The future of American soccer lies in its youth clubs and associations. These organizations represent the elementary (recreational) and secondary (travel/select) educational resources for its youth. If the quality at the top of the American game is going to be improved it will have to be done through them. There is no way to improve the top without going through the bottom.

In his book, Coaching Youth Soccer, the European Model, published by McFarland & Co. Kevin McShane outlines some very valuable ideas for improving the club structure in this country. Kevin spent a years sabbatical in Prague, Czech Republic in 1999-2000 in order to earn the UEFA "A" Level license. This offered him the rare opportunity to study, in depth, European methods through the eyes and experience of an American soccer coach. He was able to visit some of the best clubs in the world including FC Barcelona, TSV Munich 1860, Glasgow Celtic FC and Newcastle United FC. These opportunities, along with a deep involvement with the Czech football culture, have given him a unique perspective on training and youth development. We are very grateful for his permission to reproduce some of his chapter on Recommendations for the United States from European Clubs.

Organization

While an American "club" might have a similar number of teams to the clubs in Europe, very few have the same overriding structure. Players are really not part of the club, but rather members of individual teams.... American clubs can appoint (and some already have) coaching directors. While these people might not enjoy the authority over the club's coaches... they can hold seminars from time to time to make sure that certain ideas are floating around in the heads of the club's coaches.

Facilities

The first facility idea is regarding field maintenance. The (European) clubs took good care of their grass fields.... As more and more soccer parks are built in the U.S., we should consider surfaces for them that we know we will be able to maintain. The second facility idea involves the use of artificial turf. While the ultimate cost savings of using artificial turf are not clear, there did seem to be some advantages to training on it. (Note, a team will spend at least 3 times the amount of time in training that it does in playing games. Having a great field for games is little help if the training is done in a gravel pit).

Equipment

In the U.S., the coach or parent brings the equipment to training, and there is a limit to how much a car will hold. Few American clubs buy equipment for their teams to share or have their own training facility. In most clubs that I visited, coaches pumped up the soccer balls to absolute rock hardness for training. Players would not use them unless they were totally full. Barcelona was the only place where they were not pumped totally full with air. It has an effect on what the players can do with the ball. A rock-hard ball is more difficult to control and kick, so must improve players' skills.

Player Evaluation

Tryout system. Most of the clubs that I visited observed players several times with their own teams, then bring them in for a trial period of a few weeks. (Note, this is as opposed to the mass tryout system prevalent in the U.S.).
Player characteristics. In general, they look for the following characteristics (in no particular order):
Athleticism: Speed especially is an important athletic skill for which scouts look.
Awareness: Scouts look for players who can see and react to the game around them.
Attitude: Every coach wants hard workers.
Technical ability: While coaches can do more work to improve a players skill level, a good starting point always helps.
(Note: These characteristics comprise the qualities of TIPS).
Evaluating/Retaining players. American coaches should have formal and regular evaluation sessions with their players. "Report cards" are a great source of information and motivation.
Releasing players. When a player was released at the clubs I visited, the coach met with the player face-to-face and explained why the player was being released and what he needed to do to improve. European clubs also helped a released player find a new team if he was interested in one.

Training Components

We could use a more thoughtful approach to the training emphasis at different ages. American clubs rarely have a technical director who can dictate guidelines for training to the coaches. Just as schools plan curriculum through many years so that it follows a sequence, American soccer clubs can do the same.
Systems of play. I encountered three schools of thought on systems of play for youth teams. Some clubs did not give it a lot of thought so that individual team coaches were able to pick their own formations.... The second was to have all of the youth teams play the same system.... The final school of thought was a mixture of the two. 1860 Munich had different predetermined systems of play for each age group.... I believe 1860's philosophy was the best. Systems of play are important in that they provide a forum for learning the game.... Therefore, it makes sense to use different systems so that players can emphasize certain characteristics.
Competitions. The competitions in which players play is also a developmental tool. The competition must have characteristics that help players learn. For example, in Europe the emphasis is on league play, not tournaments. Developmentally it is a better approach.

Coaches

There are five key traits of an excellent coach: knowledge of the game and coaching, experience in the game as a player and coach, desire to continue learning about the game, ability to teach, and commitment to his players.

Philosophy

Philosophy and goals. From my observations of top-level youth programs in Europe, it is possible to strike a balance for youth players among having fun, developing as a player, and learning to compete (trying to win). American youth teams would do well to consider their priorities and plan their activities accordingly.
Does the stated philosophy match activities and atmosphere? European clubs turn out more top players than American ones. The biggest difference in training is that the time they spend playing is much more purposeful than the time the kids in the United States spend playing.... One way to ensure the priorities of our youth teams are correct is to make sure the coach is in charge. Every club that I visited had guidelines for the parents of their players:... Another way to keep harmony between what we want to do and what happens is to monitor closely the forms of competition.... If we are to develop better players in the United States, the most important change is to change the attitude of the adults who coach or manage youth teams. They must find ways to emphasize long-term goals like player development rather than short-term goals like winning a game or tournament.

This represents some of Kevin's key points concerning club philosophy and structure. In Coaching Youth Soccer the European Model he goes into great detail on each of these topics and more. This book is a great resource for club administrators that are concerned with ideas about how to improve the learning environment of the club as well as for individual coaches and daily training.

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