Football: Why Canada is getting its youth development wrong!
When you visit FC Porto in Portugal, SC Corinthians in Brazil, Ajax in Amsterdam Holland, AC Milan in Italy, Hagi Academy in Romania, or Barcelona in Spain you will be amazed by the level of detail put into the training sessions as well as the facilities on hand for youngsters to take full advantage of. The kids are treated as if they are professionals, educated on the game and given feedback on how to improve their own development. No one is deemed lost cause as the objective is to become the best you can, not promise you a future in football. AND if it does become a reality, you’ll be prepared.
The million dollar question: Where is Canada getting it wrong when it comes to youth development?
It is the coaching. The mentality and the football is different in Canada. In places like Spain or Germany the amount of qualified coaches dwarfs the amount in Canada. A talent pool in Canada does exist but with very few strong coaches to guide them. This is a recipe for disaster.
So, what are the main issues in Canada that need to be addressed in order to solve the problem?
In Canada the selection of players we pick in trials are based on certain criteria. We are typically centered around size, weight, and speed when making our selections and we end up with great athletes but not great footballers. How many players have you heard being turned away because they weren’t tall enough?
Or, how many times have you seen a headless chicken or raging rhino with his head down swoop down the wing with incredible speed but with zero ball technique, intelligence, or creativity?
At a young age it’s very easy to confuse a good talent for soccer with a good athlete. This is because at this stage an athlete can overcome a good footballer (U8 to U14), especially if they’re playing against smaller, thinner opponents. Your focus is on the bigger, stronger player who dominates the match. Your also thinking short term develop and short term wins vs how the development will look in 2-3 years once everyone is well past the puberty stage.
Two key examples from my Academy: I have one player I train, recently went from Division 2 to BCHPL (BC High Performance League) due to completely being ignored for years because he wasn’t tough on the ball. That was it. The player needed some polishing in almost every area however it was just that, polishing. He was dedicated, quick, worked hard, has strong Vo2 Max, great athletic physique, not prone to injury and had a great base line of technical skill. I give him some coaching and guidance basically in every area of the game, analyzed him at his club matches, give him multiple off the ball, and even off the field tips, and walked through a strength and conditioning program at the gym and he is well on his way to success.
The other example came over the weekend as one of my Academy Teams played their first futsal match. I noticed immediately when the game started that the other team was taller, faster and much more physical than us. The end result was very interesting thou. I don’t follow the score line too closely but we lost with a score line of approximately 11-7. Almost all their goals were because of tactical errors we made or from pure physical force and athleticism.
However, 6 of our 7 goals were from pure technical foot skills with the ball. Now this is at the U13 age bracket and the boys are just going through the puberty stage. If my Academy and these boys develop at the same rate and replay each other in 3 - 4 years once everyone is on the same “playing level physically” the result will be…. Well, I know all the people reading this who know about soccer development are probably laughing right now as they read this.
My Academy’s bread and butter, what we believe in, what we hammer into our players and parents is that we look for and strive to develop into players is the ability to read the game with their head, have a strong tactical position to where ever the ball is, their teammates or opponents are. Establish a strong technical relationship with the ball and the ability to move it quickly. As they move the ball, they understand creating something for themselves or for their teammates is their priority. Lastly, they think intelligently as they play, they are constantly analyzing and stating, “when or IF the ball comes to me, what are my options? What could I do? Who is open? How can I create something so we can develop a play or score a goal?”
They need to understand this changes every second and they need to re-think these questions every few seconds. This is why they should be more mentally exhausted then physically after a game. Perhaps this alone is my most important message as an Academy Director and coach.
The athletes who are bigger, stronger and faster that are dominating soccer matches throughout their youth level do not receive any professional coaching or guidance and only learn to play one way and rely on their physical attributes will have major problems from ages U16 and older. When the physical side evens itself out and they don’t have that advantage, they will not stand out anymore.
Imagine we had qualified coaches in Canada who took athletic players and taught them a high standard of ball technique, game intelligence, how to look for creative solutions, how to keep possession, how to work as a team tactically! Canada will than start to develop very good youth players who potentially can play in strong professional teams/leagues.
Across the world the methodologies are from the start: to develop the youngster teams right up to the senior squad, focusing on the technical side fused with the idea of how to play the game intelligently. It isn’t a static formation but more fluid one which changes depending on the game’s attacking or defending circumstances. In the end, it’s all about being intelligent with and without the ball, controlling the rhythm of the game or possession, not wasting energy and instead making your opponent work hard for the ball in order to re-gain possession. If you learn all these qualities, play attractive soccer, in the long run: understand the game much better, enjoy the game more deeply, and learn far more. This is not to say that it will be easy, this takes a lot of time in order to accomplish especially if you have picked up bad habits from volunteer or poor coaches in the past.
Parents always need to remind themselves of one simple question! Why does my son or daughter play the sport? The answer is clear and simple, because they find it enjoyable and fun. The coaches in Canada have a major responsibility to have in-depth sessions that need to remain fun and exciting. Children are there to learn, to develop their technical skills, but most importantly, to enjoy playing the game. It is very simple to monitor this, if the players are smiling, laughing and eager to return to training than the coach I’m sure is doing their job.
This leads into the coach’s job… Parents are key to their child’s development but they need to remember to be parents first, not soccer experts. We all want the best for the kids but believe it or not, the professional coach knows more than you do. Even if your son is playing in defense when he’s a strong forward player who can score goals, trust their judgement or reasoning and don’t create conflict or tell your child that the coach has it wrong. It’s crucial the parent understands the end goal and important learning moments in every coaching decision.
To conclude this message, with YOUTH you can’t expect results in the short term and you maybe need to wait five years or more to see them. This is another issue with Canadian soccer. In Canada we’re wasting a lot of talent due to inadequate coaching and hopefully more clubs/teams will begin to take the majority of South America and Europe’s lead when it comes to making the Academy the backbone to the player’s development.