). Thankfully some consensus is coming together now and Neuer's play more than anyone has contributed to showing what keepers can do, but there's always going to be some variance so it's important that keeper trainers keep up to date with all the latest techniques so they are able to apply what works for a particular keeper. The US philosophy has been, to some extent, that it doesn't need to figure this out because lots of kids grow up playing sports with hands (baseball/basketball/football) so it's easy to get keepers who convert from other sports...some have even speculated that it might lead to a new keeper format (an American one) with an emphasis on catching....but to get there we need to do a better job on training.

Thanks for the info!!!! Very helpful for understanding!

 

[Grace T.]

Thanks for the info!!!! Very helpful for understanding!

You can see a lot of the styles at work BTW, with the LA Galaxy Keepers. Diop was raised in the European tall keeper school...punches or slaps it rarely catches it which sometimes leads to some ugly rebounds...either the Galaxy have asked him to try or he's just done it himself to try and play the fast keeper Neuer style...it's led to some mistimed runs however and empty goals when he is way out of the box...he's not suited for that style of play. Rowe is the quintessential American keeper...catches it a lot more, and uses his feet to block (which is more rarely done in Europe), doesn't go too far out. Kempin tries to play like Neuer style (like most younger keepers these days), but is also heavily influenced by the American...he's young still and probably playing conservatively given where the Galaxy are, but he's the closest thing they have to the fast keeper, IMO.

 

[Keepermom2]

You can see a lot of the styles at work BTW, with the LA Galaxy Keepers. Diop was raised in the European tall keeper school...punches or slaps it rarely catches it which sometimes leads to some ugly rebounds...either the Galaxy have asked him to try or he's just done it himself to try and play the fast keeper Neuer style...it's led to some mistimed runs however and empty goals when he is way out of the box...he's not suited for that style of play. Rowe is the quintessential American keeper...catches it a lot more, and uses his feet to block (which is more rarely done in Europe), doesn't go too far out. Kempin tries to play like Neuer style (like most younger keepers these days), but is also heavily influenced by the American...he's young still and probably playing conservatively given where the Galaxy are, but he's the closest thing they have to the fast keeper, IMO.

Very interesting. I am so clueless about style that I have been focused on logic based upon what the trainers that I trust have taught her rather than a style. My daughter is probably closer to the Neuer style which I think is more predominate in US women's soccer but I of course don't know. My daughter is thin with really long legs and is quite frankly crazy so you would probably see her tongue rolled under while running with determination to get the ball at the opposing players feet. She thinks it is fun to slide at people's feet and always has thought it was fun. She used to yell while doing it because she is a nut job! LOL At one point I had to ask the trainer to teach her to do it correctly because I was so worried about her beautiful face and he dubbed the technique "The pretty face technique". LOL Thanks for all of the info!