Serious Player Development Question

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ If you are unable to develop the significant majority of your younger players and then say the few that make it had a greater NATURAL affinity for the game regardless of the same development, your club is NOT good at development. Your club is good at standing by and watching.

No the club will develop a lot of good players but not many of the top team quality. At u9/u10 most clubs select for athleticism, speed and size. After u12 the coaches will select from this pool players who have speed of play, technical ability and soccer IQ. So the fast player who has a touch like Doberman Pincher playing with a beach ball will be replaced by a fast player with a better technical skill.

Being on a top team at a top club at u9/u10 does not guarantee a spot on a DA roster at u16. Most will not be on the top team after u13.

A good club will recognize the inherent weakness of the athletic player and will encourage outside training or develop a plan to improve the players weaknesses. While time in practice can't always be dedicated to improving every players weaknesses good coaches will find ways to address these issues and work with the parents and players on a plan to improve. If the player does not follow through on their end so be it, but the club should provide the overall guidance and proper feedback throughout the season both short term and long term.

THAT is what a club dedicated to development does. Just saying, "all well, not every athlete pans out" is a cop out and lazy.

LOL yep outside training ...maybe an additional 3-4 hours a week? The kids are already at practice 3-4 days a week and 1 to 4 games on the weekend. This is when you get burn out. The kids do other things beside soccer 24 hrs a day...like school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ If you are unable to develop the significant majority of your younger players and then say the few that make it had a greater NATURAL affinity for the game regardless of the same development, your club is NOT good at development. Your club is good at standing by and watching.

No the club will develop a lot of good players but not many of the top team quality. At u9/u10 most clubs select for athleticism, speed and size. After u12 the coaches will select from this pool players who have speed of play, technical ability and soccer IQ. So the fast player who has a touch like Doberman Pincher playing with a beach ball will be replaced by a fast player with a better technical skill.

Being on a top team at a top club at u9/u10 does not guarantee a spot on a DA roster at u16. Most will not be on the top team after u13.

A good club will recognize the inherent weakness of the athletic player and will encourage outside training or develop a plan to improve the players weaknesses. While time in practice can't always be dedicated to improving every players weaknesses good coaches will find ways to address these issues and work with the parents and players on a plan to improve. If the player does not follow through on their end so be it, but the club should provide the overall guidance and proper feedback throughout the season both short term and long term.

THAT is what a club dedicated to development does. Just saying, "all well, not every athlete pans out" is a cop out and lazy.

LOL yep outside training ...maybe an additional 3-4 hours a week? The kids are already at practice 3-4 days a week and 1 to 4 games on the weekend. This is when you get burn out. The kids do other things beside soccer 24 hrs a day...like school.

If the kid has the touch of a doberman pincher then yes, outside work is necessary. The top end for U9-U12 travel teams is 3 practices a week. Finding an extra day a couple of times a month or 15 minutes a day of juggling or other footwork on their own over time will make a difference. A club not providing a plan for extra homework, again, chalking it up to "not all athletes work out" is lazy.

If you honestly believe that the best players on any club that make the highest level do it simply as naturals and club training alone and not through extra work then you are naive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ If you are unable to develop the significant majority of your younger players and then say the few that make it had a greater NATURAL affinity for the game regardless of the same development, your club is NOT good at development. Your club is good at standing by and watching.

No the club will develop a lot of good players but not many of the top team quality. At u9/u10 most clubs select for athleticism, speed and size. After u12 the coaches will select from this pool players who have speed of play, technical ability and soccer IQ. So the fast player who has a touch like Doberman Pincher playing with a beach ball will be replaced by a fast player with a better technical skill.

Being on a top team at a top club at u9/u10 does not guarantee a spot on a DA roster at u16. Most will not be on the top team after u13.

A good club will recognize the inherent weakness of the athletic player and will encourage outside training or develop a plan to improve the players weaknesses. While time in practice can't always be dedicated to improving every players weaknesses good coaches will find ways to address these issues and work with the parents and players on a plan to improve. If the player does not follow through on their end so be it, but the club should provide the overall guidance and proper feedback throughout the season both short term and long term.

THAT is what a club dedicated to development does. Just saying, "all well, not every athlete pans out" is a cop out and lazy.

