Youth Soccer Fun

Different paths to stardom (Sebastian's Story)

2012-03-30T18:44:19Z

What especially impressed the South Carolina youth coach about the boy wasn't what he did with his Carolina Elite club - although Andrew Hyslop was very impressed -- it was the soccer Sebastian Velasquez played own his own.

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

]]> "There’s areas in Greenville where you’ll find hundreds of kids and adults getting together on weekends and at night,” says Hyslop, the co-director of Carolina Elite, where Velasquez played from U-12 to U-17. “There’s also some indoor here and Sebastian’s the guy you’d be seeing playing at 2 am with adults over at the indoor center.

“Obviously, that’s what we as coaches want. We want kids who play more on their own than on the training fields.”

The most remarkable rookie early on in the MLS season must be Velasquez. The 21-year-old midfielder, who started Real Salt Lake’s first two games and set up goals in both wins, took a non-traditional route to the U.S. pro league.

Velasquez did not play for a U.S. Soccer Development Academy club. He did play high school ball (2007 state champ with Greenville H.S.). He didn’t attend a Division I college. He played two years of junior college ball at Spartanburg Methodist. The No. 36 pick in the MLS 2012 MLS draft, Velasquez was the first JC draft pick in six years.

At age 2, he moved from Medellin, Colombia, to the USA with his mother. He spent most of his youth ball with Carolina Elite before teaming up with fellow future Real Salt Lake draft pick Enzo Martinez on the Discoveries SC team that won the 2009 U-18 USYS national title.

Velasquez left high school after his junior year, got his GED and tried out with Barcelona and Espanyol in Spain, but returned home disappointed until he ended up at Spartanburg Methodist, where in two years he scored 55 goals and made 33 assists in 33 games. His overseas tryouts made him ineligible to play for Clemson, but Tigers’ alum Miles Joseph, now assistant coach at Real Salt Lake, directed Velasquez to the MLS Combine.

He was back in Medellin with his mother when he heard he got drafted. “I started to cry,” Velasquez told mlssoccer.com. “I was so happy. I didn’t watch the ceremony, but I saw my name online and was shocked.”

Hyslop is quick to point out he’s not taking credit for Velasquez’s rise -- “many had a hand in that” -- but when Hyslop hears talk that the only pathway to soccer success lies with the Development Academy, or that certain college coaches turn away from evaluating players based on what league they compete in, he points to Velasquez as a reminder that players “get where they want to go in a variety of ways.”

“I think the Academy is a viable, great option, but at the same time, we’re also providing provide opportunities and developing players,” says Hyslop. “There’s no cookie-cutter guaranteed way to do that. I certainly don’t have all the answers. With the size of the country, it’s inevitable there’s going to be different avenues to reach a goal.”

Hyslop believes youth soccer, with the rise of the Development Academy and its increased influence -- which includes discouraging of high school play -- is at a crossroads.

“It’s not about Sebastian Velasquez,” he says. “It’s not about Carolina Elite Academy. It’s not necessarily about the USSF Academy. It’s really about taking a look and asking can we make sure we develop every possible player in this country? There’s more than one way to do it.

“We have to decide, are we going recognize everybody? Or are we only going to recognize some?

“It makes good sense to cast the net far and wide.”

'Not every kid wants to play high school' (Q&A Leigh Cowlishaw, Richmond Kickers)

2012-02-28T18:20:51Z

The Richmond Kickers have announced they will be covering the costs of players on their U.S. Soccer Development Academy teams. We spoke with Leigh Cowlishaw, the Central Virginia club's Director of Soccer, about the impact he expects from the move -- and the Academy's new 10-month season, which keeps its players out of high school ball.

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

]]>

SOCCER AMERICA: Other than the Major League Soccer programs in the 78-club U.S. Development Academy, only a handful of clubs don’t charge their players. How are the Richmond Kickers able to pull it off?

LEIGH COWLISHAW: It’s a mix of sponsorships and motivated donors who wanted to see this happen.

SA: So it’s not a case of the club’s other players’ fees subsidizing the Academy teams?

LEIGH COWLISHAW: It is not. This is very much a self-sufficient program, so no funds from any of our other programs are directed toward this initiative. That was very important to our club. We did not want to see that. That would be against what we believe in.

SA: What impact do you expect from making your Academy teams cost-free?

LEIGH COWLISHAW: One would hope there’s an incentive now for players to join the club. It’s certainly a driving force and a reward of a significant dollar value for players who are able to be part of the Academy team.

Four-year play in the Academy -- you’re probably looking at a $20,000 scholarship.

