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Post by fidosoccer on Oct 6, 2014 11:42:48 GMT -5
Which is it for your clubs academy age groups U9-U12?
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Post by silverback on Oct 6, 2014 12:39:11 GMT -5
Curious as to when people think the shift begins when clubs should start to focus on winning (vs just development) and how this impacts the overall curriculum to include more tactical training. I don't think you ever really stop development, but at some point, your team does need to win to play higher levels (e.g, classic 1/athena A, Rpl, Npl), get into tournaments (with higher seeds), etc. IMO, winning starts when it (really) matters (U14/15), but definitely not at the academy age group. I suspect others will think it starts earlier.
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Post by soccerpapi on Oct 6, 2014 19:11:53 GMT -5
Unfortunately, to stay profitable, a club, in our current youth system, somewhat needs both.
Some clubs start to focus on winning too early, and may in turn, do a discredit to its players. I've personally seen a player in our age group who was a stud at U9/U10: Because of physical (early physical development), and sheer athleticism, his Coach played him at one position (forward) where he was bigger, stronger, and faster than most kids, and scored goals at will - parents stumped their chest, and Coaches cashed in on results - happy returning parents wrote more checks.
At U15/U16, the same player playing in a a high-level game, seemed at a loss, and ineffective up top; presented no threat to defenders who were more technical and tactically astute, and who had caught up in size and speed. One aspect of development that that player seemed to have missed out on (no fault of his) was the ability to learn the game by playing in different positions at U9/U10, and by learning how to solve different types of problems.
Most parents working within the existing youth soccer system, also have a huge part to play in foregoing development for wins. Perhaps this is part of our American youth sports culture in general?
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