The following is an edited version of a reply to a question posted on a LinkedIn group: At what age should a kid be encouraged to follow a different sport?
The short answer is never. Or maybe always. The point is that kids should follow what they love. The question originally arose from: At what age do you know a kid isn't going to "make it"? There are plenty of reasons to play other than making a professional career out of it, and honestly if being a professional and collecting a paycheck are the primary reasons a ten year old plays, then a) he probably isn't going to "make it" and b) that's a lousy way to spend your childhood.
I know Leo Messi dreamed of being professional much younger than ten -- but you can see in the way he plays it's a love of the game that drives him. Also, it's so much work to get that good, that without a passion for and love of the game, it's just too hard. If all professional leagues ended tomorrow and every player on contract right now had to go get a day job, the vast majority would still play, because love of the game will keep us coming back.
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There is a difference between World Class and elite. At least half of the players that come through La Masia (Barca's youth setup) make professional grade, so the players that are identified as having the talent and drive by age 12 to work at La Masia are likely to spend the thousands of hours it takes to attain mastery. While there are certainly genetic components to success, those genetic attributes really don't begin separating players until a very high level of skill is refined. In short, the difference between 2000 hours of unfocused training (your typical youth club player) and 10000 hours of refined and directed training (an 18 year old player who has come through a professional academy) is the biggest difference between an American youth/college player and a player in a professional league in Europe. I think you can pretty safely say at age 12 whether a player has the drive, committment, and love for the game to spend the time it takes to reach an elite level. However, the difference between elite, that is, playing for a college scholarship or more, and Ballon D'Or (the FIFA world player of the year) are several orders of magnitude apart.
I think the question of encouraging a kid to try another sport is a totally separate issue. If a kid doesn't have the drive to excel in soccer, I can't imagine they will take up ice hockey or alligator wrestling at age 12, and suddenly develop the passion for, and habits of, excellence. Nor do I really think it matters.
I think we, as Americans, don't do a good enough job encouraging the recreational player. It's some better here in England, with five a side leagues and school football, but probably not much better -- there is still a huge pressure to be the best or get out. If I kid just wants to muck about and have a lark with his friends, maybe play a little high school ball, great. (I have no interest in coaching that, but I support the idea.) Not every kid needs to be Lionel Messi. Not every kid needs to be elite. "Just for fun" is a superb reason to play (and millions of registered youth players in North America who have never even seen a professional game demonstrates the point.)
At the end of the day, I think we should encourage kids to do what they love, which might not be the realm where they are gifted. I had a player a few years back who quit soccer at age 12 to focus on equestrian show jumping. She wasn't a very good rider, didn't have a good pony, and didn't have a particularly good coach (and the family was well-to-do, but not mind meltingly wealthy, so the coaching and pony couldn't be easily changed.) But she loved her pony and loved to ride. As a soccer player, she was a dream: hard-working, a two-footed natural lefty, big, strong, fast, smart, talkative. No doubt just playing club ball through 15 and high school for three years she could have been a decent college player, and with hard work, definitely had the tools to be an impact player at a high level. While, she enjoyed playing, she didn't love it, didn't have a passion for the game, so she quit to focus on what she did love. And I was supportive of her decision, and still get a note from her every year or so. She never even won a jumping competition, but loved every minute with her pony, and every second in the ring.
Sports shouldn't be about what we win, but who we are.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Getting the Details Right
Most every coach grasps the importance of the details in a training session. The difference between passing to someone and passing to someone's left foot can be the difference between scoring a goal and surrending a chance the other way. As the players and teams improve, the details in training become ever more important, and ultimately form the narrow margin between an elite professional and a player in a 5-a-side league.
As we have begun playing after the extended winter break, the importance of the details in coaching preparation have been made more evident to me. Since the first of the year, our first team has played three, won two, and our reserves have now played three, won two and drawn one. In every case (including our terribly unfortunate loss to Rochdale) I believe we, as a coaching staff, we better prepared. Our players had a clear idea of how our squad was organized, the qualities of our players, and the likely organization of the opposition. In the Rochdale match, I think perhaps I didn't emphasize enough the danger their #4 provided and necessity of preventing her from running the ball on the flank. Two of the chances we gave away were due to failure to stop the #4s run early.
The organizational detail extends beyond just team set out. Our players have a good idea where each other will be and that affects the way we play: on the right wing, Kim wants balls wide and behind the fullback to run onto, however in the same position, Hannah wants the ball played to her feet so she can combine with the center forward. On set pieces, each player knows where they need to be. When watching a professional match, if you've ever wondered what the bench coach is doing on the sidelines showing all of the charts to the substitute, most of that is covering set pieces. When the player enters the game, he knows where he will be on attacking corners, the two or three free kick setups a team uses any given day, defending corners, which player he is in the wall, and even the programmed runs to make if a ball hits the wall or is caught be the goalkeeper. Here at Preston, that is one of my duties. I take the substitute to the line and make sure she knows where she is on set pieces and who else, if any, is having their task changed.
The details matter. Not only do the players have a better sense of the match, thus allowing them a little more creative freedom because they know, in broad strokes, what the rest of the team (and likely the opposition) are doing, but knowing that the coaches have the details right gives the player a little more confidence in the entire operation. Our manager, Andy Burgess, had well over three hundred appearances as a professional player. We try to bring as much of the professionalism into the game as we possibly can, from the way we warmup, to the way the changing room is set up, to the charts for the players. If the players have confidence in us, in their teammates, and in the club, they will play with confidence in themselves. All the little details add up, and results come: our Reserves (playing with nine players age 18 or younger) beat the heretofore undefeated league leaders 3-0 on Sunday. Our first team plays in the Lancashire Challenge Cup Final on 11 March. The details matter.
