Youth Soccer Fun

Thanks, Manny Schellscheidt!

2012-01-09T00:28:14Z

Perhaps no man has had as great an influence on as many American coaches as Manfred "Manny" Schellscheidt, who retired in 2011 at age 70.

By Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)

]]> Back in 1970, he became the first person to earn a U.S. Soccer Federation “A” coaching license. He coached at every level of the U.S. men’s national team program -- but last year his 13-year tenure as head of the U-14 boys National Identification Program came to an end. He also retired, after 24 seasons, as Seton Hall University head coach.

A few years ago, Bruce Arena said, ''I think everybody who runs across Manfred learns something. He provokes a lot of thought on how players think and the role coaches play. He is very good at trying to keep things simple and not making a meal of things. He doesn't make a big deal about the influence coaches have on players. He believes in making sure players are in a good soccer environment and that they learn from the game.''

I had first “encountered” Schellscheidt in 1973 -- I realized a couple decades later -- when I was a 9-year-old soccer fan in Texas Stadium and Schellscheidt played for the Philadelphia Atoms, who upset me greatly as they beat the Dallas Tornado, led by “superstar” Kyle Rote Jr., 2-0.

When many years later I mentioned that NASL championship to Schellscheidt, he related an anecdote that demonstrates the kind of youth coach he was. Schellscheidt had planned a Europe trip with the youth team he was coaching before becoming a player/assistant coach of the expansion Philly team that, with an uncommon number of American players, made a surprising run to the playoffs.

It turned out the youth trip would conflict with the NASL semifinal – and Atoms head coach Al Miller couldn’t believe his ears when Schellscheidt said he would keep his promise to the boys and miss the game against Toronto. The Atoms beat Toronto, 3-0, so Schellscheidt still celebrated one of the many triumphs of a career in American soccer that began when he emigrated from Germany at age 23.

Schellscheidt was visiting his aunt in New Jersey in 1964 and was recruited to play for Elizabeth SC of the German-American League. Elizabeth SC provided him with a tool-maker’s job and sponsorship for immigration.

''I arrived in the country on a Monday, went to practice at Farcher's Grove on a Wednesday, and they gave me a player's pass in time for the Saturday game,'' says Schellscheidt, 64. ''Only in America!''

He continued working the tool-and-die factory until in 1988 taking the Seton Hall helm -- his first full-time coaching job. But he had already coached the U.S. national team, was an assistant of the U-20 U.S. team, and he was the Olympic coach until the eve of the 1984 Games when the Federation disbanded his team of amateurs and replaced them with pros. Schellscheidt coached the U.S. team at two Pan American Games. He coached the U-17s in the early 1990s.

As a player, besides the NASL title, he won two U.S. Open Cups with Elizabeth SC. He was player/coach of the 1974 ASL champion Rhode Island Oceaneers and coached the 1977 ASL-winning New Jersey Americans.

Throughout his career, Schellscheidt served the U.S. youth game. He was a Region I ODP coach for 25 years and its head coach in 1997-2007. He coached the Union Lancers of New Jersey to two straight McGuire Cup U-19 national championship titles in 1987-88. His Lancers' assistant coach was Bob Bradley.

A refrain from the coaches Schellscheidt influenced is that he showed them that soccer’s an art, not a science. He never let one forget that it’s a players’ game – and that the key to youth coaching is respecting the players’ right to enjoy the sport and explore it on their own terms:

“Kids like to explore – learn and discover on their own terms. … To explore, to toy around with, to experiment.”

For me, every conversation with Schellscheidt ended with my affection for the sport rejuvenated. Thanks for that, Manny! … I’m looking forward to our first chat of the new year.

* * *

Manny Schellscheidt on Soccer:

"The game is the best teacher. The coach is really a substitute voice. We want the players to hear the silent voice, the game. The game is actually talking to you."

“Judge players by their talents, not their faults.”

“Soccer without ideas is boring. Players with skill and imagination are fun to watch.”

“We don’t lose by making a few mistakes, we lose for the things we never did.”

“No kid ever steps on the field and says, 'Today I'm going to lose.' They're naturally competitive. We should be concerned about the players' performance, not the final score.''

“There are always shortcuts that you can find to win the next game. That doesn't necessarily mean you'll be winning five, six years from now.”

"The great players lead with their minds. How do I make space and time? How do I take it away?"

On coaching youth with small-sided games: "It needs to be small enough so positions don't matter. That's the best solution. If coaches would have the patience to graduate their kids from really small numbers, one step at a time, that would be the most natural and the most potent education the players could possibly get. They would learn to deal with time and space, and how to move around and have some shape. The problem is we go to the bigger numbers too early."

On screaming orders from the sidelines and shackling players to areas of the field: "It destroys the children's natural instinct of being part of the game.”

On the difference between team development and player development: “There's such a difference. … You can divvy up the field, make players rehearse what they're supposed to do in their small areas, and as far as team development it works fine because they can find a quick way to get results. It's a short cut to success, but the kids don't become good players."

“The language of the game is body language. It's universal.”

On technique … "I don't believe skill was, or ever will be, the result of coaches. It is a result of a love affair between the child and the ball."

“All the questions will come from the game and so will the answers.”

(Mike Woitalla, the executive editor of Soccer America, coaches youth soccer for East Bay United SC in Oakland, Calif. He is the co-author, with Tim Mulqueen, of The Complete Soccer Goalkeeper, and More Than Goals with Claudio Reyna. Woitalla's youth soccer articles are archived at YouthSoccerFun.com.)

'Put best coaches at youngest ages' (Q&A with Mustang's Fred Wilson)

2011-12-24T00:22:39Z

The Youth Soccer Insider continues its interview series with youth club leaders by talking with Fred Wilson, the Boys Coaching Director of Northern California's Mustang Soccer, a club-slash-league with nearly 5,000 players under its umbrella.

Interview by Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)

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SOCCER AMERICA: What do you look for in coaches?

FRED WILSON: I think the first rule, which we all believe in at the club, is -- good for kids first; good for soccer second. And when you can find both, you’ve hit a home run.

There are a lot of guys out there who have a great deal of experience in the soccer world, but being with 10- and 11-year-olds proves to be a big challenge for them.

We look for people who understand children, understand what helps kids enjoy learning.

If somebody has just some soccer experience, we can work with that piece of it more than we can with someone who has limited experience dealing with kids. The soccer part of it, we can educate, we can work with them, there’s courses out there.

But I think it takes a unique individual, an inspired individual … people who played soccer and they go into teaching … I think about a third of our staff are teachers in some capacity and I think they’re some of our best coaches because they had experience in the game and they know how to relate to the kids.

For those people who have that quality and have that ability – I think they recognize that it’s not difficult to help kids have fun and enjoy doing something. I think people who don’t understand that quality have difficulty.

We look at their soccer experience, we look at their soccer expertise, no question. But more importantly we look at their experience with kids and how that has translated over the years.

SA: We seem to all agree that the key to becoming an exceptional player – and the main ingredient of teams that play good soccer – is individual skill. Optimally, the skill would come from children playing lots of soccer on their own, but because that’s not the case in general, how do coaches balance skill training with ensuring the kids are having fun?

FRED WILSON: You have to find that balance – and that’s why you put your best coaches with the youngest ages. Those coaches know how to run a practice where the kids are learning but their minds are on how much fun they’re having.

There are a hundred fun exercise games you can play with littler kids. Tag games. Games with the ball at their feet. Coordination drills mixed with games.

You’re not trying to create super dribblers at age 7, but to inspire them to have a love affair with the ball. Everything is about a love affair with the ball, a love affair with the game.

Maybe it looks silly to some people watching, but when they’re playing freeze tag with the ball -- and part of the requirement is to keep the ball at your feet -- the comfort with the ball becomes something.

SA: There has been a lot of talk, action and investment from the U.S. Soccer Federation to improve player development. But what else is needed?

FRED WILSON: The Academy is a great step, the directions from the Federation are great steps. All those things are the right things.

The one thing I want to see more is that it’s not just about trying to change soccer at the older levels, it’s a culture we’re trying to change at the younger levels.

My job with our grass-roots programs, which I would love to see more of a mandate from the federation at all levels, is to get 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-year-old little boys to love soccer so much that at the end of the day, they say, mom, dad, this is all I want to do. I just want to play soccer. I don’t want to do anything else.

I don’t ever want to say to them, “You have to give up other sports.” I don’t want kids to not be able to kids.

But it’s a cultural change we’re going through in this country and I think anything we can do at the grassroots level – and a lot of youth clubs understand that -- to help promote the culture in that regard will pay off in the long run.

SA: Mustang Soccer is a club-slash-league with nearly 5,000 youth players under its umbrella. What are the benefits of the “full-service” club model?

FRED WILSON: The benefits are the number of good people who are involved and the club culture that develops -- people wanting to a part of it regardless of what level they’re in.

We have a place for every kid to play if they want to be a part of our club.

SA: And the challenges?

FRED WILSON: The sheer volume. The 2,200-plus home games during the regular season. The management of so many different people and personalities -- and getting them to buy into a single philosophy.

Where that makes us better as a club and makes us strong is we’re consistent in our message from our board of directors down to our coaching staff to our directors on the field about coaching education and player development.

(Fred Wilson, Mustang Soccer’s Boys Coaching Director, has coached at the Northern California club since 1990 and is also the Manager of the San Jose Earthquakes’ U.S. Soccer Development Academy program. Wilson, formerly a high school english teacher at Cal High, coached the Monte Vista High School boys soccer team in 1998-2005.)

