THE SUPER COACH USA

Is it the truth that the United States is producing all the same type of player, one who can pass, keep it simple, play their position, and score off of mistakes and set pieces? Yes! Yet, it is mind-boggling why we continue to build the game in this type of environment where parents and coaches who are not recognized and good enough to coach are coaching. A coach may take a team from Division 6 to Division 1 soccer because he is a good coach, but, is the U.S. Soccer Association finding the best coaches and the best players to represent the country. Many times in the U.S. a player who starts off in Division 6 and advances to Division 1 does not get the same recognition as a player who starts off at the Division 1 level.
Not in all cases are players from Division 6 teams bad players. Some are players who do not have the money, but, a parent or coach may come around and get the kid to form teams. These are usually children of minorities who do not have the money or the parent support to maintain the travel soccer career in the U.S. The players never get the recognition in the beginning, but their coaches who fight and struggle with their personalities and backgrounds in order to get them from one level to another, which includes spending money out his own pocket to get to tournaments, events, and even league games because the parent support for these players is not their. When these players improve, here comes a Division 1 team or a team who is looking for a player to fill a spot, or to give that team an extra lift in order to get to another level. The team sponsors the kid, and puts him on the team. Many times the coach who is developing the player, is usually one of the better coaches in the country, but, these coaches are unrecognized time and time again. In many cases the players are also unrecognized because of the lack of parent support, inept grades, so soccer becomes his only form of recreation to relieve himself from the bad neighborhood that he may live in. When are we going to recognize the struggles that the coaches go through to help these kids. Or are we comfortable with continuing to choose the player from good backgrounds and not necessarily the better players in the U.S.

Brazil. In Ronaldinho's case people fought to keep him on the right track, and eventually he went on to play in Barcelona, Spain and is the most recognized player in the world. Another great story is Marta from the 2007 World Cup who made it out of the village in Brazil, became the leading scorer in the world cup, took her country to the finals, revolutionized the women's soccer game, and is now the most exciting player in the world today. How many players in the U.S. are like them on our soccer fields today? Because we are in a comfort zone in choosing players who one parents may support them throughout their careers, as we have seen on the college level, at the ODP level, and in most cases Super Y-League, and leads to the U.S. national team levels. Let's figure out how to include the less fortunate player. QuickFeet Soccer for Kids is a non-profit organization dedicated to giving youth top level professional training. Go to our website now for more information on teams, trainings, camps and clinics.

Soccer has enjoyed an incredible increase in popularity in the US. And yet the US perennially fails to achieve great results. Many people have pondered this enigma. Most criticisms are leveled at the specific coach or the players on the team. I would like to propose a different solution. I believe that the US soccer coaching styles inhibits, rather than helps, soccer players.
European soccer has done very well on the global stage. I believe that the reason for this success lies in the way players are raised in the game. I was born in Europe, and later moved to that states. I played at high levels of soccer and have a father who did so in Europe. What we have consistently seen is that most coaching focuses on segmenting the game. Coaches tend to focus on fundamentals in isolation. This is a really effective technique when you are training fro something like football. Football is a very structured game. Soccer is structured too, but on a whole other level.
The problem with this approach is that it does yield results. What I mean is that players do improve their fundamentals. You see players progressing in their passing, their shooting, and their defense. And the true issue with that scenario is that it masks the underlying problem of dynamic creativity and cohesion.
When my father was growing up in England they practiced like they played. What I mean is that they scrimmaged a ton. The "coaches" were there to point things out during play and keep things moving. The ironic thing is that the phrase "practice like you play" was used consistently in my practices in the states. However, the phrase meant something completely different. It was applied on the individual level.