Are your young soccer players improving?

It's the end of the summer 2013 soccer season in Canada.  Every coach has the same question "Is my team improving?"

There is one very easy, yet VERY INCORRECT way to assess your progress, wins and losses.

If the score is your only indicator, then every game can only have one team that got better.  No?

If the score is still your only indicator, then you will never be happy.

Let's be honest.  Your U9 team has all small players.  All of the other teams have 2 or 3 big boys and you ain't gonna beat'em.  Or will you?

When you run your program you need more points of assessment other than wins and losses.  I walk
by some teams that are training and I'll tell the coach I can see their players are improving.  Occasionally I get the reply "we've only won 2 games" and answers of that nature.

Did I ask you W-L-T record?  Does your league even record it anymore?

But really, you're asking the wrong question as the season progresses.  The question should be "Are my players improving?"

My brother's U11 team in Pelham has been improving.  He doesn't have the horses to beat some teams and handily defeats other teams.  But when I watch them train, I see fewer passes go astray, juggling numbers improving and their overall comfort level with the ball has improved.

I help my brother on occasion and I give him credit for how he has approached this season.  He's a smart, methodical dude who really understands the game and knows people.  He is patient and watches the game for small victories within the match.  They win their fair share of games, but he is not hung up on it.  When we talk, he rarely talks abut the team, but rather combs over his players one at a time, telling me where they are improving or need work.

Reviewing players has been a part of my routine for a long time.  This habit came from Coach Rino Berardi, my original, current and future mentor.  Our discussions after every game first go through the entire roster to see how everybody played.  Then we progress to team matters.  If the kids knew how much we talked about them as players, they would have been shocked.

The question should be "Are my players improving?"

LTPD asks us to take a player-centred approach to development at the younger ages.

He took a "Learn to Train" course that I delivered, but he had his head on straight and was focused long

before that. 

So, is your team improving?  What are some ways for you to determine that?

• Is attendance at training as strong now as it was in April?
• Are sequences you run at training improving in overall quality?  Do you let them run sequences more than once over the season to assess?
• Can players do more with the ball on their own (juggling, 1v1 moves, change directions, striking to pass or shoot, receiving)?
• Is their Agility,Balance and Control improving? Do you see an improvement in their physical literacy ?
• Are players making better decisions during small sided games?
• Is your team able to retain the ball during games longer now than in April?
• Are more players getting gamey and shifty during games? 
• Are they more confident when playing teams that may have dominated earlier in the year?
• Are your players seeing more connection with teammates?
• Are they panicking less under pressure?
• Do they talk to each other?
• Are the "one time" clearances decreases?  (Major pet peeve for me!)
• Are the players using more soccer terminology?  Are you?
• Are they more in command of 1v1 situations, on both sides of the ball?
• Can they apply what you do in training during games? (restarts, sequences, skills, etc)

There are so many things to check for during the course of a season.  If you watch the little things for adjustment and improvement, you can easily assess what direction you're heading in.  Think about each player rather than your team as a whole and take stock in how each one is developing.

...if the individual players aren't in place, the tactical part is not happening.

So, is your team improving?  Let's take it down a step.  Is one player improving?  2?  4?  10?  All of them?  If each player is getting better then your team must be improving. Do you agree?

I am not saying the games don't matter.  What happens in a game is a test of how your players can apply what they are learning at training.  How they apply techniques in small sided games and league games tell you a lot.  But you have to watch everything for EVERY player.

If they are not succeeding is it:

• Technical? (technique/individual abilities)  
• Physical? (size/speed/strength) 
• Mental? (decisions/situations not familiar)
• Psychological? (afraid to play/intimidated)
• Social? (don't feel like part of the group/feel ignored by coach/never hear their name cheered)

You watch these factors, work to improve on them and you're heading in the right direction.  You might be asking "What about Tactical?".  Trust me, if the individual players aren't in place, the tactical part is not happening.

Be the relaxed coach when it comes to being with the kids.  Let the kids know their coach is enthusiastic and positive.  But on the inside, be an analyst and keep a running tab on each player, how they are doing and how you can help them.  Your bottom player all the way to your top player. 
 
Even at the college level, our coaches talk about every player, all the time.  It's a good habit.  We also discuss the teams and tactical concerns, but that is useless if we don't know our players. 

Work to improve each player, every session.  Then the answer will be, YES, your team is improving.  And if that "big" team's coach is resting on their wins and not developing their players, don't be surprised if you catch them over a 12-month period.

When my 1994 boys were U9, we lost our first 2 games a combined 9-0.  We ended up beating both of those teams twice each after July 1.  In one instance we beat one in a semi-final and the other in a final of a tournament.   We didn't change our formation or pick up any new players.  We just worked with the kids.  It happens all the time, in every sport.

Have a great finish to your season.

P.S.  Train your parents to cheer for EVERYBODY and be positive regardless of the score, winning or losing.  I can't stress enough how important that is in helping you work with your players at training and moving each one further along in their development.