5 STAGES OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
INTRODCUTORY STAGE: AGES: 1– 6
This first stage is often overlooked but Tom Byers, an American soccer coach living in Japan is a huge proponent for kids being introduced to soccer at home, and I would agree as kids just need to be encouraged to interact with a ball. Check out his website, YouTube videos and he has published a book on this topic.
COORDINATION STAGE: AGES: 6 – 12
The objective of this second stage is to identify what the player does well in a natural manner. It is very important that the player plays freely. In this stage, the footballer builds an identity, i.e., by what will he/she be known or portrayed as a player (dribbling, feints, aerial skills, etc.). This stage is fundamental to their development because it identifies the talent and creativity unique to each individual player.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B21bBH2ZEA&app=desktop
COGNITIVE STAGE: AGES: 12 – 16
The third stage is called the cognitive stage and it represents all players from 12 to 16 years of age.
In this stage, the coach has a very important role since this is the period of assimilation of concepts for the player. The coach in this stage teaches the game to the player through concepts and fundamentals in order for the player to make good decisions during the game.
To dominate the ball and that the ball does not dominate you is key to the formation of a soccer player. The more information I have as a player, the better a soccer player I will be. The more details a player has of the game, the more coaches correct a player, the better the coach teaches a player, the better the soccer player he or she will become. If I understand the game, I make better decisions, and if I make better decisions, I am a better player. The coach at this stage needs to understand these concepts and fundamentals.
- Between the ages of 12-16, the focus must purely be upon technical development.
- The players all have the physical attributes to play football such as, height, strength, speed & intelligence.
- The only thing that can hold them back is technical development.
- My responsibility as their coach is to improve their technical skill to the highest level possible.
Creativity, you cannot teach that – it is talent. Those who have it, let them express it. The tricks, let them go out and do it.
COMPETITIVE STAGE AGES: 16 – 18
When the child has developed a player identity (what kind of player I am) in the coordination Stage and understands the game, the concepts, and fundamentals of soccer in the cognitive Stage, then the player is ready to express everything in a competitive environment. Sadly, most kids never learn these concepts.
Do you know what these concepts are? If you do not, then how can you coach the players. This stage consists of competing with and against different styles of games through all the universal fundamentals of games that the player has learned.
PROFESSIONAL STAGE AGES: 18+
In Europe, after this stage, at the age of 18, the player either becomes a professional or not. There is no confusion.
In the USA, the kids and parents think about going to college to play soccer on a scholarship. Once they take this route, they are falling behind their European counterparts even further and cannot compete with them at the adult level. Unlike the United States, in Europe, the degree of competitiveness is very high.
Unfortunately, in the USA the environment where the child is exposed to a real level of competitiveness between the ages of 16-18 is limited and going to college to play soccer does not aid development. Many of the players drafted from the MLS College draft even at the relatively early age of 20 are simply not good enough. Perhaps good enough to make up the rosters of MLS secondary teams but never good enough to play in Europe.
You need talent to reach the top but ironically 80% of professional players have cognitive talent and they lacked coordination talent. In other words, these 80% who are professionals do not have any kind of coordination talent, but through hard work every day, and at the same time receiving information to develop as a player, they were able to develop their cognitive skills which overcame their lack of coordination.
Only the absolute best professional players possess cognitive talent and coordination talent. They represent 20% of the professional playing population. They have the whole package. The other 80% that are professional because they learned to dominate the game with knowledge of the game rather than allow the game to dominate them.
The reason is because, 80% of all actions in a game require a very simple technical action, which once learned is easily repeatable. Most of the actions in a match do not have any difficulty to be performed. Why do we complicate our lives so much by wanting to teach soccer? Remember we are coaching children, and the key is to explain the complexity of soccer through simplicity.
In the USA, there are children with a better physique and who are more disciplined. How is it possible that countries with as little a population as Belgium, Croatia or regions like Catalonia produce so many high-level players? The key is in the assimilation of concepts and game habits with and without the ball and not in the repetition of technical actions. In the USA, a lot of emphases is placed on training soccer through repetition and repetition of movements. Children in the USA are taught to have a love for the ball rather than a love for the game itself. This is the consequence of the repetition of movements where the ball is the protagonist and the only reference.
Exercises without decision making have no impact on the development of a soccer player. Soccer is a global game where each action is different and never repeated between them, so the decision of the soccer player is everything. This is only possible through the practice of global exercises where the variables include the ball, the opponent, space, and the teammates. Once the fundamental skills have been learned (80% of professional players), it is all about decision making. You are a bad player if you make bad decisions, and you are a great player if you make great decision.
There are no bad students but only bad teachers. The USA has intelligent and disciplined children. It is time for the coaches to focus on coaching the cognitive talent of the players.
SPECIALIZATION -v- GENERALIZATION
Finally, here is an interesting view from Stuart Lancaster on the ‘specialization vs generalization’ argument in underage sport – He is a world renowned rugby coach, and he simply states: “the more sports you can play from a younger age, the better”.
- The more sports you can play from a younger age, the better;
- The players become more rounded;
- The best players are the ones who had the broadest experiences in different sports;
- The best decision makers are the ones who played the most sports;
- Playing to space, identifying space in different sports, the more you play the better you get that feel for it;
- U16s internationals were stopped as only 10% made it to the U20s. It creates false hope & impressions on players.
- You can only identify talent at around 20 years;
- Rocky Road Study: Athletes who had setbacks, not selected, injuries = better achievements rates, resilience, determination.