Youth Soccer Insider Interviews 2011
Tim Schulz (Rush Soccer)
Charlie Slagle (CASL)
Cony Constin (Westside Metros)
Tab Ramos (NJSA 04)
Hassan Nazari (Dallas Texans)
Tom Howe (Woodson City Rangers)
Theresa Echtermeyer (Colorado United)
Miriam Hickey (Vardar East)
Wilmer Cabrera (U.S. U-17s)
George Kuntz (AYSO)
Brad Rothenberg (Alianza de Futbol)
Joe Cummings (NSCAA)
Claudio Reyna (U.S. Soccer)
Tad Bobak (So Cal Blues)
Manny Schellscheidt (U.S. U-14s)
Richie Williams (U.S. U-18s)
Derek Armstrong (Nomads) Part 2
Jurgen Klinsmann (U.S. Soccer) Part 2

Tackling gay issues in sports

2011-12-15T06:47:53Z

The hardships faced by gay teens inspired the coming-out of former University of North Carolina star David Testo after nearly a decade of pro soccer in MLS, the USL and NASL. We contacted longtime soccer coach and journalist Dan Woog, the author of five books on gay and lesbian issues, to comment on the importance of pro athletes coming out and to offer advice for coaches on how to combat the homophobia that can torment gay and questioning teens.

Interview by Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)

]]> SOCCER AMERICA: Last month, David Testo became the first North American professional soccer player to come out as gay. He cited among the reasons for coming out reports of suicides among gay teens. What was your reaction to Testo's coming out and his view that more professional athletes doing so could help "normalize this issue?"

DAN WOOG: David Testo's coming out was a very important step. We've seen athletes in individual sports (swimming, tennis, golf, etc.) come out; we've seen athletes in team sports in other countries come out (rugby, Anton Hysen in soccer, etc.). We've seen Rick Welts come out as an NBA executive, and the reaction when Brendan Burke, the gay son of NHL executive Brian Burke, died.

But David Testo is the first male athlete in a major American team sport to come out. We're still waiting for the first active player -- in one of the "bigger" sports like football, basketball or baseball -- to come out. But this is another big step on that road.

As for his view that professional athletes coming out "normalize" the issue: absolutely. Sports is the very last "closet" -- we've got openly gay politicians, entertainers, actors, teachers, clergy, you name it. The only segment of society where gay people are still not open is professional sports.

"Normalization" is crucial -- for everyone to see that gay people are everywhere. It's not good, it's not bad; it's just a fact of life. And that "normalization" is important not just for gay youth -- who need positive role models -- but for straight people (especially young people) as well.

They will grow up and live in a world with all kinds of people around them. To realize that some of their sports heroes are gay is an important message to straight kids too.

SA: The bullying of LGBT teens sparked the creation of the "It Gets Better Project." Among the professional sports teams – including baseball's Giants, Cubs, Dodgers, Phillies and Red Sox -- that created videos for the campaign, was D.C. United, and the Seattle Sounders took part in one. How important is it for pro sports to be involved in this campaign and for soccer teams to be a part of it?

DAN WOOG: Hugely important. For better or worse, youngsters take many of their cues from sports. If they hear fans chanting "Yankees Suck," or hear sports figures talking smack about opponents, they think it's OK to do that in high school (or below).

Conversely, if they hear (or hear about) teams taking a stand against anti-gay language -- or hear sports figures telling all kids who are bullied (for whatever reason) that "it gets better," that makes a bigger impact than most adults imagine. The key, of course, is getting those videos -- or those remarks -- in front of young people.

SA: Testo mentioned he "heard tons of gay slurs" when he attended a game at his old high school in North Carolina. What impact does it have on a gay teen, or on teens unsure of their sexual orientation, to hear those words?

DAN WOOG: There are two parts of the answer. The first is, it has an enormous impact on gay or questioning teens. Wow, they think -- I can never come out. My teammates would hate me. They won't trust me. I'll ruin the team chemistry. I won't be able to play any more. And they start thinking -- worrying -- about that, and as a result they can't concentrate on what they should be concentrating on, which is the training or game or school or whatever.

The second part is, those words have an even greater impact when they are accepted as "part of the culture," or when they are not addressed. First, the gay or questioning kid thinks (subconsciously, or even consciously), "Wow, the coach doesn't let anyone use the n-word, and he even got mad when someone called his girlfriend 'my bitch.' But he doesn't say anything about 'faggot' or 'homo' -- so I must really be a bad person.”

And the message that gets sent to straight players when no one addresses those words is: "It's OK to use them. You can't say 'nigger' or anything else bad, but you can say 'faggot.'" That's a very subtle lesson -- but it's a powerful one.

SA: What should a coach do when he hears gay slurs from his players?

DAN WOOG: He should not make a huge deal of it. He should just address it in his own style. Some coaches can use humor: "This training session is gay? Does it really like other training sessions?"

Some can use a teachable moment: "Hey -- I don't want to hear that anymore. You know we talk about respect all the time. You never know who you might be offending -- the bus driver, someone with a gay uncle -- it doesn't matter. Knock it off."

Some can use a personal example: "You know, my sister is a lesbian. I love her very much -- and she's a better soccer player than you'll ever be. Please don't use that word around me again."

Many coaches are afraid to address it, because they worry what players will think: "Is he gay?" Well, they don't worry that players will think he's black if he stands up against the n-word, or a woman if he doesn't allow anti-female slurs, or a dog if he stands up for animal rights!

SA: Is homophobia a problem in youth soccer?

DAN WOOG: I'd call it "homo-ignorance." By that I mean ignorance on the part of adults that many athletes are gay, and ignorance about the power of anti-gay language. They're ignorant because they don't see gay athletes at the pro level, and they don't realize kids on their teams are gay, questioning, or have gay friends or relatives.

Which brings us back to the point of David Testo's coming-out being so important.

SA: Is there more homophobia in sports than in other sectors of society?

DAN WOOG: I think there's more overt anti-gay language, and less recognition of gay people and gay issues. That's partly because sports has been very male-dominated in the past; any sign of weakness is looked down on, and homosexuality has in the past been associated with "male weakness."

It's also because sports is hierarchical -- you do what you're told by the coach, and when you become a coach you coach the way your coaches coached -- though that is changing rapidly.

SA: Do you think gay or lesbian teens should come out to their teammates?

DAN WOOG: Every situation is different. Many gay youth -- far more than most people realize -- are out to at least a few teammates, at the high school and college level. But many are not yet ready to come out -- the climate is unsafe, they worry about family reactions or the climate at school or what opponents will say if the word gets out -- and those are valid concerns.

I always tell players that they will know when they are ready to come out, and they should come out for the right reasons -- not because they feel pressure to. Interestingly, no player has ever come out to me while he's been on one of my teams -- and that's normal. After graduation, they do come out to me.

SA: Suppose a coach notices a player is depressed and suspects it’s because the player is struggling with the issue of sexual orientation, should the coach ever broach the subject with the player?

DAN WOOG: No. If something is going on with a kid, I might say, “You don’t really seem to be yourself. … You seem really distracted …” or “You’re not smiling the way you usually do. … Is there something I should know about?" That’s all.

When I think a player is depressed or distracted, I’m not going to say, “Are your parents getting divorced? … Does your father have cancer?” or anything like that. Even if I knew it, I would never say it.

I would never put a kid on the spot like that. It’s what we talk about a lot at the youth group I work with. I’m a facilitator at GLBT youth group, and kids say, “My mother asked me a year ago if I was gay and I freaked out. I wasn’t ready for it.”

Coming out, whether it’s to a parent, a friend, a coach or a teammate, really should be on the kid’s own terms.

SA: What is it that can make life so difficult for gay or questioning teens?

DAN WOOG: I think the term “in the closet” is very apt because nobody lives in a closet. You live in your bedroom, your living room, your kitchen. In the closet there’s no light, no ventilation, spiders in the corner. ...

Being gay is this thing you’re carrying around, you’re trying to figure out, “What’s my life going to be like? ... Am I ever going to meet anybody? …” You’re going through all that and you’re worried at the same time, in the athletic context, “Oh God, everybody’s talking about the team and we all have to rely on each other. What if somebody finds out about me? Will they turn their back on me? Will they tease me? Will I be the one who disrupts the whole team?"

And you have nobody to talk to about it really, because you can’t point to this gay coach, or these gay athletes, or this guy on the team last year who’s gay. You can’t point to anybody unless you find Outsports.com or read about the very few David Testos of the world. There’s no way of reconciling your gay identity, which is important to you because it’s who you are, with your sports identity, which is important to you because that too is who you are.

(Dan Woog is the head coach of the Staples High School boys soccer program in Westport, Conn. The Wreckers have won four league championships in the last six years, and their 12th state title overall in 2010. An openly gay man, Woog has written two books on gay athletes, the “Jocks” series, and currently writes a nationally syndicated column on gay sports, “The OutField.” His web site is danwoog.com.)

'They need a guiding hand' (Derek Armstrong Q&A, Part 2)

2011-12-01T06:45:22Z

In Part 2 of our interview, Armstrong addresses the USA's challenge in producing special players and the U.S. Soccer Federation's role in player development.

Interview by Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)

]]> SOCCER AMERICA: Your view, that American youth soccer is producing more “good players” than ever but lacks special players, is widely shared. Why aren’t we producing more exceptional players?

DEREK ARMSTRONG: There are so many different things needed to create that environment. ... It’s such a big issue. I think everybody who’s anybody in the United States should be involved in that question. Coaches, parents, the Federation.

One part of the answer is straight: we’re not doing enough.

SA: Let’s start with the environment in general …

ARMSTRONG: Years and years ago in England in the early 1930s, the talk was you could shout down a coal mine, “You got a center back down there” and you get a center back. There were so many of them. You had street soccer happening then.

A bit like the Brazil of today, where you see technical players all over the place. The environment in Brazil is conducive to supplying special players. You’ve got street soccer in Brazil in the way of futsal, in the way of other stuff that goes on there.

Everybody loves the game. They’re steeped in it. Mothers, fathers, grandparents … So the kids have inspirational people around them. The enthusiasm and the knowledge. …

You’ve got to have inspirational coaches working with inspirational players. You’ve got to match the two together. You’ve got to create an environment in which special kids can grow.

