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Most serious coaches know American style tournaments are not good for players. Watch your son or daughter limp away from a tournament, after 3-6 games in 2-3 days. Imagine the affects on their body and imagine there are coaches who will go to back to back to back (and back) tournaments during August. We know this is crazy yet there are clubs who still have teams attending 10 + tournaments a year.
Speaking with the Ajax youth director, who recently presented a clinic for the Norcal Premier Coaches Education Program, he made me feel embarrassed for being apart of the tournament industry complex. So I asked him a bit more about their soccer culture in Holland.
Does Ajax attend them tournaments? Yes! But the teams play two to three, 25 - 30 minutes games, or one game a day - occasionally they will play two matches in one day but it is only for older teams.
Tournaments are not the primary form of competition around the world. They are used for preseason, post season and to obtain the experience of being in an important event. Most of their competition comes in the form of league play.
In the US a team may play 25 to 40 matches in tournaments over 20 days. The rest of the year, a few friendlies, 6-8 league matches ( less as they grow older), a twenty game high school schedule (squeezed into a few months), but rarely do you find the rhythm of a soccer season.
In any case, please read the blog below.....
GOING NOWHERE IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA?
Too costly; too many games in too short a period of time; not conducive to high level play; exhausting & potentially harmful for players; more beneficial as a fundraiser for clubs and coaches than beneficial to player development; played during wrong time of the year (too hot); 'shocked that we do this to our players’ (from Ajax director); designed for athletes, not soccer players; merely a money maker for clubs;
This is what people are saying and have been saying for many years about our tournament 'system' here in Northern California. Benefits? There are some. One is to bring the best players together to compete but what about fatigue impacting the quality of play? To foster competitiveness? College and club coaches don’t need to see players run themselves ragged themselves games to see their potential. More games doesn’t mean they don’t become more competitive. Fact.
We as guardians and custodians of the game need to stop deceiving players and parents and help them save money on travel/gas, hotels, and tournament fees. Too many coaches and clubs sell the notion that you have to be at a showcase tournament to be seen by college coaches. This is not necessarily true- I went to a US college and was scouted in a different country with the coach never seeing me play. Roy Wegerle’s recommendation was good enough for my college coach. I’m scouting players now from overseas who don’t even attend showcase tournaments. We have been helping players attend colleges for years now. If you are a ‘trusted source’ then this helps. The fact is that there are 50 people in Northern California who can get any player into any college they want based on their opinion and recommendation alone. A lot of money and time can be saved on helping these kids and parents narrow their search and not leading them on and ‘milking’ the industry at their expense. Too many honest parents who trust they place in their coach and club are getting led astray. As a professional scout I have 100 people around the country whose opinion I value. It’s an email, a phone call or a cup of coffee. For college coaches to validate the players’ ability, it might take a trip or two to see the player play which also justifies the travel budget allocated by their AD.
Back to the cost/benefits of tournaments. Too many games in too short a period of time is not conducive to high caliber play. Games should be played over a period of a few days. Why not do this? Reason: clubs can’t maximize revenue. Why don’t professional players play 4-6 games over 3 days? Surely their bodies are better trained and more equipped than children and they possess the tactical and technical savvy to deal with the workload? The answer is quality. The individual quality of the play deteriorates. Tired minds and bodies make tired decisions. The legs are ‘gone’ and heads drop. Technique is impacted and tactical decisions go astray. The fitter players start to dominate and more substitutes are used. This is beginning to sound like youth soccer. So what do we youth coaches do to solve the problem….Get the players fitter! What do professionals do? Recover and rest.
Do good players go to top tournaments? Yes- Do all of them go? No.
A case in point was a team from Northern California who finished top of its NorCal League and took the summer off and the 2nd place team went to the Far West Regionals and spent $35,000 for the privilege. One of our own club teams happened to make the Final of the US Club Regionals in Modesto. We are now getting offers to attend every tournament you can name. They are not a top team but happened to defeat the Washington State Champs & Surf Cup participants along the way, as well as other top teams in the region. They are a well coached team and a bunch of scrappers who are progressing all of the time and will likely be top level players in a few years, many of whom are playing 'up' in their age group. We are proud of them and the coaching provided has been excellent, however, i can name you 30+ players who college coaches could be looking at who neither attended US Club Regionals and Far West Regionals who are better than or at least equal to our players. So, where do scouts go to find these players? This is the million dollar question.
The number of times I’ve spoken to club coaches who are impressed with how much $ they earn going to tournaments is ridiculous. Did they forget that it’s not about the coaches? Perpetuating the myth brings with it a certain lifestyle. Vegas, San Diego, East Coast etc etc.
So what do the college coaches need? We owe it to college coaches to help target potential players for their programs. There are so many PLAYERS (not teams) that coaches are looking for who don't play in these big tournament. Coaches are looking for players to recruit- not teams. I’m currently busy looking for players who play 'up' in their teams or girls who play on boys teams. I know of a college (top school) who is recruiting a player who isn’t even on a top team and doesn’t go to the big tournaments. We owe it to the players and families to help them with their search and the college coaches too. I feel sorry for them as they haul themselves around the country looking for talent. Times are changing. There are other, more economical and less time-consuming means of identifying, developing and selecting players which we are sure college coaches will greatly appreciate.
