Teaching the Game Ontario Soccer Association Annual Coaches Conference 2013

1. Teaching the Game Ontario Soccer Association Annual Coaches Conference 2013 Sam Snow – Technical Director US Youth Soccer

2. Teaching the Game

3. Teaching the Game Canada U.S.A. Most of the challenges to growing the game are the same for both nations – not the number 1 sport, immense geography, underfunded infrastructure, etc. These reasons as well as our cultural mindsets means we must TEACH the game.

4. A 20 Year Game Plan a.k.a – Long-Term Player Development Teaching the Game

5. Teaching the Game The goals of youth soccer should be to promote physical activity, fun, life skills (such as self-reliance, conflict management, purposeful interaction with others), fair play and good health. Many soccer programs start out like this, but change over time because adults and children misunderstand the difference between competition and cooperation.

6. Teaching the Game LTPD A Lifetime of Participation Stages 6 & 7 Stages 4, 5 & 6 Stages 3 & 4 Stages 1, 2 & 3 Biological stages of growth which correlate to the 7 stages of LTPD.

7. Teaching the Game • You are among the most important coaches in youth soccer! • Everything that happens in older age groups and higher levels of play rests upon the foundations you lay. • Your words and deeds impact the children as players and as people. U.S. Soccer Player Development Pyramid

8. Teaching the Game Zone 1 U6-U12 Zone 3 U18+ Zone 2 U13-U17 Zone 2 U13-U17 Zone 3 U18+ Zone 1 U6-U12

9. Teaching the Game All team sports are long-term development experiences. These stages compliment Long Term Player Development

10. Why coach (teach) instead of just manage. Teaching the Game

11. Teaching the Game • Too many youth coaches follow the Power and Performance model exclusively. • Exclusion of long-term development players • Ex. – recruits heavily, micromanages players/staff • Will not share power • Relies heavily on athleticism and direct play • The talented coach balances both player-centered and coach-centered needs. • Inclusion of both short-term and long-term players • Questions and listens, as well as commands • Sets challenges that put players in the “Flow”

12. Teaching the Game The overly managed team plays with trepidation. Confident teams play with verve. "Easier to say no than go - harder to teach go than no.” – Logan Fleck

13. Teaching the Game What are the expectations… Of the average Youth Coach when a player of this size shows up at a tryout? Can you spot the best player in the world?

14. Teaching the Game My guess is your eye goes directly to this youngster: A physical Specimen

15. Teaching the Game “I do everything through instinct, I play like a child ... I think about myself on a small field, or in the street, I see myself with the ball in the same way as I am now. I have not changed at all. You must remember soccer is a game to have fun and you play for that. I don't plan or anticipate my play.“ Lionel “the Flea” Messi Would they expect this?

16. Teaching the Game In youth soccer parents are part of the team. When coaches properly engaged with the parents they can become your biggest allies.

17. What to Coach Teaching the Game

18. Teaching the Game • Have a Curriculum as the overarching plan • Wellness to World Cup • Curriculum and rubric for Physical Literacy stages, U6-U12 • Canada Soccer Association LTPD  Volume 2, Technical Matrix

19. Teaching the Game- cont. • A Curriculum is the overarching plan • US Youth Soccer Player Development Model • U.S. Soccer Curriculum • The Future Game • Accentuate the Curriculum with match analysis

20. Teaching the Game CYCLE = Game – Training – Game The Match is the Indicator GAME = performance ANALYSIS = evaluation TRAINING = education GAME = performance

21. Teaching the Game Soccer has traditionally been taught using the skill and drill or progressive part method (part-part-whole). The game was broken down into its components and these are then taught. This technical approach, developed after World War II, taught the skills isolated from the game and then the skills and the game are put back together.

22. Teaching the Game Excessive turn taking leads to boredom and inattention, leading to misbehavior – all because the coach was a killjoy. Inefficient use of training time. Infrequent turns. Over-coaching that leads to frustration and failure. Rote (static) repetition (muscle memory) was the main methodology, but without the requisite decision making that soccer demands of the players.

23. Teaching the Game Random (dynamic) repetition combines technique training along with tactical awareness and emotional engagement. To the untrained eye it looks messy, but the learning experience is richer. Organized chaos with the right guidance, teaches!

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26. Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail Plan Practice – In Writing! How to Coach Teaching the Game

27. Teaching the GameCoaching Styles & Methods STYLE – a distinctive manner … a characteristic mode of presentation …external fashion METHOD – a way by which we proceed to the attainment of some aim …logical or scientific arrangement or mode of acting The New Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language

28. Teaching the GameCoaching Methods

29. Teaching the Game The traditional way sports have been taught is with the coach at the center of attention. The coach told the players what to do (command style) and expected them to produce. With the command style, the coach explains a skill, demonstrates the skill and allows the players to practice the skill.

30. Teaching the Game • A player-centered training and match environment must become our soccer culture! • The proper mix of coaching methods will allow us to develop world class players as well as the full scale of life-long players. “Coaches – adapt our die.” – Andy Roxburgh

31. Teaching the Game • In contrast to "reproduction" of knowledge in the coach-centered approach, the guided discovery approach emphasizes the "production" of new talents. The approach invites the player to think!

32. Teaching the Game It is often argued that effective coaching is as much an art as it is a science. Guided discovery in coaching soccer is a balance of the two. In a broad sense our coaching style of the North American soccer player must move away from the “sage on the stage” to the “guide on the side.”

33. Teaching the Game COACHING ACTIVITIES CHECKLIST Are the activities fun? Are the activities organized? Are the players involved in the activities? Is creativity and decision making being used? Are the spaces used appropriate? Is the coach’s feedback appropriate? Are there implications for the game?

34. Most aspects of the game are eternal. How has it come to pass that kids can't throw down something to mark goals, pick teams and play? Teaching the Game Free Play Part of good coaching is knowing when to step back and let the players sort it out themselves. We must allow and encourage more pick-up games in youth soccer.

35. Teaching the Game Street Soccer The importance of giving the game back to the players cannot be overemphasized. Whether you call it street soccer, a sandlot game, a kick-about or a pickup game -- this is the way that millions upon millions over many decades have learned to play soccer.

36. Teaching the Game Free Play must be a core value in the player development curriculum! The kids are free to learn how to organize themselves, solve disputes, become leaders, rule their own game, experiment with new skills, make new friends and play without the burden of results.

37. Teaching the Game Teaching Games for Understanding Game Sense Approach Well-Selected Games Games-Based Learning Game-Like Activities

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