Ohio Elite ITP - Day One

Fluminense | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Day One – Saturday, July 27, 2013

The trip started with two groups departing Cincinnati on different flights and meeting up in Dallas for the 10-hour flight to Rio de Janeiro.  Wheels were up after solving the over-sold issue and finally getting everyone on the flight at the last possible minute.

Sweeping In Front Of Your Door

At the beginning of every season there is always an education or re-education of rules, regulations, or just the way we, as coaches, do things.  One standard that I seem to have to constantly repeat is “You are responsible for yourself.”

Responsibility is defined as a duty or obligation to satisfactorily perform or complete a task (assigned by someone, or created by one's own promise or circumstances) that one must fulfill, and which has a consequent penalty for failure.

For me, the key word is “one.”  It is my responsibility as a coach (and as a parent) to help and teach these lessons of responsibility to my players and kids.  However, it is ultimately ‘one’ person’s job…the player.  The younger the player, the more prodding and assistance they may need, but they should do the work.  In all my years as a coach, I have never had a parent score a goal or save a shot.

One of the most difficult aspects of coaching is keeping the discipline within a team.  The discipline is always better when each player understands the rules and follows them.  Consequences should come when rules are broken, no matter how small the violation.  Players must also understand that no two violations are the same and that different consequences may result.

Taking responsibility is a learned trait and heavily influenced by peers.  Knowing that, each player should strive to set the standard within their team and/or training.  BE ON TIME – nothing shows your preparation like being on time and ready to go 5 minutes early.  KEEP IT CLEAN – dress in the appropriate gear, keep your bag zipped, clean and lined up with others.  LEAD BY EXAMPLE – whether you are first in line or last, perform every little detail the correct way.   BE APPROPRIATE – keep conversations about soccer and things related.  Be the first to keep others language and topics in line, even if it is uncool.  KEEP FOCUS & INTENSITY – there are many times in practice (and games) that you can fake it or go through the motions – DON’T!  Even when it is difficult and failure comes often, push through the frustration and become better.

Parents remember responsibility is a learned trait.  BE ON TIME – if you are responsible for driving, get your kids there 10 minutes early.  If you are running late (happens to everyone), make sure your children are running to training.  NO EXCUSES – do not give your children an excuse for why they performed poorly (as an individual or team).  It wasn’t because of a bad field, or too much homework.  PRAISE HARD WORK – winning and losing will happen as long as your children play.  Hard work will improve their skills, win games they shouldn’t, and last them a lifetime.  GIVE THEM FRIENDLY REMINDERS – prod your young ones to train on their own, tell them to get their uniforms (don’t do it for them), look at test results and evaluations together, and remind them they have a choice, so they should choose to be their best.

Being responsible is hard.  You will make mistakes.  We all do, even coaches.  Being responsible is also a habit.  I often tell my players it takes 1000-1500 repetitions to turn a technique into a habit.  If a player shows responsibility 100 times a week, we are still looking at 10 to 15 weeks to make it a habit.  If you are already on top of your game, congratulations and keep your standards high.  If you know you are lacking in one area or another, the best time to begin is now.

 "Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The Other 10%

Someone once said, “Showing up is 90% of Success.”

If that is true, the other 10% is what truly distinguishes your talent.  In our sport and environment, we must assume that our teammates and our opponents are ‘showing up.’  If they aren’t, then we truly aren’t competing against them for very long.  So the challenge becomes, how do we get the most out of the remaining 10%?

For arguments sake, let’s say everyone is training 2-3 times a week and has 1-2 games on weekends.  Understanding that you have schoolwork, family commitments, and other outside interests that also require your time; how can we make the most of our training and games?  And why do some players improve quicker than others with the same amount of training?

The answer to both these questions is the same…focus.  I have heard this called many things, deliberate practice, deep practice, and intense training.  Focus in training is demanding and often difficult, especially if you are not used to it.  Focus is “repetitive practice in which you are always monitoring your performance, correcting, experimenting, listening to immediate and constant feedback, and always pushing beyond what you have already achieved.”*

Take your last practice where you did passing drills.  The majority of players pass the ball to the next player and follow whatever pattern the coach has laid out.  Not much thought, just pass and move.  Follow the rest of the team, talk about the school day or the last game.  However, if you are focused you will get every ounce of benefit from this activity.  You think about the shape of your foot for each pass, concentrate on hitting the ball with the correct part of your foot.  You will watch the ball and make sure it goes exactly where it was supposed to go.  You will then switch your focus to your run and sprint when necessary, check away and back if called for, and be as perfect as you can with each pattern.  Now is when the focus really kicks in.  After your pass and move, you figure out why your pass wasn’t exact.  Why didn’t the pass go to his/her left foot?  Why did I get into the space to early or late?  And most importantly, how can I adjust so the next one is better?

There is a tricky course to navigate here.  I have witnessed many young players who are very intense trainers, and when they get to this stage they spend too much time thinking about the negative result.  Example – that pass missed it’s mark by 10 yards.  They keep thinking about the poor pass and how they should be better.  The trick is to identify the problem, a bad pass.  Now you must change your thought process to fixing the problem or a solution.  In this case, it may be the shape of your foot, or the pace of the pass.  The more you can think of and try solutions, the quicker you will improve.  Understand that many times your first solution doesn’t work and you need to run your process again and again.