We as coaches and soccer leaders with many year’s experiential knowledge valued by our peers are a 'trusted source' and can keep our integrity with college and pro coaches through helping customize their search. NorCal PDP is a good system for this and should be expanded on. Needless to say, personal recommendation is always the best and it may come through NorCal Premier staff selectors/coaches.
NorCal Premier Mission Statement:
“We believe playing games each weekend in a league against opponents of similar strength will allow players, teams and clubs to limit costly tournament participation which requires staggering sums of money to be spent on food, lodging and travel.” NorCal Premier.
Recently we took 3 teams to 2 events recently and spent the following.
San Diego Nomads: $80.000 (3 teams/14 games/3 days)
US Club Soccer Regionals: $40,000 (3 teams/11 games/4 days)
Some Stats.
Number of mins. played per player (average): 115-205 minutes.
Maximum number of minutes played: 210- 350 minutes.
Number of travel mins. to and from games: 120 mins- 240 mins
Number of mins warm up/pre game: (3-6 games): 180-360 mins
Number of mins traveling to and from tournament: Nomads = 12 hours- 20 hours
Modesto = 4 hours- 12 hours
The total amount spent was over $2million (estimate) by all participating teams at these two events. Did it benefit the players? Did it make them more competitive? Not necessarily. Were the players able to compare and contrast themselves to their counterparts? Yes, but how often do players need to do this in a tournament format? 7 times a year?
Taking 4 teams to a local top level tournament in the summer will cost us approx $12,500.
and this doesn’t include accommodation. The reality is that we can get the same caliber of play if we played the kids a year ‘up’ in local team play or have the girls teams play against boys. The total equivalent cost for same # (16) of league games if we played locally would be 4 times ($3,000- refs, fields, coaches, travel) less expensive.
So what is the sum total of the experience? A poor choice of time and money.
Good competition but no better than what our NorCal league provides, injuries, way too costly and played opposition we could have played home/away on any given day. We could have found better local opposition vs. boys or vs. older girls for $0.00 - not even the cost of a referee. It would be just as competitive than tournaments and benefit the players just as much.
Our club could have hired a coaching director and a full time field maintenance person for a year for the same amount (this one would actually have to do some work for that kind of money and actually show up on the field!) spent on these two tournaments which amounted to 6 nights.
I’m not saying tournaments are a bad thing. 2-3 tournaments per year in a reduced format (less games and time on field). To be subject to GOT Soccer rankings (not even current and up to date and useless in evaluating current form of teams) and for tournament host clubs to use this poor system to 'rank' teams is another very poor method of evaluating teams' level.
No professional coach should endorse or be part of a system that 'kills the kids' and milks the parents. Especially in today's economy. If money is to be spent it should spent on education or the equivalent cultural experience: i.e- take 1 trip to Europe or the East Coast (send them to a comp. college camp like UNC), rather than 3-4 trips to local tournaments.
If tournaments are fundraisers clubs then they need to find other ways of doing this without sacrificing the kids. As the Ajax Amsterdam Youth Director Jan 'OR' and Liverpool FC Academy manager John Owens stated time and time again, 'tournaments are killing our kids'. If you disagree with them then Ill gladly copy you in an email string with some prominent and highly respected individuals in the football world and you can argue your case with them if you don’t believe me.
Lets go one step further. Why not play your best players ‘up’. Release them. Let then find a team or club to play in which allows this. Most clubs wont allow it. They will only allow age-pure teams and won’t allow their players to integrate vertically. This is one of the biggest ‘crimes’ in youth development and more should be discussed on this matter.
There are players heading to college who can’t pass and trap a ball and who might have enjoyed their soccer more and made more of an impact as a player if they had invested/their coaches and parents invested more time on developing their techniques rather than being hauled around tournament to tournament.
I am/we are customizing min-tournaments (no or little cost) and showcase events for college coaches. These should be subsidized by the host clubs and leagues. Stand by for a lot of these events. I'm working with many colleges now to help customize their search. Technology allowed B2B a long time ago. We are way behind. Don’t ignore this email. I don’t want to say 'i told you so'. Yes, I’m challenging all of you to take a stand and not sit the fence. Some of you depend on parents and clubs to make your living. I believe you owe it to your kids/teams to tell them what is beneficial and what is harmful and take a stand. If it means they (the club) doesn’t want you then go and find some like minded coaches and club and form your own organization and don’t compromise your integrity. I did but now Im calling myself out. We have been guilty of jumping on the bandwagon and we are as guilty as the next person because its hard not to get drawn into the appeal and excitement of tournaments. The kids are there for the amusement of parents and coaches- we owe them more than what the system currently provides. We think its times to make a stand.
In closing, the only thing i would add is that i think at least once before going to college a player should take an o/seas trip to experience other football cultures.
See various comments below followed by Fernando Clavijo, myself and a few articles in the NY Times & other journals.
Sincerely
Gary Ireland
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
(650) 387 4128
My Blog- www.merseywide.blogspot.com
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It's not like the national press hasn’t been telling parents and players........take a look if you haven’t seen this NYT article already......
