Ladouceur on Developing Soccer Players

Development is a buzz word I noticed twenty years ago and I am surprised it took the federation this long to realize this was a problem but we are finally there.

Development is a great topic for discussion except for the fact that very few people care about it like I do. When you walk the sidelines of youth soccer, unless its kids playing that grew up in a different culture, there is very little skill being displayed. Very few kids today can dribble past one player and create something on the field because during their short soccer career they have heard about five million times to pass, boot it, kick it out or get rid of it.  Even with the success we’ve had, just take a look at the U.S. team and see how many players can create off the dribble?

Along with development, players are not getting a good grasp on the understanding of the game. Players expect coaches to teach the understanding, which I believe they do. However, kids don’t pay enough attention to soccer on television or in person the way they should to get a good understanding of where to be on the field or how to anticipate and read the game. This is what I call a very low soccer I.Q.

When a kid starts playing soccer at 5 years old they should surely have a good understanding of the game by age 12, right? I think there’s too much coaching between the age of 5 to 12 and we will never develop creative players if we continue in that direction.

I think we should remove the competitive league from age 5 to 12 to practice three times a week and focus on development. In a competitive league environment winning comes first, which creates a vicious cycle.

I see parents as the customers of club soccer who want to win or they will leave the team or the club. Even at the U8 level, coaches are forced to create a winning strategy, which kills development.  Coaches should be willing to lose games in order to develop players. When I went to my first Olympic tryout no one asked me if the teams I played on had a winning record. As parents our time and money investment should be on development, not winning trophies.  
 
If we focus solely on development from age 5-12, we can help kids have the freedom to be creative and we can focus most of our time as coaches on teaching basic skills, not so much game strategy. We can work on shooting for a week to help our players understand the mechanics of shooting.  I think at age 12 when they do join a competitive team, they are ready to compete and will not burn out from soccer at the age of 15. 

I think the number of kids that quit playing soccer is more than 80 percent and who can blame them with the weekly pressure to win, the hours of traveling and the stress that parents create over 8 and 9 year olds soccer games. I think it would save parents a lot of heartache as well because by the age of 12 most kids would know if they want to join a club team or not. They need to enjoy the process of soccer and have fun because that is what’s going to motivate them to continue playing and get better.       

We have parents leaving a club team because their son or daughter is not getting enough playing time. I remember how sitting on a bench for a period of time made a huge difference in my development because I knew I had to work harder in order to get better, but that is only my opinion. Sometimes as parents we need to let our kids figure things out for themselves because if we don’t they will lose the desire to compete for a spot on that team.  You won’t be around when they have to compete for a spot on a high school or a college team, so how will they handle it if you don’t allow them to deal with it now?  

There are three ways to help your player develop at the game. One is to watch or attend pro soccer games to better understand the game and see the things to imitate. Second is for them practice on their own time. Team practices are good but individuals with skill are what make up a good team. They should practice things that the coach demonstrates in practice like juggling, dribbling, shooting and ball control. Those all require a player to get a feel for the ball. Lastly, they should try a few pick-up games. Pick-up games are fun and they can do whatever style of play they want. It is an opportunity to try all the new moves they've been studying. While they are bound to make lots of mistakes but the practice will help them grow.               

This article is put forward by Jacques Ladouceur and are not necessarily the views of the Soccer Nation staff or website. To read Jacques coaching bio, click here.