SA: How important is solving the pay-to-play state of American soccer to the nation producing more great players? One can argue that although the USA is producing more “good” players than ever, its rate of producing truly exceptional players hasn’t increased substantially over the decades …

LEIGH COWLISHAW: We continue to average down because of all the programs, because of all the leagues, because of all the organizations, because of all the clubs that continue to promote that they offer a high level of soccer development. So the player pool is so spread out. The market is totally scattered and fragmented.

I would much prefer to get to the stage where the best players in a region are all together. And that’s one of the reasons we wanted to this [cost-free].

We know that if we pool the players of Academy-level together from a 50-, 60-mile radius, you’ve got a totally different training environment, a totally different playing environment, and you’ve got players competing week-in and week-out just to get in the starting lineup.

We’ve had this explosion of club development and player development, but the actual environment of a player having to fight to be on a certain level team just doesn’t exist.

SA: The big news in youth soccer is that the U.S. Academy league is moving to a 10-month season. What’s a specific benefit for your club’s players?

LEIGH COWLISHAW: The 10-month season will allow our players to develop even more because now we’ll have the ability to train those players with the professional team -- as clubs around the world can. It will be common moving forward for a 16-year-old kid, who has the ability and temperament, to train with our pro team now and then.

[Editor’s Note: The Richmond Kickers, who have 8,000 youth players under their umbrella, also field a USL PRO team of which Cowlishaw serves as head coach.]

SA: What’s been the reaction of your club’s Academy players on the prospect of opting out of high school ball?

LEIGH COWLISHAW: We polled our players and 70 percent were all-in to do Academy play right now. And that’s the existing player pool.

To say every kid wants to play high school soccer would be wrong.

But we also recognize there are some fantastic coaches and great teams in high school soccer and high school soccer is not going to go anywhere. High school soccer will continue forever. …

We also recognize this is going to be a generational thing. Not everyone is going to buy into it. Juniors and seniors who have grown up with high school may see it as the No. 1 priority. We believe, as U.S. Soccer believes, that over the years the best players are going to see a different path and gravitate to the Academy program.

SA: What about the argument that Academy players will miss out on the joy of representing their school community, and playing in front of crowds?

LEIGH COWLISHAW: I like that point because you want to replicate that environment where there’s a lot of noise and atmosphere. That helps player development. I totally agree that’s one of the big benefits of high school ball. It’s certainly harder to replicate that at the Academy level, but that may change over the years as the culture changes.

The one thing that I will say: In our area, our high school soccer fields are the size of football fields and it’s very difficult to play the type of soccer U.S. Soccer is demanding. It’s not conducive to attractive, possession-style soccer.

Klinsmann and Co. make case for 10-month club season, no high school ball

2012-02-17T18:18:10Z

U.S. Soccer made it official last Friday that its 78-club Development Academy league will move to a 10-month schedule starting with the 2012-13 season.

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

]]> More than 3,000 of the nation's elite boys play for Academy teams in U-15/16 and U-17/18 leagues and the schedule change means no high school soccer for them. That's the most controversial aspect of the move the Federation says is necessary to create a better balance between training and games and to “close the performance gap with the top soccer nations.”

U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann said in the Academy’s press release:

"If we want our players to someday compete against the best in the world, it is critical for their development that they train and play as much as possible and in the right environment. The Development Academy 10-month season is the right formula and provides a good balance between training time and playing competitive matches. This is the model that the best countries around the world use for their programs, and I think it makes perfect sense that we do as well."

Said USSF Youth Technical Director Claudio Reyna, "This schedule puts our elite players in line with kids in their age group internationally, and places the appropriate physical demands at this stage in their development."

The USA, however, is unique to international soccer powers in that it has a strong tradition of scholastic sports participation. The club vs. high school conflict emerged before the Academy league’s arrival in 2007, but it has heated up since one third of the Academy teams moved to the 10-month schedule last year. U.S. Soccer addressed the issue of “banning” kids from high school ball in its “Frequently Asked Questions” about the schedule change:

“Every player has a choice to play high school soccer or in the Development Academy. We believe that for those elite soccer players who are committed to pursuing the goal of reaching the highest levels they can in the sport, making this decision will provide them a big advantage in their development and increase their exposure to top coaches in the United States and from around the world.

“We are talking about a group of players who want to continue at the next level, whether that is professional or college, which is still the destination for a majority of our graduates.”

On whether the quality of high school soccer would be reduced, U.S. Soccer responds with:

“Overall, only 1 percent of all players currently playing high school soccer are involved with the Development Academy. We are only talking about a small percentage of elite players who have the goal of playing soccer at the highest levels. High School soccer will continue to make an important contribution to the soccer landscape in this country.”

