An email to the u10 Parents & Players from Coach Jeff Ginn

U10 Parents, Players & Coaches,

Thursday the u10 Girls had a scrimmage. In that scrimmage the premier team was having their way with the respected younger U9 team that they were training with/against. Travis Clements, a parent coach to the team, reminded the girls to take players on instead of pass around them. Some parents raised their eyebrows and respectfully asked why.

Before I send you his reply to the parents and my contribution let me please say that we, as a coaching staff, love watching our players pass around players and get excited for the ability to play such quality soccer and do not want to discourage success. In contrast, we do not want to encourage our players to be successful NOW in a way that will jeopardize their long term development.

Travis sent this below email...below it I provided more info and a link I would really encourage each of you to read (even though it is lengthy).

Travis wrote:

Hi,

I hope that I wasn't too confusing to the parents yesterday at the scrimmage, particularly with the Premier team. It may have looked like I was unhappy - or trying to fix things that were being very successful. It wasn't that I didn't have an appreciation for the great soccer the girls were playing. Their passing and awareness was incredible and very fun to watch. The thing we were trying to work on was getting the girls to dribble more and to use the moves they've been learning in practice in the scrimmage games.

Here's the logic. Dribbling to beat an opponent is one of the toughest, if not THE toughest skill in soccer to master. It is MUCH easier to pass the ball and to get rid of it before they are under pressure. The reward of the passing game is at this age it translates into wins and goals. (very tempting, but short-sighted) The Risk of promoting that is that it ultimately limits the ability of the player. The kids spend years passing and getting rid of the ball that should be spent mastering their ability and creativity on the ball. They become afraid to keep the ball and panic with the ball when under pressure. Soccer players who can pass are everywhere. Soccer players who can dribble stand out like a full moon on a dark night.

We want every girl to be confident with the ball at their feet and to not feel pressure to pass the ball so they don't lose it. It may mean missing chances to score, or even giving up goals, while they develop. That is an acceptable price to pay at this age for ultimately having a team chuck-full of players who can handle the ball with skill and confidence.

While we will all cheer goals, especially well-worked goals, I would ask that you cheer louder when your player takes on and beats an opponent or exhibits skill on the ball. Even when they are unsuccessful, praise their confidence to try and encourage them to keep at it. The long-term reward for your player will be unbelievable.

Thanks,

Travis Clements

Ginn Reply:

Travis,

Thank you for reminding us of what the focus is. I agree with Travis's email and have some thoughts as to incorporate scoring by way of dribbling to pass on to the coaching staff as well.

Parents and coaches please, please, please read the following information and document. It will help your players out tremendously this fall as we enter competition.

Before I give you the US Soccer governing body's take on this let me put this in American terms...

1) Play basketball without dribbling, just pass.
2) Think about recent basketball players and take them off of their successful teams; derrin williams, john stockton, gary payton, magic johnson etc, these players made things unpredictable and drew defenders to them which in turn created space for teammates to be successful once they passed the ball to them.
3) Take the running game out of American football (or throw ball as us true footballers refer to it as). All you can do is throw and pass. The game becomes predictable and easy to defend.

In soccer everyone plays on all parts of the field in critical times and non critical times. Even goal keepers need to be brilliant with their feet. In the 2008 European Championship tournament goal keepers used their feet seven times more than their hands!

I would like all coaches and parents to read a document published by US Soccer Federation that shares the priorities at this age group. I added this age groups information below, highlighted the parts of emphasis and added the link to the entire document.

USSF Best Practices: Player Development Guidelines
http://www.epysa.org/pdf/USSFBestPractices.pdf

Ball Skill, Creativity and a Gradual Insight into the
Game: 10 - 14 years old

U-10: 3rd and 4th graders
Soccer for this age is a fun activity for the kids that encourages a lot of games to goals and encourages experimentation with the ball. The ratio of balls to players should be small enough that all your players are involved all the time. The focus is on developing a relationship with the ball in a joyful environment. There should be no standings and no awards (Infinity SC thought: this means no paying your child for goals or saves or whatevers, let the game be the reason they PLAY).

CONSIDER THIS: How can the coach help all his or her players to develop to their potential?

First, help your weaker players to develop their confidence with the ball. At the same time, continue to challenge your stronger players to expand their creativity and confidence. Confidence is the key. The more time they spend during practice and games with the ball at their feet, the more comfortable they will become, the more confident they will become, the more they will look to get involved, and the more fun they will have with soccer (the Infinity coaching staff views scrimmages and match play as additional training to prepare them for the future) . Remember that the level of skill and competence that a 9-year-old exhibits is no indication of the skill and competence that he or she will exhibit at 16 or 18 years of age. You cannot predict which 9-year-old will develop into a real player. Therefore, work to encourage all your players to be competent and comfortable with the ball. This will give all your players the same opportunity to reach their potential. Work during practice to move all your players forward at their own pace. Do not be concerned with match results. Be concerned that all your players want the ball at their feet and they want to score. If you can accomplish this, you have successfully allowed your group to grow as soccer players. Unlike practice, you cannot add more balls/goals during games to give kids more chances with the ball. But you can emphasize certain themes for the players to focus on, such as getting involved, attacking the goal, taking chances, and then spend the length of the game reinforcing these points (the infinity coaching staff is working on taking opposing players on 1v1 with a focus on the scissors/stepover move - click here to see what scissors are). This approach will give your players the green light to experiment and be creative - qualities that, unfortunately at the younger ages, are often discouraged on game day, in the name of being safe and winning.

CONSIDER THIS: At the youth level, games are a forum for players to test their ball skills and game awareness, and should be considered an additional means of development, rather than the objective. Results are important as it gives the players a competitive focus in the match. Coaches are encouraged to promote soccer that:
• is free flowing,
• is coach-guided, not coach-directed,
• demands that all players on the field, regardless of their specified position, participate in defending and attacking.

USSF Best Practices: Player Development Guidelines
http://www.epysa.org/pdf/USSFBestPractices.pdf

Thank you for working with your child at home and encouraging them to fall in love with the ball at home. This is truly where they become great individual soccer players!

-Ginn