LOL yep outside training ...maybe an additional 3-4 hours a week? The kids are already at practice 3-4 days a week and 1 to 4 games on the weekend. This is when you get burn out. The kids do other things beside soccer 24 hrs a day...like school.

Burnout is an excuse for people who were not that passionate about the sport to begin with. Most of our players will train on their own or play pick-up before practice, after games, on days off. Hell we’ll bring out the PUGs because sometimes they’ll want to keep playing in between games at tournaments, and this isn’t even a DA/ECNL team. You either make it a way of life, or you don’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ If you are unable to develop the significant majority of your younger players and then say the few that make it had a greater NATURAL affinity for the game regardless of the same development, your club is NOT good at development. Your club is good at standing by and watching.

No the club will develop a lot of good players but not many of the top team quality. At u9/u10 most clubs select for athleticism, speed and size. After u12 the coaches will select from this pool players who have speed of play, technical ability and soccer IQ. So the fast player who has a touch like Doberman Pincher playing with a beach ball will be replaced by a fast player with a better technical skill.

Being on a top team at a top club at u9/u10 does not guarantee a spot on a DA roster at u16. Most will not be on the top team after u13.

A good club will recognize the inherent weakness of the athletic player and will encourage outside training or develop a plan to improve the players weaknesses. While time in practice can't always be dedicated to improving every players weaknesses good coaches will find ways to address these issues and work with the parents and players on a plan to improve. If the player does not follow through on their end so be it, but the club should provide the overall guidance and proper feedback throughout the season both short term and long term.

THAT is what a club dedicated to development does. Just saying, "all well, not every athlete pans out" is a cop out and lazy.

LOL yep outside training ...maybe an additional 3-4 hours a week? The kids are already at practice 3-4 days a week and 1 to 4 games on the weekend. This is when you get burn out. The kids do other things beside soccer 24 hrs a day...like school.

Burnout is an excuse for people who were not that passionate about the sport to begin with. Most of our players will train on their own or play pick-up before practice, after games, on days off. Hell we’ll bring out the PUGs because sometimes they’ll want to keep playing in between games at tournaments, and this isn’t even a DA/ECNL team. You either make it a way of life, or you don’t.

Nobody ever became elite at anything in life without a passion for it. If a kid does not want to add an extra session in to get better then you have a strong indicator that they are not that passionate about the game. However, sometimes the hesitant to go kid, if encouraged properly, once their skills improve then all of a sudden the kid begins to fall in love with the game because they are now having a different impact which changes their perspective.

You cannot burnout doing something you love doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here. I think it takes both the right player and the right club. You can have the best chef in the world but they can only do so much with poor ingredients. Likewise a terrible chef can burn the best Kobe steak and turn it into shoe leather.

Even the best clubs are going to have a lot of players that ultimately don’t have the genetics, intelligence or drive to be top DA or ECNL players. The club can teach anyone the skills but many just do not have the physical ability and intelligence to do it at a high pace without making many mistakes. But even that is not enough.

What separates the best from the rest often comes down to the intangibles - the attitude and willingness to work hard every day and fight through pain and boredom of doing the same thing thousands of times. These kids do whatever it takes to both improve themselves and have the drive to win games. When that kid gets into a club that has the structure and supportive coaching environment, the sky is the limit.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ If you are unable to develop the significant majority of your younger players and then say the few that make it had a greater NATURAL affinity for the game regardless of the same development, your club is NOT good at development. Your club is good at standing by and watching.

No the club will develop a lot of good players but not many of the top team quality. At u9/u10 most clubs select for athleticism, speed and size. After u12 the coaches will select from this pool players who have speed of play, technical ability and soccer IQ. So the fast player who has a touch like Doberman Pincher playing with a beach ball will be replaced by a fast player with a better technical skill.

Being on a top team at a top club at u9/u10 does not guarantee a spot on a DA roster at u16. Most will not be on the top team after u13.

A good club will recognize the inherent weakness of the athletic player and will encourage outside training or develop a plan to improve the players weaknesses. While time in practice can't always be dedicated to improving every players weaknesses good coaches will find ways to address these issues and work with the parents and players on a plan to improve. If the player does not follow through on their end so be it, but the club should provide the overall guidance and proper feedback throughout the season both short term and long term.