SA: There’s certainly more of a soccer culture in the USA than ever, millions of players, and thousands of coaches trying to do the right thing. At what stage in players’ development do you see the biggest problems?

ARSMTRONG: I guarantee there’s been special players missed in the last 10, 15 years.

A key is putting players, at 14 years old, into the right environment in which they can grow. There are kids at 13 or 14 with potential, then stuff happens in the body and the mind that doesn’t allow them to progress.

SA: Can you give some examples of what stifles their progress?

ARSMTRONG: There are discipline issues. We haven’t come to terms with the society we’re confronted with. The TV, the drugs, the lack of discipline in the home. Parents working two jobs and trying to look after their kids at the same time. Kids cannot come through in that environment.

They need a steadiness. They need a guiding hand. They need discipline.

Talented kids come out of Los Angeles, and you can’t coach them -- if you have a staff with zero tolerance. They get kicked out. They generally don’t make the grade.

I think we’ve got too strict an approach. Perhaps we need a system with a bit more tolerance because of the society thing that’s going on.

We’re aware of it and we want to do more.

We send kids to Bradenton [U.S. Soccer’s U-17 Residency Program] who are ill-disciplined. They’re going to get thrown back, because it’s zero-tolerance, and rightly so.

But without understanding why that kid is misbehaving. Why has he got an attitude problem? Why is he late for training?

We’re fighting it here. By the time they get to our Academy they should have all of those problems worked out, but it takes a lot of man-power to do that when you’re not full-time residential.

Not every player behaves himself. Eric Cantona was a nightmare early on in his career. He would never have made it as a youth player here.

We need a little more tolerance and more structure for our better players. And we need special people to help them.

All of that happens in Argentina. They get these kids and they look after them, and put them on the right track.

SA: You’re saying socioeconomic issues are a factor …

ARMSTRONG: I deal with those issues everyday, particularly with the Latino community. I just looked at the tax returns of our Academy players’ families -- incomes of $17,000, $21,000.

The family has two jobs. They hardly have time to look after the kids. It’s such a big subject.

So we’ve got families earning $17,000 a year. How the hell can those parents come to every game, come to every practice. What spare time have they got to work with their kids? They haven’t got any spare time.

If we’re going to have a kid make it, we’re going to need his parents’ help. We can’t do it alone.

SA: Being from a low-income family isn’t a roadblock for talented children in other countries …

ARMSTRONG: At foreign clubs, which have residency programs, the staff becomes his mom, it becomes his dad.

In a situation where he goes home every night, I need the help of the mom and dad.

When you’ve got parents working two jobs, parents who are limited financially, getting kids from one part of the city to the other, three or four nights a week, to train them, is a problem -- all of those things contribute what makes up a special player.

SA: You mentioned Bradenton, the residency program for U.S. U-17 boys that was launched in 1999 …

ARMSTRONG: The Federation is doing it for 40 kids in Bradenton. But look at the size of our country.

I went to France in the summer and I went to Clairefontaine [the French federation’s youth Academy].

They’re not doing this in one place where all the best come to. They regionalized it. They’re a much smaller country and they’ve got [12] of them.

We’ve got to have that in the United States. Where’s the special place I can send my special players to?

I think the only way we can do it is regionalized centers for excellence whereby we’ve got experienced senior staff at the helm so that they’re aware of these problems and they can guide these kids and look at their daily life, and see what the package is. If they’re good enough technically, then I think we have to invest in them.

Invest in them as a person and see if we can make them into better people. I don’t think we have to wait for that prefect Mr. Nice Guy who comes around, like [Nomads alum and U.S. World Cup veteran Steve Cherundolo], who will never give you a problem in your whole life.

It really should be professionals who are doing that, which are the MLS clubs. The MLS clubs should be at the forefront of youth development in the United States.

SA: The Nomads joined the U.S. Soccer Development Academy league when it launched in 2007. What’s your assessment of the Academy?

ARMSTRONG: Very pleased. We were in from Day 1. The people who are in the Academy have got somewhere to aim for. You’re going to see the best teams in the country.

But I feel there’s too many clubs. I think it should be smaller. The federation almost has to support clubs like ourselves. I think it’s getting so hard to keep the finances going it’s threatening the viability of clubs.

The way I read it, they threw the gauntlet down and said, Get organized. You want to be in the Academy, find a sponsor, it’s up to you to find the solution to the problems, and we’ve done that. My solution was to give up the Allen Field and the clubhouse. I have regretted it ever since, but I had no choice and we wrestled with it for a year. We couldn’t afford the Academy and the clubhouse.

The support from the sponsors of the Federation should trickle down to the Academy’s youth clubs. That’s the direction it should be going.

SA: Playing in the Academy is more expensive than what those age groups did before?

ARMSTRONG: Absolutely. Travel expenses alone … if you’ve got to go places like Seattle, going to Arizona for one game.

SA: Do your players get financial aid from the Federation?

ARSMTRONG: We got our fair share of scholarships from the Federation last year, which was absolutely wonderful. I don’t know what we’ll get this year. It goes up and down. It depends on your applications.

Last year we got good support.

SA: Any final words on looking back at 30 years of American youth soccer?

ARMSTRONG: We’ve made fantastic progress but we’re nowhere close to where we want to be. And there are young players with the talent. We need to try harder.

Read Part 1 of the interview HERE.

(Derek Armstrong, who left his native England, where he was Blackpool’s coach for apprentice players, became Nomads director of coaching in 1981. U.S. national team stars who played youth ball for the Nomads include Steven Cherundolo, Frankie Hejduk and Jovan Kirovski. The Nomads team that won the 2002 U-14 USYS national title, coached by Derek's son David Armstrong, included three current MLS players – Michael and Gabriel Farfan [Philadelphia] and Eric Avila [Toronto]. The Nomads have also won USYS national titles at the U-19 [1999], U-17 [1997] and U-16 [1996] levels. Derek Armstrong was a founding director of US Club Soccer, coached the 1987 U.S. U-20 World Cup team, and won three NCAA Division III national titles during his 1982-2007 tenure as UC San Diego head coach.)

'U.S. coaching is first class' (Derek Armstrong Q&A - Part 1)

2011-11-26T06:43:10Z

Few individuals have had as great an impact on American youth soccer as Derek Armstrong, who three decades ago pioneered the fully staffed, multi-team club model now prevalent throughout the USA.

Interview by Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)

]]> Armstrong, who is celebrating his 30th anniversary as head of the San Diego Nomads, was also a founding director of US Club Soccer and coached the 1987 U.S. U-20 World Cup team. We spoke with Armstrong about the evolution of the American youth game and the Nomads program that has featured future stars such as Steven Cherundolo, Frankie Hejduk and Jovan Kirovski.

SOCCER AMERICA: You’re believed to be the first full-time, paid coach in U.S. youth soccer. Now, of course, paid coaches and full-time club directors are the norm. What was the reaction to your arrival back in 1981?

DEREK ARMSTRONG: Everybody was mainly a mom-and-pop operation. Back then, people didn’t like the idea that someone’s getting paid to be doing this and competing against their team.

SA: What did you think of the youth talent in the USA when you arrived?

ARMSTRONG: That’s what tempted me. I was on vacation in San Diego visiting Joe Hollow [the real estate developer who founded the Nomads] and helped train players for six weeks. There were players like Jeff Duback, Arturo Velazco, Steve Boardman. The talent is what tempted me to give it a go and we went from there.

The youth potential was obvious. The problem was in administration. I started to run into state associations and that kind of thing.

I didn’t have a clue in the beginning and as I got integrated, I had to fight everybody over common sense things like soccer balls and stupid rules.

The high school thing hit me in the face in the first season, when I was told I couldn’t have the players for four months. What? Why?

SA: You had fights over soccer balls?

ARMSTRONG: To the very first State Cup game, I brought a brand new ball from Blackpool [the English club where Armstrong had served as reserve team coach]. The best ball in the world at the time. I told the ref, I don’t mind you using this today. And he’s got a Coca-Cola plastic ball in his right hand, and he put the two in each hand, and said, “I’m using this one.” Which was the plastic Coca-Cola ball. Welcome to America. Oh my, what’s going on here?

SA: How did you create a coaching staff at the Nomads?

ARMSTRONG: The first four years we weaned away from volunteer and parent coaches. In 1982, I started coaching at UC San Diego. I started using graduating seniors as coaches.

Joe Hollow was bit of a visionary. He had a vision of what an American soccer could look like. He was ahead of his time. In other countries, professional clubs took care of youth development, but we didn’t have that here, so the youth clubs had to try and create a similar structure.

[Note: Armstrong coached the UC San Diego Tritons for 26 seasons (1982-2007), winning three NCAA Division III men's titles.]

SA: How would you rate the youth coaching in the USA today?

ARMSTRONG: First class. Young guys start coaching at an early age and have gotten really into to it.

I think we’ve got some really good coaches who are way ahead of the young people in some of the other countries. These guys get into coaching when they’re in college. They’re looking for a coaching job almost before they finish college. They get a head start. I think it’s quite good.

SA: What are you most proud of?

ARMSTRONG: I think being out in front and setting an example. I’m proud of that. That we stood for something. Running the thing properly and professionally at the time when it was amateur.

I think we were a bit of a leader at that. People started looking at what we doing. Like Tahuichi [the Bolivian youth club] was for what we were doing.

Tahuichi going to the Dallas Cup I think educated a lot of people in the United States who had never seen a decent standard of soccer at the youth level.

It took us to a new level. Tahuichi took our game, the expectations of what is possible with youth to a new level. To a lesser extent, the way we went around was an inspiration to people about how to play the game, certainly in California. …

Half of the coaches in San Diego worked for the Nomads. I think we were a good influence on soccer.

SA: You coached the U.S. team, which included Tony Meola, Kasey Keller, Jeff Agoos and Marcelo Balboa, at the U-20 World Cup. What notable memories do you have of that stint?