On whether Academy coaches are better than high school coaches:

“There are many quality coaches in both the Development Academy and high school teams. The Academy environment allows for more focused and consistent training with less emphasis on games. Academy players and coaches also receive ongoing feedback, instruction and guidance from U.S. Soccer Technical Advisors, who are also the main scouts for the U.S. national team programs.”

U.S. Soccer says the move received “overwhelming support” from its member clubs.

“The key to development, to me, is playing against quality players in practice,” said Crossfire Premier Coaching Director Bernie James in a statement. “I think if you’re with a group of good players who are pushing each other, and you have that for most of the year, then I think it’s bound to be better for development.”

FURTHER READING:

U.S. SOCCER’s Frequently Asked Questions: Academy Starts 10-Month Season in 2012-13 HERE

U.S. SOCCER's Development Academy Quote Sheet: Why Federation leaders (Claudio Reyna, Tony Lepore, Kevin Payne) and Academy club coaching directors (Don Ebert Strikers FC, Calif.; Bernie James, Crossfire Premier, Wash.; Alan Mezger, FC Delco, Pa.: Dave Farrell, Oakwood SC, Conn.; Steve Klein, PA Classics; Kevin Smith, Solar Chelsea, Texas) advocate the 10-month season HERE.

2011-2012 Development Academy Clubs/Conference Alignment Map: HERE.

REACTIONS:

Joe Lyons' article in St. Louis Today includes responses to the "high school ban" from Missouri high school coaches. ("If you're a top player, a truly elite player, you're going to be found, no matter where you play," says Chaminade coach Mike Gauvain.) Read "U.S. Soccer bans its elite players from high school teams" HERE.

Paul Tenorio of the Washington Post spoke to University of Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski, who argues that the Academy can function alongside high school and was initially designed to do just that. Read the article HERE.

Dribble on! ... High school more fun?

2012-02-15T18:15:10Z

We need dribblers! ...

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

]]> FEEDBACK …
We need dribblers! In response to Wednesday’s YouthSoccerInsider on curricula for American youth soccer, Brad Partridge of FC Florida pointed to a bit from the "U.S. Soccer Curriculum" he had issue with. In the second paragraph of the document, in the “Style of Play” section, a key element (Quick Transitions and Finishing) description begins with “Speed of play, avoiding over-dribbling …”

It’s the “over-dribbling” mention that’s the problem, as youth coaches can infer this means they should discourage youngsters from dribbling. Partridge believes, “U9 and under, encourage all players to dribble, dribble and then dribble some more.”

I agree with Partridge for several reasons, starting with that the fact that the lack of exceptional dribblers is one of the American soccer's biggest problems. And how do players turn into great dribblers? They try their moves thousands of times until they start working. Imagine how many times Marta or Lionel Messi “over-dribbled” while they learned craft.

A youth soccer environment where a child with a ball is greeted by shouts of “Pass It! … Clear it! … Boot it!” is one that discourages dribblers -- and dribbling is the first step to mastering all ball skills.

The USSF Curriculum reference to “over-dribbling” may be for the higher levels, but that it appears at the beginning of a document designed as a recipe for youth coaching sends the wrong message. Besides, when’s the last time we watched our national team and thought, “They’re dribbling too much!” More likely we see them unable to establish a rhythm of play because they lack one-on-one skills.

I would think a high-level coach would rather welcome a superb dribbler who needs to improve on decision-making than an unselfish player lacking in foot skills.

High school Fun. Mike Barr’s YSI “The case for high school soccer” produced an enormous amount of feedback and we’ll continue to cover the topic, which has heated up since the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s move to a 10-month season that doesn’t allow for high school play. Several supporters of high school ball in Soccer America’s chat room and in letters to the editor make the argument that kids relish playing for their schools.

One reader shared an anecdote of a player who skipped his junior year of high school ball at the behest of his Academy club, but sits on the bench at every game, cheering on his schoolmates, and has vowed to quit his Academy team as soon as he seals a college deal. Then he’ll return to play high school ball his senior year.

REFS AND ARs. Randy Vogts’ YSI on when refs should overrule their assistants drew a protest from Robert Evans in his “For the Integrity of Soccer” blog.

FURTHER READING … An excerpt of Graham Hunter's new book, “Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World” on SI.com recounts Lionel Messi’s arrival from Argentina at age 12. Read it HERE. …

… Tom Marshall of MLSSoccer.com checks in with 16-year-old New Yorker Nick Gaitan, who has joined Boca Juniors' youth program. Gaitan, who turned down an invitation to U.S. Soccer’s Bradenton Residency, spent much of the last two years in Argentinos Juniors youth system. “I’ve been a Boca Juniors fanatic since I was 5 years old,” said Gaitan. His father, Adrian, however, is a River Plate fan and they have to watch Boca-River games in separate rooms, “because we fight,” says Nick. Were he to make it to La Bombonera, Nick says his dad, who represented the USA at the 2007 Under-20 World Cup in Chile, would come to the stadium, “but he’d definitely not wear a Boca Juniors shirt.” Read Marshall’s article HERE. …

... The Orange County (Calif.) Register reports on an attempt to use soccer to keep kids out of gangs. About 1,200 students have been offered free tickets to a Chivas USA game if they have no unexcused absences, no reports of bad behavior, no failing grade at the trimester, and who obey their city's curfew laws.

