Premier12_3_Layout 1 10/2/12 9:36 AM Page 1 Premier12_3_Layout 1 10/2/12 9:36 AM Page 2 Premier12_3_Layout 1 10/2/12 9:36 AM Page 3 Premier12_3_Layout 1 10/2/12 9:36 AM Page 4 CAL SOUTH PRO+: DEVELOPMENT BY STEVE HOFFMAN | CAL SOUTH DIRECTOR OF COACHING EDUCATION AND PLAYER DEVELOPMENT n our first article last week, I talked about the identification portion of ICal South Pro+ and how our Olympic Development Program is now part of a much bigger program. This week, I want to focus on what should be a key aspect of a player’s growth. Development is a word that should be the main focus for all youth coaches and players. However, while we all know this word is used a tremendous amount in the soccer com- munity at large, that focus is generally on team development. In an average calendar year, I spend a lot of time watching coaches and players trying to win games, which they do by develop- ing their teams. This is not a bad thing, but it is of the utmost importance that we don't lose focus on developing indi- vidual players for the sake of wins and losses. One of the most important pieces of our new Pro+ program is identifying the needs of our individual players, and then finding a way to enhance their abilities within the relatively small frame of time in which these players get to train with the Cal South Pro+ staff coaches. One of the biggest advancements to our program is that we have adopted a training-to-game ratio to our schedule, in which we will strive to have three to four sessions held to each game played. In the past, Cal South teams have gone to events and played far more games than training sessions. What’s wrong with that? Training and teaching the players becomes secondary to playing games, which internally drops the quality of those games. The players often end up going through the motions on the field, and there is no doubt that the value of the game is diminished. We took the principles of our new training-to-game ratio to our Pro+ Summer ID camp held in July at Concordia University. We created a schedule of eight micro-sessions for the squads, which had them playing two games within a five-day cycle. This allowed us to put the main focus of the camp back onto the individual and small group training sessions. We wanted to motivate the players to train at the highest level pos- sible, so we invited U.S. Soccer National Staff coaches to not only observe sessions, but to conduct some as well. To give players another level of aspiration towards which to work, we also invited some top Division I col- lege coaches to conduct sessions. Working with different types of coach- 4 C o a s t S o c c e r L e a g u e P r e m i e r M a g a z i n e Premier12_3_Layout 1 10/2/12 9:36 AM Page 5 es in a new environment gives players the maximum Our goal within Pro+ is find new, cutting edge opportunity to develop. ways to assist our elite players in helping them to devel- I think we can all agree that in life, you develop not op and become the best technical and tactical soccer just on the job, but also when you are off the job. So, players they can be. I must emphasize that “assist” is this summer we invited some special guests in to talk the word Pro+ staffers prefer to use, always recogniz- to the players. Cal South alumni such as U.S. National ing that the main source of development for these Team captain Carlos Bocanegra and other pro players players should be at the club level. As a state associa- such as Ashley Nick, the team captain for FC Twente in tion, we must do everything possible to help coaches the Dutch league. The guests related how much hard gain more knowledge in all areas of the game. work players must put in to reach their full potential in Cal South is working closely with U.S. Soccer, and the game, and that everyone will have ups and downs, in 2011, the Pro+ ID camp purposefully did not invite but you must learn from these experiences to develop National Pool players to take part, as one of our goals as a person and a player. is in developing players that have not already been Sports science is a becoming a large part of player identified by U.S. Soccer. There is a lot of work to be development, so we invited sports performance speak- done, but the end result will eventually be better play- er Joshua Michael Medcalf, CEO and founder of Train ers to help our country become the world power in to Be Clutch. Joshua helped inspired and challenge the soccer it should be. A minds of our young players by giving them tools they Next week: Inclusion in Cal South Pro+ can use whether playing or preparing for competition. The high level of quality of the players in Pro+ truly makes these training sessions into a very competitive environment. Players are totally taken out of their comfort zone, which alone accelerates the learning and development of elite players. The one sure thing you can do as a coach is to make your training sessions as demanding as the games you play on the weekends. In other countries, the average youth players compete in 30-40 games max- imum a year. Currently, many elite players in our country are playing 70-80 games a year, which gives them hardly any time to develop their skills to prepare for the next game. Issue 3 • October 6–7, 2012 5 Premier12_3_Layout 1 10/2/12 9:36 AM Page 6 Premier12_3_Layout 1 10/2/12 9:36 AM Page 7 I s s u e 3 • O c t o b e r 6 – 7 , 2 0 1 2 7 Premier12_3_Layout 1 10/2/12 9:36 AM Page 8 Soccer’s Swiss A BY JAMES THOMPSON Imagine if UCLA men’s soccer ran its program with just coaches and players. That would mean, no scheduler, no accounting office, no travel office, no equipment manager or trainer. For that matter, if the players had uniforms, by the end of the first week they would smell like the backend of a Yak and look like they were stored in a coffee cup. Although Club soccer and college programs are light-years apart in almost every aspect, one thing they have in common is, no program at any level can function without off-the-field help. At the club level, that means an effective Team Manager. Team Managers are all vol- unteers, but sometimes the “volunteer” status is in-name- only. In reality, good ones have been conscripted into service by a lack of competence from oth- ers, or unwillingness from the rest of the team parents to step up or, on occasion, a whimper- ing coach who begs for help. I’ve seen the range, from the Good, to the Bad to the Ugly. At the AYSO level there isn’t a “team manager” – rather there’s a Team Mom or Team Dad. They are responsible for lit- tle except for herding the team to the pizza parlor and collecting money for the coach’s gift. At the club level things change – a lot. Club team managers carry a load of responsibility, and most managers handle it with grace. Some panic and cry for mamma. At the “ugly” end of the spectrum there are parents who step up to take the job because it carries a sense of power and control. They see the position as the seat next to God and they act the part. If a manager loses control in a game and berates a referee, watch how the rest of the sideline reacts; other parents will collectively put on the crazy pants, and quickly become unmanageable. I watched an entire sideline get booted from a game because a team manager started the “you suck” revolt. The “bad” managers are just – bad…as in incompetent. People usually 8 C o a s t S o c c e r L e a g u e P r e m i e r M a g a z i n e Premier12_3_Layout 1 10/2/12 9:36 AM Page 9 s Army Knife mean well and try hard, but some people regardless of week away) and claim, with a straight face: “Oh – ah, good intensions are simply incapable of performing, I didn’t pay?” It’s the dance of the disingenuous. and they reach their level of incompetence. I’ve seen When clubs travel, the Team Manager is responsi- it…you’ve seen. Managers who show up to games ble for getting the team to and from everything, plan- without player cards or leave half on the kitchen table. ning meals and getting the player out of hallways any Managers who have no backup plan, have no plan at into their rooms. Without the team manager it would all. Managers who simply stare blankly if a player needs be Lord of the Flies. It seems that if the manager is real- a band-aide or an ice-pack fall into the “bad” catego- ly good, they go unnoticed, like a good ref.