ARMSTRONG: It was a two-year spell and I enjoyed that immensely.

That was when the Federation wasn’t as organized as it is now. It was fragmented, and I enjoyed the period because it allowed me to travel around the country and meet everybody.

I’ll never forget walking into St. Louis for a regional event with [my assistant Steve Heighway]. There were 60, 70 people and you could almost feel the animosity. By the time we finished we got everybody relaxed and everybody smiling.

Everybody had their own little empire and you were trying to put together a national program. It turned out to be an enjoyable experience.

SA: How would you compare the USA’s youth talent today compared to the mid-1980s?

ARMSTRONG: There’s a lot more good players. I’m not at all sure if the diamonds are any larger, the special players. We’re not producing enough special players. For special players, there’s a different set of stuff that has to go on for that to happen.

SA: How do we produce more special players?

ARMSTRONG: There isn’t one answer, because there are so many different things needed to make up that environment. ... It’s such a big issue. I think everybody who’s anybody in the United States should be involved in that question.

(Look for Part 2 of this Youth Soccer Insider interview, in which Derek Armstrong expands on the challenge the USA faces in producing special players.)

If MLS wants kids to watch ...

2011-11-21T06:40:51Z

How do you, a youth coach, address your players when they're victims of bad fouls, brutish opponents or bad refereeing?

By Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)

]]> Obviously, it’s prohibiting retaliation, clinging to your belief that skillful soccer will prevail, and zero-tolerance in ref abuse.

But youth coaches could use some help from the pros. That, in this country, would be Major League Soccer.

I’m assuming most youth coaches desperately want their players to watch good soccer as much as possible. And anyone who cares about American soccer wants MLS to succeed, so we’d like to steer youngsters toward becoming fans of the USA’s league.

But MLS should care more about what kind of soccer it’s presenting if it expects youth coaches to recommend it to their players.

The emphasis from many teams on a physical style over skillful possession, and the low-scoring are problems. You only get to see one goal every 35 minutes. The 2011 season set a record for scoreless ties. That doesn’t keep 9-year-olds glued to the screen.

More disconcerting is the tolerance of thuggish play, the behavior of some the league’s biggest stars, the disrespect shown to referees, and the TV commentators who practically condone cheating.

Who’s the player most American kids can name? David Beckham, who led the league in yellow cards. The Beckham who got into a screaming, nose-to-nose confrontation with Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis.

There’s Rafa Marquez petulantly throwing a ball at Landon Donovan, who to his credit walked away, but whose teammates turned it into a brawl. Thierry Henry was ejected twice this season.

Worse than those transgressions were the fouls that seriously injured four of MLS’s top players -- David Ferreira (broken ankle), Javier Morales (broken ankle), Steve Zakuani (broken leg) and Branko Boskovic (knee ACL). A fifth victim, Seattle’s Mauro Rosales, missed the playoffs with a knee injury inflicted from one of the many cynical fouls he’d suffered.

Hey, watch this league and see what awaits if you’re a superb dribbler.

The pool of talent in MLS isn’t deep enough for the league to lose so many players of such quality and expect to deliver soccer entertaining enough to lure young fans, who have many other options of soccer on TV to choose from.

We had New York coach Hans Backe encouraging his team to “play a bit dirty.” A Portland Timbers player offered this sage advice on how to approach a game: “You step onto the battlefield ... you've got to become that nasty person, that mean person.”

Especially disturbing is how MLS tolerates its players’ behavior towards referees – and the refs’ neglect of the rule mandating a yellow card for dissent. There should be zero tolerance on mobbing the referee after a call, but we keep seeing it and somehow the refs keep the cards in their pockets. (UEFA's head of referees, Pierluigi Collina, wants refs to show a red for such behavior and MLS should enter the next season instructing its officials to do so, and backing them up. One or two reds for a charging dissenter and that would end the practice.)

Of course, when adults play high-stake sports there’ll be some foul play and poor sportsmanship. It’s how the league, the refs, the coaches and the TV commentators react that concerns me about MLS.

The league must urge its refs get stricter with foul play, hand out longer suspensions for lethal tackles, and require players to pass a rules test to be eligible (because it's obvious that too many of these pros have no clue of what constitutes a foul).

And something must be done about the TV commentators who often display their ignorance of the rules – intent is only a factor on handball! – and are constantly defending thuggish play.

When Brian Mullan’s brutal foul broke Zakuani’s leg, more sympathy for Mullan seemed to come out of the Fox Soccer booth than for the player with the cracked bones.

Instead of denouncing the cheating, TV commentators are constantly reacting with euphemisms that virtually celebrate fouls.

They actually say things like “good foul,” “smart foul,” “intelligent foul” and “he had no option but to foul.” (Yes, he had another option! Not to foul, and remember there’s a goalkeeper back there who will most likely make the save.)

A rookie gets hammered and we get an enthusiastic, “Welcome to the big leagues!” from the booth. A defender gets lavishly praised because if he “has the ability to get a piece of you he absolutely will.” A player throws a punch and gets described as “feisty.”

When TV commentators stop excusing foul play and start getting the rules right, youth coaches will feel more comfortable about having their players tune in.

And if MLS cracks down on violent play and better protects its talented, attacking players, its games will be higher scoring, more entertaining, and more likely to turn youngsters into fans.

(Mike Woitalla, the executive editor of Soccer America, coaches youth soccer for East Bay United in Oakland, Calif. His youth soccer articles are archived at YouthSoccerFun.com.)

Klinsmann Q&A: 'We are on the right track' (Part 2)

2011-11-15T06:37:12Z

Jurgen Klinsmann's stint as Germany's national team coach in 2004-06 coincided with the nation's rebirth as a world power. We asked Klinsmann, U.S. head coach since July, to compare the German player development efforts with those in the USA.

Interview by Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)

]]> SOCCER AMERICA: The World Cup is less than three years away, but, for example, your German 2006 World Cup team and Germany's 2010 World Cup team included key players who were in their teens just a couple years before the World Cup. How likely is it that players who are in their late teens now might be able to help your U.S. squad?

JURGEN KLINSMANN: Age is not the key per se. Pele was 17 in his first World Cup. Michael Owen was 18. Lionel Messi was 19. But, as young as they were, these players had already established themselves as stars for their professional clubs. So, having a very successful professional club experience will be the key as to whether or not any of our young players contribute to the national team, particularly in the World Cup.

SA: You played against the USA in 1993 (twice) and at the 1998 World Cup, and have been observing American soccer closely since then. How would you assess the talent pool for the national team now compared the 1990s?

JURGEN KLINSMANN: I can look back on the U.S. teams that I played against in the 1990s and identify some very talented players. For instance, Claudio [Reyna] and Tab [Ramos] had international and MLS club careers, and, consequently, I am glad to now be working with them at U.S. Soccer.

Kasey [Keller] is only now retiring and Brad [Friedel] is still playing. So, there have been talented American players capable of playing at high levels for a generation. But, certainly, there are now more American players capable of playing at the professional level and they are doing so in MLS as well as in many other leagues around the world.

SA: The German national team's rebirth as a national power -- and that it plays entertaining, attacking soccer -- is credited largely to the DFB's and the Bundesliga's change in approach to youth development within the last decade. Are there examples of the German approach that can be applied to the USA?

JURGEN KLINSMANN: In Germany, both the federation and the professional clubs made a commitment to youth development --- and this has helped create a player development environment that contributes to renewed success for the German national team.

In the USA we now see a similar growing commitment by both U.S. Soccer and MLS to promote youth development. U.S. Soccer now sponsors the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, the new youth development curriculum announced by Claudio [Reyna] this year, extensive training and competition opportunities for youth national team players as well as other programs.

And, MLS clubs are now investing in player development academies, the benefits associated with developing “homegrown” talent, play-for-free opportunities, 10 months a year youth training programs as well as other programs. So, we are on the right track -- although it may take time to see a dramatic improvement in international results for U.S. national teams.

SA: How much of what the DFB (German soccer federation) implemented in its youth development was thanks to you?

JURGEN KLINSMANN: The thanks go to the youth coaches who dedicate themselves to working with young players. I am pleased to have been a part of promoting youth development and then showing that entertaining, attacking soccer can be successful on an international stage like the World Cup -- while playing young players.

SA: How closely will you be connected U.S. Development Academy in hopes of finding players who can help the national team program?

JURGEN KLINSMANN: The U.S. Soccer national teams program currently includes youth teams at the U14, U15, U17, and U18 levels as well as senior teams at the U20 and U23 levels, which more directly feed the full national team.

Currently, the U.S. Development Academy has teams in two age groups: U15/16 and U17/18. Both these programs --- U.S. Soccer youth national teams, which include player identification opportunities and training camps as well as competitions, and the U.S. Soccer Development Academy --- are carefully monitored by Claudio, the U.S. Soccer Youth Technical Director, and his staff of youth technical advisors.

They provide regular updates, including updates on players that appear to have national team potential, to the national team coaches, including myself. But, in fairness to the youth players, they really must establish themselves as regular players within a professional club environment before they will be ready for the full national team.

Klinsmann Q&A: Parents can set an example (Part 1)

2011-11-12T06:35:08Z

Jurgen Klinsmann, whose playing career included winning the 1990 World Cup title with Germany, took a keen interest in American youth soccer when he moved to California upon his retirement in 1998. He became head coach of the U.S. national team in July and took time before the USA's November friendlies against France and Slovenia to discuss American youth soccer issues, including the parents' role, pay-to-play, differences between European and American youth clubs, college ball -- and he offers some advice to youth coaches.

Interview by Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)

]]> Interview by Mike Woitalla

Jurgen Klinsmann, whose playing career included winning the 1990 World Cup title with Germany, took a keen interest in American youth soccer when he moved to California upon his retirement in 1998. He became head coach of the U.S. national team in July and took time before the USA's November friendlies against France and Slovenia to discuss American youth soccer issues, including the parents' role, pay-to-play, differences between European and American youth clubs, college ball -- and he offers some advice to youth coaches.