Another curriculum! (US Youth Soccer's is worth a read)

2012-02-10T09:03:01Z

On U.S. Youth Soccer's 117-page Player Development Model coaching guide ...

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

]]> By Mike Woitalla

For sure, there's no shortage of advice out there for America's youth coaches. Books, manuals, DVDs, clinics and courses.

Among the many e-mails with the latest, greatest drills and training plans landing in my inbox is one from a British firm with the subject line, “Make your players all-round geniuses.”

I hadn’t thought of aiming that high, but maybe I’ll bite if there’s a money-back guarantee on those drills in case they don’t create FC Einstein.

A less sensationally marketed document, but free and definitely worth a read, has been unveiled by U.S. Youth Soccer, which has delivered its 117-page “Player Development Model.”

You’re thinking, Another curriculum!?

Right, it arrives eight months after the USSF unveiled its "U.S. Soccer Curriculum." But this one’s more similar in scope and is designed as a complement to the USSF’s excellent “Best Practices for Coaching Soccer in the United States,” which came out in 2005.

"U.S. Soccer Curriculum” is more of a blueprint for age-appropriate training regimes. The “Player Development Model” delves deeper into the coach-player relationship, warning repeatedly of overcoaching.

“It’s going to give them a bit more of the whys behind the curriculum,” says Sam Snow, Director of Coaching of U.S. Youth Soccer, which has under its umbrella 55 member State Associations and more than 5,500 clubs.

“The Federation’s curriculum has a lot of great things in it and things we don’t have in what we put out, such as lesson-plan samples, but we have those up on our Web site, so we decided not to put them into the Player Development Model.”

PDM covers U-6 through U-19 and touches on all the important issues coaches face at each age group -- eg: use of goalkeepers, rotating positions, field size, team size, training time and frequency. PDM, to its credit, also offers crucial advice on tournament play in a section titled, “Beware of Tournamentitis.” While pointing out the benefits of a reasonable amount of tournament participation, it warns:

"We believe that excessive play at competitive tournaments is detrimental to individual growth and development and can reduce long-term motivation.”

As far as coaching kids, Snow says that the Federation and U.S. Youth Soccer’s guidelines complement each other:

“They are good resources and hopefully they give coaches the idea that you need to go tweak it a little bit, make up your own things based on the particular group you have in front of you."

Links:

"US Youth Soccer Player Development Model" available for download HERE.

US Youth Soccer Coach Resource Center HERE.

“U.S. Soccer Curriculum” is available for download HERE.

“Best Practices for Coaching Soccer in the United States” available for download HERE.

'Coaches should help, not disturb' (Q&A with Bayern Munich's Werner Kern, Part 2)

2012-01-31T04:20:49Z

Bayern Munich, Germany's richest and most successful club, buys international stars (eg Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben) and top domestic talent (eg Manuel Neuer and Mario Gomez) -- but its starting lineup usually includes four or five homegrown players, who are also national team regulars.

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

]]> "Every time Bayern has been very successful it’s had a lot of players from its youth program,” says Director of Sport Christian Nerlinger, who himself joined FC Bayern as a 14-year-old and won league titles and the UEFA Cup with Bayern in the 1990s. “They have a special identification with the club.”

The club spends about 5 million euro ($6.5 million) a year on its youth program.

“It is not a question of budget,” says FC Bayern President Uli Hoeness. “If we need 5 million, that’s OK. If we need 7 million, we will do it. Because you cannot give a limit. You spend what is necessary. One year 4 million, next year 6 or 7 million.”

Last year, Bayern sold Munich-born Mehmet Ekici, who joined the club at age 8, to Werder Bremen for 5 million euros -- but Hoeness insists the youth program’s focus is on boosting the first team.

“We are not a selling club,” Hoeness says. “Our aim is always to invest money for players who can play for Bayern. If sometimes you can sell a player like Mehmet Ekici for 5 million – OK, that’s fantastic, it pays for one full year the academy.”

In Part 2* of our interview with Werner Kern, the head of the Bayern Munich youth program shares more details about the club’s approach to youth soccer. ...

SA: How do you want your coaches to behave on the sidelines during games?

WERNER KERN: It’s OK for them to give some instructions from the sidelines. But it should always be positive and constructive -- and it shouldn’t be constant. If it’s constant it will make the players self-conscious and nervous.

