Infinity Soccer in The Herald Journal

Infinity has taken Cache Valley by storm
By Jason Turner

It's only been two years, but the Infinity Soccer Club has taken Cache Valley by storm.

The non-profit organization is already one of the largest soccer clubs in the Beehive State as 29 teams, consisting of athletes from approximately 300 families, compete under the Infinity name. Those 29 teams consist of boys and girls ranging from the ages of 4-19.

There are currently 20 coaches - all are licensed or are working on their licensing through the United States Soccer Federations (USSF) - associated with Infinity, four paid professional coaching directors and a seven-person board, which meets once a month and deals with the financial and business side of the club.

Because it was still green compared to other clubs around the state, Infinity is still evolving, but its primary objective will never change.

"Our real goal is to instill a passion for the game and a love for the game that (the youth will) want to continue to play and compete and represent their high schools and represent this community through their high schools, as well as reach the potential of possibly getting college scholarships if that's something they aspire to," said Jeff Ginn, the club's technical director.

Because Infinity - which basically originated when Soccer Academy and Valencia combined resources - has become the valley's biggest club so quickly, there have been concerns expressed by others in the community. Ginn is quick to stress he understands why people would be skeptical, but wants to dispel those misconceptions.

"There are people out there who look at us as a bad thing, and I can understand because there are a lot of clubs throughout this country that give club soccer a real bad name," he said. "We are not heavily into recruiting players and going and picking up players and doing those things that usually give clubs a bad name.

"... We want our product to speak for itself. We want people to understand who we are and what we're about."

The other big notion Ginn hopes to dispel is Infinity is an "exclusive club," and one that just cares about winning.

All youth from the valley are welcome to try out for one of the teams, and those tryouts, which happen every spring and fall, are currently taking place and will continue through June 4. As far as being obsessed with winning, Ginn said this is simply not true, particularly at the younger ages, where player development is by far the most important thing.

In fact, Infinity's Mission Statement reads: (Infinity's goal is) to facilitate individual player development through high quality training, coaching, teammate and competition.

"The beauty of the club is that we no longer care so much or focus so much on winning at all costs, which is quite frequently a big concern at the youth levels," Ginn said. "And our goal from the ages 8 to about 13 years old is to develop elite players that love the game, so when they get to 14, 15, 16, 17 and older, they're elite players that can play and dominate in the high school level, and if they so desire, earn a college scholarship."

Infinity is essentially broken down into three age groups/tiers, starting at the Academy Soccer level (ages 4-9). The primary focus with this age group is to teach the kids the fundamentals and skills of the sport and develop a love for the game.

The other two age groups, the Infinity Elite (ages 10-12) and Infinity Soccer Club (ages 12-19), are more geared for those who have the aspirations and skills needed to compete at district and state levels. Those in the oldest groups are involved in Utah State Cup competition, where they play in a league featuring the top club teams in the state - premier being the highest division.

Teams that are successful at that level earn the right to compete in regional and, in some cases, national tournaments.

As is the case with other clubs, Infinity players pay monthly dues, the cost of which is determined by age and the level of play. Club fees are always a dicey subject, and Ginn insists Infinity does its best to cut costs "without damaging the product."

In years past, many of the top players from the valley traveled to the Ogden, Salt Lake and Provo metropolitan areas to play on long-established club teams like La Roca, Sparta, Rangers and Storm. With the formation of Infinity, Ginn is confident similarly-skilled players can now stay in the valley and receive the same training and opportunities.

"Our ultimate goal is to provide the service so (the elite players) don't have to travel down there," Ginn said.

Over the past two years, Infinity has proven it can compete with those bigger metro clubs. In the spring of 2009, Infinity had a pair of teams (a U11 and U12 girls squad) advance to the finals of State Cup competition.

Three Infinity teams - a U11, U12 and U13 girls squad - are currently alive in spring State Cup competition and have advanced to the quarterfinals.

Some other Infinity teams have recently enjoyed a great deal of success outside the valley, including a Travis Baxter-coached U15-16 girls squad (champions of the Las Vegas Mayors Cup), the Caleb Cowley-coached U13 girls squad (runners-up at Presidents Cup in St. George) and a Jeff Woods-coached U13 team that ended up winning the Presidents Cup.

Infinity also helps give elite local players the opportunity to be a part of the prestigious Olympic Development Program (ODP). The ODP program is the starting point for the U.S. Soccer Federation in determining the national team pool, and who represents the country in the Olympics and World Cup, should they qualify.