SOCCER AMERICA: You have spoken often about the value of unorganized soccer for children -- and you helped found an initiative (FD21) to promote that in Germany. Is there a way to increase the amount of soccer children play in the USA outside the club structure?

JURGEN KLINSMANN: The keys for soccer development are for children to enjoy kicking a ball and enjoy playing soccer types of games. It does not take a soccer field or an organized team training to do this. But we may need to help our children learn what they can do on their own or with a few friends to enjoy kicking a ball and playing soccer.

In other words, youth soccer training should include lots of fun -- “you can do this on your own” -- activities, including showing examples of how to have soccer-related fun in a backyard, the driveway, the schoolyard, a park, against a wall, or anywhere there is a small amount of space and a ball -- any kind of ball.

In the USA, basketball is part of the culture. So young basketball players grow up learning how to play types of basketball games -- like 1-on-1, 21, H-O-R-S-E --- on their own and with small groups. We need to help our young soccer players to be able to do the same thing -- play on their own or with their friends or with their parents wherever they are with whatever ball is available.

SOCCER AMERICA: A big change in children's sports is the declining role of schools' physical education and sports programs. Can you speak to that issue?

JURGEN KLINSMANN: Of course I think it is too bad that physical education and sports programs are declining in schools. And I understand though do not necessarily agree with some of the reasons, primarily around setting priorities and budget cuts. So, as parents, we have a choice -- sit back and do nothing in the face of this decline or create alternative opportunities for our children.

Actually, I do not think that we do have a choice. I think we have to create alternative opportunities for our children. It is part of their life-long education. We hear constantly about the problems of obesity and other health-related issues arising from a lack of exercise. What can we -- as parents -- do about it?

Set an example. Be active with our children. Don’t let them automatically watch TV or go into their rooms to play video games or go online. Encourage outdoor activities year round. Kick a ball in the backyard. Walk or ride a bike to the store instead of driving.

Participate in a local community event instead of going to the movies. There are many active things we can do with our children and that they can do on their own, if we make this type of active lifestyle a family priority.

SA: One of the huge flaws in American youth soccer is the high cost. (The more talented you are, the more it costs.) Why is this not the case in other countries, such as Germany, and do you see any solutions to the problem in the USA?

JURGEN KLINSMANN: In European countries, there are two types of clubs: local soccer/sports clubs and professional soccer clubs, which may also include other sports. The local soccer/sports clubs usually serve people from youth through adulthood. So, there is a lifelong opportunity to participate and adult fees are helping reduce (though not eliminate) youth fees.

Plus, the local soccer/sports clubs tend to play 10-month seasons based on local travel and local leagues, not regional leagues and big tournaments with high fees and long-distance travel as is common in the USA.

Also, in Europe, the professional clubs have youth programs and they start signing up promising players at young ages and pay for their costs of training. So, the culture of sports participation and the professional club influence are much different and much stronger in Europe than currently in the USA.

Going forward, MLS clubs will have more influence in the USA, including providing free opportunities to play for talented players. Plus, we may see more American youth clubs partnering with international clubs, which will pay for the training costs of talented young American players. Chelsea, for instance, is experimenting with this right now.

Obviously, a big difference between the USA and European countries is that most promising young American soccer players will end up playing college soccer, while promising young European players have the goal of being professional players. There are many, many more college soccer programs in the USA than there are professional clubs in any European country.

But colleges cannot pay for youth development programs like professional clubs can. So, in summary, there are significant differences between the European sports culture and the American sports culture, which will not dramatically change anytime soon and which do impact the costs associated with youth soccer.

SA: Is the enormous geographic size of the USA a problem for the national team program as it scouts for talent and develops it? And if so, what are the solutions to overcoming the challenge?

JURGEN KLINSMANN: I look at the size and diversity of the USA as providing us with a tremendous opportunity, not a problem. We are blessed with a large, relatively wealthy, sports-oriented population that has invested in soccer facilities and organizing soccer so that millions of youngsters are playing soccer year-round. And, more attention is now being paid to developing soccer programs for underserved populations and geographic areas.

While we may have different and sometimes competing youth development soccer organizations, there are certainly opportunities for children to develop and play. In terms of scouting for talented players, youth clubs are doing it, youth organizations are doing it, colleges are doing it, professional teams are doing it, and our U.S. Soccer scouts are doing it.

So, I think we are probably able to identify most of the very talented young players. There are also more comprehensive and more consistent training programs being made available across the country, for example the U.S. Soccer Development Academy and MLS academies.

One trend I encourage, which has been successful in other large countries such as France and Germany that committed to youth development and which can now also be seen here in the USA, is to regionalize programs. This will cut down on costs, allow the youth players and their families to have more normal lifestyles, and provide for more development opportunities.

SA: If a coach of an under-8 team came to you for advice, how would you respond?

JURGEN KLINSMANN: Have fun! Let the children enjoy themselves! Help them learn the excitement they can experience kicking a ball and playing soccer-type games on their own, with their friends, and with their parents wherever they are with whatever ball they have available.

(Part 2 of this interview will appear in Monday's Youth Soccer Insider.)

(Mike Woitalla is the executive editor of Soccer America. His youth soccer articles are archived at YouthSoccerFun.com.)

Richie Williams: Remember when you were a kid

2011-11-02T07:06:01Z

After playing 14 years of pro ball and serving half-a-decade as an MLS assistant coach, Richie Williams now focuses full-time on the youth game.

Interview by Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)

]]> Recently named coach of the U.S. U-18 men’s national team, Williams is also a U.S. Soccer Development Academy Technical Advisor, assessing and advising the Academy’s northeastern clubs.

A defensive midfielder in his playing days, Williams, who played 20 times for the USA, collected a remarkable number of titles: two McGuire Cup (U-19) championships, two NCAA championships, one USISL Premiership title, three MLS Cups, two U.S. Open Cups, one Concacaf Champions Cup, one Inter-American Cup, and one Gold Cup.

He launched his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater, Virginia, then moved on to MLS, where at the Red Bulls (nés MetroStars) he served as assistant coach to Mo Johnston, Bruce Arena, Juan Carlos Osorio and Hans Backe, and served two stints as interim head coach.

After leaving the Red Bulls before the 2011 season, Williams worked with the U.S. U-14 and U-15 national teams.

“When I’m working with the U-14s and U-15s, you see a lot of talented players,” Williams says. “Very skillful with good technique on the ball – dribbling, passing.

“I don’t know exactly when this happens, but when they start to get a little bit more mature and develop physically, you see them depending more on their physical abilities than their technical abilities. And that’s where you see sometimes the quality of their play decreasing because they’re relying more on their physical abilities.

“You have to have a balance. You can’t forget about your technical abilities. As these kids grow, you have send the message, 'Now that you’re physically fast or strong, don’t just rely on taking the ball and running past people. You still want to play the same way you did when you were younger. You weren’t developed physically then and you had to rely on your controlling the ball and your passing.'

“Encourage that. When kids are moving up the style of play is important and they have to continue developing their technique.”

The U-18s, unlike the U-17s and U-20s, don’t compete in a world championship, but convene five times a year, including competition in a couple of international tournaments.

Williams says he’ll be working closely with new U-20 coach Tab Ramos. Both work under another former star from New Jersey, U.S. Soccer Youth Technical Director Claudio Reyna, who along with senior national team Coach Jurgen Klinsmann has emphasized the importance an integrated approach to coaching at all levels of the national team program.

“If you look at Claudio, Tab and myself and the way we played soccer, we weren’t that different,” says Williams. “We would all try and play the same way. We weren’t big center back guys who just kicked the ball down the field. We were all midfielders who controlled the ball, liked to pass, liked to play a nice style of soccer. Play out of the back, keep the ball on the ground, and attack and create chances. That’s easier said than done, but that’s our mentality.”

COACHING THE YOUNGEST. While playing and coaching in the pros, Williams frequently helped out friends coach their youth teams, and he’s coached his 9-year-old daughter for the past couple of years.

“At the young ages -- when they start playing at 5 until at least 10, 11,” Williams says, “based on what I’ve seen, I think there needs more emphasis on letting the kids play.

“For me, when practice starts, I would make sure every kid has a ball and every kid takes the ball and you do different things with the ball, whether that’s them dribbling around, touching the ball differently with different parts of the foot -- right foot, left foot. I just don’t understand when coaches tell them to run around the field or run without the ball.

“First of all, the amount of time, an hour, hour and a half max, why not get them to be in contact with the ball as much as possible? That’s where you’re going to get technique and ball control from.

“The kids at this age want to touch the ball. That’s why they’re out there. After that, do exercises where the kids aren’t standing around a lot. Passing exercises. A lot of touches, and a lot of things going for the goal, scoring goals.

“Remember back when you were a kid. You wanted the ball and you wanted to score a goal.”

KEYS TO SUCCESS. Williams has been coached and coached with some of the biggest names in American soccer. His coach at the Union Lancers, who won two McGuire Cups, was Manny Schellscheidt, who has coached at all levels of the men’s national team program and served as U-14 national identification program head from 1998 until last month. Bob Bradley was Schellscheidt’s assistant with the Lancers.

Arena was Williams’ coach at Virginia, where Williams and Reyna played on the 1991 NCAA championship team, and for three years at D.C. United, where Williams played alongside Marco Etcheverry on what many still consider MLS's greatest team ever. (Williams won two MLS Cups with United under Arena and one under Coach Thomas Rongen.)

“The successful coaches, same as a player, you have to be a hard worker, you have to be organized,” says Williams. “Obviously, you have to know the game. And you also have to be fair and honest with people.

“There’s tough decisions to be made sometimes, but as long as you’re upfront and honest about them you'll stay on the right track. You’re dealing with a lot of different personalities. Being able to understand each individual -- and not just expecting them to be exactly like you are, because you need guys from different places and with different personalities. You have to know how to man-manage these guys and understand how they do things might not be the same way you do things – but that’s OK as long as you get them to play within the group.

