|
 Does
the US Youth soccer system and England's differ greatly?
You bet they do. We found this
article on the web and thought it was one of the best describing
the birth of English Academies and how they differ from US youth
programs.
PLAYER
DEVELOPMENT IN PRE-ACADEMY TIMES
The English
Premier League was launched in 1992 and was basically a
restructuring of
the
professional game in England to allow the top clubs to benefit
financially from the
increasingly
lucrative television rights income.
At the same
time, the English game was suffering from three serious
problems:
hooliganism,
ground safety issues and dwindling success at the international
level. The
1980’s are
remembered in England as the decade of stadium disasters,
hooliganism, and
disappointing
national team performances in major competitions. A government
report
concluded that
the stadiums at the top tier must be converted to all-seating,
installed with
close caption
TV’s to monitor hooligan elements, and modernized in many other
ways to
improve fan
safety. Government funding from lotteries plus the new
television money,
which was
going to be massive, were earmarked to help pay for all these
new
requirements
Meanwhile, The
FA, the governing body for soccer in England, realized that the
professional
clubs must do a better job of developing players to stop the
slide of the
national team
into mediocrity. In the 1990’s, The FA went ahead and created a
new
blueprint for
player development which mandated that every Premiership club
must have
a Youth
Academy with specific requirements for staff qualifications and
licensing,
facilities,
training, games, player ages, and supporting educational
opportunities for the
players.
Hence, the birth of the modern Academies occurred in the late
1990’s.
The situation
for women’s soccer wasn’t very healthy in those days. Up until
the 1990’s,
women’s soccer
did not get much funding or priority in England, as in most of
the world.
Only in the
USA was women’s and girls’ soccer taken seriously, due to Title
IX
implementation. Girl’s soccer in England finally got a boost in
the 1990’s. The FA felt
obliged for
moral and political reasons to support women’s soccer and
started to promote
girls’ leagues
and player development schemes. Many of the professional men’s
clubs
started to
support a women’s team and some funded the teams within a
semi-professional
scope. Fulham
FC even fielded a fully professional women’s team for a few
years. But
the lack of
revenue from TV or attendance in the female game kept the top
level of the
women’s game
in a semi-pro or amateur status. Nevertheless, women soccer in
England
is slowly
progressing and most Premier League clubs run girls’ academies
in addition to
the boys. More
on that later.
If the youth
academies were only started in the late 1990’s, what was the
player
development
structure before that?
Prior to the
academies, the professional clubs were only allowed to sign
players starting
at the age of
15. Players younger than 15 could train at Centers of Excellence
run by the
professional
clubs, but the clubs could not really ‘own’ them. The players
were free to
train at as
many centers as they wished, since they didn’t belong to any one
club.
Since the
Centers of Excellence were just for training, the actual youth
leagues were
organized,
managed, and coached by volunteers, just like in the USA. There
were city
leagues,
district leagues, and various knock-out cup competitions and
tournaments, just
like in
America. School soccer was also huge in scope and profile, and
was well
organized.
Volunteer teachers coached the school teams in regional and
national
competition
and, in fact, the U-15 National Team was selected from school
teams.
In pre-academy
days, a typical youth player played for his local youth team,
coached by a
volunteer
parent coach, and would also play for his school team. The best
players would
also be
invited to train at the Centers of Excellence. Once players
reached 15, the very
best would be
signed by the professional clubs, which is where the serious
training
started, under
professional youth coaches.
This meant
that the important formative years of development between the
ages of 6-14
were in the
hands of volunteers and school teachers. This environment
resembled very
much the youth
soccer environment here in America, and spawned the same
problems we
encounter here
today, namely: too many games; emphasis on competition, teamwork
and
winning
trophies at a young age; size, fitness and work rate valued over
skill
development;
kick and run soccer; coaches fighting over the best players;
schools and
various youth
leagues competing for the players’ time; and a general lack of a
systematic,
progressive,
centrally directed player development plan. Sounds familiar?
The
professional clubs lamented the lack of skill of the players
entering their youth teams
but were not
willing to invest time and money on younger players if they
weren’t allowed
to own them
until 15. It must be said that the system did produce many
players for the
professional
teams and the English league was always competitive and exciting
to watch
and English
clubs did well in European competition. But the player
development system
with its
volunteer driven culture was over-structured, over-coached, and
did not
encourage
individualism or creativity. The system did not have any room
for the truly
gifted
individualist to emerge. English soccer simply was not set up to
produce
magicians the
like of Ronaldinho, Zidane, Totti, Henry, Kaka or Berkamp and
the
national team
suffered as a result. Of course, success is a relative term. For
England,
elimination at
the quarter final stage of a World Cup is considered a failure,
since
England
expects to win every tournament they enter. For the USA, getting
to the quarter
finals stage
is considered a huge success.
