Why USA’S Youth Development Continues To Stagnate

https://twitter.com/coachwilly1875/status/1069474638575673344?s=21

Read this whole tweet thread and replies from Willly.

“Here's why us foreigners struggle with the college coach mentality in the US. I have stopped listening to some podcasts and reading some websites, because it just feels like a massive circlejerk where so many of these types are tugging each other off over their achievements”.
 
mirage said:
I don't think NBCSports no longer provide this but early on, their app used to provide alternate view of the game being broadcasted - without announcers and close ups. Rather, gave a bird's-eye view of most of the field and could watch the player movements significantly better than the broadcast feed.

.
Click to expand...

Even if this feature isn't available anymore, one of the reasons I like this site, knowledge nuggets like this. Thank you.
 
timbuck said:
https://twitter.com/coachwilly1875/status/1069474638575673344?s=21

Read this whole tweet thread and replies from Willly.

“Here's why us foreigners struggle with the college coach mentality in the US. I have stopped listening to some podcasts and reading some websites, because it just feels like a massive circlejerk where so many of these types are tugging each other off over their achievements”.
Click to expand...
Very interesting tweet. It was interesting to see the one posted by a local South Bay club coach and that he was leaving. Also on his self analysis at being at best average.
 
timbuck said:
Yeah. You’re right. They should just lift weights and run faster.
Click to expand...

I was kidding of course. But you're probably right that kids should spend their time lifting weights and running instead because it is much more likely that they will personal life benefit from it. It takes a lot of video games and TV to meaningfully improve at soccer (assuming for the sake of argument that it's ever better than time spent playing it), but that's still a waste of time for 99.9999% of American kids and you won't know whether your kid is in the .0001% who received value until he's already worn out his XBox controller and almost certainly wasted the time. Anyone who says playing FIFA helps improve "cognitive function" is really saying video games aren't as bad as you think because they only rot the parts of the brain you will need when it finally became clear that you'll never make a career out of soccer or even get into college because of it. Good for the 5-10 US kids a year who eventually make a decent living playing soccer in part because they played a lot of video games as children, but bad for the other millions who in retrospect only wasted time that could have been spent on something productive.
 
blam said:
Instead of watching, does playing fifa help? Seem more fun.
Click to expand...
I can't prove it, but I thought my DD and another kid's plays improve in a couple of areas once they started playing FIFA.

One example is their decision making when it comes to whether to dribble or pass, and precisely when to pass. What I see in the younger's games is that many kids tend to over-dribble until they get dis-possessed. I think this is due to the fact that most players were studs of their rec/all star teams and they were used to dribble around the competition. In FIFA, you WILL get dispossessed if you hold the ball for 1/2 second too long, even if you're master of the balls like Messi or Hazard.

In any case, nothing beats playing FIFA with your DD and talking smack to each other.
 
timbuck said:
https://twitter.com/coachwilly1875/status/1069474638575673344?s=21

Read this whole tweet thread and replies from Willly.

“Here's why us foreigners struggle with the college coach mentality in the US. I have stopped listening to some podcasts and reading some websites, because it just feels like a massive circlejerk where so many of these types are tugging each other off over their achievements”.
Click to expand...

Wow, this guy is a pretentious douche, and I know what I'm talking about, trust me on that. The first thing you see in his Twitter feed are all the places he's coached, yet he criticizes others for "tugging each other off over their achievements"? The only difference between him and the people he complains about is that he only gets to tug himself off. You can tell based on how few likes he gets to his Twitter posts that he doesn't have much company. Seriously, I got more likes when I took @Simisoccerfan out to the woodshed.
 
End of the Line said:
Wow, this guy is a pretentious douche, and I know what I'm talking about, trust me on that. The first thing you see in his Twitter feed are all the places he's coached, yet he criticizes others for "tugging each other off over their achievements"? The only difference between him and the people he complains about is that he only gets to tug himself off. You can tell based on how few likes he gets to his Twitter posts that he doesn't have much company. Seriously, I got more likes when I took @Simisoccerfan out to the woodshed.
Click to expand...

i agree, twitter is an echo chamber, but most folks think they are shouting to the world. noticed he doesnt have a ton of fans, but some of what he says is true. have to weed through it
 
LASTMAN14 said:
That point about dual sports has been one I’ve been rethinking (prior to the tweet) and his thinking was reasonable.
Click to expand...
I think most sensible parents and coaches would always support dual or multiple sports because like anything else in life, it’s good to have some variety (it certainly doesn’t hurt anyone).

That said, if you are looking at being the absolute best you can be in any sport or domain, it makes sense that you should spend as much time as possible doing it. People will always pull up outlier stories (he or she played 5 sports until he or she signed their first contract) but the reality is that the majority of elite level soccer players (and I would argue this is likely the case for other sports) only played soccer growing up, or certainly played soccer the vast majority of their time.

It’s a simple thing in my opinion. If a kid spends more time than you doing something, it is almost certain that they will be better than you are. Sure, genetics, opportunity and other aspects might come into it but all other things equal, the kid who spends the most time practicing will likely be better.

Anyone can push an agenda or find an angle. That’s why there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to this subject.
 
Paul Spacey said:
I think most sensible parents and coaches would always support dual or multiple sports because like anything else in life, it’s good to have some variety (it certainly doesn’t hurt anyone).

