hotspurs888 wrote:I have refereed at the tournament the past two years, some quality football teams. Not in Canberra this year for it but i would recommend going to see Pohang Steelers youth team. Can't remember the name of the school but they wear the same kits as the senior team. Not even sure if they are at the tournament this year, but if they are check them out. One of the best youth teams you will see.
Here is an article about the Korean team:
http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/ned-zelic/blog/1069274/It-s-time-to-get-serious-about-junior-coachingHome>Opinion>Ned Zelic
It's time to get serious about junior coaching
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19 Aug 2011 | 00:00-Ned Zelic
Several weeks ago I attended the Kanga Cup - the biggest junior tournament in the southern hemisphere. One team that really caught my eye was PoCheolDong PS from Korea - a team of 12-year-olds playing an age group up.
Within a few minutes I could see these boys were something special; skilful, quick and aggressive. They had flowing combinations but one sequence of play really caught my eye.
One of the kids broke down the right into the penalty box and instead of shooting (which is what most kids do in that situation), he looked up and cut the ball back to a better-positioned teammate, who obliged with the goal.
It was an extremely intelligent piece of play for a kid that age. The player not only knew that there was a better positioned teammate, but that all the focus so close to goal would be on him…respect!
It happened over and over again with the ball-carrier constantly searching for a free player in a better position. In Australia, this quality is missing in junior football. The amount of times a better-positioned player is overlooked in games is scary. Is it not being coached? It looks that way.
PoCheolDong PS went on to win the tournament in that particular age group. Their intelligence, vision, quick thinking, awareness and excellent decision-making set them apart from all of the other teams they played.
I saw several players in that team that have the potential to be international stars one day. Yes, we had a few good teams there too, teams that tried to play good football as well, but the Koreans were playing a different 'tune', one that you could listen to all day.
In terms of coaching, the difference was also striking. With many of our teams, when a player was under pressure he would boot the leather off the ball to a destination unknown, then be applauded. On the sole occasion I saw a Korean player do it, rather than applaud for clearing the ball, the coach ferociously corrected him for straying from the philosophy.
The Korean team came to Australia to win, but to win a certain way. Many of our teams tried to play an attractive style of football, but as soon as they hit the lead or went behind, the philosophy of attractive football went straight out the window, to be replaced with a desire to protect the lead by playing ‘no risk’, conservative football.
The long ball method was employed when chasing a result. There is no point playing attractive combination football if you are going to abandon it when the game changes. A cultured football philosophy must have durability. Putting trust into it is vital as well as demanding the implementation of it from the players, regardless of the score.
As you might have read in my last blog, I am an advocate of teaching the importance of winning, but it must be achieved with a certain style of play.
The Korean coach effectively combined the need to win with attractive football. I was struck by the level of respect he was given by the players. They showed a remarkable level of discipline for 12-year-olds, both on and off the park.
At halftime the players wouldn't go to their drink bottles in the corner of the field, they would assemble on halfway in front of the coach. He would give the nod for them to go get their drinks. It was a lesson in discipline and that respect for the coach was paramount.
When I saw this unfolding I thought: how should a coach be with his players to get the best out of them? Is being too much of a 'buddy' to players going to achieve this? Do players need a coach with a certain mean streak to keep them on their toes?
I believe respect for a coach is gained through authority, knowledge and the demand for discipline, these attributes will get the best out of players. I know I disliked some coaches at junior and senior level, but I still learnt so much from them. They had a presence about them that got the best out of players.
Ottmar Hitzfeld was a great example. He is considered a consummate gentleman off the park, but it was a totally different story in the dressing room. He had the ability to tear you verbally to shreds, not with pointless screaming, but with clear, direct, and at times brutal analysis.
Players didn’t like being humbled by him in front of the whole team, but you always went away thinking “the man is right”. His ability to get into players’ minds, his authority, knowledge and presence is what has made him one of the world’s most successful coaches.
What concerns me is stories of parents with zero background or knowledge of the game coaching junior teams because nobody else could be found. This isn’t necessarily the fault of the parents, who must be applauded for investing their time, but it’s not a solution to the problems facing our game at junior levels.
Clubs take registration fees and have a responsibility to supply the best coaches. It should never be a stop-gap solution. Our duty as parents is to enable our kids to enjoy playing the game but also to give our kids the best possible tools to improve and maximise their potential, which of course includes playing under a coach that will improve them.
I am also a basketball fan. If I were to coach a team, I could set up some drills, map out some exercises, let them play, but I wouldn’t be able to improve a player’s skills because I lack the inside knowledge of what needs to be done in situations on the court.
Essentially, it boils down to if and how much we want to improve our kids, or if training at junior level is looked upon as just motion therapy and a bit of fun. Believe me, for a lot of countries, it is serious business.
I believe we need to concentrate on improving the individual at junior level and not be too concerned about systems. The better the individual player is, the easier that player will adapt to various systems. Ultimately it will be the individual quality of the player that will set him apart (or not) from the opponent.
Developing individuals with skill, creativity and imagination must be our priority. Thinking a step ahead, setting high goals with training techniques. We must encourage former players to take an active role in visiting junior clubs or schools, taking a session, offering advice and sharing experiences.
There are so many cases of former greats not being cut out to coach because they lack tactical knowledge or leadership skills, but what a former player can do is improve the individual quality of a player and help them by passing on knowledge of what to do in certain situations on the pitch, which is vital for development.
Yes we need to offer junior coaches a pathway to gather knowledge by attaining coaching licences and it must be made economically realistic to do so, but that does not necessarily mean they will automatically be able to improve the individual quality of players.
Coaching is about having a philosophy and everyone with a clipboard has his own idea of how the game should be played. I know coaches without a coaching license, whose views and knowledge of the game I respect more than some coaches that do have a license.
I lost count of the times Richard Money, my coach at Newcastle Jets in the first year of the A-League, mentioned he had a UEFA Pro Coaching Licence in team talks. However he didn't want us building up from the back, he preferred the keeper to thump it long and then fight for possession. That was his philosophy and he is entitled to it, but is that a facet of the game I would want to see our kids learn and aspire to? Not a chance.
How lucky we are in Australia to have so many grounds to access within close proximity, nice big parks for our kids to get down to and have a kick. We need to encourage our kids to do so.
We have all the facilities we need to be great - a shell is in place - we just have to work on and improve the contents.
Edited by slee45: 11/7/2013 12:00:32 PM