U.S. Soccer Youth Task Force: An opportunity to transform soccer in America'

[Sons of Pitches]

And add a module on how to deal with parents.

It is funny that you say that. I was very active at one time in our local AYSO, coached for all 3 of our kids, ref, DD, etc.... One year when running a Boys U10 division I had a lot of first year coaches, and they all had to go to our Region's coaching. About half way through the year, I had several comment to me that they did not understand why we had spent so much time in our clinic talking about dealing with difficult parents, but that they now understood.

 

[Not_that_Serious]

Along those same lines- AYSO coaching education is actually really solid. Now coaches don’t always learn or follow- but the courses are good- at least on par with the USSF grassroots courses.
AYSO is 100% free. And usually includes an online and field component. USSF charges $25 per online course.
AYSO will accept reciprocity with USSF courses. (At lease they used to). USSF does not accept any of the AYSO courses.

Solid to a certain level. Great to get kids started, but still flawed. No rec system gets kids technically sound (except for many "Mexican" leagues), which is probably the most important aspect that should be focused on. We bring in many AYSO kids who had parents as their coaches - hard for them grasp their education is limited and also flawed. Once kids get to a certain age and seem to have outgrown the level of competition, it is hard for the parents to let go coaching to someone with more experience - even ones with professional playing experience, european club experience or even national team experience. So, much of this is on parent/coach/player dynamic. Hard for people to step outside parent-coach to see the flaws. Most of the time it is because the coach at AYSO level doesnt have the knowledge to breakdown what the root issues are during a game. They are taught to coach a certain way and keep doing the same thing regardless of the personnel, the game conditions, other team's strengths/weaknesses, etc. You can go to a tournament and see a game listed against AYSO or other Big Rec Orgs that have club teams and already know how they will play - direct over the top ball or through balls. stick fastest biggest kid at top and feed him/her. At younger levels, will win games, since kids are not the most technically gifted. Balls will eventually fall in and you will score a good percentage of the balls. Kids dont have a good tactical sense on how to stop this - how would they if the coaches themselves dont know how to coach against teams that have more physically dominant players. Kids need to be taught how to play against kids who have developed faster than them, or are just physical freaks of nature. This will never happen in vast majority (id say over 90%) of rec leagues (even some clubs who have loose hiring practices) because of lack of training by experienced individuals. Not something difficult to fix, but has to be motivation and more than the superficial changes used to blow smoke up everyone's butts.

Other things that blends into this is our sports culture arrogance - can google Claudio Reyna's comments about that. Money involved. How US Soccer admin is elected. So much more, but cant fix the system at grass roots with all the moving parts and the current structure. Many of these people who become directors/admins in these places do so because they are cushy jobs. They come in because someone tossed some $$ at them, make minor changes that look awesome on the surface, then bail when someone else in the soccer org network tosses more money at them. No one is rocking the boat to make drastic changes.

 

[Not_that_Serious]

And add a module on how to deal with parents.

that would be a quick module from the standpoint of some coaches. it would be a one word chapter - Don't.

 

[Grace T.]

No rec system gets kids technically sound (except for many "Mexican" leagues), which is probably the most important aspect that should be focused on.

Well, the other reason you see a lot of long ball played by AYSO teams is because they are very heavily influenced by the English system. Whether the UK International camp, consultants that are hired to develop the material, trainers that come in to help the parents coach, or the way higher level AYSO officials were taught, you see a lot of connections to the UK. And from just seeing my son's little YouTube English penpal play (have posted some of the videos before), at the younger youth levels the English seem to be worse bootballers than us.

The problem often overlooked with Mexican leagues is that they also have daddy coaches, and those daddy coaches teach in the style they know...the Mexican style. It's very physical and doesn't really emphasize pretty technique like skill moves or passing lanes. That's part of the problem when asking what is "technically sound"....we don't have established parameters for what the kids should be learning and how they should be playing and that isn't being communicated to the parents. One of my rec ARs this weekend wanted to get into a long debate with me over why the buildout line is stupid....didn't get it all and the guy knew soccer (huge Premier League fan and with a daughter who played in higher level club).

 

[Not_that_Serious]

Well, the other reason you see a lot of long ball played by AYSO teams is because they are very heavily influenced by the English system. Whether the UK International camp, consultants that are hired to develop the material, trainers that come in to help the parents coach, or the way higher level AYSO officials were taught, you see a lot of connections to the UK. And from just seeing my son's little YouTube English penpal play (have posted some of the videos before), at the younger youth levels the English seem to be worse bootballers than us.

The problem often overlooked with Mexican leagues is that they also have daddy coaches, and those daddy coaches teach in the style they know...the Mexican style. It's very physical and doesn't really emphasize pretty technique like skill moves or passing lanes. That's part of the problem when asking what is "technically sound"....we don't have established parameters for what the kids should be learning and how they should be playing and that isn't being communicated to the parents. One of my rec ARs this weekend wanted to get into a long debate with me over why the buildout line is stupid....didn't get it all and the guy knew soccer (huge Premier League fan and with a daughter who played in higher level club).

I disagree, most mexican league coaches (yep, usually a parent) emphasize proper technique. If you catch games you will see even at a young age kids heading ball properly - the game played in the air is very visually appealing. The aggression problems usually happen as the kids get to middle school. Most leagues wont go past U13-14 due to the crazy parents and kids not being able to control their tempers. Moving the ball is a 50-50 proposition depending on the styles they are familiar with. My child use to play once in awhile with his friends on various teams. Some teams could pass the ball and switch the field around - usually teams that didnt have ball dominate players. Some of the teams have very skillful players that go into "Hero Ball" mode. Some of these players we have taken into our club and have had to be reeled in a bit. Some coaches who get players from the Mexican Leagues will cut-off all forms of dynamic play to fit into their rigid system. Part of the reason why our country as a whole doesnt have dynamic players. Hard to find the balance, but a wealth of good technical players in Mexican Leagues, but they might fit the 6ft tall mold DAs and Colleges want.

In the premier league the only team that had any success booting balls over the top was Leicester City. That was an anomaly. It was the only way they could compete against more talented teams. Defend and then boot to Vardy or Mahrez who are at full sprint. Liverpool to a small degree do this, but they stretch the field as well. Coaches and Kids who come from Premier League Academies arent taught to play this way. my kid's coach trained at a top 4 UK Academy (also Germany) since he was 13 , as an American. Apparently someone convinced a lot of people this is the "UK Style" of play. Guess they heard the accent and it was all over, "Where do we sign?".