THAT is what a club dedicated to development does. Just saying, "all well, not every athlete pans out" is a cop out and lazy.

LOL yep outside training ...maybe an additional 3-4 hours a week? The kids are already at practice 3-4 days a week and 1 to 4 games on the weekend. This is when you get burn out. The kids do other things beside soccer 24 hrs a day...like school.

The kid burns out when that training is parent driven. If the kid is asking for it, is crazy about soccer, and wants it, then you are feeding the thirst.

[Anonymous]

First, what is up with this doberman pinscher analogy? I think of dobermans as graceful, highly agile and fast, with deadly accuracy, all good things if you are talking about ball skills. If you said someone had the touch of a Clydesdale, that would make a lot more sense.

I agree with folks that burnout rarely happens with kids who love the game. Also contrary to conventional wisdom: I know a lot of kids who started out as standouts at U9 and continue to be top players throughout their youth career. Some clubs may pick only big strong kids at that age, but that's not at all true across the board. What I see most do is pick kids who are athletic and coordinated, regardless of size. If those kids love soccer and get good training, then they just keep developing and improving. Not to say others don't come to the game later and do well also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First, what is up with this doberman pinscher analogy? I think of dobermans as graceful, highly agile and fast, with deadly accuracy, all good things if you are talking about ball skills. If you said someone had the touch of a Clydesdale, that would make a lot more sense.

I agree with folks that burnout rarely happens with kids who love the game. Also contrary to conventional wisdom: I know a lot of kids who started out as standouts at U9 and continue to be top players throughout their youth career. Some clubs may pick only big strong kids at that age, but that's not at all true across the board. What I see most do is pick kids who are athletic and coordinated, regardless of size. If those kids love soccer and get good training, then they just keep developing and improving. Not to say others don't come to the game later and do well also.

True, but most standouts at U9 do not become standouts at U13. Often the U9 standouts have a physical size or speed advantage due to being an early developer and as others catch up physically they become frustrated because suddenly they have to work harder to develop skills as they fall behind. Other U9 standouts are highly skilled because they started playing earlier than others and don’t develop physically over the years. They end up being undersized and don’t have the genetics to compete with the athletes that eventually catch up on skills. Of course there are early standouts that do have the whole package and continue to succeed. There are so many attributes needed to become that standout at U13 that you just can’t predict it at U9. You also can’t predict which U13s become D1 college players.

[Anonymous]

The switch from U12 to U13 is tough for many as well. Moving to the big field is a big physical challenge and many standouts have a hard time adjusting to the amount of running and strength of passing required to cover so much more ground offensively and defensively. Others suddenly blossom when they hit U13.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ If you are unable to develop the significant majority of your younger players and then say the few that make it had a greater NATURAL affinity for the game regardless of the same development, your club is NOT good at development. Your club is good at standing by and watching.

No the club will develop a lot of good players but not many of the top team quality. At u9/u10 most clubs select for athleticism, speed and size. After u12 the coaches will select from this pool players who have speed of play, technical ability and soccer IQ. So the fast player who has a touch like Doberman Pincher playing with a beach ball will be replaced by a fast player with a better technical skill.

Being on a top team at a top club at u9/u10 does not guarantee a spot on a DA roster at u16. Most will not be on the top team after u13.

A good club will recognize the inherent weakness of the athletic player and will encourage outside training or develop a plan to improve the players weaknesses. While time in practice can't always be dedicated to improving every players weaknesses good coaches will find ways to address these issues and work with the parents and players on a plan to improve. If the player does not follow through on their end so be it, but the club should provide the overall guidance and proper feedback throughout the season both short term and long term.

THAT is what a club dedicated to development does. Just saying, "all well, not every athlete pans out" is a cop out and lazy.

LOL yep outside training ...maybe an additional 3-4 hours a week? The kids are already at practice 3-4 days a week and 1 to 4 games on the weekend. This is when you get burn out. The kids do other things beside soccer 24 hrs a day...like school.

Burnout is an excuse for people who were not that passionate about the sport to begin with. Most of our players will train on their own or play pick-up before practice, after games, on days off. Hell we’ll bring out the PUGs because sometimes they’ll want to keep playing in between games at tournaments, and this isn’t even a DA/ECNL team. You either make it a way of life, or you don’t.