There are currently 14 Infinity players who represent the Utah ODP team at their respective age group, and they are Stacy Bair, Jordan Houston, Jessica Brooksby, Kaitlyn McKuskey, Rebecca Jenson, Madilyn Klein, Taylee Halverson, Kylie Griffin, Kyler Erickson, Anna Davidson, Breanna Sims, Lexi Sims, Demi Lopez and Brynnlee Welch.

Bair and Brooksby are currently in the Region III - the country is divided into four regions, and each region has about 60 kids in its pool - pool, and Bair recently became the first valley player to receive an invitation to the National Development Camp. Bair, a sophomore at Sky View, was one of 80 kids in her age group selected for the national pool. Approximately 18-22 players are selected to the ODP state team at each age group.

Simply put, Infinity has helped local players earn respect and recognition from the rest of the state. Ginn recalled talking to an aunt who recently moved from New Jersey to Draper. That aunt has a son who expressed interest in playing club soccer, and when she told the coaches in the Draper area who her nephew was, she received some positive feedback.

"And he pretty much just (told her), ‘Infinity has given Logan an identity at the state level,'" Ginn said. "... We've been watching the athletes of Logan come in and do really well, but it seems like they finally have a focus and a large-term aspect to their community.' But it was a big compliment when ... the state soccer teams and clubs acknowledge Logan and Cache Valley and that the first thing they think of is Infinity soccer."

Another one of Infinity's primary focuses is teaching parents proper soccer etiquette and helping them become better "adult learners," which is a phrase coined by the USSF. Ginn described "adult learners" as parents who have a desire to learn the game and adapt to USSF guidelines and suggestions.

"At all sports, you see coaches and parents telling the kids what to do all the time, where to go, how to get there," Ginn said. "You here the words, ‘send it, shoot it,' so many times that the kids stop thinking on their own and they don't know how to make decisions for themselves.

"... (Our goal) is to teach them that the kids are smart, they'll figure it out."

Something else Ginn and Infinity hopes to accomplish is to unify the soccer community. When Ginn, a native of Orange County, Calif., moved to the valley a few years ago, he felt there was a bit of a division among those from the north and south ends of the community. The former Iowa Western Community College assistant coach - Ginn helped lead the Lady Reivers to a gaudy 70-9-6 record in his four seasons at the school - endeavors for players and coaches from all around the valley to "be working on the same page, have some synergy."

On the flip side, Ginn also feels club soccer has fewer issues here than the bigger metro areas in the state.

"One of the reasons why a choose to come to Logan or to accept this position was because I knew if we got in here and got organized that we could change the culture without a lot of conflict, because there was no major club in here winning all the time and preaching something other than developmental soccer," he said.

Another thing that appealed to Ginn about Cache Valley was its enthusiasm for the sport. Recent studies have suggested the valley has the nation's highest per capita rate of soccer players under the age of 13. Ginn went on to praise District 7 for doing "an amazing job of facilitating soccer for our rec programs," and for trying to adapt to USSF's policies and suggestions.

Perhaps more than anything, though, Ginn wants people to realize that Infinity's end game is to promote soccer as a life sport.

"Soccer is a life sport," Ginn said. "You go throughout this world and you see 60, 70-year-old men and women playing soccer still, and it's because they love the game. They may not have the mobility, but they can still play it.

"... It promotes healthy living, it promotes activity lifestyles. And with the obesity and everything that's going on with our culture, soccer can make such a difference."

Other directors for the club are Sherri Dever (Director of Coaching), Marla Nelson (Director of Goalkeeping) and Lisa Godfrey (Director of Operations). For more information about Infinity, go to www.infinitysc.com.

The original article can be found at: http://news.hjnews.com/sports/article_0688f02e-695d-11df-a7e9-001cc4c03286.html

Soccer Champions Grow In Your Backyard

Have you ever watched youth soccer games and noticed a few players who really stood out as talented? Did you watch with amazement as they dribbled through the crowd of defenders and then finished with that perfect shot? The fact is that all sports, not just soccer, have certain athletes that just seem to amaze us. We as parents want out kids to develop as well, but how do we start? How do we get them to improve? The answer may be right outside your window in your backyard.

The common thread among great soccer players…

First, let’s take a look at Tiger Woods. Wait a minute, why a golf player? Because his name is known world wide and we can all relate to his story. For most of his developing life who was his coach and trainer? Who was his only putting coach as he progressed into the Pro years? The answer to both was his dad, Earl.
Was Earl Woods a professional golfer? Not at all, he was a career Army man that had a passion for the sport. He loved golf and he loved his son. He was able to blend time spent together and building a passion for the game, with learning and improving. Much of this time was right in their backyard “messing around”, having fun and exposing a child to new skills and thoughts. There were hours and hours of performing repetitive skills in the form of games and challenges. The same applies for so many great soccer players of our time and we as parents can learn from this example.