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/sports/10scholarships.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
There are articles close to home:
A soccer scholarship story from the Chronicle in October 2005.
What it says is all true and many parents are ill informed or delusional.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2005/10/30/SPG6LFGFH11.DTL
As people who know, Coaches have an 'Ethical obligation' to educate people regarding the realities of college scholarships.....
Formula for Success
Encourage skills development at home and save money.
SIMON IRELAND
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“We need to restructure everything,” says Fernando Clavijo, a former San Diego Sockers defender who is currently coach of Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids. “We're not advancing as quickly as we should be for the amount of people we have playing the game today. I don't think it's a problem at the top. It's a problem at the bottom. “We're not developing the kind of players that we need to.” The criticism, so evident with last summer's World Cup roster, is that the United States can produce plenty of guys who play soccer but no soccer players. That it has guys who can keep you in a game but nobody who can win it with a single moment of genius. That the youth development programs are so focused on winning that they are obsessed with size and athleticism at the expense of raw talent. “They have kids on these teams who can't kick a soccer ball,” Clavijo says. http://www..signonsandiego.com/sports/soccer/20061213-9999-1s13soccer.html
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COMMENTS ON THE WOMENS WORLD CUP- CHINA 2007.
WHAT WE ARE SEEING FROM THE USA IS THE END PRODUCT OF ALL OF THE YOUTH SOCCER GAMES, INSTRUCTION, HIGH SCHOOL, ODP, ID2, PDP, NCAA AND WNT SELECTION PROGRAMS. NOT TO MENTION ALL THE TOURNAMENTS AND IT’S SIMPLY NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
WOMENS SOCCER AROUND THE WORLD HAS IMPROVED. WE HAVE TO ASK WHY IT HASN’T IN THE USA. NORTH KOREA, BRAZIL, GERMANY, AUSTRALIA, ENGLAND AND OTHERS HAVE ALL IMPROVED. THERE ARE NO EASY GAMES ANYMORE. NO OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD SPENDS MORE MONEY ON WOMEN’S SOCCER THAN PERHAPS ALL THE COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD COMBINED THAN THE USA. MORE GAMES ARE PLAYED BY US PLAYERS. MORE TOURNAMENTS. SO, WY ARENT WE GETTING SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER? SURE THE USA HAVE WON MANY GAMES IN A ROW AND ARE LARGELY UNDEFEATED, HOWEVER, IT IS ONLY 2 MONTHS EVERY 4 YEARS THAT OTHER NATIONAL TEAMS GET TOGETHER FOR THEIR OWN NATIONAL TRAINING CAMPS, THE LUXURY OF WHICH THE USA HAVE YEAR IN- YEAR OUT.
IVE BEEN COACHING FEMALE YOUTH PLAYERS AND COLLEGIATE PLAYERS IN THE USA FOR 17 YEARS. I HAVE NOT SEEN AN IMPROVEMENT IN TERMS OF THE SPECIAL PLAYERS. THERE ARE MORE PLAYERS, TEAMS ARE BETTER ORGANIZED AND THERE IS MORE COMPETITION WITH MORE PEOPLE FEEDING OFF THE INDUSTRY BUT WE DON’T NECESARILLY SEE THE SAME LEVEL PLAYERS WE SAW BEFORE. LET’S ASK OURSELVED WHAT NORTH KOREA HAS BEEN DOING FOR 17 YEARS TO GET TO THE LEVEL THEY ARE AT NOW, OR AUSTRALIA.
THE USA WOMEN’S TEAM EVENLY MATCHED FOR LARGE PARTS OF THE GAME VS NORTH KOREA. PROOF THAT MORE PARTICIPANTS, LARGER BUDGETS AND MORE COACHING LICENSES ARE NOT THE SECRET TO SUCCESS. MAYBE FIFA SHOULD OFFER A COACHING COURSE - ‘THE KOREAN METHOD OF COACHING’. I CAN GUARANTEE YOU THAT THERE ARENT MORE THAN 10,000 REGISTERED PLAYERS AND ONLY A FEW HUNDRED COACHES IN NORTH KOREA COACHING COURSES IN GENERAL HAVE IMPROVED AVERAGE COACHES AND AVERAGE PLAYERS BUT THEY HAVE NOT PROVEN TO DEVELOP AND CREATE SPECIAL PLAYERS. THE REALITY IS THAT ACADEMIES ARENT GOING TO DO IT.
SOCCER DOESN’T DISCRIMINATE. A BALL (ANY SIZE), A PIECE OF DIRT/CONCRETE, PASSION FOR THE GAME, DEDICATION AND DESIRE GOOD COACHING AND TIME WITH THE BALL AND ON THE FIELD (YEAR ROUND!) ARE THE ESENTIAL INGRDIENTS. THE KEY INGREDIENT IS NOT ALWAYS LOTS OF COMPETITION. QUALITY TRAINING, INSTRUCTION AND AN EMPHASIS ON TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT ARE CRITICAL. ALSO, NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF DESIRE AND PLAYING FOR ONES COUNTRY AND SHIRT.
Gary Ireland
Summer 2007
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