BEHIND THE PLAY #76

Here in the Vancouver area, clubs are in team formation mode. We’re probably the only ones that form teams in March for a season that starts six months later in September but with some luck you are at a club that gets this critical piece of the youth soccer puzzle right. Here’s what you should expect in terms of process, expectations and communications.

PROCESS

The first and most important aspect of evaluating players is that the process should be conducted on an ongoing basis and not be reduced to two or three on field ‘tryout’ sessions at the end of the season with decisions on what teams and levels players should be placed into being based entirely on these.

That is dinosaur stuff.

If you are not at a club that does in-season, season long evaluations and can clearly back that with the data they have collected. you really need to consider if you are at the right club. Because in this day and age if they aren’t doing evaluations properly the rot likely extends to coach selection, player safety policies and anything else you as a parent feel is important to your child’s soccer playing experience.

I led with this on purpose in case you don’t read through the rest. :)

At a minimum, multiple neutral observers who are ideally staff coaches, should observe players three times through the season at their games and report scores and notes to the Technical Director (TD). The players’ coach should also complete an evaluation form of the players that speaks not to just how they perform in games but effort, attendance and attitude in training. They should also be able to indicate how they are trending, their attendance, how they treat teammates and how well they apply what is taught in training to games.

Those on-field ‘tryout’ sessions at the end of the season are now primarily to cover off players who may have missed being seen when the neutral observers were out (eg. through injury) and also to provide a platform for players who didn’t play at your club this season and would like to be considered for a spot. Increasingly, TD’s are trying to get ahead of such requests through the season using online forms those players can use to indicate their interest. Often the TD or a senior coach will then contact the players’ club to let them know of the expressed interest and will then go out to watch them play a game or two and/or get permission to invite them to training sessions with a team at the age/level they are requesting to be considered for.

If your club is not employing these processes and communication with other clubs you should be concerned.

Lastly, when teams are formed, it should be done in an inclusive meeting that sees the past season’s coaches, the incoming season’s coaches (if there is a change in coaches), staff coaches who worked with the players through the season either in a team setting or via secondary programming like Academy, have their scores and/or notes on the player all incorporated into a discussion on every player who has asked to be considered.

We call these our Team Formation Meetings. Some last several hours. Occasionally, a second meeting has to be scheduled for large groups with multiple teams being formed at multiple levels.

Smaller clubs that have a TD but don’t have a large pool of staff coaches will likely need to have their TD actively involved in player assessment and roster selections. This is not ideal. TD’s should be managing the evaluation process and making sure all the steps are followed properly and in a timely manner. They should not have to step into team selection unless they see a conflict of interest, nepotism and other egregious behaviour seeping into the process.

Clubs need to respect that this is a tense time for players and their parents. Respect that by trying to minimize the decision making time and not having it drag out for days before communicating decisions to players.

Every club should have its policies for evaluations codified into a detailed document that is kept on their website year round and updated as needed.

PARENTS: KEEP THIS IN MIND

Or…”How could they pick that kid!”

I work at a large club. I was a TD for 15 years before becoming the Executive Director. As such I ran Evaluations and scored players over 18,000 times. What was I looking for? Several things but primarily it was the same thing Jurgen Klinsmann noted when asked what the biggest difference between American players and European players: first touch.

This is where I add that I have no time at all for “1 on 1” technical training. Working on technique in the absence of teammates and opposition is like learning to drive on empty roads. It is totally different. Do we want roads filled with people who have never experienced traffic before?

So when I say I looked at players’ first touch it was much more than them standing alone and being able to control a pass delivered in the air and drop it at their feet. Here’s what I looked for, particularly for U11 to U14 players wanting to play at a high level.

As play is developing are they repeatedly scanning and assessing how play could involve them? Are they adjusting their positioning, relative to their teammate, relative to defenders, relative to the goal, to be in an area where they could receive a pass? Are they communicating information to the teammate with the ball when they feel they are in a good position to get it? Is their body shape appropriate for receiving the ball in a way that supports their intention upon receiving it? Does that first touch show awareness of their options and opportunities as well as the threat of proximate opposition? Can they contrive some form of deception in receiving the ball that gives them time and space and helps with their plan for the ball? Can they select the right part of their body to take that first touch and technically execute on it given all of the above.

Are they a complete player if they can do all that? No. But they are a player who demonstrates an evolving soccer IQ, situational awareness, engagement in the game, quick decision making, confidence and technical ability. And they almost certainly possess that one great intangible that helps young players tremendously; they are coachable. A good first touch is almost always preceded by a lot of movement, decisions and communication.

Can these players with a good touch smash a ball 30 yards over a U13 keeper’s head and below the bar because they are eight inches taller, 25 lbs heavier and waaaaay faster than other kids at this age? Some maybe, but likely not all and the converse is also true. But that skill set they are showing with their first touch is likely to carry over into other important areas like pass selection, positional awareness and combining well with others in the game. Striking a ball harder than most other players the same age does not have the same carryover benefit.

I am not trying to disparage the average soccer parent but I doubt that most would’ve guessed how much importance I placed on first touch. I also doubt that many would see what the player with a good first touch provides in terms of valuable feedback to those evaluating them compared to the bigger player’s smash and grab approach. One has abilities that are measured and subtle, the other has attributes (note: not abilities) that are spectacular and obvious. One is already setting themselves up to be an influential player through adolescence and into adult play while the other is relying on short term advantages that may disguise and delay the need to work on other facets of their game.

