Overview

Mission

We tend to judge coaches solely by their win-loss record. This may be appropriate at a collegiate and professional level, where winning is the ultimate goal and players are judged by their abilities.

At a youth level, however, coaches should not be judged and rewarded based on whether they went undefeated and won a state championship, but on their ability to develop superior players. This is not so easily quantified, but if the technical level of the players is improving, if their tactical knowledge is growing, and if the experience is positive, then the youth coach is successful.

These players are being prepared to play at a higher level of competition, be it high school varsity, college, or pro. Surely this should be the goal of youth soccer programs, even if they lose a few more games in accomplishing it.

Pure Athleticism

What happens to teams that win purely on athleticism? Because of their athletic superiority, these teams are usually not challenged on the field and quickly lose motivation to improve. They come to expect to win without having to work hard. Eventually when they are challenged, they do not know how to respond.

When they do lose (which will happen more frequently as other players physically develop), they are not prepared to handle the loss and often get frustrated with themselves and with the sport. The constant pressure to win and the disappointment (and even anger) parents and coaches show when they lose kills the love of the sport and the desire to play. This is a major reason behind the large dropout rate from U8 to U12.

Tom Turner, a member of the USSF National Staff, very appropriately sums this up, “Technical competence takes years to mature in many players and only a few have natural talents; and so we must work harder to develop technical proficiency, tactical understanding and a higher level of all-round sophistication in our players... at the expense of power and hustle and winning.”

Technical Abilities vs. Physical Athleticism

Young players go out and attempt to win the only way they know how—they kick the ball as hard as they can and run after it. Who could blame them? Without technical skills, this is the surest way for these players to win games. Athleticism wins, obscuring the need to develop skill.

There is a huge disparity in technical skill between the average American youth soccer player and the average European youth soccer player. At around the U13 level, the first true premier teams are picked. The U.S. selection pool is replete with athletic players who are technically years behind and has already lost many players who have burned out or left the sport entirely.

Physical athleticism is not enough at higher levels of competition. The United States Olympic Development Program (ODP) Regional teams that tour in Europe are selected from the best soccer players found in the region. However, their performance is consistently poor when compared to other countries whose programs focus on technical development as well.

The pressure to win, coupled with an inability by some coaches to teach soccer skills, inhibits these players from developing the technical skills necessary to play soccer at a higher level. Players learn most easily and quickly at a young age and in developing an academy style program, SOL FUTBOL has created an environment to help reduce the disparity.

Winning at All Costs vs. Developing Players

Parents and coaches emphasize winning as a team over individual development, which causes many players to burn out. One reason behind this pressure, and the win-at-all-costs mentality associated with it, may be the misconception people have about a soccer player’s development.

Often times, parents and coaches of very young players believe the scoreboard reflects player development. Winning before learning to play is as unrealistic as playing a Mozart piece on a piano before ever learning to read music properly.

At a youth level, the correlation between winning and the development of a soccer player do not lend to one another. The Academy does not measure winning as the only way to measure success. Our ultimate goal is to give your children all the tools needed to have a successful playing experience in the long run.

Win…Winning….Winner

You will notice that nowhere in these goals is winning placed above player development, learning, and growth. In fact, it is not mentioned at all. The basic philosophy behind SOL FUTBOL ACADEMY is emphasis on play and having FUN in the youth development stages, which helps reduce dropout rates for young soccer players. We develop our younger players and their skills and ask everyone to embrace and make way for our tested coaching philosophy.

When they reach the senior level of competitive play, every player will have the foundation of skills necessary to properly deal with the pressure to win. Introducing this pressure too early, before players are equipped to deal with it, will only slow the development of players and diminish the enjoyment of the sport. Unfortunately, this philosophy runs contrary to the way in which youth sports are typically run in this country.

Even into the young competitive stages of development, the emphasis should be on learning and the development of skill, in line with the “USYS Best Practices for Coaching Soccer in the United States” manual. If this is done properly, players will be more technically skilled, more tactically sophisticated, and better prepared for the stresses of high level competition. Winning will take care of itself.

This philosophy is player-based, considering the age, needs, and desires of the players involved. In the end, players will be better, and they will have had a much better time playing.