We want coaches to help, but not disturb. To be supportive, to build players up, but also to point out when they do something wrong. ...

Starting at U-14, U-15, we do video analysis with the players.

SA: What value is placed on winning at the youth level?

WERNER KERN: It’s a double-edged sword. If you want to become good, you need to learn how to win. Winning does play a role, but not winning at all costs.

You’ll find another club that has many more youth national team players than we do, because they “hire and fire.” They get physically strong players so they win -- they’re born in January or February -- they help the team win, and then they get tossed out the next season. We don’t do that.

I’m totally against cutting and recruiting at the youth level to win games. I say, we must always look, does that player have a specific potential to become a special player or doesn’t he?

Another point is also important. You always need a couple of players who are physically strong who can help the others win. It’s not only about winning, it’s about experiences of success. If you lose every game then you think, “There’s something wrong with me.” You do need to win, but not at all costs. We judge the youth teams on how they're playing soccer and on if they're ultimately producing players for our first team.

For example, at the U-15 level -- an age group where players are going through growth spurts. You’ve got really little players and ones who are like full-grown men. We support and protect the small players who might be at disadvantage but have the potential to become great players, like Philipp Lahm [the 5-foot-7 outside back who captains Germany and Bayern].

SA: It’s a common held belief that free play, or street soccer, is a key to the development of exceptional players. …

WERNER KERN: It used to be like that – that kids would come home from school and play with friends. But the whole infrastructure has changed. There’s almost no unorganized soccer. Now the kids have a longer school day. The school is so demanding that they don’t have time play streets or in the park.

That’s what prompted us to invest in development. That’s why we coordinated with the schools that they have soccer twice a week at school.

SA: Is it a concern that kids only play supervised soccer?

WERNER KERN: That depends. I believe creativity grows out of freedom. That’s true. But we must also link creativity with the things that are necessary to play successfully. I, for instance, require that players dribble, but in offensive. We don’t want players to dribble in front of their own goal and lose the ball, but nor do we want them to boot the ball aimlessly up field.

We want them to take chances, to dare to dribble, but in the right situations. There are many small practice games that help them comprehend when to dribble and when to pass. They get many chances to dribble and to figure out the right time.

SA: What’s Bayern Munich’s playing style philosophy?

WERNER KERN: We want to play active soccer. We want to defend high and we want to possess the ball as much as possible because we believe that we learn and improve when we possess the ball a lot. When you’re chasing the ball all the time you’re not learning a lot.

You must, of course, learn the elements of defense, but we want to act not react.

*(Read Part 1 of the interview with Werner Kern HERE.)

Inside Bayern Munich's youth program (Q&A with Werner Kern, Part I)

2012-01-28T21:27:56Z

Bayern Munich stars, such as Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm and Thomas Mueller, often cross paths with the youngsters at the club's Sabener Strasse grounds -- though they arrive in a different manner. The pros drive Audis provided by the team sponsor whose license plates end with their jersey numbers. After parking in the underground garage, they stop at the autograph station to sign shirts, balls and pictures that will be sent to fans. The youth players come mainly after school by train or in buses provided by the club. A small group of them live in the club's dorms.

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

]]> Bayern fields one team at age group from U-8 to U-17, and a U-19 and a U-23 squad. The U-23s serve as Bayern’s second team and plays in the fourth division against clubs without an age restriction. Bayern's annual budget for the youth program, including the second team, is $6.5 million.

Bayern’s youth program mirrors that of Barcelona – the most successful in its country and a source for the core of the national team lineup. Germany finished third at the 2010 World Cup and second at the 2008 European Championship, having fallen to Spain at both tournaments.

Germany went undefeated in qualifying for the 2012 European Championship and last year beat Brazil (3-2) and the Netherlands (3-0) in friendlies -- while regularly fielding four or five field players who came out of Bayern’s youth program, including Schweinsteiger, Lahm and Mueller.

Bayern’s youth program is comprised of 185 players, 29 full- and part-time coaches, three goalkeeper coaches, two fitness coaches, seven physiotherapists, one doctor and six academic tutors. The club employs one scout for each age group.

Werner Kern, who has served as the head of Bayern’s youth program since 1998, was also assistant coach of Bayern’s senior team in 1970-77. We spoke with Kern in his office at the Sabener Strasse clubhouse about the team’s youth program. …

SOCCER AMERICA: How does Bayern approach the youngest age groups?

WERNER KERN: Our youngest group is the “Base” group: 7-year-olds to 10-year-olds. These U-8s to U-11s play 7-v-7 on small fields.

We do not have a set goalkeeper at those age groups. We rotate goalkeepers because we know, with the back- pass rule, the goalkeeper must be a good soccer player.

