The Recruiting Process

Players and parents often fail to understand the long-term approach to preparing the individual player to be recruited by college coaches or for that matter earn a spot on their high school team. Too often, success is defined specifically by the results of the team versus the growth of its individual players. A college coach has never requested a team resume, much less cared about a tournament result at U-12. Results cannot be ignored and learning to win is an important part of player development, but there are three far more important facts to consider...

The single most important fact for players and parents to understand is grades! There are more recruitable student-athletes than opportunities. If the student-athlete fails to put in the required effort in the classroom his abilities on the field likely will not matter.

Second, preparing the player to be successful beyond club soccer requires programming that challenges the players within the team and provides them with exposure opportunities to college coaches and scouts. This obviously requires some resume building by the team, but also necessitates organizational relationships between our staff and tournaments, leagues and other organizations. We understand and accept this responsibility.

(In 2012-13, the Academy teams will attend the College Cup Championships Showcase, Disney Soccer Showcase, Ohio Elite Showcase, Jefferson Cup and Crossroads Showcase. The Gold teams will attend the Galaxies Showcase, Germantown Invitational Showcase, Ohio Elite Showcase, St. Louis Scott Gallagher Showcase and Crossroads of America Showcase.)

The third fact is the reality that student-athletes tryout for their respective high school teams and are recruited INDIVIDUALLY by college coaches. Teams are not recruited, they are merely the vehicle for development and exposure. The college recruiting process illustrates our 'Player First' philosophy in the player development model from U-8 to U-18.

The PROCESS of selecting a school of higher learning is ultimately the responsibility of the student-athlete. Parents, coaches, teachers and counselors are advisors. We assist.

Even though high school soccer is during the fall season, work on behalf of our players continued. Meetings, emails and texts with players and parents help us understand the goals of the student-athlete and we can help advise him on the appropriate level for his abilities. 

Since the beginning of the school year our staff has been in contact with dozens of college coaches at all levels (NCAA Division I, II, III and NAIA) on behalf of our players. With our first major event on the horizon, advising our student-athletes and communicating with college coaches continues. We are proud to celebrate the abilities and character of our players with prospective college coaches.

Final thought... kids need to choose what is best for them. It sounds like simple advice but parents and kids can be competitive and some focus on the process of someone else. Pick the school based on the factors important to YOU, including academics, size, geography and soccer program. Division I soccer isn't for everyone. I would submit it isn't for most!

What It Takes…

It is that time of year.  Actually, it is always that time of year.  Not the holiday season, but the search for the next level.  And in club soccer, that usually means college.  I have been meeting with different players and parents throughout the club, both boys and girls ranging from freshmen to seniors in high school.  And 99% of the time it comes down to the same question…what does it take?

‘What does it take,’ is an extremely broad question; however it can be answered in a very simple sentence…  It takes more than others are willing to give.  I said simple, not easy.  Just think about it for a minute, currently you are training 2-3 times a week and playing one or two games.  Every player with a half way decent club is also doing the same thing.  I don’t care if your ‘next level’ is college, varsity for high school, or to move to a higher level team, you must put together a plan on how to improve, start the plan, and most importantly stick to it.

Now you are asking yourself, “Easy said, but how do I put together a plan?” or “What should my plan include?”  This is where your coaches should come in to play.  Sit down with your coach (player must do this, not just the parent) and go over your last evaluation.  Don’t waste your time on what are your strengths, but focus on areas that need attention.  If you are weak at crossing the ball, you must add that to your plan to work on in a repeated fashion. 

It usually takes anywhere from 800-1500 repetitions before your muscles make it a habit.  If you strike 100 crosses a week, you are looking at 2-4 months before your improvements will become natural and show during a game.  Don’t forget, you must continue the repetitions after 2-4 months in order to maintain your sharpness.   This is only one weakness.  Most of us have 5-10 areas where we need to improve.

Now that I have your attention – DON’T FREAK OUT! Everyone playing has weaknesses in their game.  You don’t have to become the perfect player.  You never will get there anyway.  However, if your weaknesses become harder to find, you are well on your way.

