A Development Approach Mixing Schools, Clubs and Regional Associations
After writing about U.S. Soccer and soccer development in Japan, I found an article about soccer in Poland. Poland is not a world power, but the article explains how it uses the school system as a means of developing soccer players. Since the U.S. sports system and U.S. school system are inextricably linked, any models that incorporate the schools into the overall development scheme are more likely to take root in the U.S. The article looks at one region within the Polish system, the Southwest region.
71 primary schools host classes within the extended football education programme which contains 6 hours of physical education per week, combined with 4 hours of general physical training.
In most school districts with which I familiar, elementary and middle school sports have been eliminated and physical education classes have been reduced. During every NFL and NBA game, the leagues promotes their fitness initiatives, NFL Play and NBA Fit, and show clips of players visiting schools.
The problem is that players make one-time appearance. If the majority of the money pays for these one-time appearances and camera opportunities, the NBA and NFL can pat themselves on the back, but do these one-day events accomplish anything?
What if the professional sports programs started a fund more like the old Nike PLAYCorps program that scholarshipped college students who worked with youth sports programs and provided equipment? While seeing an NFL star is an amazing experience for the afternoon, wouldn’t a semester of programming with a trained volunteer be more effective?
After coaching in my local school district last year, I asked the school district about starting a private, but affordable after-school program for the district students using the Playmakers Basketball Development League model. Students reached high school with virtually no basketball experience. The AAU players attended one high school, so the district had one good program and five lousy programs. The district was 100% not interested in engaging in discussions about the possibility of providing more physical activity programs after school. I approached two other coaches in the district about starting a mini-league for all the middle school students that fed the district, and the coaches were unwilling to cooperate (yet they were willing to complain when their team was losing by double-digits).
Beyond skill development, how much would children benefit from 10 hours per week of physical education and after-school sports activities? Imagine the benefits if the professional leagues supported programs for k-2nd graders to provide an active start and augment their academic activities. Play-based learning activities to develop basic coordination, agility, balance and all the general skills that form the foundation of any sport. Instead, we are cutting physical education programs while bemoaning the childhood obesity epidemic and blaming TV and video games.
Furthermore, 5 of the most talented boys from each year group take part once a week in a ninety minute individual session with the district head coach.
Interesting. When I coached in Ireland, I held the title of Development Director. This was my plan. I asked the Board to find one night of gym time and invite the top 2-3 players per age group to work out with me, the coach of the professional team, for two hours. I wanted to create a trickle-down effect – if the top 10 and 12 year olds practiced with the top 16 and 18 year olds, they would see the difference in skill level and practice habits. Hopefully, they would return to their u10 and u12 teams with these improved practice habits, and elevate their teammates’ practice performance. Meanwhile, the better players would receive additional coaching and training to further their development, rather than having their development stifled by the typical demands of youth coaching, where much of the time is spent catching up the lower-level players rather than challenging the higher-level players. The Board did not value this idea.
The best young players are placed in the 5 high-schools with the strongest football profiles, so that the elite can easily be monitored and help the selection process when choosing those to represent the South-west region of Poland.
In a sense, this exists to a certain extent in high schools in the U.S. However, here, people complain about recruiting when it happens. In one sense, it is unfair; in another, it is practical. However, often the top programs do not necessarily have the best coaches, especially from a developmental perspective. They may win a lot of games, but if they sacrifice the players’ development to pursue those wins, is that the best spot for a developing player? Many school districts have magnet programs for different academic subjects. Why not use the same idea for high school athletics? Each district has a basketball magnet and a football magnet, and the magnet schools play each other, while the rest of the schools play each other. Put the upper-echelon private schools in with the magnet schools, and the less athletically-drive private schools with the regular public schools. It may seem unfair, but is it any more unfair than the current system where this tends to happen anyway, yet everyone competes against each other? Is it fail that Los Angeles Westchester High School (Amir Johnson, Trevor Ariza, Hassan Adams, Gabe Pruitt, Dwayne Polee, etc.) competes for the same championship as Garfield High School?
Now, let’s analyse the profile and training programme of one of Warsaw’s top youth football clubs –MKS Agrykola. Agrykola was founded in 1908 and can be called a cradle of sport in Warsaw…Nowadays, it possesses the complex of football pitches and the modern sport pavilion. Young footballers are trained there from the age of 7 and can stay at the club till they are 18. As far as the recruitment for 7-year-old is concerned, every keen kid is accepted. Agrykola rarely draw kids from other clubs and at an early age put their focus on the kids who are enthusiastic to join their setup.
I frequently read advertisements for “developmental” clubs who only need a 6’0 12-year-old. How developmental is your team if you pre-select for the best? I like the idea of taking every interested and enthusiastic player who wants to join and agree to the club’s philosophy. I think one of the issues with club basketball today as opposed to 10 years ago is the ease with which one can start a team: there are fewer and fewer true clubs, as most are one-season teams to showcase one or two players. The idea of developing in one club from 8-18 seems to have disappeared, and few coaches want to invest the time and energy on this process, when the coach of players as they move to college get all the credit. Why bother working with a 7-year-old for no money and no credit when you can recruit an already talented 17-year-old and take credit for his scholarship and use his name to acquire a shoe sponsorship or to entice other players to sign up?
MKS Agrykola uses a progressive development plan, adding more load and complexity each season:
Age Football training programme
- 7-8 Fun-games to get kids comfortable with the ball
- 8-9 Skill and technique focus: dribbling, shooting, passing, control
- 9-10 Introduction of defending and attacking with a focus on 1v1
- 10-11 Introduction of tactical exercises, 2 v 1, 3 v 2, etc.
In basketball, we ignore this progression. Practice time and volume depends solely on gym availability and maximization of profit, while every age group engages in 5v5 play emphasizing team offense and defense. There is no system of development. Each season is a Peak By Friday season.
While the system appears to be in place to provide for good development, the coaches lack the philosophy or training.
What I have spotted is that coaches in junior categories are focused from early age on getting positive results in youth leagues rather than developing skills of their pupils. To give you an example, young defenders are often instructed to clear the ball in every single slightly dangerous situation. When one tries to control the ball and distribute it instead, he gets a very harsh reprimand. Also, coaches do not sacrifice enough time on individual approach to each player, which in my opinion, is very important at a young age. Such a state is easy to explain with youth coaches salary being determined by the club’s position in the league rather than being encouraged to develop the proper technical side of a young player’s game. There is no financial incentive if one of their former pupils is transferred to a big club in the future.
The same situation occurs in the USA. Coaches are judged on their won-loss record, not the development of their players. We constantly compare players and teams, based primarily on the scoreboard and the standings, rather than contrasting players and teams to their former selves. Coaches focus on results and often sacrifice development in the process. Rather than allow a post player to dribble down the court, the coach yells at the post to pass to the point guard. Rather than allowing dribble penetration and kick, the coach runs set plays. The focus is winning, not developing skills that will assist the player beyond that season.
The Polish Federation is trying to remedy this issue in Poland, while the Youth Basketball Coaches Association and The Crossover Movement remain among the loudest supporters of change, an LTAD approach, coach education and small-sided games in the U.S.
