Attached is a recent story from Jeff Carlisle on Juergen Klinsman and how he is attempting to change the US Men's National Team. The story in itself is worth a read, but if you are a scanner then take note of the quotes from some of the coaches. They all say the same thing...we need problem solvers!
In a culture where our high profile coaches get paid alot of money to win, we look to them for every answer. Most of our sports allow for this as well. We have about 25 timeouts a half or the play stops every time someone trips or goes out of bounds. The ironic thing is the players we (as a culture) admire the most are the ones that rely on the coaches the least - Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Brett Favre and so on.
We admire these players because they have the ability to improvise and turn something out of nothing. Yet as parents and coaches, we never allow our children and players to develop this critical part of the game. We "joystick" their every move.
"Pass it here," or "cross it," or "Shoot!" is heard from many coaches every weekend. It is difficult to watch our young ones make mistakes (and that includes losing), but we need to keep in mind that mistakes are what enables these kids to learn what doesn't work.
With the passing of Steve Jobs (Apple) yesterday, it made me think of the many great inventors. How many times they must have failed in order to get it right. How many failures turned out to be great inventions. So keep this in mind the next time, and every time, you are coaching your children or watching them at the game. That boy (or girl) who seems to be doing things the wrong way will eventually figure out it doesn't work. Or they might just change the way the game is played.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Player Development - Sit or Stand?
What is good coaching? Excellent? This conversation happens all the time between players, parents, and other coaches. We look at the one time we have the most access to coaches...GAMES.
Below is an article about Claudia Reyna, US Soccer Youth Technical Director, on how he developed his philosophy and curriculum. And how he feels coaches should behave during the developmental stages (youth) of soccer players.
Claudio Reyna: 'Coaches should sit down'
By Mike Woitalla
For many reasons, Claudio Reyna was the perfect choice to be named U.S. Soccer’s Youth Technical Director one year ago.
The New Jersey product, who captained the USA at two of his four World Cups, played American youth club, high school and college ball before embarking on a career in Europe that saw him captain teams in Germany, Scotland and the English Premier League. After finishing his playing career with MLS’s New York Red Bulls, which he also captained, Reyna traveled the world to observe the most successful youth programs – including FC Barcelona.
Reyna’s research, and his own experiences, culminated in the Federation’s new curriculum for youth coaches (available for download at USSoccer.com).
Upon the unveiling of "U.S. Soccer Curriculum," Reyna spoke to us about what had impressed him about the youth programs that he found worth emulating.
“The coaches were guiding the training,” he said. “They were not controlling. They weren’t on top of the kids. They were not stopping the play for every mistake.
“None of them yelled. The only time they barked was when kids were screwing around. That’s when they said, ‘Hey, cut it out!’ And boom, the intensity went back up.”
It’s important, Reyna says, to avoid the temptation to focus on mistakes:
“When you first start coaching young players, you see so many things, because, yes, they make mistakes, and if you see a lot of mistakes you want to correct a lot of mistakes. But these coaches were really letting the kids learn the game.”
In the United States, youth soccer struggles to stifle the influence of traditional American sports.
“In our country, we feel we have to do things because of our other sports, which are very much dominated by calling a timeout, writing up a play, 'do this, do that,'” he says. “There is more of an influence from the coach in those sports to solve a situation for the players.”
Another trait of the youth coaches at clubs that succeed at producing top-level players was that they “were very organized, professional, very prepared.
“You could see that they knew what they were doing from one exercise to the next.”
Reyna was struck by the humility of the youth coaches at the pro clubs:
“Very humble. Devoted to their jobs. I got to speak to so many coaches and it was almost when I asked them things they were embarrassed to talk about it. They’d say things like, ‘We’re a part of something else. The kids are students. We’re their teachers. We have to do this job, then we pass them on to the next coach and he does his job, and I get the next group in.’
“And it was very, very powerful to see these guys who were working behind the scenes. They don’t get any credit, no one knows who they are, and for me they were fantastic coaches.”
During games, Reyna observed that “at the best places the youth coaches are sitting down. And if they get up to give instructions, they sit right back down again.
“When the game is going on, all the coaches should just sit down. I think if you ask any player at the youth level, if the coach is on the sidelines standing, it brings tension. You can sense it.”
Coaches at the foreign pro clubs Reyna observed are judged by how many players end up reaching the highest level. And that’s what Reyna says should be the measure for American youth coaches.
“For me, it’s irrelevant if coaches win state cups, regional cups, national cups,” he says. “We get a lot of resumes -- I don’t mean people shouldn’t put that in their resumes – but how many trophies they have in their cabinet isn’t important to me. It’s about the kids, it’s not about you.
“We care about how many players you develop rather than how many trophies you win.
“What is the plan you have? What is your style of play? What’s your philosophy? What do you teach them? What do you do with your staff? If you don’t address that, then what are you doing? Going from week-to-week trying to win games?”
(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.)
I feel it is very important to understand what US Soccer is trying to accomplish. And in many ways, this is what Ohio Elite Soccer Academy is trying to do as well. US Soccer is focused on developing players to be their best. Their charge is to produce players that become professionals, understand and can adapt to different variables (coaches, fields, players, fans, etc.) without having a coach tell them, and will populate our Men's and Women's National Teams, and ultimately compete in the World Cup (and hopefully some day soon WIN a title).
