Soccer With Coach Jeff Ginn: Changing the [Soccer] Education Paradigm

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Changing the [Soccer] Education Paradigm

With just a little bit of extrapolation on your part you can make the connections between the youth academic environment and the youth soccer environment. As I viewed the clip many dots connected for me. But I would like for you to post a reply on the blog before (comment below) I share the things I found. Please take the time to have some dialogue about this topic as a group. I would really like us to share some ideas.

6 comments:

Unknown said...: Some of my initial impressions are of things we are currently doing along these lines. Allowing the kids to problem-solve within the game is a vital part of the learning process. Wedding that with the structural technical information that we must teach so they can perform the skills is difficult. Culture dictates a lot about what we need or don't need to provide here.; February 9, 2011 at 2:24 PM
Anonymous said...: We need to create a new soccer education. Allowing for creativity, group collaboration, and multiple ways to perform skills. I feel like the main goal should not be to make a soccer prodigy out of our players but add to who they are in every aspect of their lives, not all of these kids are going to go on to play college or even H.S. but being involved in a team that builds them as a person will go a long way in preparing them for life. We need to make soccer come to life, make the atmosphere enjoyable and create a love for the game. If a player loves the game they will go home and practice, play pick up games, watch pro games and such. As a coach it is our responsibility to instill and create this love through practice and our methods.; February 9, 2011 at 4:37 PM
Tad said...: I really enjoyed this video. The idea of how we should educate children differently was right on the money. I amazed at how much information is being thrown at my children on a daily basis. The idea of allowing the kids to learn through trial and error translates to soccer. Letting them be creative in their thinking instead of following traditional methods. The end of the video about working together as a group instead of individuals is the essence of teamwork on the pitch. I definitely believe we can use the principles in this discussion.; February 10, 2011 at 9:45 AM
CoachJGinn said...: OK so here are a few thoughts... maybe they will generate more soccer thinking?

· If we cannot predict the future for education or finances then what makes us think we can do so in soccer? Why do we insist on the lunacy of selecting younger and younger children for “elite” soccer? Can we show a little maturity and patience by waiting to give them that player development pathway when they are teenagers?

· Can we embrace and use to our benefit the soccer cultural diversity we have here? Can we – should we – foster a variety of styles of play which then gives the American player versatility? Can soccer be “globalized” here? Or is it already happening despite us?

· Is doing what we did in the past in schools the equivalent of us pursuing drills during training and joy stick coaching during matches? If we carry on with coaching in the manner of #3 passes to #5 and #7 makes an off-the-ball run to receive a pass from #5 really going to develop players who can think for themselves or simply be robots in pattern play?

· If we doggedly stay with our past approaches to the youth soccer experience will children continue to drop-out of the sport? The sports structure of America was designed in an age now past. There’s an old saying that the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton. Interestingly Eton College had no adult coaches. Eton students were members of the privileged who were expected to become leaders of their country. Since one of the things that leaders do is organize things, the kids were expected to organize their own games, which they did. In the United States, youth sports evolved with greater mass participation. The goal of the nation’s influential was to turn non-elite youth into “compliant factory workers” (cookie cutter soccer players). It is not surprising that youth sports in the United States started as a highly organized activity with adults in charge and kids expected to do as they were told and perform on command. In many ways, things have not changed all that much.; February 10, 2011 at 11:18 AM
Roger O. Brick, D.C. said...: I enjoyed your paradigm post on both an educational and soccer level. Thanks for bringing information like this to our attention. Have you viewed this recent Xavi interview.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/feb/11/xavi-barcelona-spain-interview; February 13, 2011 at 7:57 AM
CoachJGinn said...: A few more soccer thoughts...

· The comment on social structure in the presentation might correlate to our super clubs or volunteer clubs. Are they not a sport infrastructure of a fledgling soccer nation – not the one we are today?

· In our current mode are the smart people the elite players, coaches, referees and administrators and the non-smart people the recreational masses? Do we have players in the non-smart group who could grow into talent?· Boring stuff = drills at training sessions and kick-n-run tactics at matches. All reflective of pouring the game into children like Ritalin. Letting the game grow naturally is messy and takes longer, but I think we improve the average player in this way. In the words of Rinus Michels if you want to improve the élite player then raise the level of the average player.
· Is the aesthetic experience the ‘beautiful game’?· Is not so much of what goes on in youth soccer the factory line approach? If instead we take a somewhat more “artistic” approach we could produce creative players. In this vein of thought you may want to read this blog post: http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/Blog.asp?post_id=1172; February 14, 2011 at 3:38 PM