What else are you willing to give that others are not?  This can be and usually is answered off the field.  First impressions go a long way.  I have spent nearly 20 years evaluating talent for club, college, and regional and national teams.  How a player looks and acts prior to and during a game or training can make a huge difference.  Here are descriptions of two players.  Tell me who you would want as a teammate.

PLAYER 1: Solid player, good athlete and fast, average technically.  Makes an impact once every 4-5 games (goal, assist, great defense, etc.).   Often 2-3 minutes late to training.  Never seems to have right uniform.  Takes 5-10 repetitions in training to understand what is going on.  Misses pregame warm -up because they are still putting on shoes.   Looks like they just woke up.

PLAYER 2: Technically solid, average athlete.  Doesn’t usually make an impact, but very rarely makes a mistake.  Always on time and ready to go.  Extremely focused during training and warm ups.  You hate going against them in practice because they “try too hard.” 

My guess is most of you would rather have PLAYER 2 as your teammate.  Who do you believe most coaches would rather have on their squad?  And most importantly, ask yourself – which player are you most like?

Over my many years in coaching, PLAYER 1 may get noticed first, but over time they often become a burden.  PLAYER 2 is the one who reaches their goal.  You rarely see them on the bench because coaches know they can trust them to do the right thing.  Coaches know PLAYER 2 gives them the best opportunity to win.  The sooner you can take the DISCIPLINE of PLAYER 2, the more likely your average is better than most others’ good.

I know what you’re saying now, “I do not have the time.  I have school and homework, I have drama class, and not to mention I am on student council.”

Again, I will reiterate, THIS IS NOT EASY.  If you want to be your best, it will take sacrifice.  Can you stay after training for 20-30 minutes?  Instead of getting up at 6:30 am, what about 6:00 am?  Just these two simple changes, give you 4 more hours a week.

Don’t wait for someone to invite you to get better, go out and do it.  If you want to reach the next level, give yourself the best chance. 

The Development Process

Over the past couple years we have published and revised and republished our curriculum and development process. Last spring US Soccer published its own curriculum and we once again reviewed and revised our plan.

In 2012-13 we have changed all our traditional programming for the Academy teams away from Buckeye Premier and the Midwest Regional League to the Ohio South State League and US Club Soccer National Premier League. These two leagues provide us with new challenges in the planning and preparation stages.

Our development plan will always be a work in progress. We will continually be our best and worst critics in preparing our players for competition, but our staff feels it is critical to have a plan, to look ahead more than just today's practice or react to last weekend's games. Analyzing the games is a critical component to preparing our players for future competition, but understanding our goals for that period in the cycle gives us better context for our successes in training.

We have established training goals for our teams through the end of February. Our staff meets at the beginning of each macrocycle to develop the training sessions for that period leaving some flexibility to address "issues" that appear in games within the cycle. Additionally, we have established a training template for each day of the week to provide a more consistent training environment for the players and increase the time on task.

Our curriculum and sessions are published on the team page for the players to prepare themselves physically and mentally for the session as well as improve the transition between activities. Readers are more than welcome to view our model for themselves.

Btw, its AWESOME to have the boys back from high school. Two days in and the sessions have been fast-paced. The players' attitudes and work rate have been tremendous.

Good Luck to Summit Country Day in the State Championship on Saturday!

ITP - Argentina | Gimnasia y Esgrimga La Plata | Day 5

The club is in full swing Monday thru Friday. The entire staff and all the U14 and older players are on the campus. The professional (aka “First Team”) team trains in the center of campus with the youth and reserve teams training around the facility on different fields.

Our U15-16 players trained with the U16 players of Gimasia, since they train in the morning. The boys were integrated into the club sessions and the staff and players were tremendously accommodating. The trainer warmed the group up with technical and dynamic work before splitting the group in half.

One of the favorite activities of the staff is a game we call “over the river” so it was something our players picked up rather quickly. Another field of 11v11 was going on at the same time. They train all three U16 teams at the same time although they are not necessarily together. The players are moved up and down levels as it relates to their player development needs. On this day the “2nd” team was split with half the players playing with the top group and the other half training with the third group.