Always the goal of this focus is to improve.  Once you are consistently successful, you must push yourself to new limits.  Switch to your left foot, increase your speed, decrease your touches, or change the space which you play.  To get the most out of your 10%, you must stretch your limits and train on the edge of your comfort zone.  You need to find that area where it is uncomfortable, yet you can still achieve success some of the time (Usually between 60-80%).  Do not play out of your comfort zone where it is too difficult and your success rate is below 50%.  This will only frustrate you and make you want to give up or quit.

The other 10% takes time, can be frustrating, and takes repetitions.  To become the best you can be and a winner, you will have to do things over and over, again and again.  It doesn’t matter if it sunny, cloudy, warm, cold, raining, or snowing.  You can be on turf, grass, or dirt.  Conditions change, you need to be able to identify the problem, come up with a solution, and adjust over and over again.

So you are ‘showing up.’  Why only be 90% of the player you can be.  Focus and reach your potential.  In school, 10% is a grade letter difference.  No reason to be a ‘B’ player, when you can be an ‘A.’

 

*Definition of FOCUS comes from Dan Abrahams book entitled, Soccer Tough.

THE NOTEBOOK

Sorry ladies, I am not talking about Ryan Gosling.  Gentlemen, you will not have to read this with your significant other and pretend it is a good story.  Instead, I am referring to keeping a notebook.  To become a great player or just a better player every little bit helps, and unless you have a photographic memory (which you don’t)…write it down.

Notebooks can have anything you like in them.  Many top performers keep some sort of journal.  Eminem actually uses a shoebox to store scrap pieces of paper with new ideas and inspirational themes.  Write down something you heard from a coach or teacher.  Pen new concepts or drills that you like.  I know many goalkeepers that would write down teams, names, or numbers of players who took penalty kicks and which way they shot, so they could reference them before games in case they took another PK. 

Your notebook is for you and it doesn’t need to make sense to anyone except you.  I have seen several over the years.  Ones that have diagrams of training sessions, quotes from coaches, players, and even parents.  There are notebooks of things that work well and things that didn’t work at all.

The important aspect of a notebook is that you not only write things down, but you review it as well.  A notebook can bring clarity and act as a GPS for where you want to go. When you write it down and review it, it will help you from travelling in circles.  It also can help you get back to a place you really enjoyed.

Being 'Good Enough'

Sometimes being ‘good enough’ is perfect.  We all watch in awe at Messi dribbling three defenders and calmly slipping a ball past the keeper, or Gareth Bale dicing a player and serving a ball right to the head of a striker.  But what we often fail to see is when they take these opportunities.  All great players have one thing in common…most the time they are just ‘good enough.’

According to soccerlens.com, Messi averages 97.2 touches a game.  That is 2722 touches in La Liga in 2010/2011.  He scored 29 goals in 28 appearances.  He scored a goal on 1% of his touches.  Add in his 17 assists and it rises to 1.3% creating goals.  This is arguably the best player in world.  What this means is that 99% of the time Lionel Messi has to be ‘good enough.’  He needs to be able to keep possession so his team can find opportunities.  He needs to allow other players to take their opportunities.  1,926 of Messi’s touches were passes, that’s 70%.  Of his passes, 86% were completed to a teammate.

Where am I going with this?  For the best player in the world, only 1% of the time does he produce a goal or assist.  You don’t have to make something happen every time you touch the ball.  In fact, you need to be ‘good enough.’  Good enough to be patient and wait for the opportunity to shoot or beat a player or serve a ball.  Good enough to trust your teammates that they will also be good enough. 

This is the beauty when you see Barcelona, Manchester United, or your Ohio Elite team playing good enough.  Eleven players understanding their different roles and executing their skill.  Taking opportunities when they open and not forcing opportunities because you think you are a talented player.

I tell my goalkeepers that their #1 job is to keep the ball out of the net.  I don’t care if it is with a beautiful full stretch tip save or with the side of their face.  Just KEEP THE BALL OUT.  Believe it or not, we train at doing precisely that.  Many hours go into learning the correct technique, how to move, and hand position; however there are times when the speed of the game is too fast or we slip or whatever.  Example, a corner kick and the attacker heads the service on frame.  The ball takes a deflection, the goalkeeper is already diving one direction and he reaches back with his foot and blocks the ball.  A defender clears the danger.  This is not the way we draw it up, but it was ‘good enough.’ 

We train at staying big, and letting the ball just hit us.  We train in situations that are fast and above normal circumstances.  We make mistakes and we correct them.  We make more mistakes.  We talk about being perfect by just being good enough.  We are trying to be good enough which forces the opponent to be perfect.  And being perfect is hard.

In the same vein, field players don’t have to be a difference maker every time they touch the ball.  Defenders don’t have to hit a 50 yard cross field pass to put a midfielder in, midfielders don’t have to play forwards behind defenses every time, and forwards do not have to shoot or beat a defender whenever the ball comes to you.  Your opportunities will open on the field, and when they do take them.  Until then make sure you are good enough.

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.