The English
governing body has finally acknowledged this problem and that’s
why the
academy
concept was born in the 1990’s. Starting in the late 1990’s, the
professional
clubs were
allowed to sign players as young as 8 into their academies. But
to qualify as
an Academy,
clubs had to follow a set of criteria. The FA set out the
Academy criteria
and mandated
that every Premier League club must abide by these criteria.
It’s too early
to gauge the success of the Premiership Academies, since they
have been in
existence less
than a decade. Most of the current generation of players in the
English
leagues grew
up in the old system of volunteer coaches and School soccer.
Beckham
played his
youth soccer for a team coached by his own dad. The bulk of the
English
National Team
that played in the 2006 World Cup grew up in the old system. It
will take
another 5-10
years before we can evaluate their academy system. But judging
from the
performance of
the Liverpool U-18 team that came to Atlanta in the past two
years and
from the
emergence of young players like Wayne Rooney, it looks like the
academies are
producing more
creative players who are technically more versatile.
The game in
England has also been greatly influenced by foreign coaches and
players
over the past
10-15 years and the impact has trickled all the way down to the
youth
academies.
THE ENGLISH
ACADEMY SYSTEM
The Boys
Academies
Structure
Every Premier
League club must have an Academy operating according to strict
guidelines.
The objective of the guidelines is to ensure that players do not
just possess
high technical
level, but are also schooled in proper self care, nutrition,
character, and
social skills.
The goal is to produce intelligent, skillful players who behave
as
professionals,
can take care of themselves outside the soccer field and who can
seamlessly
adjust to normal productive life after retiring from playing.
The academies
are fully funded by the pro clubs. The players do not pay a
cent. West
Ham, for
example, spends $3 Million per year on the academy operations,
maintenance,
players and
staff. The pay back is theoretically in the form of players
developed for the
first team or
players sold to other clubs. Since the cost of an average
Premiership player
is currently
around $3M to $5M, all it takes to keep the academy financially
viable is
produce one
quality player per year or one exceptional player every couple
of years.
The academies
start at U-9 and teams are formed in one year increments all the
way
through U-16
and then into a two year group of U-17/U-18 players. The soccer
year is
from September
to August, to coincide with the school year. Clubs can sign up
to 30
players in
each age group, but most sign 12-16 players per group. Players
are signed for
one year at a
time until U-12, making it a one year commitment from both
sides. At the
end of each
year, the club decides which players to retain and who to
release. Players are
free to leave
the club at the end of the year, even if the club wants to keep
them, but if
they go to
another club, the new club must pay the old club a transfer fee
to compensate
for the time
and effort invested into the player. If the two clubs cannot
agree on a fee, the
transfer fee
is determined by a tribunal.
At the U-13
age group, clubs can sign players for either a two year period
or a four year
period. This
longer term commitment is good for the players, but in turn,
protects the
club from
losing the player for the next four years. At U-15, again the
clubs sign players
for a two year
period unless they are already on a four-year deal. At U-17, the
players
who are good
enough leave school to sign on a two year apprenticeship, where
they start
earning a
living as full-time professionals. After the two year
apprenticeship, at U-19,
players are
either signed on a normal professional contract or released.
The U-9
through U-12 age groups train 3 times per week and play one game
per week, on
the weekend.
The training frequency increases gradually after that and by
U-17, the
players train
twice a day Monday to Friday and play once on the weekend. Of
the ten
sessions for
the apprentice professional players (U-17/U-18), three of them
are required
to be
educational sessions to prepare them for a career outside of
soccer should they not
make the grade
as professional players.
Scouting
All clubs have
a wide and sophisticated scouting network. The scouting is
arguably the
most crucial
component of the youth academy since it tracks down and
identifies the best
players
outside the club who are the candidates for replacing the
released players each
year. Until
U-12, the academy rules restrict clubs to signing players who
live within a
one hour
commute from the training site. After that, the geographical
limit is expanded
to 90 minute
commute and from U-16 onwards, clubs have no geographical limits
for
getting
players. These commuting limits are obviously designed to force
clubs to
concentrate on
developing their own local players and to prevent young players
from
spending
excessive time traveling to sessions and games.