We move all the players around positions, because they need defensive skills and offensive skills. The need experience in back, upfront, on the left side and the right side.

They need to learn ball technique … the fundamentals. Controlling the ball, moving with the ball. The short pass. Begin to comprehend individual tactics and within a small group.

SA: What’s the format at U-12?

WERNER KERN: They play 9-v-9. At the U-13s we move up to 11-v-11 because the new regional league begins at U-15 and they need two seasons to get used to 11-v-11. It’s questionable we should already have a regional league at U-15 because the travel can be too demanding.

SA: What’s the league play like for the younger levels?

WERNER KERN: We always play against older teams. Until U-17, Bayern’s teams always play a year up. That’s because all our players are scouted, so they should be better. And they need to be challenged.

SA: What do you look for in coaches at the youngest age groups?

WERNER KERN: With the youngest age groups, the most important for me is the personality. That they are role models and that they know how to communicate and relate to children.

And it’s also beneficial if they’re parents, because then they know how to treat children in an age-appropriate manner.

I have had great experiences with young coaches who come out of the university having studied education -- but also having a soccer-playing background is important.

SA: How does Bayern find talent?

WERNER KERN: Each age group has a scout, and we have a network of scouts. We focus first on talent in Bavaria.

SA: At what age do players join the residency?

WERNER KERN: Age 15 is the youngest we bring players into our residency, and that separates us from many other clubs.

We don’t want to take players out of their family house earlier than that. It’s important that children grow up with their families. We feel that’s crucial.

SA: How many players are in residency?

WERNER KERN: We have a dorm with 13 apartments for 13 players who live with us. That’s a small number, so the challenge for our scouts is to really pick the best.

And they have done a superb job. Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos and Holger Badstuber all lived here.

SA: So the vast majority of players commute …

WERNER KERN: Yes. We have two buses that pick players up after school, one for the north and one for the south. The others generally take the train, like Thomas Mueller and Philipp Lahm did. [Mueller, 22, and Lahm, 28, both joined Bayern at age 11].

SA: What’s the turnover of players?

WERNER KERN: We only have scouted players. Players we pick. No one can come to FC Bayern and say, “I’ll play for a youth team.” And we’re constantly looking for talent. And each year, if we find better players, then the worst players must leave. We help them find new clubs.

All players are with Bayern at least one year and then we assess if they stay or are replaced.

(Look for Part 2 of the YSI’s interview with Werner Kern on Friday.)

Why Wilmer Cabrera's U-17 tenure ended (Q&A)

2012-01-15T21:26:17Z

Wilmer Cabrera, who guided the USA to the second round in the 2009 and 2011 U-17 World Cups and headed the Bradenton Residency Program for more than four years, explains why he's left U.S. Soccer and looks back on his tenure.

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

]]> Wilmer Cabrera, who guided the USA to the second round at the 2009 and 2011 U-17 World Cups and headed the Bradenton Residency Program for more than four years, explains why he's left U.S. Soccer and looks back on his tenure.

SOCCER AMERICA: Why are you no longer the U-17 national team coach?

WILMER CABRERA: I rejected the offer from the Federation.

SA: Why?

WILMER CABRERA: Because the length of contract wasn’t long enough. Not even similar to what I had in my two cycles. It was half of the time that I was offered the last times.

SA: So just a year instead of two years?

WILMER CABRERA: Correct.

SA: Do you know why they offered you a shorter term this time?

WILMER CABRERA: No. I don’t have any idea. I had been working very well with the Federation but I couldn’t accept that offer. It wasn’t good enough for me or my family.

SA: The non-renewal came shortly after the team did so well at the Nike Friendlies -- beating Brazil (3-1) and Turkey (2-1) and tying France (2-2) in December -- so it came as a bit of a surprise ...

WILMER CABRERA: I was thinking we were going in the right direction -- but the offer was different perhaps because they have different plans. I have to respect that. But I have to think about what’s good for me and my family, and for me as a coach.

SA: Do you know yet what your next move might be?

WILMER CABRERA: I’m in conversation with an MLS club to try and join the staff and we’ll see.

SA: How much contact did you have with Jurgen Klinsmann?

WILMER CABRERA: I just met him once, and it was a very nice conversation. It was the first time I met him and the only time I spoke with him. [Last summer] I presented my technical report to the Federation and he was there -- and it was a very nice conversation. I imagine he’s very busy with his team because he has a lot of work.

SA: When you look back on your four and a half years as U-17 coach, what you think went well?

WILMER CABRERA: A lot of players jumped from the Bradenton Residency right away into professional clubs and they’ve been adapting very well.

