MN soccer

This is a letter I sent to DOC's around the state who at the time were having an online debate over player recruitment. I sent it in 2005, sadly, not much has changed.


FORMULAS FOR DEVELOPMENT

There is a saying that goes: you know you are a soccer coach when you lose 0-5 and you say "That other team is just not focused on development like us." or When you win 5-0 you say "Thank god we were working on development!"

Everyone wants to fly the flag of development. We have so many formulas for development that the State is now pulling itself apart. Despite all the good intentions I think it’s clear that the environment for the very best players, the place where 80 percent of of attention is focused, is failing. Recruiting, super and elite teams, poor quality (at the upper levels), are all just symptoms of a bigger problem.

We have narrowed our focus for so long,. No matted how we try to phrase it winning is emphasized over development. Clubs are occupied maintaining or gaining status, teams must focused on winning over development. Parents and players shopping for the best situation. Coaches forced to take shortcuts. We have created this monster. Recruiting is just the ugly offspring and perhaps the tipping point of action.

The sad thing is it’s all been done under the banner of good intentions. But as they say, the road to (you know where) is paved with good intentions. Everything wrong in this State stems from somebody's well intended idea of what they think will create the best players.

MYSA. (And, please don’t get me wrong, I am not casting judgment, I can see why these decisions were made, but now it is time to change) believes that there are not enough good players, thus promotion/relegation and small premier leagues.

Their formula for creating better players might look like this:




(Good teams + Good teams + average teams + weaker teams)
divided by competition = great teams . Great teams =Player development.

This puts the cart before the horse. The State is playing the role of developer when they should be playing the role of facilitator. Teams that fail, well the club retains the status, but the players go elsewhere. Teams that gain status attract players from the teams that fail. Great players are recruited, formerly good players are cut. We have created and generated players and especially parents ready and willing to move. The club is not important, the team and the status is important.

We have created a movable feast and the players are gorging. By the time they are 17 many players have changed clubs 4 times or more!

And, what is it? Players who move from club to club, the way I see it anecdotally, well, they forget how to play. Show me a player who jumped clubs 4 times who remains a dominant player. I have to believe that this can’t be good for their development.

Well if everyone is moving then what does a gentle push (recruiting) matter?

Another culprit are the Coaches and Parents of these teams marketing themselves as "select, elite or super," they also think that our players are not good enough. The argument is exhausting in it’s dogma, "the State does everything for for the bottom 95%, we need something for the top 5%. We are the answer. The best kids need to train together. We are the best, that’s why everyone hates us. They always hate the best. Come join us."

They believe they have the formula to making and being the best. It might look like this:



Best Player + other best players + great coach + challenging training + great completion = Player development.

The variable, in these coaches mind is the player. They need a certain supply to tip the scale. They need to find the right ones, they start at the top. This past year you had several "super" teams fall short at State Cup. What was the reason? Not enough good players. Nothing wrong with their formula, coaching was great, training was great, competition? Great. Just not enough good players. Let’s find more.

But of course this means cutting a few that no longer fit their plan…but that’s another story.



THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS

From my perspective the formula for developing players might look like this:




Good Player + better players + weaker players + fun + training + friendships + hardships + care + excellent coaching + learning + time + humility + patience = Player development.

This is the hard way. This way takes lots of time and care. This is nothing different then what you are all doing. But when someone offers a shortcut, well it must be hard to resist.

How can a super team achieve this?

They can’t. This can only be done by the club. By the team, by the player by the person. The player comes from what you have on the inside. This is the importance of the club. The club and us as DOC’s job is to care for the development of our kids. This is the role of the clubs around the world.



WE MUST DEEMPHASIZE STAUS AND SELECTION AND FOCUS ON DEVELOPMENT

I attended the recent English FA course in Chicago. They shared some of their own player selection data. FA wanted to see what kids had joined their academy system. They checked all their Data and found a very high percentage of their kids with older birthdates (if memory serves, their cut off date was September 1) Their was a predominance of kids born in September, followed by October, then November, etc., with very few kids selected with August, July and June birthdates.

They were surprised by this data and wanted to check it against English born kids playing professionally in England. What they found was that the pattern continued. The number of professionals with September and October birthdates greatly outnumbered those born in July and August.

The rewards given at an early age due to the advantage of being months older than competition had apparently had a significant part in selection and advancement into the pro ranks. Similarly, the disadvantage of a late birthdate tends to discourage kids and affect selection. It does not level off until at least 23 years of age.

They recognized that they are missing a chance to develop many, many of their kids. What is the point of this? Well this is one of the many pitfalls associated with selection.

Selection in itself is an intuitive notion that does not accord itself with reality. Player selection is inexact, therefore it should be minimized.

John McEnroe’s father, once told his son at 13 that if he were to win this certain match against this certain ranked opponent that he would become the number one 13 year old in the Nation. He told his dad, "I don’t want to be number one at 13, I want to be number one at 21!"

We do the best we can, but the best players at 13 are never the best players at 21. In the meantime we foster drop out and burn out with too much too soon. We miss chances to develop kids because of an over competitive youth system that rewards winning over development.



CLUBS MUST CREATE A PLAYER CENTERED ENVIRONMENT

Players are important. It is important to play with friends. To learn and grow together. It is important that the best players stay home where others learn from them and they learn the responsibility of being the best, and the leadership skills that go with it. It’s one thing to be the best player. To be a great player you need to make other players better. And guess what? That’s what the players want. They want to play skillfully, they want to lead, they want to make others better.

England brought the game to Brazil. By the time the English came back 40 years later Brazil showed them their style of soccer and changed the game. Did Brazil spend the time putting together select teams to send to England and worrying that they were not good enough? No, they just played for the love of the game. Players were developed out of that love.

We must grow soccer in this State by building that love for the game and remove everything that detracts from it. We can’t concern ourselves with how we are doing at regionals. We are too focused on that goal. Everything that builds the love of the game should be promoted: clubs that develop, fun, self selection, Festivals, pick up formats, small sided, U9-U11, C1 and C2 leagues, State Tournament, quality of play, healthy competition for older kids, excellent training, character development, humility, patience, the appreciation of joyful, skillful play.

Things that need to be addressed: Player recruitment, itinerant players, super teams, unhealthy competition, the red herring idea that winning soccer is good soccer.

I agree this State has a generous supply of DOC and coaching talent, but are we doing with it? Are we focused on the right things? As Clubs what role do we have? If we care about our kids, if we want to see them love the game, play until their knees go, come back and coach, build the passion here in the Sate.

Ted Kroeten
DOC Blackhawks
june 2005