The club’s U14 players are on campus in the afternoon so we worked with our U14s separately after the U16 session. The professional team's goalkeeper coach, Gabriel Vega, stepped away from their training session and brought the club’s 3rd and 4th string professional goalkeepers to work with our goalkeeper, Sam Frohman, as well as coach Sabin and me to teach us how their goalkeepers recover to their feet so quickly as well as their side-volley punting technique. We expected them to spend just a couple minutes with us, but they ended up staying for well over half an hour. The players were very humble and Gabriel was unbelievable in the time he spent with us.

Javier Novarini has grown up with Gimnasia. He spent several years in the United States and played both in the MLS and USL. He has been our main facilitator with the Gimnasia technical staff throughout the week and stepped in to work with the U14’s while Coach Vega worked with us.

The parents came by earlier in the day and ate lunch with us.

Internet issues were largely solved in the afternoon so the boys could use the time to study and do homework.

Our composite team played the Gimnasia U14 team in the evening. During the first half we were unfortunately largely spectators of their possession game. Adjustments at half time made us more competitive in the second half and the boys were very receptive to the instruction given to them. The game was a great experience for everyone.

ITP - Argentina | Gimnasia y Esgrimga La Plata | Day 4

Today was a day of adjustments.

Heavy rains moved back into the area overnight making for a great night's sleep but also closing the training fields for much of the morning. The Gimnasia staff was once again great. They typically do not work on the weekend and yet 4 full-time staff coaches – Favio, Napolitano, Christian and Ariel – took the time to work with our players and provide a great 2-hour session on an area outside the first team's training pitch.

The full-time "trainer" is responsible for the warm-up and cool down, including some basic technical work combined with both dynamic and static stretching. The head coach is responsible for all the technical and tactical training with his assistant coach and they facilitate the bulk of the training. The goalkeeper coach was not available today, but the youth director – “Pata” – was at training to oversee the session and provide feedback to the staff and players.

The activities are very similar to what our players are used to. The main difference is the environment. The youth players in the professional system of Argentina all aim to become professionals. Those that make it can pull their family from real poverty and therefore that level of passion and desire is something we simply don't have in the U.S. Most of our players don't expect to make it as professionals, the youth of Argentina think of nothing else.

After lunch we boarded the buses to Buenos Aires to attend the match at Independiente. Upon arrival we learned the team had provided us the wrong tickets for the match and the decision was made not to attend. Our guides – Sergio and “Nacho” are serious about providing us the best possible experience and the safety of our players is their clear priority. Even with yesterday's experience at the Gimnasia match we were never in danger and never feared for our safety. Because of the section our seats were incorrectly placed by Independiente, the proper decision was made not to attend.

Instead, we went to La Boca and the Gaminito in Buenos Aries. The kids even found a 5v5 match against local kids on a concrete futsal court and had an awesome time. We walked the few blocks to Boca Juniors stadium before returning back to Gimnasia for dinner.

ITP - Argentina | Gimnasia y Esgrimga La Plata | Day 3

The people of Gimnasia are absolutely top rate. They are treating us very well and have almost become too accomodating. Their hospitality is unbelievable and we are all grateful.

More than one player stated that this "was the greatest day of my life!". Unless you have experienced what we did today it is impossible to understand. I'll explain more later.

With all of us asleep pretty early and with 2 rooms of 3 players, 1 room of 4 and 1 room of 7 we really didn't feel the need to set an alarm. Breakfast was scheduled for 8am and coach Sabin was the first to wake up at 7:55.

Training was from 9:30-11. The profession team's head and assistant coaches stopped by to greet the players and the youth team coaches conducted the all-technical session. I had the chance to meet with the staff after training and compare our ideals and culteral differences and its very difficult for them to understand how different our environment is for the players. It was a wonderful exchange and one I truly enjoyed.

After yet another meal (we seem to eat all the time and the national beverage is coke), we loaded the bus for the match between Gimnasia and Rosario Central. The match was supposed to be held at the new state of the art 45,000-seat La Plata Stadium but the head coach chose the old stadium which holds only 25,000 but it much more intimate. The two teams were both relegated to the second division last year and currently sit 1-2 in the promotion table back to the top division next year so the match was very important for both teams.