If we provided the players with a good base for them finish at Bradenton and come to a professional club and adapt well, that means they were well prepared. Adapting not only to Major League Soccer, which is the most important thing our players should think about, but also to international clubs.

(EDITORS’ NOTE: Among the players who played for Cabrera at the U-17 World Cups were Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake), Perry Kitchen (D.C. United) and Jack McInerney (Philadelphia Union), in 2009, and, in 2011, Jack McBean (Los Angeles Galaxy) and Marc Pelosi, who signed with Liverpool in November.)

SA: What about the team’s performance under your watch?

WILMER CABRERA: The results in Central America were very positive. We played in two Concacaf Championships (U-17 World Cup qualifying) and we won all the games, and that’s important. In the eight games that were played, we won them all, and that proved the team at the Concacaf level was well prepared. We are progressing, but we’re not there yet.

I think with a better plan, where all national teams are communicating and working with the same idea we’ll get better results for the players and soccer in the United States, but I never received a plan. I never received feedback for what I was doing, right or wrong.

SA: What do you think the future of the Bradenton Residency is?

WILMER CABRERA: At some point, if the Development Academy and MLS clubs provide everyday training at a good level and good mentality -- I would say it won’t be necessary to have Bradenton. But right now that’s not happening, for different reasons.

We have to compete with the top players from the rest of the world, and they practice and compete everyday -- and if we’re not prepared to do that, we can go backward. So I think it’s very important we recognize when it's the right time to stop Bradenton, and that would be when they have the same opportunity in a good environment that’s not far from their parents.

SA: What are the main challenges of running a 40-player residency for kids from around the country? How difficult is it to provide a good environment for kids who leave home at a young age?

WILMER CABRERA: It’s very difficult because they’re coming from different backgrounds, different culture, different education -- and they need to have the kind of discipline where they have to be a role model.

Most of them are coming from places where they’re superstars. They’re big in their clubs -- and nobody says anything because they’re the best players. But when they come to Bradenton, no one is a superstar.

The work on the field is not as difficult as the work off the field -- school and responsibilities. We weren’t only coaches. We were parents, psychologists, advisors.

It was quite challenging -- but very rewarding when we traveled around the world and the Americans we encountered told us how proud they were of the way the players were representing the USA. ...

I’ve been receiving e-mails from all the players saying thank you. Even from the ones we had to send home because of discipline -- they weren’t doing the right things -- they're sending me thank yous, saying, “I know I didn’t take advantage but I learned a lesson.”

I think we helped the kids a lot.

Remembering Thomas Fleck; FA changes 'travel' rules; Bliss, Rongen in new roles ...

2012-01-11T21:24:20Z

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

]]> A memorial service for Thomas Fleck, one of the original national staff coaches with U.S. Soccer and instructor for U.S. Soccer for 30 years, will be held in St. Petersburg, Fla., Jan. 21. See details on www.drfleckfoundation.com. Fleck died on Dec. 24 at age 74.

"Dr. Fleck's impact on our sport was profound," said Sam Snow, coaching director of US Youth Soccer. "Tom educated and influenced generations of American soccer coaches and was a pioneer in the growth of our sport during the 'soccer boom' of the 70s and 80s. I was exceptionally fortunate to have had Tom as a mentor and he was a close friend as well. His passing is a loss to soccer in the USA."

Snow shares more memories of Fleck HERE.

* * *

The English FA has lifted the "travel time" rules that have restricted professional clubs' ability to recruit youth players who don't live in their region. The move was lauded by Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson, who said the restrictions encouraged major English clubs to recruit youth talent from abroad rather than from England

“The academy rules as they were, the distance that players could sign, an hour and a half away, or an hour up to 14, seemed ridiculous when you think I could bring a boy over from Amsterdam or Ireland,” Ferguson told the Daily Mail.

* * *

MLSsoccer.com’s Randy Davis reports on Real Salt Lake’s residency program in Casa Grande, Ariz., at the Grande Sports World resort. “There were a lot of kids that came from smaller markets, like the four corner region – Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado or the western Texas area,” says RS-AZ assistant coach Freddy Juarez. “They don’t really get the recognition because it’s not big clubs. So I think we caught a lot of people by surprise last year.”

Real Salt Lake AZ finished third place in the 2011 U-15/16 U.S. Soccer Development Academy finals. Vancouver is the only other MLS team with a residency program.

* * *

Tab Ramos, head coach of the U.S. U-20 men’s national team, has brought in as assistant coach his former USA teammate, Brian Bliss, currently the technical director of the Columbus Crew’s youth program. Bliss and Ramos played together in the 1988 Olympics and in the successful qualifying campaign for the 1990 World Cup.

