Reply to DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not

Forum Index » Soccer

Reply to " DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Not specific to DCU, but at the mls academy level, what profile are they looking for? How do they predict who has pro potential at the u10-u13 (before puberty) age groups? Any insight?[/quote]

What most people forget is that MLS (the league) is running the show.  What that means is that they have a product they want to sell and a vision for what they want that product to look like.  It is known that MLS is a physical league with big fast and strong players (good athletes) but not the most skilled players, that emphasizes goal scoring and tackling because that is what Americans (who lack football sophistication) can easily understand in the game.  Of course there are exceptions and different types of players in the league but in order to meet expectations of the league, the academies generally need to produce players with this type of profile.  And this is what you see at many of the academies across the MLS system, including DCU.  There are of course exceptions but a significant amount of players across the system fit this profile. So if your kid is big, fast, has power and has slightly better than average skills, he is probably off to a good start for the MLS academy system. Sucks that it is this way and the emphasis isn't on skills and IQ, but it IS this way.

In younger kids scouts look for many things.  But above all else I would say scouts try to answer one general question first and that is: does the player have the ability to change and alter the game in some way (are they a difference maker) and/or do they dominate the game or aspects of the game.  I would also say, in addition to the above, generally many scouts look for qualities in four main macro buckets: technical, tactical, physical and mental.  At these younger ages, technical may mean quality of first touch, comfort with the ball, using both feet to pass and shoot, quality of passing, collecting the ball in tight space, 1v1 ability and beating players.  Tactical may mean do they have a baseline understanding of what they are supposed to be doing on the field in the positions they play, how well do they move off the ball, do they understand the concept of space and or have spatial awareness, do they read the game.  Physical may mean do they have physical attributes that make a difference, size, speed, power, quickness, work rate/stamina and what is their potential in each of these areas. Alot of kids are big and fast now but will tap out at 14/15. Mental may mean, what is their demeanor on the field, are they the leader and or do they clearly possess leadership qualities already, how do they deal with failures and successes on the field, how do they interact with teammates and opposing side, what type of energy do they give off in the game, so they have crazy parents yelling at them on the sidelines (no one wants to deal with them).

All of these things play a factor in scouting.  But if you have a u10 kid I would say foster a love of the game above all else and establish a strong relationship with the ball.  The better a players skills are the easier it is to make a difference.  And it isn't fancy moves.  Skills that allow the player to have immediate impact and are simple to execute. IG is killing this in our youth players.  Hope this helps.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics