By Tony LePore - SUSC Director of Youth Academies, USYS Region 1 Staff Coach, and US Soccer U15 National Team Assistant Coach

Soccer players in NH, along with their parents have an increasing number of choices when it comes to playing youth soccer. There are recreation programs, school teams, travel teams, town soccer, clubs--which can be broken down into "premier" level or B level, USYSA ODP or State Teams, Super Y league, USL ODP, small group training programs, individual training, camps, etc. There are many options to consider when parents and players are trying to decide what best suits their particular situation. All of these choices make it exciting to be involved in youth soccer because they present players of varied motivation and ability with many great opportunities to enjoy, learn and grow---experiences that also transfer to their life off of the soccer field.

However, these numerous soccer choices can become very confusing at times and can leave players and parents wondering whether or not their child is playing in an appropriate environment. Let's face it; in most cases parents today are far more involved in their children's participation in sports than their own parents were. While this can be seen as very positive and kids should feel so loved and privileged to have such tremendous parental support, I also believe that it causes some difficulty when making choices about their child's soccer development. I feel that many parents, whether they have played soccer themselves or not, may often be misguided about the soccer needs of their son or daughter and in more and more cases, parents are becoming so involved that it hinders their child's soccer development.

As players move up the soccer ladder of competitive play, among other things, the costs also increase. Naturally, this causes parents to question the monetary value of their child's soccer experience and this investment can be very difficult to measure, especially over the short-term because learning soccer at young ages is a process that takes time with so many intangibles. Invariably, I believe that too many parents measure player development by game results, league standings, state championships, etc. because keeping track of wins and losses is much easier than looking instead at the bigger picture. Parents and players need to remember that there is no quick fix to becoming a good soccer player and players develop at different rates and go through phases of development where learning and performance can be impacted by many different physical, cognitive, psychological and social developmental factors.

As more and more soccer opportunities become available in New Hampshire and the USA, it has become increasingly difficult to maintain a healthy player or child-centered approach. All of these soccer opportunities that can be listed in the form of impressive titles, meaningful acronyms, and catchy buzzwords clearly indicating competition amongst different organizations; Some youth soccer organizations even hire marketing or advertising type agencies to help them to deliver the right sales pitch targeted mostly to the parents. While this competition has helped soccer to grow, creates a lot of excitement, and offers more opportunity…it does cause confusion and concern.

In my experience as a former middle school educator, high school coach, college coach, NHSA Director of Coaching, USYSA Region 1 Coach, and current Director of Youth Development for Seacoast United Soccer Club and USA U15 Boy's National Team Assistant coach I have had the opportunity to work in different settings with many young players of varied ability and motivation. Based on this experience, I would offer a few general points that I feel are important for coaches, parents, and players to consider when assessing their current soccer environment or when exploring new and different opportunities:

• Always remember that a love for playing, skill development, and creativity are the building blocks that every young player needs in order to find success and enjoyment in soccer. Enjoyment is key-Do they look forward to games and practices? Do they play soccer on their own in the back yard? Do have they like spending time with their teammates? Do they watch soccer on TV or go to college and pro level games? Do they feel a part of something special? Is their participation in soccer so positive that it benefits or "spills over" into other personal areas of development-school, social, family, self-esteem, etc.?
• Do not be fooled into thinking that winning=development. The long-term development of players should not be sacrificed for a coaching to win approach. Especially at the youngest age groups where the score is only important as it gives players a competitive focus during the game. The individuals needs and development should be placed ahead of the team. It is often the case in soccer that a player and team can perform well yet lose the game. To play well and lose should be viewed more favorable than to play poorly and win. Decisions from coaches and players should not be based on the score and the coaches and parents focus should not stray from the process and performance ahead of the outcome. At the senior level stages, a greater emphasis can be placed on solving problems and competing as individuals and team to get a positive result in games.
• Parents and coaches of youth players often make the mistake of expecting their games and practices to look like professional soccer. Take a moment to think about the best soccer players in the world today-- all played their early soccer in unstructured and unsupervised pick-up type games. We should keep this in mind before placing too much structure, organization, and adult influence on young players. Adult soccer is not an appropriate guide to teaching young players but coaches and parents should focus on things like the ideas and skill level of the players when learning from the pros and not the tactics, organization, positional play, etc.
• Small-sided games are the best environment for development, playing 11 a side before U12 and arguably even U13 is too soon. Often times, coaches and parents make the mistake of thinking that their players are too good for small sided games and I've heard coaches and parents say that a U11 8 a side league "is not competitive enough." Individual skill development, understanding, instincts, and even confidence may suffer as a result of skipping these stages of youth play.
• Players learn best in an environment where they are encouraged to express themselves freely without fear of being criticized. Making mistakes is a very important part of a players learning and development and it's crucial that adults remember or experience for themselves how difficult it really is to deal with the soccer ball before being overly critical of skill type mistakes.
• Coaches should balance an approach that allows players a more guided approach to learn and discover things for themselves along with a more directed approach. Players need room to learn by trial and error and they need coaches and parents to encourage and allow them to experiment and explore the game where adults are not constantly instructing them where, when, and what to do. The long-term goal should always be approached with the mindset of helping players to understand, recognize, and solve challenges of the game independently.
• Playing with and against same age, ability, and motivation is an important element to development but players should also find opportunities to play with and against older, younger, more skilled, less skilled, etc. because a variety of experiences offer different and valuable lessons. Playing alongside and against boys and girls of comparable characteristics is best. Playing a variety of games is also very important. Games where the opponent may feel too easy can be just as valuable as playing games where players experience some difficulty. Although, too many easy or difficult games will lead to a loss of motivation in players.
• Coaches should be careful about teaching specific positions and systems too early and too often because this tends to destroy players natural instincts and may only focus on individual's strengths. Therefore, playing a variety of positions and systems is important to develop more rounded players and will naturally help players to address areas of weakness. Parents should also help to instill the age-old value of playing wherever the coach asks and/or wherever the team needs. It is OK for players to have positions that feel more comfortable but learning the values of being selfless and flexible, along with experiencing a variety are important to soccer and personal development.
• When it comes to interest and amount of time spent playing soccer, Parents and coaches should allow the children to lead and their participation should never be viewed as a means to an end nor should it involve pressure or coercion from adults. Children may already be experiencing pressure from themselves or peers so any additional pressure from adults may lead to feelings of failure, false expectations, stress, or burnout. The adults should also help to build in periods where players are able to take breaks from playing organized soccer. At the younger ages, parents should discourage their children from specializing in or playing only soccer and encourage participation in a number of different sports and activities.
• It is important for all to be aware of the risk of physical and emotional burnout and recognize the need for breaks due to today's increasing demands on players-more opportunity, more games, longer season, more games with a high emphasis on winning and/or performing well, etc. Don't be fooled into thinking that more is better and watch closely for any signs of physical and mental burnout. Coaches should plan for and design practices that rejuvenate players mentally and physically during or after more demanding times of the season.
• As players grow older and become more serious about playing soccer, parents and coaches should help young players to learn to communicate with the coach on their own. Parents should encourage their children to take responsibility for speaking with the coach to receive feedback, discuss issues, or even for something as simple as informing a coach about an upcoming conflict which causes them to miss practice. This allows for the growth of independence and helps players to develop important life skills. This also helps to define healthy coach-parent and parent-player boundaries and levels of involvement.