What is player development and how is it measured?
“We have to do what is best for the players.” The phrase that all youth soccer coaches should live by.
Soccer is a team sport. This is often lost when talks arise in regards to individual player development. I have even heard youth club leaders mention a “player development centric” model as opposed to a “team development centric” model. My feeling is that player development and team development are woven together in ALL team sports. If a group of soccer players are actually developing, I believe that it will show when their team plays in games against other teams. Of course, the opposite is also true. If players are not developing, I think that will show when the team is playing against other teams as well.
What soccer actually is often gets lost in all of the “player development” jargon. In reality, soccer is a game in which there are 11 players on the field who are trying to score more goals than their 11 opponents that are standing across from them…..even at the highest levels.
Coaches should certainly focus on ball mastery at the young ages, but there are several other aspects of player development as players mature: Communication, Defending, Off-the-ball supporting angles, Vision, etc, etc..
What good is it for a player’s development if he/she can juggle the soccer ball twenty times, but cannot stop an opponent from dribbling around them? Or cannot communicate correct information to a teammate quickly in a game situation? Is that part of player development? Yes.
Soccer is a team sport that requires great attention to detail. If players are developing together, it will show when their team plays.
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