We were treated unbelievable at the match. The group entered the stadium through the Gimnasia locker room as the team returned from warm-ups. They took us to the field and took picture on the playing surface. We were the guests of the team president and sat in the owner's box. Most of the players and both coaches were able to get seats just outside the box.

It is impossible to explain the atmosphere so I won't try, but the match ended 1-0 on a very questionable penalty for the home side with 5 minutes left. Both teams finished the match with only 9 players and the away fans tore chairs from the concrete and threw them over the fence. Gimnasia went from a player up to a player down and back to even in about 10 minutes. The Gimnasia coach was sent off and needed to be restrained by the police and the Rosario coaches went after the referee after the match. A group of Rosario fans actually went after the riot police and the only disappointment amongst our players was that they pulled the water canon and pointed it at the skirmish, but never actually used it.

Note - the home fans are locked in the stadium after the match for about 30 minutes to give the away team fans time to "escape". After witnessing my first match in this country I completely understand why!

Tomorrow we have a full training session with the youth team coaches and they have promised a very demanding session for the boys. The highlight for tomorrow is the match between Independiente and San Lorenzo in Buenos Aires.

Buenos Noches.

ITP - Argentina | Gimnasia y Esgrimga La Plata | Day 2

We were able to get through the payment of the reciprocity fee and customs in about an hour. Everyone’s luggage arrived and our guides, Sergio and “Nacho” were there to greet us and load the bus. The hour-long trip to La Plata through the northern part of Buenos Aires took us by the Argentine Futbol Association and Boca Juniors stadium.

The coaches and players’ facility was not yet ready as we arrived due to the storms of the previous two days. (The parents are in beautiful apartments in downtown La Plata about 30 minutes away.) By the time we ate lunch – wonderful pasta, bread, coke, water and ice cream – the rooms were ready.

We thought the boys would take a nap, but it turns out the only one who passed out was coach Sabin. It is very unusual to allow any visitors on the campus on the day prior to a match. They very much guard the relaxation and preparation of the professional team, especially since our building is only 50 feet apart. Our kids were extremely respectful of the request for quiet.

Instead of a light session in the afternoon we decided to warm the boys up and play an hour-long soccer tennis match in the gym. The boys were anxious to touch the ball and had a great time until Ryan Hadley volleyed a ball too high and broke a ceiling light. The four-man team of Jared Grubich, Bryce Schweirling, Mike Coghlin and Rielly Dowling won the first 5 or 6 matches and dominated the hour-long session.

Lights out at 10:30 and the boys were quickly out.

ITP - Argentina | Gimnasia y Esgringa La Plata | Day 1

Note - the internet was largely blocked until Saturday evening after dinner. The only building at Gimnasia y Esgringa La Plata that has a wireless connection was being used for the First Team who was on campus in preparation for a very important match. Internet access should be much more available for the players and coaches from here on out.

All the players arrived early to the Dayton Airport and the check-in process was smooth, even for our first time flyer Rielly. The boys traveled very well even with a 4.5 hour lay-over in Atlanta. We were all entertained by Mark Coghlin’s pacing in hopes that the family could get on our flight and fortunately they did.

Most of the players slept 2-4 hours on the 10-hour flight. In-flight movies – Ides of March and Moneyball.

2012 OESA International Training Program

In just three days Ohio Elite Soccer Academy players, parents and staff will return to Argentina for eight days as part of the OESA ITP. The players will be staying at the Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata (Gimnasia). The players will train with and play a game against the Gimnasia youth team. Gimnasia is home to former Columbus Crew star Guillermo Barros Schelotto. The group will attend two professional games; Rosario Central at Gimnasia and San Lorenzo at Independiente. In addition to training, competing and attending professional games there is a day trip planed to Uruguay, tour of the Bombonera, Buenos Aires tour along with over sights. Like the participants of last years trip, we are ready to take full advantage of this opportunity to learn, to better ourselves and push our comfort levels. For more information you can follow our trip on he on this blog, Facebook and Twitter. There is also a copy of the itinerary on the International Program page of our website.