Youth soccer levels

[Mr Base]

As a coach of many years it is clear to me that youth levels are not as they should be.For one each bronze side has three possibly four guys that should be silver players. Bronze level should be for development only. Scores should not be recorded. With that said you would see better players move up to play on silver level sides.
There should be no cup games at that level. If we all were to work on development, than presure of winning should be taken away from kids. And as the kids develop they would feed the upper chain. Far tomany kids at U13 and fourteen have no sence at all what to do and how to play the game. As coaches in that level have to teach sytem of play before kids have any fandamentals. What is your guys feel on this matter?

 

[Dude]

You will always have the lower tier players who will not be better than bronze. They want to compete, too, so no...don't change that or take it away.

Less nepotism at the higher levels would be huge. Soccer always has been, and still it, way too much about politics, and who you know.

 

[Mr Base]

Dude thaks for your input. I do see it your way. But bronze level is not bronze. It is clear that many sides have one or two gold players and also one or two silver players.
In orther to develop starters in the sport gold and silver players must move up. The two gold players score four goals each each game and silver guys score one or two. You will see scores ten to zero or fifteen to zero in some games. I personaly think. BC Soccer should have a guy that over looks the games. Finds the gold guys and sends them up the chain. Club like Lynn Valley has six bronze sides in one age group. In my opinion that is wrong. Six silver two sides would be better. Than those four guys would be called up to play in a higher level. Bronze must be used only for player development.

 

[heanjob]

Dude thaks for your input. I do see it your way. But bronze level is not bronze. It is clear that many sides have one or two gold players and also one or two silver players.
In orther to develop starters in the sport gold and silver players must move up. The two gold players score four goals each each game and silver guys score one or two. You will see scores ten to zero or fifteen to zero in some games. I personaly think. BC Soccer should have a guy that over looks the games. Finds the gold guys and sends them up the chain. Club like Lynn Valley has six bronze sides in one age group. In my opinion that is wrong. Six silver two sides would be better. Than those four guys would be called up to play in a higher level. Bronze must be used only for player development.

My experience as a youth select coach is that for the most part the best players are playing at the top level. There are a few stragglers who for reasons of maybe emotional intelligence or politics are placed or chose to play at a bronze level. One thing I do agree on is that when players play against other players of similar calibre then it improves everyone. BC Soccer policing bronze games is not gonna happen so just focus on what you can control which is your own team or club.

 

[Polska]

Mr Base,

do your teams fees cover the costs for a Physoclogist at the end of the year?





U R A

 

[bettermirror]

As a youth coach for a number of years - if a good player is on a bronze team it is usually for a lot of reasons OTHER than politics. More often than not, it's a maturity thing, or the kid/parents simply want to play for the fun of it etc. Maybe they focus on other sports first and play soccer with some buddies for kicks, not to win 15-0.

Then again, my club is small and we simply can't afford to overlook good players and leave them at bronze!

 

[Mr Base]

Thanks guys I got it. Just the same I think you could have a darn good gold two team out of Lynn Valley bronze group. If it was one guy I could see it. If I see four or five guys per team above silver soccer. Than I think it is a win at all coast system.
We need more kids on upper levels. As you can see Caps are bringing in guys from down south. To me it looks like we as a group are at falt. We must tear the kids and move forward. I got to go look for that type of a bronze level player. This week already loks better. Cheers

 

[italian_stallion21]

I believe you Mr. Base. I believe, that when I played U-12 Bronze and U-13 Silver, I had been pushed to a gold team instead of playing with my friends I probably would have developed into a national team and euro-bound prospect. To think what might have been.....

 

[steve a.]

Valid points by all however I propose that while attempting to fix the problems may only be a short term solution to a long term problem changing the younger philosophy is the way to go. Honestly canada is the chits in terms of producing top level soccer players due to all the bullchit at the top end of the spectrum. The way I see it is it's futile to battle the mighty soccer juggernaut that is bc soccer / canada soccer start younger and teach core skills earlier is the only way to produce better players. What i'm talking about is have kids age 5-7 pretty much be able to do most of the drills found in the coerver program or some adaptation of it. Have kids ages 3-5 already be able to kick both feet and develop game touch. Maybe it's just me but the best way I learned soccer skills was kicking the ball against a wall and controlling it at an early age. Anyways just my 2 cents good topic there mr base good to c u speak a lil' english now and then (although I must admit that stuff gives me a good laugh trying to translate your posts)

cheers , the Rattler

 

[Captain Shamrock]

I think they should just train every player in B.C. to be left-footers. Think how much better things would be. Can you imagine lining up against a full-team of left-footed players? How the phuck do you defend that?


Mon the Lefties

 

[Captain Shamrock]

I think they should just train every player in B.C. to be left-footers. Think how much better things would be. Can you imagine lining up against a full-team of left-footed players? How the phuck do you defend that?


Mon the Lefties

Having said that......trying to create a 'super' group of footballers might have problems as it did in Bombay.......

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[steve a.]

Priceless captain simply priceless this shite makes me laugh everytime.

Long live the lefties ... Hail Hail

 

[GEORDIE]

"We need more kids on upper levels. As you can see Caps are bringing in guys from down south"

There must be more talented players there thats why Whitecaps must be scouting there.The huge Latin/Mexican population is also a factor as they are so naturally talented and Football is their main sport.

 

[Mr Base]

Gordie you know where the problem lies. It is tolate to teach the skill at U18. Clubs have six bronze sides in U13. Now you twell me why? In my opinion problem is right there. It is more fun to drive down south three times a year than to try to play better level soccer here. SBMC has a good local tournament in a week check it out. Games are down on River way Park.

 

[TS]

Captain, that was AWESOME!
Probably the best one yet!
Lefties are definitely invaluable, but I would still take a great right-footed player with a decent left-foot as opposed to most lefties whose right foot is nothing but a peg........

 

[bettermirror]

Honestly, guys, the problem is not that there are 6 bronze teams in one club at u13 - but that those 6 bronze coaches do not have the tools to teach the skills. It is no one's fault but those 6 coaches who volunteer but then do not take the time to learn what is necessary. They simply volunteer to be loud babysitters, or ones with a good sense of humour while standing in the cold. It is the reality of soccer.

BTW - some would argue, not just u18 is too late to teach the skills, but so is u13! I've had largely the same group of players for u13 and u14. The skills they have gained and the curve at which they were acquired in the last two years has been outstanding - but the many many of the bad habits from poor coaching from u6-u12 remain steadfast in most, if not all. I can see even the best players (who go so far as the final stage of provincial trials, y league teams etc) continuing to fight those bad habits every practice - and I saw the same in Y League boys I had been involved with.

All the "best" coaches are u13+. All the "best" coaches should be u6-u12. And go from there...

 

[Mr Base]

Bettermirror I do like your coments. There is coaches that could do a way better job. They are playing in over fifty and over forty men soccer leagues. Due to the reason that some parents are not there for development of thier child but self ego. What I was saying in that group of U13 kids there is a good gold two team. Club must try to move forward with better development. Kids could get free schooling with better youth development.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Mirror, I"ve seen plenty of 'poor' coaches in the older ages......too many who are concerned about wins and losses than in player development.

Gold/Silver coaches can be just as good as Metro/Select coaches........just depends on their ability to deal with kids.......

 

[Mr Base]

Captain well said. That's the main reason. It is all about development. If we think about winning kids will kick and run. When they get to senior soccer they will have no clue.

 

[Dude]

So true about the correlation between kick & run and winning at the lower levels. Too many coaches do not allow their players to hold a ball and use their skill from the back-line out. Their message is universally "KICK IT OUT!" or "KICK IT HARD!" when a kid has the ball on the back-line.

I had to sit my parents down and explain to them that when they are yelling this, they are sending a conflicting message to the kids than what we're trying to teach them- namely hold the ball, keep the head up, and go through the three decisions: carry the ball (using skill to keep the ball tight to the feet), pass off to a team-mate, or if in scoring position, shoot. We emphasized that we would not be angry if they coughed up the ball while doing these three things, and emphasized possession is far more important than kicking the ball out of danger.

At issue is that many parents berate their own kids for mistakes, and most coaches too, instead of praising them for attempting to use the skills taught in practice. The kids think the safe play is to get rid of the ball as quickly as they can, if possible up to the forwards, who are typically the most skilled players on the team, so those forwards can score goals. Great message, eh? “Those kids are better than you, so make sure they always have the ball, instead of you.”

It's all fcuked up. That's what happens when you don't have guys coming back to coach their own kids, and let hockey dads step in to coach. Great intentions and all, but they bring a hockey mentality, and don't understand how to play or coach the game- and never will.