“And especially with the young players, you need to be patient and help them to be better soccer players in whatever way they need it.”

Tab Ramos: 'I know what Jurgen's looking for'

2011-10-26T07:00:26Z

No other coach of a U.S. national team on the men's side had as illustrious career in the U.S. jersey as new U-20 boss Tab Ramos, who played in three World Cups, two Copa Americas, the Olympics and the U-20 World Cup. One of the most skillful players in U.S. history, his dribbling skills have arguably yet to be matched by an American player. Upon retiring in 2002, Ramos founded the New Jersey youth club NJSA 04. In 2008, he coached the NJSA 04 Gunners to the U-14 U.S. Youth Soccer national title. He served as assistant coach to previous U.S. U-20 boss Thomas Rongen.

Interview by Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)

]]> SOCCER AMERICA: How valuable to your new position is your experience as a coach in grass-roots youth soccer?

TAB RAMOS: I think it’s incredibly valuable to learn the game from the beginning. From being on your knees and throwing the ball to 8-year-olds so they can hit a volley to helping Thomas [Rongen] coach the U-20 team. I think I was able to see everything in between. In the end, I think all the experiences will come in handy at different times.

SA: What's your overall impression of the player pool for the U-20s?

TAB RAMOS: Overall we have a good core of players who will be important at the start. Obviously this going to be a process of over a year to select what the main group is going to be that we’re going into [U-20 World Cup] qualifying with.

SA: What are some of the general characteristics of this age group? They’re adults but also just coming out of youth soccer …

TAB RAMOS: You have a wide range of experience among the different players. We have guys who have been overseas and have been playing, not necessarily in first division ball, but they have been playing pro for a couple of years.

You have guys who have never done it, who are now freshmen in college.

You can have seniors in high school. So you have wide range of talent to choose from. Obviously in the end you want to choose the most talented players who can play the way you’d like to play. But at the same time experience becomes a very important part of the selection process.

SA: U.S. Soccer Youth Technical Director Claudio Reyna has talked about the national teams at all levels, from Jurgen Klinsmann’s senior team on down, playing similar styles and in a similar system. How does that affect your task?

TAB RAMOS: We discussed that a lot. I feel fortunate that I’ve been able to go with Jurgen [as assistant coach] on the last few trips and I sort of know what he’s looking for and the type of player he’s looking for.

One of the most important things with this particular team is to win games, to get us to the [U-20] World Cup and to do the best we can.

But at the same time, one of my jobs is to try to develop players so when they get to the senior team they can play the same way we want to play on the senior team.

SA: How would you describe what Klinsmann is looking for?

TAB RAMOS: I’m sure Jurgen would be able to explain that better. But I think it’s pretty clear that he likes the teams to play out of the back. He wants people who are confident on the ball and confident to be able to make a difference in the game.

He wants guys up front who are direct, who want to go for goal, who want to make an impact on the game.

Not that other people aren’t looking for these things, but I think sometimes we find a lot of coaches who may say that’s how they want to play, but when it comes time to play the game -- you find them playing with one forward on top all by himself.

I think this is something Jurgen has been trying to do different. He’s been trying get more people forward. He’s been trying to give confidence to players to make a difference.

And the youth national teams will try not to be any different.

SA: About half the players who were part of the last three U.S. World Cup squads had played in a U-20 World Cup. How valuable is that U-20 experience?

TAB RAMOS: Very. Basically it’s the same thing. Preparation is the same thing. You have the scouting component. You have the fitness component.

The players are a little younger, but particularly the U-20 national team should be able to prepare a player for going into the senior team and not miss a beat.

SA: What memories do you have from playing in the U-20 World Cup in 1983 in Mexico at age 16?

TAB RAMOS: I took an elbow to face and got a broken nose against Ivory Coast [a 1-0 U.S. win].

But I have great memories. We opened against a very good Uruguay and lost 3-2. We lost the last game against Poland [2-0].

It was my first experience of what to me was real soccer. Making it to the youth national team is very special. I hope all the players coming into camp feel the same way I did when I played.

(Tab Ramos, the new U.S. U-20 men’s national team coach is also President of New Jersey club NJSA 04, which he founded. He was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2005 after a playing career for the USA that included three World Cups, two Copa Americas and the Olympics. He played club ball in Spain (Figueres & Real Betis) and Mexico (Tigres), in addition to his seven years with the MLS's MetroStars.)

Cruyff: 'Everyone grows'; Coaches' sons; U.S. Foundation grant cycle opens

2011-10-21T06:58:02Z

Johan Cruyff, speaking with Rob Draper of the UK's Daily Mail, recounted seeing Pep Guardiola for the first time - shortly after Cruyff had been named Barcelona coach and Guardiola was a "scrawny teenager" in Barcelona's youth team.

By Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)

]]> The Barca youth coaches told Cruyff that Guardiola was “one of the best."

But over the next year, the Dutchman said he looked for Guardiola in the reserves and didn’t see him:

“So then I looked at the first youth team, and he didn't play in that team. And eventually I found him in the third youth team.

“So I said to the coaches, ‘You said he was the best one!’ And they said, ‘Yeah, but physically …’ I said, ‘Put him there (in the reserves). He will grow. Don't worry, everybody grows.’ And they said, ‘Yeah, but we will lose.’ I said, ‘If we lose, we lose. We need to create players.’ And he did very well.”

With Guardiola as playmaker, Barcelona won six La Liga titles and the European Cup.

“The people who control the ball very well, they're the most important players,” Cruyff said. “And weak, smaller players, to survive they had to have a better technique than the others. Normally everyone grows -- some a little later, some at different times, but everybody grows. A lot of things will change but the base of soccer is always technique, always should be technique.”

Now in his fourth year as Barcelona's coach, Guardiola's titles include two European Cups, three La Liga titles, a World Club Cup and the Spanish Cup -- with a team famous for 5-foot-7 stars Leo Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi.

* * *

COACHES’ SONS. Among the 36 players called into to the U.S. under-15 boys national team camp at The Home Depot Center is Jonathan Klinsmann, son of U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann. Jonathan, a goalie, plays for the Irvine (Calif.) Strikers. The camp is being held under the direction of U.S. Soccer director of scouting Tony Lepore.

The sons of Jurgen Klinsmann’s two predecessors were also part of the youth national team program.

Bob Bradley’s son Michael, a starter at the 2010 World Cup who has made 62 U.S. appearances and scored 9 goals, was in the U.S. U-17 Residency Camp in 2002-04. He was a starter on the 2007 U-20 World Cup team, scoring in a round-of-16 win over Uruguay. The 24-year-old midfielder currently plays for Italian Serie A club Chievo, his fifth pro club in five countries following stints in England (Aston Villa), Germany (Borussia M’Gladbach), the Netherlands (Heerenveen) and MLS (MetroStars).

Bruce Arena’s son Kenny, a defender, played for the USA at the 2001 U-20 World Cup, where he scored in a 1-1 tie with Ukraine. He played two seasons in MLS in 2003-04 (20 games) with the MetroStars under Bob Bradley. Kenny Arena is currently assistant coach at UCLA and head coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy’s U-16 team, which he guided to the 2010-11 U.S. Soccer Development Academy title. His father is the Galaxy’s first-team head coach. ...

* * *

The U.S. SOCCER FOUNDATION, which was borne out of profits from the USA-hosted 1994 World Cup and has made over $55 million available to groups in all 50 states to support the growth of soccer, has opened its 2012 Annual Grant Cycle. Go HERE for more information. …

… Earlier this month, the Boys & Girls Club of East Los Angeles unveiled a new FieldTurf soccer field at its main facility. The field was a gift from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Embassy in Washington, D.C., as part of its partnership Manchester City. "We are incredibly fortunate and grateful for this gift," said Anna Araujo, Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of East Los Angeles. "This field will serve this community and all our kids well for many years. It will be an integral part of our community-based programming to enhance extracurricular activities for kids in this area." ...

* * *

U.S. YOUTH NATIONAL TEAM ROSTERS:

U.S. U-18 girls (Coach April Heinrichs)

U.S. U-17 girls (Coach Albertin Montoya)

U.S. U-17 boys Spain Trip (Coach Wilmer Cabrera)

U.S. U-17 boys Bradenton Residency 2011 Fall Semester

U.S. U-15 boys (directed by Tony Lepore)

Patience key when coaching boys in transition (Q&A with Manny Schellscheidt)

2011-10-16T00:16:20Z

For insight into coaching boys* when they hit puberty and how to challenge early-bloomers, we spoke to U.S. Hall of Fame coach Manfred "Manny" Schellscheidt, who had been the technical director of U.S. Soccer's U-14 boys National Identification Program since 1998 and is one of the nation's most experienced youth coaches.

Interview by Mike Woitalla (From Soccer America's YouthSoccerInsider)

]]> Schellscheid, who had been the technical director of U.S. Soccer's U-14 boys National Identification Program since 1998 and is one of the nation's most experienced youth coaches. Schellscheidt has coached at all levels of American soccer, including the U.S. U-17 and U-20 national teams, and is currently head coach at Seton Hall University, where he arrived in 1988 after winning two U-19 national titles (McGuire Cup) with the Union (N.J.) Lancers.

SOCCER AMERICA: What should coaches be aware of when coaching boys who are transitioning into adulthood?

MANFRED SCHELLSCHEIDT: The body does change and there are mood swings. Maybe they get aggravated easier. They get clumsy. They feel awkward. The rhythm isn’t there. The balance gets lost.

They get the Osgood-Schlatter thing going on where their bones grow so fast that the other apparatus doesn’t follow suit.

It’s not only a physical thing to deal with, it can also confuse them. Things that had come easy become difficult.

That’s a period during which one needs to be careful and not think that all of a sudden they don’t know what they’re doing anymore, or they became bad guys.