That said, if you are looking at being the absolute best you can be in any sport or domain, it makes sense that you should spend as much time as possible doing it. People will always pull up outlier stories (he or she played 5 sports until he or she signed their first contract) but the reality is that the majority of elite level soccer players (and I would argue this is likely the case for other sports) only played soccer growing up, or certainly played soccer the vast majority of their time.

It’s a simple thing in my opinion. If a kid spends more time than you doing something, it is almost certain that they will be better than you are. Sure, genetics, opportunity and other aspects might come into it but all other things equal, the kid who spends the most time practicing will likely be better.

Anyone can push an agenda or find an angle. That’s why there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to this subject.
Click to expand...
Kinda agree. Been taking a personal inventory on the players I’ve grown up with or played with later in life. Some played pro and only played soccer. Others who played pro were multi sported. But it’s about equal in numbers. Therefore I can’t say it was an advantage then, though it’s the now that creates a different environment.
 
I took my kid to go watch a men's college (UCSB vs Cal Poly SLO) and what a huge mistake that was. Total kickball. We left early. The style of soccer sucked. Also saw a few PDL games and those were very good. Got a lot out of them.
 
TangoCity said:
I took my kid to go watch a men's college (UCSB vs Cal Poly SLO) and what a huge mistake that was. Total kickball. We left early. The style of soccer sucked. Also saw a few PDL games and those were very good. Got a lot out of them.
Click to expand...
I watched one men's college soccer game. It was the most direct game I have ever seen. Never more than 4 or 5 touches (and usually less) touches from one end of the field to the other. It was all counter attacks. The skill of some of the one touch passes was impressive, but it was ugly soccer.

I recently heard of a very talented college freshman playing men's D1 soccer that said it was a step down compared to DA.
 
outside! said:
I watched one men's college soccer game. It was the most direct game I have ever seen. Never more than 4 or 5 touches (and usually less) touches from one end of the field to the other. It was all counter attacks. The skill of some of the one touch passes was impressive, but it was ugly soccer.

I recently heard of a very talented college freshman playing men's D1 soccer that said it was a step down compared to DA.
Click to expand...
I’ve watched UCLA men’s team several times. Thought it was quality. Though they suffered at the hands of teams who played more direct.
 
timbuck said:
https://twitter.com/coachwilly1875/status/1069474638575673344?s=21

Read this whole tweet thread and replies from Willly.

“Here's why us foreigners struggle with the college coach mentality in the US. I have stopped listening to some podcasts and reading some websites, because it just feels like a massive circlejerk where so many of these types are tugging each other off over their achievements”.
Click to expand...

Where's coach Willy when you need him?! USS Should hire that guy!
 
outside! said:
I watched one men's college soccer game. It was the most direct game I have ever seen. Never more than 4 or 5 touches (and usually less) touches from one end of the field to the other. It was all counter attacks. The skill of some of the one touch passes was impressive, but it was ugly soccer.

I recently heard of a very talented college freshman playing men's D1 soccer that said it was a step down compared to DA.
Click to expand...

Depends on the coach and the system. If a player likes a possession game, he needs to do his homework before committing and choose a coach and a system that fits his game. There are plenty of programs that play (or try to play) a better style than straight up and down.
 
LASTMAN14 said:
Kinda agree. Been taking a personal inventory on the players I’ve grown up with or played with later in life. Some played pro and only played soccer. Others who played pro were multi sported. But it’s about equal in numbers. Therefore I can’t say it was an advantage then, though it’s the now that creates a different environment.
Click to expand...
many who pushed this theory were doctors but didnt do it with any evidence besides conversations with clients they saw. "they are using other muscles groups they usually dont use from one sport to another". when kids get to a certain age, you can mix in things like yoga and weightlifting - but that isnt adding another sport,just helping them with the sport they are in. Research by Shawn Arent shows the majority of injuries suffered in Soccer are through overuse - not because they didnt develop some group of muscles due to specialization.
 
outside! said:
I watched one men's college soccer game. It was the most direct game I have ever seen. Never more than 4 or 5 touches (and usually less) touches from one end of the field to the other. It was all counter attacks. The skill of some of the one touch passes was impressive, but it was ugly soccer.

I recently heard of a very talented college freshman playing men's D1 soccer that said it was a step down compared to DA.
Click to expand...

Good majority of teams play this way in college but I think you are seeing the possession style expanding. Watched the DI Girls Championship and FSU held the ball very well - but still didnt play out the back consistently. FSU got fatigued but held on. Dont know if NC really held the ball too much, and really didnt hold it all once they went down 1-0 - just went direct over and over. Keepers were killing me with the booting of the ball to midfield, have no idea why coaches insist on giving the other team a 50/50 chance of winning the ball.
 
LASTMAN14 said:
I’ve watched UCLA men’s team several times. Thought it was quality. Though they suffered at the hands of teams who played more direct.
Click to expand...
because coaches know most teams just have big kids as defenders who never had their technical skills developed. like the play at youth level, you get all the direct play, through balls, over the top because kids will make mistakes due to their lack of skill. the trend continues in college and its a never ending cycle. you cant blame college coaches too much, they can only work with what they have and player skill level will dictate the style you play. coaches will also get fired if they are consistently losing. I know coaches at community college level who dont worry solely on winning and attempt to develop players in two year cycles - since their main goal is to get kids ready to play at higher levels. Hard to teach a kid to receive with the correct foot, or work on touch in HS - virtually no time to do so at College level. Unfortunately a ton of kids in College who dont know how to bring down a ball or dribble a ball under pressure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top