Nobody ever became elite at anything in life without a passion for it. If a kid does not want to add an extra session in to get better then you have a strong indicator that they are not that passionate about the game. However, sometimes the hesitant to go kid, if encouraged properly, once their skills improve then all of a sudden the kid begins to fall in love with the game because they are now having a different impact which changes their perspective.

You cannot burnout doing something you love doing.

You can burnout on something you love. It happens all the time. If your u10 kid is doing travel they are doing soccer 4-5 days a week. Add an outside training session or two during the season and it 6 to 7 days a week of soccer. Way too much. At that age 2-3 days a week practice with 40 minute of a 70 minute session working on footskills is about right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ If you are unable to develop the significant majority of your younger players and then say the few that make it had a greater NATURAL affinity for the game regardless of the same development, your club is NOT good at development. Your club is good at standing by and watching.

No the club will develop a lot of good players but not many of the top team quality. At u9/u10 most clubs select for athleticism, speed and size. After u12 the coaches will select from this pool players who have speed of play, technical ability and soccer IQ. So the fast player who has a touch like Doberman Pincher playing with a beach ball will be replaced by a fast player with a better technical skill.

Being on a top team at a top club at u9/u10 does not guarantee a spot on a DA roster at u16. Most will not be on the top team after u13.

A good club will recognize the inherent weakness of the athletic player and will encourage outside training or develop a plan to improve the players weaknesses. While time in practice can't always be dedicated to improving every players weaknesses good coaches will find ways to address these issues and work with the parents and players on a plan to improve. If the player does not follow through on their end so be it, but the club should provide the overall guidance and proper feedback throughout the season both short term and long term.

THAT is what a club dedicated to development does. Just saying, "all well, not every athlete pans out" is a cop out and lazy.

LOL yep outside training ...maybe an additional 3-4 hours a week? The kids are already at practice 3-4 days a week and 1 to 4 games on the weekend. This is when you get burn out. The kids do other things beside soccer 24 hrs a day...like school.

Burnout is an excuse for people who were not that passionate about the sport to begin with. Most of our players will train on their own or play pick-up before practice, after games, on days off. Hell we’ll bring out the PUGs because sometimes they’ll want to keep playing in between games at tournaments, and this isn’t even a DA/ECNL team. You either make it a way of life, or you don’t.

Nobody ever became elite at anything in life without a passion for it. If a kid does not want to add an extra session in to get better then you have a strong indicator that they are not that passionate about the game. However, sometimes the hesitant to go kid, if encouraged properly, once their skills improve then all of a sudden the kid begins to fall in love with the game because they are now having a different impact which changes their perspective.

You cannot burnout doing something you love doing.

You can burnout on something you love. It happens all the time. If your u10 kid is doing travel they are doing soccer 4-5 days a week. Add an outside training session or two during the season and it 6 to 7 days a week of soccer. Way too much. At that age 2-3 days a week practice with 40 minute of a 70 minute session working on footskills is about right.

No club at 10 years old practices 4-5 times a week.

[Anonymous]

Clubs may not have 4-5 practices a week at that age — but add 1 additional private training session to 3x per week practices (common) and voila.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Clubs may not have 4-5 practices a week at that age — but add 1 additional private training session to 3x per week practices (common) and voila.

Congrats, you just calculated 3+1. :/

The OP asked about serious development not burnout. Serious development in any endeavor requires extra work. Piano, math, golf, painting, all require time spent practicing and learning.

If a player has potential but their footskils are lacking, they need to put in extra work. The club can not cater to specific player needs, period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Clubs may not have 4-5 practices a week at that age — but add 1 additional private training session to 3x per week practices (common) and voila.

3 team practices + 1 extra practice (private or group) is just fine for kids that really love soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clubs may not have 4-5 practices a week at that age — but add 1 additional private training session to 3x per week practices (common) and voila.

3 team practices + 1 extra practice (private or group) is just fine for kids that really love soccer.

Exactly and the extra training is at the parents discretion and control in regards to a time and place of their choosing. If the kid is busy for a couple of months then you cut back or the extra work gets scheduled during seasonal breaks in winter and/or summer.