SA: How can coaches help players during those stages?

SCHELLSCHEIDT: It’s patience, No. 1. And you can always engage them in conversation and say, “Look, we understand. Everybody has to go through it.”

Not only does the coach need to be patient, he can tell the player, “You need to be patient with yourself.”

Rather than thinking something is going haywire or there’s something seriously going wrong with you, this is actually something you need to go through and it’s normal.

SA: Are the players at the U-14 level experiencing these challenges?

SCHELLSCHEIDT: Some, but it usually comes a little later. And for some kids it comes much later – as late as 17 sometimes, 18 in some cases. I’ve seen guys who are small little fellas at 17 and all of a sudden they became 18 they grew a foot.

SA: A boy who matures early can have a big advantage at the youth level …

SCHELLSCHEIDT: … He’s a man playing with kids the same age. …

In some cases, the best players come out of the group of late-bloomers, because they had to put up with the struggle of being a little bit behind. Since they physically weren’t always the best, they had to use their head a little more, being smarter.

SA: The early bloomer may be the fastest kid around, can succeed simply by blazing past opponents, and might neglect developing other parts of his game. What can a coach do to assure an early-bloomer doesn’t become too dependent on athleticism?

SCHELLSCHEIDT: You have to challenge him differently. You can ask more of him.

One thing you could do at times is say play two-touch, so now he has to think how fast he can move the ball rather than just running with the ball at his feet.

Or pair him up with another and play two against three. … Stack the numbers against them so they rely more on combining. Sometimes it can be a numbers game. Sometimes it’s putting a condition on the exercise.

SA: Like forcing him to play in small spaces?

SCHELLSCHEIDT: Right, that’s a challenge for a guy who just wants to use his speed, because when it’s a tight area, then speed in itself, long sprints, don’t help. No one gets it out of first or second gear in a tight area. By that time they’re off the field.

It shouldn’t take a scientist to figure out little ways to tweak things and make things up that create a different need for that guy to respond to.

It’s what players are challenged with that brings out qualities. If you’re looking for things to get good you need to create a need for things to happen.

When you’re putting your training session together, create conditions that challenge them play in a certain way, because there are so many different items you want to address at one time or another that round out the package of being a good player.

It’s usually what a player does best naturally that gets his foot in the door -- and then you need to round out the package to be successful.

SA: Obviously, a strong skill base will help players when they face the challenge of growth spurts and body changes …

SCHELLSCHEIDT: Besides what you’re trying to address, there are issues that are long-term. I’ve always used the phrase from day one, “When they run they can’t think, and when they think, they can’t run.” How do you get the two together -- anytime during their development?

The more they can get to the point where it’s about ideas -- it starts in the mind -- then eventually the body and the ball become instruments of your great ideas.

Most guys, all they do is get a workout. They slug it out with the mechanics, even at high levels. Special ones, with them, the body and the ball have become an instrument that expresses their brilliant ideas, and that’s when soccer gets truly interesting and fun to watch.

People would argue and ask what makes a great pass? You ask that question and you get a lot of good technical answers. How it should be struck. On the ground. Firm enough. Chipped. Dipped and curled -- whatever it may be. So you get all these things that spell out the skill portion of how the ball got delivered.

I say, look, if I have the ball and I want to give it to you, if I already know what you want to do with the ball when you get it, that puts you on your way to do just that and I give you a great pass. Whatever that pass may be like. But that’s executing ideas.

The highest level of skill cannot be accomplished unless it begins with ideas.

Skill is executing great ideas. The rest is just technique. You can have technically very, very astute guys who are dumb as hell and can’t play.

SA: What can a coach do to create intelligent players?

SCHELLSCHEIDT: That’s where coaching has its limits. As I've often said, coaches took care of defending and God took care of the attack when there were no coaches around. That’s when they try their darndest and try the impossible, until it works.

* Click HERE to read the Youth Soccer Insider on growing pains on the girls side.

(Manfred “Manny” Schellscheidt was the first coach to receive a USSF A license, in 1971. He was the Technical Director of the U.S. U-14 boys identification program from 1998 through September of 2011. Schellscheidt has coached at every level of U.S. men’s national team program and was a Region I ODP coach for 25 years, including a decade as head coach. He’s won national titles at the pro, amateur and youth levels; his the Union Lancers won McGuire Cup (U-19) titles in 1987 and 1988. He has been head coach of Seton Hall University since 1988.)

Minors take on Major League Soccer challenge

2011-10-09T06:55:57Z

Not very long ago, Zach Pfeffer was still fine-tuning his skills in the basement of his Pennsylvania home with his twin brother, Jared.

By Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)
]]> “We would just play down there for hours, kick the ball around, and rocket balls of the walls,” said Zach, shortly after making his MLS debut last month at age 16. “And we put a big hole, probably a 10-inch hole, right through the wall. Our parents were absolutely pissed. In the end, they didn’t mind because we were doing what we loved.”

Zach’s talent and passion for the game -- and a promise that he would eventually earn a college degree -- convinced his parents, Scott (a cardiologist) and Margie, that going pro at age 15 would be a suitable course for him.

“I come from a family that has done well academically,” said Zach, currently a junior at Upper Dublin High School, where he balances classes and online courses with life in the pros. “My parents both went to college. Everyone in my family has gone to college. So that was a big decision.”

Last December, Zach inked an MLS contract that promised him $65,000 his first season. He became the first “homegrown” signing for the Philadelphia Union, which had rights to Pfeffer because he played for FC Delco, a Union affiliate club. Pfeffer had also spent a semester at the U.S. U-17 U.S. U-17 Residency in Bradenton, Fla.

Pfeffer made his MLS debut Sept. 17 when he started and went 63 minutes in a 1-0 win over Columbus. A week later, he came on as a 72nd minute sub in a 1-1 tie at Kansas City.

“Being a young player gives you more motivation to work hard,” Pfeffer said. “I’m still a young guy and need to prove to the staff I deserve to play. Playing these games gives you more confidence and experience.”

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Pfeffer was 15 years and 352 days old when he signed with MLS, making him the fourth youngest player ever signed by MLS. Here’s an update on the other four players among the Top 5 youngest signees.

Freddy Adu (14 years, 168 days when signed in 2004).
Born in Ghana, moved to Maryland at age 8, Adu was famous for getting a $1 million Nike endorsement deal before he signed for D.C. United in 2004. He played 98 MLS games for D.C. United and Real Salt Lake before, in 2007, moving to Europe, where he failed to break through. He returned to MLS this season and is a teammate of Pfeffer’s in Philadelphia. Now 22, he has 17 caps and two goals for the U.S. national team.

Abdus Fuad Ibrahim (15 years, 130 days in 2007).
The Ethiopian-born Minnesota product debuted for FC Toronto in 2008 shortly before his 17th birthday. He was waived after the 2010 season after playing 26 MLS games and scoring three goals.

Diego Fagundez (15 years, 273 days in 2011).
Born in Uruguay, Fagundez moved to the Massachusetts at age 5 and played youth ball for FC United and FC Greater Boston Bolts before joining the New England Revolution's Academy team. He made his MLS debut Aug. 6 and scored against Chivas USA, making him at age 16 the second youngest player to score in MLS after Adu, who netted at age 14 in 2004. Fagundez made his first start, after three appearances as a sub, Oct. 1 and scored in a 2-1 loss to Seattle.

Nikolas Besagno (16 years, 60 days in 2005).
The Washington State product was the No. 1 draft pick in 2005 for first-year Real Salt Lake. He played 10 MLS games before dropping to the minor leagues. Now 22, he captains the Kitsap Pumas, the champions of the fourth-tier USL PDL.

MINORS IN THE MAJORS. A couple years after MLS launched in 1996, it began doing something unique for an American professional sports league – signing high school-age players.

DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey, Santino Quaranta, Eddie Johnson were among the first who played MLS ball before they were old enough to vote.

2010 World Cup starters Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore made MLS debuts before their 18th birthdays in 2005 and 2006, respectively.

More than 30 players have seen MLS action before their 18th birthday. Now that MLS teams have well established youth programs – as mandated by the league’s 2007 “homegrown initiative” – the number of young teens signed should continue to grow.

MLS YOUNGSTERS TO WATCH. Here’s a roundup of players who were 18 or younger entering the 2011 season and have seen MLS action this year.

Player (Club) age (games-goals-assists)
Andy Najar (D.C. United) 18 (27-5-6)
Juan Agudelo (New York) 18 (25-6-2)
Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake) 17 (24-2-0)
Jack McInerney (Philadelphia) 19 (16-1-0)
Omar Salgado (Vancouver) 18 (13-1-0)
Diego Fagundez (New England) 16 (4-2-1)
Zach Pfeffer (Philadelphia) 16 (2-0-0)

(The list includes only players who played youth soccer in the USA. All of the above have been part of the U.S. national team program except for Najar, who has played for his native Honduras. He moved to the USA at age 13 and played in D.C. United's youth program.)

* * * *

Five players on the USA’s roster for Saturday’s friendly against Honduras (6 pm ET, Fox Soccer & Univision) were signed by MLS as U-18s: Agudelo, Altidore, Beasley, Bradley and Brek Shea, the 6-foot-3 Texan who joined FC Dallas at age 17 in 2008.

Shea’s father played quarterback at Virginia Tech and Brek played quarterback and safety in middle school. While at the U.S. training camp Brek explained to the Miami Herald’s Michelle Kaufman why he chose soccer over football:

“Football was too much yelling, too strict, and soccer gave me more freedom and ability to express myself.”

Top U.S boys clubs get Report Cards

2011-10-02T06:06:19Z

U.S. Soccer has been evaluating the clubs that comprise its Development Academy league since its launch in 2007, but it has now made those evaluations, in which clubs get rated on a 5-star system, public.

By Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)
]]> “We feel the only way to continue to improve is to make sure we hold the clubs accountable to what they’re doing,” said Claudio Reyna, U.S. Soccer’s Youth Technical Director. “They don’t like it [being made public]. They’re a little protective, which is normal. But our message is that it’s part of improving to put these out in the open to discuss.”

Clubs are star-rated in seven categories: Player Development, Style of Play, Training Environment, Administration, Facilities, Fundraising, Respect.

The report cards also include detailed information on last season’s 77 clubs, such as player stats (eg, goals, yellow and red cards), lineup diagrams, and coaching staff.

To grade the clubs, U.S. Soccer conducts live evaluations and video analysis at clubs’ training and games and collects administrative information on the club throughout the year.

“We do training visits, where the technical advisors visit the clubs and they have an important job to be the link to the clubs and support them and make them better and helping the coaching,” Reyna said. “We’re looking at it holistically. It’s not just one coach or one player who’s going to make a club. It’s the club from top to bottom that can influence the players for many months and years.

“Above everything, it’s about trying to raise the level of player development.”

The clubs are graded in comparison to the top international developmental environments.

“So if Barcelona and Ajax are five stars -- that’s what we work off,” Reyna said. “It’s a realistic view of where we are compared to the rest of the world. Some of the clubs have very good coaches and play well, but their facilities are not great – but that doesn’t weigh as much. The most important thing that we really highlight is the style of play, the training, the player development over the years, how many players go to the national team program relative to the player pool in the market.”

Player Development, Style of Play and Training Environment are at weighed at 20 percent; the other categories 10 percent each. (Clubs are also evaluated on how they approach the pre-Academy age groups but without the star system. Academy league play is at the U-15/16 and U-17/18 levels.)

Regarding the Fundraising category, Reyna says, “Around the world at the best clubs, they don’t pay to play. However our clubs can get there, we’d like to get to point where it’s free to play. That’s a goal and an objective that’s easier said than done because our system is different.”

Eleven clubs got 5 stars on Funding for last season; nine of which are MLS clubs.

The “Respect” grade is part of the Respect Campaign launched by Reyna when he took his position in spring of 2010 and is based on the club’s disciplinary record, professionalism of staff and parent sideline behavior.

“I was blown away by the behavior of coaches on the sideline,” Reyna said, “and by the behavior of players. … Screaming and foul language. Disrespecting referees … I thought to myself, if we continue with this environment it affects the players negatively.

“It’s a problem in all youth sports. But this our sport. Let’s be the sport that cleans up the behavior on all levels. Let’s have that goal. … We know it’s competition and we don’t expect it to be Disneyland, but we understand when we cross the line and that message will keep coming and coming.”

Perhaps the most valuable aspect of the evaluations is that it takes the focus off results. A club that creates a good environment for long-term player development but doesn’t win titles can point to the evaluations as evidence of the validity of its approach.

“We also hope these evaluations can help parents ask important questions -- not in a negative way -- of their clubs,” says Reyna. “The idea is to lay out what we’re trying to do and not hide anything.”

That they’re being compared to the likes of Barcelona, it’s no surprise that the most common grades on Player Development (PD) and Style of Player are 2 to 3 stars, with a handful of 3 1/2s.

The highest ratings given in those two categories were 4s, which FC Dallas got in both, Real Salt Lake in Style and the New York Red Bulls in PD. (D.C. United rated 3 1/2 in both categories, ranking it second-highest in those two categories combined behind FC Dallas.)

There were 17 clubs, in addition to FC Dallas and D.C. United, that earned at least 3 stars in both PD and Style: Albertson SC (N.Y.), Arsenal FC (Calif.), Baltimore Bays Chelsea, Colorado Rapids, Cosmos West (now merged with Chivas USA), Columbus Crew, Derby County Wolves (now Crew Academy Wolves), FC Westchester (NY), Houston Dynamo, Internationals (Ohio), Kendall SC (Miami), Los Angeles Galaxy, PA Classics (Pa.), PDA (N.J.), Real So Cal, Solar Chelsea (Texas) and Scott Gallagher Missouri.

One caveat from U.S. Soccer: These evaluations are not useful to draw comparisons between Academy club programs and other domestic programs or teams associated with other organizations.

* To access the evaluations: click HERE, scroll down to "ACADEMY CLUB EVALUATIONS" section, and click on “end of year evaluation” to download PDF).

U.S. Academy 'closing the gap'; MLS teen debut; Why no keepers at U-8 level

2011-09-29T06:03:49Z

As the U.S. Soccer Development Academy entered its fifth season this month, nearly a third of its 78 clubs moved to a 10-month season, no longer taking a three-month break during which players would commonly play high-school ball, or in the case of Southern California, in the Coast Soccer League.

By Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America's Youth Soccer Insider)
]]> Clubs in three of the 10 Academy divisions -- Southern California, Northwest and Texas -- will play a 10-month season. That might not make high school coaches happy, but Federation leaders hail the move.

“Around the world, kids at the U-15/16 and U-17/18 age level play for 10 months and they train more than our kids, so this helps us close that gap,” said Claudio Reyna, U.S. Soccer’s Youth Technical Director.

Said Texans SC Houston Director of Coaching Scott James, “Here in Texas we have been playing from September through December, taking three and a half months away from each other and then we have to cram nine to 12 games into a two-month span. We didn’t have to be sold on moving to single-game weekends or having more training sessions. It was a no brainer for us to move in that direction.”

Tony Lepore, the Academy's Director of Scouting, said by fall 2012, all the clubs will be on a 10-month schedule.

“We’ve added at least two months of high-level training and meaningful games into their schedule where otherwise they were doing something else, in most cases high school,” said Lepore. “It’s just more continuity and, again, more time spent training.

“These clubs will have fewer double fixture weekends, more single fixture weekends, so in turn they’ll be able to have a more consistent schedule with a more productive rhythm between training and matches which will help narrow their focus.”

… The U.S. Soccer Academy kicked off in October of 2007 with 64 clubs. There are now 78 -- including 15 MLS clubs -- each with a U-15/16 and U-17/18 team for a total of 156 teams. Check out the Academy map HERE. …

… Georgia United and Vancouver Whitecaps are this year’s Academy newcomers. Cosmos Academy West has merged with Chivas USA. …

ACADEMY CHAMPS SO FAR …
U-15/16
2007-08 Carmel United (Ind.)*
2008-09 Derby County Wolves (Mich.)
2009-10 Chicago Fire
2010-11 Los Angeles Galaxy
* Changed to name to Indiana United Academy following year.

U-17/18
2007-08 Baltimore Bays*
2008-09 Indiana United Academy
2009-10 Vardar (Mich.)
2010-11 Pateadores (Calif.)
* Now called Baltimore Bays Chelsea.

* * * *

TEEN DEBUT. Zach Pfeffer, who turned 16 in January, made his MLS debut last weekend, starting and playing 63 minutes for the Philadelphia Union in a 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew. The midfielder was signed as the Union’s first “homegrown” player at age 15. He also played youth ball for FC Delco Academy's U.S. Academy U-15/U-16 team, as well as for the Upper Dublin, Cheltenham, YMS and Montgomery United youth clubs. He spent the spring semester of 2010 at the U.S. U-17 Residency in Bradenton, Fla.

Union and Fox Soccer commentator JP Dellacamera observed, “Young Zach did well in his 61 minutes of work. If he was nervous out there on the field, he sure didn’t let us know. He seemed composed on the ball and confident while playing on a field with some players more than double his age. No doubt that playing in Reserve League games, plus international friendlies, has helped Pfeffer make good progress."

* * * *

QUAKES EXTEND YOUTH REACH. The San Jose Earthquakes have linked up with the Evergreen United Education Foundation (EUEF) to develop soccer and education programs for local youth in East San Jose. The partnership will mix soccer with academic tutoring for pool of 13,500 children involved in after-school programs. The club, San Jose Earthquakes EU, will feature U-9 to U-12 teams in AYSO and NorCal Premier and will be run by former Quakes assistant coach Jorge Espinoza.

All participants in the soccer program and tutoring program will receive tickets to attend Earthquakes home games with their families. The program participants will be bused to the games and then bused back to school sites following the games.

* * * *

FURTHER READING. ... On his SidelineSportsDoc.com blog, Dr. Dev Mishra addresses the question of whether there are more injuries from playing on artificial turf than natural grass. “I don’t think there’s any better playing surface than a well-maintained grass field, but I’d prefer one of the newer varieties of turf fields over a poorly maintained grass field any day,” Mishra writes. Moreover, the type of shoes worn can have an impact on injury rates. Read the article HERE. ...

... Ryan McCormack, at TheShinGuardian.com, offers "A Treatise: The State of American Youth Soccer," which looks at the Top 6 issues Jurgen Klinsmann needs to address with U.S. youth soccer. Among his conclusions: "To create a soccer culture here, practices need to be less about drills, winning, and X’s and O’s, especially at the younger ages. The game itself is the greatest teacher, and kids should be encouraged in practice to take risks and try new things. They’re more likely to get more touches on the ball away from practice if they are having fun at competitive practices.". Read the article HERE.

... There are some good reasons why games should be played without goalkeepers until the U-10 level and they're addressed by AYSO's National Coach Instructor John Ouellette and Sam Snow, U.S. Youth Soccer's Coaching Director. Both AYSO and USYS discourage the use of keepers at the U-8 level and below. Snow writes, "The U-8 age group is still in an egocentric phase of psychological development, which tells us that we should allow these children to run and chase the ball, to be in the game –- not waiting at the end of the field for the game to come to them. It is more important at this age that they chase the game. Children this age want to play with the toy (the ball) and they need to go to where the toy is to be fully engaged." Read Snow's article HERE. …

Ouellette reiterates that point and also notes that, "In their early experiences with soccer, we want young players to shoot on goal as much as possible because striking the ball is such an important skill for players to master. Young kids are more likely to shoot often when there's no goalkeeper." Read Ouellette's article HERE.