The following quote reveals there are similar issues facing the development of soccer and hockey players.

“How long can we allow the ignorance of some coaches and administrators to continue to obstruct the proper development of the next generation of hockey players”?

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By Cameron Smith

Occasionally, a sports documentary -- or, in this case, a mini or micro-doc -- comes along that sweeps aside all the cynicism that so often seems to drag sports down into the gutter and reminds us that at the roots, sports really are all about having fun. Rarely have any succeeded at that aim better than "l'equip petit," (the little team) a 9:00 piece about the Margatania F.C. youth soccer team from the Catalonia region of Spain.

l'equip petit from el cangrejo on Vimeo.

Ajax has helped set the standard for playing attractive, attacking 4-3-3 football. Now it's looking to expand its influence in North America.

Relaxing on a terrace a block from the White House in Washington, D.C., sipping a glass of white wine on a balmy Saturday night this past May, Frank de Boer was happy. Now 41, the one-time Ajax, Barcelona and Netherlands defender with the laser-guided long ball looked much the same as in his playing days -- the piercing blue eyes, the short blond hair that threatened to recede but never did. These days, he's the head coach of Ajax, the club that took in him and his twin brother, Ronald, when they were just 14. De Boer had just masterminded Ajax's first Dutch league title in seven years, its longest drought since 1947-57, overcoming a raging power struggle for club leadership, the sale of his best player (Luis Suarez), locker-room unrest and a double-digit point deficit since taking over this past December.

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Footballers are paid an extraordinary amount these days for a very short work week. Their job is to train before matches, honing their skills, maturity and fitness. Some take it seriously and call it "practice," because they train to get fit and practice to get better. But others -- and I find this amazing about top-level soccer -- come into training to have a laugh. Some days they'll put in a full shift, others they'll give the team three-quarters attention and three-quarters effort. Often, training is just a mandatory chore to get out of the way before earning sponsors' money, chasing girlfriends, training horses. You get the picture.

At Barcelona, just before Guardiola took over, it was the same. Xavi admitted to me that "suddenly little things don't matter so much, a kilo here or there, a couple of minutes late for training," he said. "And the next thing you know, the standards have dropped. Pep came in and was on us like a hawk. Every half-kilo counted, every minute of the training day was vital."

Look at the difference it has made.

United has little tolerance for slackers, either. Although I know that some training sessions, even at sizable clubs, are loose, slack in mentality and attention, it was disappointing when a senior United player recently told me that there are certain youngsters at his club upon whom he has already given up because all advice goes in one ear and out the other.

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To the average eye Barcelona's attacking play is a kaleidoscope in which gifted footballers pour into space at whichever angles they fancy. Not quite. Unlike Arsenal, Catalan experts sniff, Barça's flowing forward play is strictly governed by a grid system so that when they lose the ball the whole team is already in position to win it back.

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Barcelona may boast all three FIFA Ballon d’Or 2010 finalists in Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta, but there can be no doubting the vital attacking outlet provided to this magical trio and the team as a whole by the speed and lung power of Dani Alves.

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