So despite what the most domineering person in your soccer parent WhatsApp group asserts, it’s quite rare for experienced staff at large clubs to “totally mess up” on the players they are selecting for teams. It is much more likely that they see the range of abilities that are relevant for this age and level and value them over what will very likely be temporary physical advantages.

COMMUNICATION

There is no area of youth soccer that youth soccer clubs get battered over more than “poor communication.” Of course it’s subjective and usually following on news a parent didn’t want to receive but it’s also legitimate a lot of the time.

So, clubs, when you are entering the most tense period of they year when thousands of parental eyes are assessing you critically as you prepare to judge their kids (I used to actually answer, “I judge people’s kids” when people asked me what I did for work), it behooves you to have a communication plan for your evaluations and make sure the parents are aware of what that plan is. Briefly, it should cover:

• Your process for evaluating players and how it may vary by age and level of play

• Timelines for the process and especially any deadlines that affect parents and players

• An FAQ that answers common questions

• Descriptions of roles and responsibilities for your Evaluation process

• What you will accommodate in terms of complaints and reviews and what you won’t

Parents, you have a role in this too. Know what you signed up for and what you can and should be able to expect from your club in terms of during the season and then for evaluations for the following season. Here’s what you can do.

• Read your club’s Parent and Player Codes of Conduct.

• Read the club’s Evaluation Policies early in the season, not at the end of the season just before what you perceive to be the start of Evaluations.

• Know who to speak to for the questions you have. Again, various people should be and are involved in Evaluations and knowing who does what will inform who you speak to and hasten your ability to get answers.

• Be aware of emails from your club. Most clubs have Evaluation Information sessions. Some are in person, some via Zoom. Info on these is sent by email. If you have opted out of receiving emails from your club you cannot complain about “not getting info.”

• If you need to register for Evaluations at your club, it is very helpful for staff if you do so early in the process so they can plan for numbers accordingly. Last minute surges are frustrating. They make staff look disorganized when they weren’t necessarily and can dramatically impact how the session runs and the value staff need to get from it.

• Most clubs either mandate that coaches check in with players individually (with parents in tow to hear the conversation and ask questions) once or twice through the season. This is the time to ask how your player is doing and hopefully get a clear indication around appropriate level of play for next season.

SHORT TERM PAIN VS LONG TERM PAIN - THE CLUBS’ DILEMMA

Yes, it’s fair and logical that staff at different clubs will see players differently, value certain abilities more than others and be more or less concerned about particular deficiencies that players have.

That doesn’t mean it’s as simple as “they only pick the big kids” or “they only pick the kids who register for Academy” or “they only pick the coach or manager or Board member’s" kids.

Experienced staff at clubs know that it causes them a much bigger problem down the road if they do not pick players for teams that will be able to compete in the division the team is going to be affiliated at for league play. Strangely, I have seen the same clubs make this mistake disproportionately over the years. It’s generally the plight of smaller clubs that you are likely to have a smaller number of players to choose from and thus a wider range of ability within that team. The question then becomes do you affiliate them at, say, Div 1 and hope they can get by or do you put them into Div 2 and hope that the stronger players don’t leave because they want to, and can, play Div 1.

For larger clubs it’s a much bigger problem to accede to what is often parent pressure from those with players on the bubble to either “take more players on the team” or “make more teams at this division.”

But there is nothing that causes teams to implode more than putting a team into a division that they cannot compete at.

As an example, there were two teams put together by mid-size local clubs for the highest level of play here a couple of years ago. They didn’t have the depth of talent to be successful but entered them anyways because of the innate pressure to do so. One imploded at the end of the season and several of those players went to the other team to prop them up. That team is now 15 games into their season this year. They have zero points and a goal difference of minus 115. They have scored one goal.

I don’t know the dynamics at that club in terms of how much autonomy high level staff had in that decision but it’s not just parent anger that staff should be concerned about but also the Board questioning their decision and how that could affect them personally.

I say that as someone who has refused to put a team into that same league because we did not have players that could compete. It meant we got fined by the league as our participation in the league means we are expected to field boys and girls teams in every division. I told them we’d rather be fined that put a group of kids through a season of humiliation. Other clubs have done the same over the years. Did some of our players leave us to go to another club? Yes. Fair play to them as it’s a player’s right to choose, especially in a pay-to-play model. We couldn’t, or wouldn’t, provide the level of play they wanted to play at so they looked for it elsewhere.

We had a player leave us at another age group a few years ago because we didn’t pick her for a team in that same league. She went to a team that we all knew was going to struggle. I warned her dad about this. They had a similarly disastrous season. His daughter quit playing altogether after that.

Despite how often I hear of parents both at our club and others casually accusing professionals of corrupt selection practices, it’s hard to get past the reality that clubs, often desperately, want and need to keep their strong players to make teams both viable and competitive. There is no rational reason to not select a player who is of the level other than they have considerable discipline and/or attendance issues. In those cases, the concerns should have already been communicated during the in-season meetings with players and their parents.

What I can say is that I’ve seen the problem flow the other way. Most overtly was a written offer of a $15,000 “donation” to the club that I received from a parent that was tied to placing their child on one of our highest level teams. The player had been playing for just one or two years and while quite athletic was clearly not ready for the level. I declined the ‘donation.’ The player moved to another club and was selected to play for their team at that level. Amazing how much a player can improve in two months!

_{Note: Yes, the last BTP issue was numbered 77. No idea why but I’m correcting it by giving this one #76 and the next one will be #78. Like anyone really cares but it was bugging me.}

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