As we have begun playing after the extended winter break, the importance of the details in coaching preparation have been made more evident to me. Since the first of the year, our first team has played three, won two, and our reserves have now played three, won two and drawn one. In every case (including our terribly unfortunate loss to Rochdale) I believe we, as a coaching staff, we better prepared. Our players had a clear idea of how our squad was organized, the qualities of our players, and the likely organization of the opposition. In the Rochdale match, I think perhaps I didn't emphasize enough the danger their #4 provided and necessity of preventing her from running the ball on the flank. Two of the chances we gave away were due to failure to stop the #4s run early.
The organizational detail extends beyond just team set out. Our players have a good idea where each other will be and that affects the way we play: on the right wing, Kim wants balls wide and behind the fullback to run onto, however in the same position, Hannah wants the ball played to her feet so she can combine with the center forward. On set pieces, each player knows where they need to be. When watching a professional match, if you've ever wondered what the bench coach is doing on the sidelines showing all of the charts to the substitute, most of that is covering set pieces. When the player enters the game, he knows where he will be on attacking corners, the two or three free kick setups a team uses any given day, defending corners, which player he is in the wall, and even the programmed runs to make if a ball hits the wall or is caught be the goalkeeper. Here at Preston, that is one of my duties. I take the substitute to the line and make sure she knows where she is on set pieces and who else, if any, is having their task changed.
The details matter. Not only do the players have a better sense of the match, thus allowing them a little more creative freedom because they know, in broad strokes, what the rest of the team (and likely the opposition) are doing, but knowing that the coaches have the details right gives the player a little more confidence in the entire operation. Our manager, Andy Burgess, had well over three hundred appearances as a professional player. We try to bring as much of the professionalism into the game as we possibly can, from the way we warmup, to the way the changing room is set up, to the charts for the players. If the players have confidence in us, in their teammates, and in the club, they will play with confidence in themselves. All the little details add up, and results come: our Reserves (playing with nine players age 18 or younger) beat the heretofore undefeated league leaders 3-0 on Sunday. Our first team plays in the Lancashire Challenge Cup Final on 11 March. The details matter.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
When You're Not at Your Best
Last night, we played our Cup Semi-Final against Curzon Ashton that had been postponed on Sunday. To be honest, we were not at our best -- the midfield was inactive and out of shape defensive and not bright and dynamic in possession. The front line was too narrow, and we weren't able to get effective possession in the final third. However, we won the match, ultimately fairly comfortably, 4-2, and the scoreline is about right as a reflection of the game.
The difference between last night and against Rochdale two weeks ago is that last night we showed a bit more of an edge, a bit more ruthlessness. Perhaps because we weren't quite as sharp, the player knew they had to win their tackles, and finish their chances -- the margins were too slim to get another chance. The tone was set the first time the ball went into a Curzon forward and our center back -- getting her debut as a first team starter -- flattened her. We showed some fight last night, and we needed it when we went 1-0 down just before the half hour mark giving up a goal off a corner. (The second half goal was from a set-piece as well; from open play I believe the back line allowed only three shots all game.) It was then we dropped the hammer, scoring three unanswered before the break. None were pretty goals, all coming from graft, hard work, and cool heads.
Obviously, in a cup-tie, the win is what you need, as anything less and you are out of the competition. However, the manner of certain wins are important for teams, and I think this was a big one for us. Perhaps we haven't quite been tough enough, determined enough, in the early part of the season. Perhaps we weren't fighting as a team, but as individuals. Last night, even though our elegant passing game just wasn't on, we showed a willingness to get dirty and seize the game. It was clear after we drew the match level that there would be only one winner. The goal celebrations were fairly mute. I don't know if anyone on the pitch said it, but the message was clear and we trotted back to the halfline as the ball was being picked up out of the net.
"We'll be back."
The difference between last night and against Rochdale two weeks ago is that last night we showed a bit more of an edge, a bit more ruthlessness. Perhaps because we weren't quite as sharp, the player knew they had to win their tackles, and finish their chances -- the margins were too slim to get another chance. The tone was set the first time the ball went into a Curzon forward and our center back -- getting her debut as a first team starter -- flattened her. We showed some fight last night, and we needed it when we went 1-0 down just before the half hour mark giving up a goal off a corner. (The second half goal was from a set-piece as well; from open play I believe the back line allowed only three shots all game.) It was then we dropped the hammer, scoring three unanswered before the break. None were pretty goals, all coming from graft, hard work, and cool heads.
Obviously, in a cup-tie, the win is what you need, as anything less and you are out of the competition. However, the manner of certain wins are important for teams, and I think this was a big one for us. Perhaps we haven't quite been tough enough, determined enough, in the early part of the season. Perhaps we weren't fighting as a team, but as individuals. Last night, even though our elegant passing game just wasn't on, we showed a willingness to get dirty and seize the game. It was clear after we drew the match level that there would be only one winner. The goal celebrations were fairly mute. I don't know if anyone on the pitch said it, but the message was clear and we trotted back to the halfline as the ball was being picked up out of the net.
"We'll be back."
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