Why an Academy?
The Academy concept was started in part to bring us in line with recent initiatives by our governing organization, the USSF, to introduce some sweeping philosophical and structural changes to the youth landscape in the United States...
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The initiative (US Soccer Development Academy) is an attempt to bring a recognizable structure to develop and identify the best players in the United States.
At the outset it is the immediate involvement of some of the best 15-18 year old male players in the country but as it grows it is anticipated to lead to a more comprehensive focus on development of both boys and girls of all ages in participating clubs.
Although there are no US Development Academy clubs in Delaware, we are strong advocates of the philosophy that drives it.
Kirkwood Academy Philosophy
Our philosophy in the Kirkwood Academy is to provide a fun educational environment for children to enjoy the game of soccer at the highest level they can.
The strongest emphasis is on the technical development of the individual, secondary to team development, and the technical development will be pertinent to the playing of the game itself. Our focus is not result oriented.
Games at the Academy level will be small sided where the principles of “competition and repetition” are fostered ( 1v1….4v4)
The majority of training sessions will contain a large playing component. There is simply no substitute for playing the game and encouraging the game to teach.
Practice time is a period where there is no such thing as failure. It is an environment where players and coaches begin to forge and develop relationships that are long-standing.
Our Coaching staff will emphasize:
What is the right model for Development?
There has been much discussion and research over the last few years about the optimal model for development in this country and others. While there are some differences from country to country it is agreed upon by most soccer folk that the “Golden age of Learning” between 8-12 years of age has a pronounced effect on the eventual careers of young players. Below is an excerpt taken from an interview with Gerard Houllier, former Liverpool and France coach, and one of the founding fathers of the world renowned French Youth Development Center at Clairefontaine in France.
Over the past five years, only Brazil has more players represented in the Champions League than France.
"1, Brazil; 2, France ... and then the rest are far behind," Houllier said.
Using experience gained from coaching spells at Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool and Lyon, Houllier's role is to develop emerging talent.
The foundations were laid as far back as the late 1980s, when Houllier was particularly keen to focus on developing technique at a young age because he thought that a failure to do so would hinder the player as he gets older.
"(When) a player came to a training center at the age of 15 or 16 ... if he had some technical deficiencies, it was hard to catch up," Houllier said. "Players (aged 12-15) with technical deficiencies ... (they) can only catch up 20 percent."
Now, Houllier wants kids to learn the right basics even younger.
"In the future, where we will place the emphasis is on 8 to 12 year olds," Houllier said. "It is not a question of training the youngsters like pros, but it is a question of fun, technique. I say it's (better) prepared from the age of 8. The Germans are working a lot on that, everything to do with coordination, technique."
Houllier believes that a better technical development early on makes playing a lot safer in later years.
"There is less injury," Houllier said. "Those players are injured less because their coordination and technique enables them to avoid injury."
Technical development, developing a relationship with the ball and a feel for the game is stressed. However, we feel that such development must be linked to the game itself. Although extremely useful technically and psychologically to spend time alone with the ball, ultimately it will only make sense if you can now translate this new found comfort level into the experience of the game itself. This is central to developing the creative player.
Martin Novoselac head of youth football in Croatia,
“Creativity is what matters. We are always teaching them to be creative. They will know how to shoot, play one touch and dribble. But choices are left to them. You can practice for 100 years, but if you don't have the right feeling it's no good.'
In this fashion the game becomes the greatest teacher. We can teach technique individually, we can teach tactics individually but until we put it all together, they remain singular. We must allow the kids to package it all together and have the actual experience of the game teach. Arsene Wegner of Arsenal…
After two decades as a professional coach, Wenger has come to the conclusion that the greatest coach in the world is the game itself. His reasons are mind-bogglingly scientific.
“Football has many billion different situations but there are some analogical ones. When a player makes a mistake he tells his brain: “I have made a mistake – why?”
He works out what he should have done instead and stores it in his memory. So if he meets an almost identical situation his memory opens the door and tells him: “You have met this situation before and you lost the ball, so this time you have to change it.” It’s basically called experience, and using it is the sign of a big player.” As he spells it out, the intellectual thrill of the theory animates him so much he is almost up and out of his cozy chair.
It is almost universally held that the use of 4v4 exercises must form the core of training in the U8-U12 age brackets. The Manchester Metropolitan University compiled data on a year-long study of the Manchester United (U9) 4v4 pilot program compared to the traditional 8v8 game and found the following
· 260% more attempts on goal
· 225% more 1 v 1 encounters
· 135% more passes
· 280% more dribbling/tricks/feints
I have observed national caliber players for many years as a College coach and Regional ODP staff member and have seen many talented players represent the US at different age groups. One recurring observation is the paucity of creative players and a lack of goal-scorers. Even at the senior team level I still feel we have a shortage of these types of players.
There are a few key explanations for this, and one of them is the current structure in the “Golden Age” of learning.