Now, WINNING, as Mr. Sheen so eloquently stated, is part of our culture. We should continue to embrace it, but should technical and tactical development be sacrificed for the sake of winning in youth soccer? Wins and losses will always be a part of the criteria for judging a coaches ability, but if we truly want to know their success we must look at the players they have helped develop. Ask yourself, are the kids he/she coached still playing 1-3-5-10 years later? What level did the kids reach (varsity, collegiate, professional)? And finally, ask the players, did you get better as a player, as a person?
Dave Schureck
USSF A License
Ohio Elite Soccer Academy
Below is an article about Claudia Reyna, US Soccer Youth Technical Director, on how he developed his philosophy and curriculum. And how he feels coaches should behave during the developmental stages (youth) of soccer players.
Claudio Reyna: 'Coaches should sit down'
By Mike Woitalla
For many reasons, Claudio Reyna was the perfect choice to be named U.S. Soccer’s Youth Technical Director one year ago.
The New Jersey product, who captained the USA at two of his four World Cups, played American youth club, high school and college ball before embarking on a career in Europe that saw him captain teams in Germany, Scotland and the English Premier League. After finishing his playing career with MLS’s New York Red Bulls, which he also captained, Reyna traveled the world to observe the most successful youth programs – including FC Barcelona.
Reyna’s research, and his own experiences, culminated in the Federation’s new curriculum for youth coaches (available for download at USSoccer.com).
Upon the unveiling of "U.S. Soccer Curriculum," Reyna spoke to us about what had impressed him about the youth programs that he found worth emulating.
“The coaches were guiding the training,” he said. “They were not controlling. They weren’t on top of the kids. They were not stopping the play for every mistake.
“None of them yelled. The only time they barked was when kids were screwing around. That’s when they said, ‘Hey, cut it out!’ And boom, the intensity went back up.”
It’s important, Reyna says, to avoid the temptation to focus on mistakes:
“When you first start coaching young players, you see so many things, because, yes, they make mistakes, and if you see a lot of mistakes you want to correct a lot of mistakes. But these coaches were really letting the kids learn the game.”
In the United States, youth soccer struggles to stifle the influence of traditional American sports.
“In our country, we feel we have to do things because of our other sports, which are very much dominated by calling a timeout, writing up a play, 'do this, do that,'” he says. “There is more of an influence from the coach in those sports to solve a situation for the players.”
Another trait of the youth coaches at clubs that succeed at producing top-level players was that they “were very organized, professional, very prepared.
“You could see that they knew what they were doing from one exercise to the next.”
Reyna was struck by the humility of the youth coaches at the pro clubs:
“Very humble. Devoted to their jobs. I got to speak to so many coaches and it was almost when I asked them things they were embarrassed to talk about it. They’d say things like, ‘We’re a part of something else. The kids are students. We’re their teachers. We have to do this job, then we pass them on to the next coach and he does his job, and I get the next group in.’
“And it was very, very powerful to see these guys who were working behind the scenes. They don’t get any credit, no one knows who they are, and for me they were fantastic coaches.”
During games, Reyna observed that “at the best places the youth coaches are sitting down. And if they get up to give instructions, they sit right back down again.
“When the game is going on, all the coaches should just sit down. I think if you ask any player at the youth level, if the coach is on the sidelines standing, it brings tension. You can sense it.”
Coaches at the foreign pro clubs Reyna observed are judged by how many players end up reaching the highest level. And that’s what Reyna says should be the measure for American youth coaches.
“For me, it’s irrelevant if coaches win state cups, regional cups, national cups,” he says. “We get a lot of resumes -- I don’t mean people shouldn’t put that in their resumes – but how many trophies they have in their cabinet isn’t important to me. It’s about the kids, it’s not about you.
“We care about how many players you develop rather than how many trophies you win.
“What is the plan you have? What is your style of play? What’s your philosophy? What do you teach them? What do you do with your staff? If you don’t address that, then what are you doing? Going from week-to-week trying to win games?”
(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.)
I feel it is very important to understand what US Soccer is trying to accomplish. And in many ways, this is what Ohio Elite Soccer Academy is trying to do as well. US Soccer is focused on developing players to be their best. Their charge is to produce players that become professionals, understand and can adapt to different variables (coaches, fields, players, fans, etc.) without having a coach tell them, and will populate our Men's and Women's National Teams, and ultimately compete in the World Cup (and hopefully some day soon WIN a title).
Now, WINNING, as Mr. Sheen so eloquently stated, is part of our culture. We should continue to embrace it, but should technical and tactical development be sacrificed for the sake of winning in youth soccer? Wins and losses will always be a part of the criteria for judging a coaches ability, but if we truly want to know their success we must look at the players they have helped develop. Ask yourself, are the kids he/she coached still playing 1-3-5-10 years later? What level did the kids reach (varsity, collegiate, professional)? And finally, ask the players, did you get better as a player, as a person?