Parents are the key...

Ask any great soccer player who played a major role in their soccer growth and 90% of the time the answer will be “Mom or Dad”. When we developed the SoccerU series we specifically had this in mind. Whether it was the level of support or the time at night and weekends spent in the back yard just “messing around”, parents are often the engine behind developing talent, not the coach.

Each night I drive by our local public fields and sure enough there is a parent and child on the field working on skills or just “messing around” together. These small little sessions play such a major role in a youth player’s development, I can’t stress them enough. Last year I worked with several former Division One college players and the same was true. Their “parents” were the reason they were able to achieve such success. None of these parents were “pro soccer players” so how did they help that struggling child? I will explain.

Watch your next few soccer practices…

Let’s say that a young soccer player, over their development cycle, needs to learn and master 75 core skills. These will include everything from learning the difference between an offensive header and defensive header to receiving a pass under pressure and proper first touch. Whether the skill is basic like dribbling or advanced like performing a volley kick, each of these individual skills must be shown, taught and practiced repeatedly. However, you’ll notice that over the course of a soccer season players may only learn one to four new skills. Often after learning them, they seldom return to practice them in a repetitive session. At that pace they will hit the “competitive level” without ever really refining all the core skills.

Now, don’t go blaming the coach…

The first thing you realize when you become a soccer coach is that you are missing one thing, TIME. Working in the “group” means that all the players must be trained together. All their levels of skills, behavior and learning must be viewed as a whole, and one on one / individual training is almost never done. One to three hours a week for few weeks in the spring and fall is simply not enough time. You are also supposed to get this “motley crew” to play together as a team and hopefully win at least one game.

You will quickly see how many youth soccer players can hit the middle school and even high school level with very few refined technical skills. As players get older the focus switches to “competing”. We often see less and less time spent on core technical training which is a huge mistake.

1000’s of touches and hours of repetition…

Charlie Cook, the director of Coerver Training US, emailed me last year. He was reflecting on watching the national team and a player that received a long air pass. The player, with out any effort, gently touched the ball once and killed it into his path. “An amazing sight to see.” However he quickly pointed out that this was not a god given talent. This player was not born with this touch nor did he learn it by just “playing the game”. He learned it by practicing it over and over. Thousands of touches and repetition until this skill was a part of his nature, “instinctive”. His point was clearly made. To have a skill become “natural or instinctive” it must be repeated over and over until we no longer have to “think about it”. It becomes a habit that the player performs without thought.

This is where the back yard begins…

We, as parents must become teachers. We must be able to identify skills in their raw form and learn how to perform them correctly ourselves. We then must be able to tell and show a child visually how to properly perform the skill. After many short repetitive sessions it will eventually allow them to feel it and let it become part of their nature. Until we do this, it will never become an instinctive habit.

Parents however, sometimes feel “lost” and don’t know where to begin, how to progress or even how to teach these skills. You do not have to become a “professional soccer player”. You simply must learn to teach what your child will not be taught during the “normal development cycle” of their soccer career. Hence the 10 hours of skills breakdown on SoccerU.

Watch out for the frustration…

A simple warning for parents is to be aware that younger players often become frustrated easily. Our goal is to keep it fun and make sure the child feels like these are THEIR sessions and not forced on them. Keep them short and mix them in with what the child wants to do. Maybe they want to be goal keeper, maybe they want to take penalty shots on mom or dad. Whatever it is, keep the training divided in half. Half learning and repetition and half fun and games. Create challenges and even have fun goals to achieve. There is nothing better than a challenge between the child and parent.

There always is a parent…

In the US pickup games and free play soccer has almost become extinct. The extra hours of needed play and skill work now has to come from the parent. Parents often search for the “perfect soccer camp” spending hundreds even thousands of dollars on camps that might only last 2 – 5 days. These are great for social development but offer little improvement in what the players need.

When I meet a talented young soccer player I always ask them, “Who taught you how to play?” Every single player over the past two years has responded the same way, “My Mom / Dad.”
Make sure you realize the importance of “off program” training and make sure you understand the importance of the backyard. Cherish this time as not only soccer training, but bonding as well. Always remember that they are KIDS first, not soccer players, and nothing says “good work” like a stop for ice cream on the way home.



This article was originally found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV4C6oi_j2g&feature=player_embedded#!