Under Bliss, the Crew Juniors became the first MLS team -- and first team from Ohio -- to win the McGuire Cup when they won the USYS U-19 title in 2010. Bliss was assistant coach of the Kansas City Wizards in 2000-06.

* * *

Thomas Rongen, who coached the USA at U-20 World Cups in 2003, 2007 and 2009, has been named Toronto FC’s Youth Academy director. Rongen, who had MLS head coaching stints with Tampa Bay, New England, D.C. United and Chivas USA, will be working under fellow Dutchman Aron Winter, TFC's head coach. Both started their playing careers with Ajax Amsterdam. Rongen, whose second stint at the helm of the U-20s ended last spring after the USA failed to qualify for the 2011 U-20 World Cup, identified more than 400 teenage American players in foreign leagues, including some of the German-raised Americans who are vying for spots with on Jurgen Klinsmann’s squad.

For more on Rongen’s move to Toronto, check out Nigel Reed’s CBC Sports article HERE.

* * *

U.S. Soccer is in the process of hiring a new coach for the U-17 boys national team after Wilmer Cabrera's contract, which expired in December, was not renewed. Cabrera, a veteran of the Colombian national team who moved to the USA in 2003, replaced John Hackworth at the helm of U-17s and the Bradenton Residency Program after the 2007 U-17 World Cup. Under Cabrera, the USA continued its streak as the only country to qualify for every U-17 World Cup. Cabrera guided the USA to the round of 16 in both the 2009 and 2011 U-17 World Cups. Late last year, his new squad of U-17s impressed at the Nike International Friendlies, beating Brazil (3-1) and Turkey (2-1) and tying France (2-2). Besides naming a new coach, U.S. Soccer is likely contemplating the future of Bradenton Residency -- perhaps no longer necessary since the advent of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy and MLS's clubs ambitious entry into youth development. For more on Cabrera, go HERE.

* * *

In an interview with Dan Woog in the Westport (Conn.) Patch, Mickey Kydes, the director of coaching for the Westport and Old Greenwich Soccer Associations, addressed the state of youth soccer. Soccer in Connecticut “used to be easy,” Kydes says. “There was recreation and travel. Then came another level: premier. That grew and grew, but without any criteria. Lots of teams started calling themselves ‘premier.’ It got top-heavy. That diluted the concept of premier soccer, but it also hurt mid-level travel programs by drawing players out of them. It became a vicious cycle. I’m really concerned, because I want the best playing environment possible for every player in Connecticut.”

Kydes "is a big proponent of rec soccer. It’s where the masses are, and it’s a kid’s first experience to the game. It’s where we make a huge impact, and pay a lot of attention to. First impressions last a long time.” Kydes believes that in the U.S. our best coaches should coach 5- to 10-year-olds. In reality, though, “we totally neglect recreational soccer in Connecticut.” Read the article HERE.

* * *

Ann Hicks, a youth referee for 17 years, recounts some of the most atrocious sideline behavior she’s witnessed within the past two years in a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article: “Recent games had one mother shouting angrily to the referee, ‘You should be ashamed of yourself.’ In another match, a fan called the assistant referee a ‘----ing moron’ because the fan thought he missed an offside call. During an under-8 game, both coaches were ejected for displaying a hand (or rather a finger) gesture to the referee. All this while our youths watched. … Many of our refs are ages 14 to 20.” Read the column HERE.

* * *

The former president of a Northern California youth league serving nine months in jail for embezzling more than $58,000 from the league was denied a request to be released after five months by Sonoma County Judge Ken Gnoss. Kyle Hoffman pleaded guilty to writing more than 70 unauthorized checks from the 250-player Healdsburg league accounts when he was president from 2008 to 2010. Hoffman told the judge he wanted to begin earning money to repay the league and to support his wife and two children. The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported that Gnoss, while denying the request, said Hoffman already received a break when he was allowed to serve his time in county jail rather than prison. Gnoss said he wanted to send a message to anyone who would steal from dues-paying parents and their children.

* * *

U.S. YOUTH NATIONAL TEAM ROSTERS

U.S. U-20 girls (Coach Steve Swanson)
(Preparing for Concacaf qualifying for 2012 Under-20 Women's World Cup March 1-11 in Panama.)

U.S. U-18 girls (Coach April Heinrichs)
(UCLA freshman keeper Katelyn Rowland among 24 in Chula Vista, Calif., camp.)

U.S. U-20 boys (Coach Tab Ramos)
(Three players with MLS experience and 10 foreign-based players on 36-player roster.)

U.S. U-18 boys (Coach Richie Williams)
(Nicholas Gaitan at Argentinos Juniors in Argentina and Romain Gall at FC Lorient in France are the two-foreign based players on 24-player roster includes Zach Pfeffer of the Philadelphia Union.)

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)

]]>

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.)