Dave Schureck
USSF A License
Ohio Elite Soccer Academy
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Dave Schureck named Director of Goalkeeping and Marketing
I am very pleased to announced that Dave Schureck has accepted the position of Director of Goalkeeping & Marketing. The 2011-12 year will be the third for Dave at Ohio Elite, spending all of last year as our goalkeeper trainer.
The position addresses two major goals we set in the last cycle: (1) expanding our goalkeeper position to include the integration in team training and more importantly completing the cycle of learning for each of our goalkeepers by attending games and tournaments; (2) improve our ability to market the club and its players through social and local media as well as via our website.
Dave is a former NCAA Division I coach at Xavier and Dayton, where he earned A-10 Coach of Year honors. While a student-athlete at Xavier University, Dave earned a B.S. in Sports Marketing and was twice named an All-Ohio goalkeeper.
The position addresses two major goals we set in the last cycle: (1) expanding our goalkeeper position to include the integration in team training and more importantly completing the cycle of learning for each of our goalkeepers by attending games and tournaments; (2) improve our ability to market the club and its players through social and local media as well as via our website.
Dave is a former NCAA Division I coach at Xavier and Dayton, where he earned A-10 Coach of Year honors. While a student-athlete at Xavier University, Dave earned a B.S. in Sports Marketing and was twice named an All-Ohio goalkeeper.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Trip Report 2 - 2-21-11
Yesterday after training and the reserve match we were able to go to the First Team away at Quilmes. Estudiantes won 1-0. We all enjoyed sitting with the EDLP fans in the “Popular” section next to the “Bara Brava”. It was an education for the players and chaperones. It was enjoyable to see their reaction!
This morning the guys had a light training with the EDLP players and then relaxed by the pool for an hour. Then they have lunch and will rest before their match with EDLP. After the match the group will do a city tour of La Plata and go for pizza in the city.
As I am writing this, the chaperones and the youth players are on their way to a local resteraunt where I will meet them for lunch. Then we will got to Estudiantes to watch the match. At 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. the youth players will train. After they train I will take them to meet up the with the group in La Plata.
Everyone is having a great time here. Tomorrow we are going to take the boat to Uruguay for a city tour. It should be a wonderful trip. The weather here is very nice 86 with a cool breeze. Nice!
Trip Report.
Today is Sunday, February 20, 2011 - Day 3 in Argentina. It’s 11:24 a.m. and boys are playing frisbee in the yard, killing a little time before lunch. This morning the guys had an early training session and then we watched the reserves play Quilmes. EDLP won 4-2. It was a great experience for the guys to see a game of this quality up close. Especially with Michael Hoyes in the team. Tonight we will see the first team play.
I am proud of how well the guys are adjusting. The guys are getting their legs now after a few hard training sessions. They will be tested tomorrow when they have their first match with the EDLP players.
The Futbol Infantil players (youth ages 8-13) players are of on the weekend. They trained really hard on Friday, arrival day. They did well as the session got going. They have some new friends and nicknames.
The chaperones are having a great time touring the cities and eating great food! We all did a quick tour of Buenos Aires with a little shopping. It’s a great joy to share my experiences and these experiences with the group and there is a lot more to follow. I like seeing everyone testing themselves and enjoying the experience.
...and Were Off!!!
The Ohio Elite Soccer Academy International Training Program has taken off. Literally and figuratively. We are on our way to Argentina for 10 days to train and play with Estudiantes de La Plata, tour Buenos Aires, La Plata and Uruguay. We left our teammates, friends and loved ones behind. The players, chaperones and I are embarking on this unbelievable journey, to learn, to experience a different culture, try new things and to stretch our comfort zones. We are ready to challenge ourselves and we are ready to take full advantage of this awesome opportunity.
Thanks to everyone who believed in me, the program, who supported us and helped us accomplish our goals.
If you would like to follow our trip we created an Ohio Elite YouTube page. You can also check us out on Facebook and Twitter. Links:
- YouTube: www.youtube.com/ohioelitesa
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/ohioelite
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/ohioelite
Take care
Friday, January 28, 2011
Thank You
2011 OESA International Training Program - Argentina Fundraiser, was a huge success. It was a special night out in O’Bryonville to help raise money for the players headed to Argentina to train with Estudiantes de La Plata. I want to thank all the members and staff of Ohio Elite Soccer Academy who came out to support this program. It was nice to be out, enjoy great food, and be with people invested in our club who are determined to make this program a success.
I would also like to thank everyone who donated their time, services, funds and gifts to help raise money to assist these players go to Argentina.
In no particular order:
- Gulf Shores Rentals, John Boller www.gulfshoresrentals.com and Robert Connor, condo owner. (contact John for all your Lower Alabama vacation needs)
- Mike Lane of Diamond Rock
- Uncorked at the Art of Entertaining
- Explosion Fitness
- Tonics at the Cincinnati Sports Club
- Village Spa
- Amy Holt of Designs on Madison
- Sally Fennell
- Jon Mendelsohn, M.D., F.A.C.S. of Advanced Cosmetics Surgery and Laser Center
- Steve Flesch
- Joseph Caligaris M.D.
- Steve Lohre M.D.
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