The fact is we punish our most creative/technical kids and goal-scorers by putting them on a playing surface that is simply too big for their young minds and bodies. This is particularly true at two vital ages;
1. When players are introduced to travel soccer usually at U9
2. When they make the jump to 11v11 at age 10
I have witnessed weekly scenarios where a gifted young player can beat 3 or 4 players and still be asked to travel another 50 yards before he/she even gets close to goal. If and when the poor child gets there he/she is so exhausted that they are often unable to complete the task. The response of this young player is very logical. The next time he/she will look to knock a long ball, an easier option, rather than continue to round players with their gift. In doing so they trade exhaustion (and joy of beating defenders) for a simple knock it long philosophy. They will do this repetitiously year in and year out until their gift is essentially beaten out of them, in their attempt to adapt to large field sizes.
As they grow older and come to the age of ODP, US National team or College you will hear an all too common complaint from evaluators and scouts, that the player doesn’t have a comfortable relationship with the ball or game and ultimately lacks creativity.
The same is true of our goal-scorers. Again placing them on large fields where they will never be allowed the repetition and multiple opportunities to fine tune their natural instincts can prove detrimental. They are not allowed the opportunity to fail and experiment in honing their special art because the field sizes are simply too big and goal-scoring opportunities few and far between.
I cannot emphasize enough how detrimental the wrong game field size can be to our children at key age groups. The current structure throughout most of the US utilizes the wrong field size dimensions for the 4-5 years of their development essential in laying the foundation for playing at a good and enjoyable level in later years. We are robbing our children of the best opportunity to move forward and develop a relationship with this game that can be a lifelong passion for them. Our parent organization, the USSF has written a “Best Practices Manual” recently which will help address this issue.
The Kirkwood Academy teams would like to practice the following
This model is in keeping with much of the rest of the world and something we strongly feel at Kirkwood best serves the proper development of the children in the program. Fig 1. is a comparison of countries in which full-sided 11v11 games are recommended by the respective football authorities Fig. 1
Country Age
Germany 12
Holland 12
Croatia 12
Sweden 13
France 13
Despite playing 8v8 at the U10-U12 ages the emphasis in training will continue to be on technical development through small-side games (4v4, 5v5) which encourage lots of repetition in a game simulated environment.
Coaching Staff
We will continue to recruit a coaching staff that includes players that preferably have played/coached at the Collegiate and professional level who must jump in and play with the players on a regular basis. At this tender age we feel it is imperative to have players that can still play to show the young ones by example what the game should look like, by showing them how to solve game related problems, with proper technique, thinking, etc. through coach participation and have fun doing it. We also aim to have the players “discover” good soccer themselves through posing questions and guiding them toward what the better and best solutions are to any given soccer problem that the coach feels needs addressing during exercises and play.
We strongly feel that in creating the right “soccer environment” we provide the greatest impetus for the young player’s development.
What we do not seek are coaches or parents that bombard players with constant directives on how to play. It is essential that the players can touch base with the game on their own terms, engage teammates and start to figure things out for themselves and collectively for the group on their terms. It is in the end……their game.
The cost of Youth Soccer
The jump from recreation soccer to travel soccer is an exciting time for young players. Many players by the age of 8 or 9 are clearly starting to distinguish themselves from their peers in the recreational leagues and are ready to move into a new more challenging environment, where the more talented players play with and against each other. The jump is a watershed moment and can be a richly rewarding if the player finds a new environment that has qualified educators ready to help them with this new phase of their soccer education. They are now entering the “Golden Age of Learning”, and age that can be particularly powerful in developing habits that will remain with them for the rest of their playing days.
For parents, along with the increased travel and increased practices, come increased costs. Like their children this too is a learning experience for parents, particularly in trying to decipher the different costs that so many clubs seem to have. Below are some average typical costs that you can expect to see on a yearly basis as you move through the ranks of youth soccer
1. Tournament fees…$30-$50 each (typically 2-4 per year)
2. Trainers fee…Part-time/Full-time $200-$500
3. Uniforms…$40-$80 each
4. Indoor tournaments…$40-$65 each
5. Better field/ extraTurf time….$50-$75 (per season)
Total $400-800
These fees are very often separate from extra club fees which can run between $100-$500.
In an attempt to dismiss much of the confusion that can arise from the bit by bit approach, we have a simplified single fee approach that allows parents to know what their costs are up front and be able to budget accordingly.
Kirkwood Academy $900 Costs include:
These fees are the same from age group to age group and there is no “negotiations” with different trainers/coaches every year so you can expect some continuity as you move forward.
Perhaps as importantly, we intend to keep our Academy coaches working with the younger kids over the years, so if you wish to see how each coach interacts with young players all you need to do is to walk around the Kirkwood complex to look at each session for yourself. We also intend to share the coaches between groups so the kids get a different voice now and again and it gives our staff an opportunity to get to know the players that they may work with in the near future. Because we have a no-cut policy each coaching staff member has an opportunity to interact with the players over these several key years of development.
We are certainly a work-in-progress at Kirkwood but we believe in piecing together a soccer philosophy in keeping with the US Development Academy initiative, and providing a fun education that we feel is much needed at the younger ages. We look forward to seeing you soon!
http://www.kirkwoodsoccer.org/article.php?story=20080518094318403