Transcript Development Saboteur “Watching and Identifying a Developmental Saboteur” Christian Lavers President of ECNL & Executive V.P.

Development Saboteur
“Watching and Identifying a Developmental Saboteur”
Christian Lavers
President of ECNL & Executive V.P. of US Club
The following review of the above named article is to help with the search to find the right club, and to show an insight in to the rights and wrongs
of a coach. Soccer has become huge in the US, evidence to this increase in popularity can be found in many viewing records recently being broken –
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Man Utd vs Real Madrid, Aug 2nd 2014, attendance - 109,318
USA vs Portugal, June 22nd 2014, 24.7 million TV Viewers
3,020,633 youth players registered with US Youth Soccer
This increase in popularity has led to youth soccer becoming a lucrative business opportunity, with many individuals seeking careers in the sport
they are so passionate about. This can be great, and that passion can open up opportunities for advanced learning for individuals through sport, but
it can also lead to many taking advantage, and exploiting those who wouldn’t know any different. Would you want a car enthusiast without a driving
license being your chauffer! Be aware of the dazzle of a ‘professional’ coach, and the disgruntled individual (often a parent who is finding a pathway
for their own child) who is opposed to the implementation of the actual knowledgeable professional coach. Christian Lavers supports this, and
highlights how to distinguish a coach by saying, ‘no coach in their right mind any longer questions that teaching technique at young ages is
important, that passing is a skill while “kicking” is not, and that results should not be emphasized at young ages’.
Any coach with development at the true forefront of their philosophy will stand by this no matter what the
opposing argument. All players from 7 to 13 years old should be prioritizing skill development over tactics and
athleticism, but these will be byproducts as they get older in this range from good game day coaching ,and hard
work. This age group is critical for that individual development of technique due to their current stage of personal
development and the characteristics of their age.
The club should have in place a long term development plan, and an age appropriate curriculum. The club, Director of Coaching (DOC), and coach,
should have a clear philosophy, that matches the curriculum, and should be constantly striving to develop themselves through educational courses
and further reading. Its difficult for any parent to distinguish between a good and a bad session, this resulting from bad practices in their own
experiences or from what traditional practices have always been. ‘Many coaches and much of the coaching that occurs in many of the youth soccer
clubs in this country, is done in total opposition to the accepted truths of player development’, this issue being outlined by Lavers can been seen in the
following video.
This video to the unknowing person looks like ‘soccer’. Coaches and parents defend
this by arguing, “the kids are kicking,… they are disciplined standing in line… the
coach is actively involved”, but sadly this is exactly what’s wrong, and the players in
the video are behaving in a way which supports this. The session should not be
about the coach, and they should certainly not be getting more touches than the
players. There is no technical instruction, and certainly no feedback for correction.
And when has soccer ever been played while standing still in a long line? Yes, there
are periods of rest needed during a practice, and small group practices do exist
where there is rotation, but all practices should engage players, and do its best to
replicate movement which is made in the game situation.
‘In reality, the “truths” that are now commonly accepted about “what player development looks like,” have failed to change the way many coaches
train players and how many parents view youth soccer. Coaches put on sessions that “look right” but in actuality have little specific teaching or
tactical application, and parents are confused as to how to identify whether their children are actually learning and improving – or whether they are
just spending time on the field.’ Lavers.
A coach not willing to firstly further themselves, will not further the players ability, and these are your development saboteurs. This coach will hold
on to their childhood, their playing/coaching records, and will ignore the vast amount of further education available to them, not adapting to
modern research and coaching methodology. A coach should be able to provide a history of education that includes diplomas, licenses, and graduate
degree’s, or at the least visibly be seen to be attaining these qualifications.
The development saboteur coach is often found on match days actively recruiting a player that fits his needs for immediate success. Below, Lavers
explains where else you can find this coach In club soccer, developmental saboteurs usually coach primarily at the U10U14 age groups. They pick these age groups carefully for two reasons. First,
they involve parents and players that are frequently new to the game, and
therefore uneducated about the soccer world. Second, these age groups are
“sweet spots” for winning without teaching. At this age, the recipe for
competitive success is relatively simple for anyone with basic soccer
knowledge and poor motives: recruit 1-2 technically or physically advanced
players, put them up front, be marginally organized, and play low-risk
soccer (code for “kick the ball forward”) everywhere else.
This kind of ‘coaching’ can be clearly seen when looking for it. The physically larger player will be kept back where kicking long balls forward are
applauded, and making the 1v1 a physical battle over technique and intelligent positioning. The fast technical player will push high and score the
majority of the goals. In a ‘coaching masterclass’ when losing, these players will then be dumped in to center midfield and the remaining players will
be left as bystanders, there to pass the ball to these players to get the win. While this does more than often result in winning and top of the table
finishes to the season, this does nothing for individual development. The learning of technique is limited, and individual life skills are stifled as
extrinsic rewards of trophies and medals become the focus, while intrinsic values are neglected.
This creates a closed mindset to being challenged and failing, two key factors in development, and this effects all aspects of life where reaching and
failing are needed to learn. This also creates a similar behavior in the coach, who pushes the importance of league positions and focuses on winning
records. This behavior comes from promising college scholarships and pro-careers, to encourage your child to play for their team, so winning
becomes their selling point, but a destructive tool to development for all those involved. ‘The developmental saboteur then proceeds to win most
games at these young ages by “playing at soccer” – using competitive results to bolster their aforementioned claims’, Lavers.
This entertaining video from Hockey Canada highlights how important winning is to some, and they miss out on the importance of fun!
There are now other factors which push this behavior, such as the cost to play, and the competitiveness of parents. While these external pressures
are very real, couple this with the internal struggles of filling a void from a failed youth, or fulfilling an ego, it does not good for the youth player. The
reality is that this is youth sports and not a professional playing league, and the long term should be of most importance, not the short term rewards
and misguiding league table readings.
Lavers lists the characteristics to look for in a development saboteur –
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Use of general sports clichés, while modeling their team on Barcelona
Unrealistic and extreme compliments
Live off past players they ‘developed’
Lack of technical coaching, using ‘fans’ calls from the touchline – “wake up”, “what were you thinking”, “you need to be faster”
Rely on 1 to 2 players while pigeon holing players in to positions at a young age
Blames losing on everything but the lack of development, usually the weather or the referee
The following clip from a report on Coach and Parents Bad Behavior in Youth Sports, continues to address the characteristics of bad coaches;
While competition and poaching of players between neighboring clubs, and the added factor of financial costs to the players family can exaggerate
the behavior of a coach at any point in time, the continued behavior of the development saboteur remains consistent. To differentiate, you should
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Club Structure – DOC’s, coaching staff, website, office staff
Club Environment vs Individual Team – all club staff working towards the same goal
Long Term Development Plan – age specific curriculums, understanding the stages of development
Coaches Resumes – filled with education and experience, not a history of win records and trophies
This can be a very challenging and confusing task, but speak to the coaches, and look for whether they have an understanding in what they preach,
can they back up their claims with research and methodology instead of ‘it’s what Barcelona do’.
For Christian Lavers full article on the development saboteur, please click on or paste the following link in to your
browser –
http://www.soccernation.com/christian-lavers-on-watching-and-identifying-a-developmental-saboteur-in-youthsoccer-cms-5840