The most
important stage for scouting is at the pre-academy ages, U-6,
U-7, and U-8.
For these
young ages, most clubs create satellite centers and invite
players to train, so
they can
evaluate them and sell the club to the most promising players
and their parents.
Since clubs
are not allowed to sign them before U-9, the best 6-8 year olds
can train
every night at
a different club and test the waters until decision time arrives
at U-9. The
pro clubs
fight over the best players just like here, but once a player
signs for a club he
can only
transfer for a fee. This way, the clubs’ investment is protected
while players
retain their
right to move at the end of the year.
The English
Academy Philosophy
The success of
an academy program is measured by the number of players they
produce
for the first
team. This is definitely a long term perspective, in stark
contrast to how
success is
measured here by our youth clubs. In England, academy teams
don’t have to
win games,
just produce players. The focus is on developing top players by
the time they
turn twenty,
whereas here, the focus is much shorter term since youth coaches
are on a
race to
develop winning teams to win State Cup at U-13.
In England,
game results at the academy games are not important. In fact,
academy
games in
England are all friendly games, just like our U-10/U-12
‘Academy’ games,
except that in
England the games are friendly all the way to U-16. The
Premiership
academy teams
play only against other Premier Team’s academies, so there are
no
promotion-relegations to worry about. There are no standings and
no championships
until the
U-17/U-18 bracket. Since promotion-relegation is based on the
results of the
professional
team, the youth team’s destiny is out of their control and they
can just focus
on development
and let the professional players worry about results.
Academy teams
play 8v8 from U-9 to U-11 and play 11v11 from U-12 onwards. The
games are
split into either four quarters or three thirds, to allow the
coaches to bring the
players in for
instruction or adjustments. The philosophy of many of the
academy
coaches is to
let the players make their own decisions in the game, and use
the intervals
for any
instruction. They especially refrain from coaching the player on
the ball and limit
coaching from
the sidelines for off-the-ball positioning or team shape and
even that is
done
sparingly.
The training
is repetition based to develop technique, but using activities
that replicate
game
conditions. The goal is to breed good habits by taking care of
the little details via
repetitions
and corrections. The corrections must be positive with coaches
careful not to
embarrass the
players in front of their teammates.
By the time
players reach 14, they should be technically proficient, so that
tactical
training can
be accomplished. But work on technique is never neglected, even
at the first
team level.
Academy
players are not allowed to play more than 30 games per year.
This cap on
games was
implemented to prevent player burn-out, which was a real problem
in England
prior to the
academy system, and is a huge problem in our youth game. Once a
player
signs for an
academy, his playing time is monitored and recorded to make sure
he gets
sufficient
playing time without exceeding the maximum number of games.
Academy
players are
not allowed to play for another youth team and most academies do
not allow
their players
to play even for the school team. The player’s annual schedule
is closely
supervised to
maintain the optimum balance between development and recovery.
Furthermore,
when a player signs up with an Academy, he is guaranteed to play
at least
24 games per
year. This mandatory playing time is applicable to all the
academy teams
at all the
academy ages. It’s quite a paradox when profit driven,
multi-million dollar
clubs
operating in the cut-throat business of the professional game
treat their youth
players with
such sensitivity while some of our own youth coaches fail to do
the same,
even though
most of our youth clubs are supposed to be community based,
non-profit,
volunteer run
organizations.
According to
Steve Heighway, the Liverpool Academy Director, anytime a player
is
released, his
club helps him find another team at a lower level of the pro
game. Parents
get a progress
report twice a year from the coaching staff, and the player’s
school gets a
copy of the
report as well. The coaching staff works with the schools to
monitor the
players’
academic progress. The academies are very much in tune with the
needs and
welfare of
young players and do their best to look after them. All
academies must
employ not
just fully qualified coaches, but also medical staff and
educational and
welfare
officers who look after the off-the-field needs and education of
the players.
Parents are
kept informed via progress reports and periodic communications,
but they are
not allowed to
get involved in the same way parents are involved in the USA. In
England’s
academies, parents are prohibited from coaching from the
sidelines and are
generally kept
at bay. During training, parents are not allowed near the fields
and are
usually
confined to the club lounge or behind field barriers, where they
can watch the
session from
afar, or relax and socialize. Some academies, such as the West
Ham
academy, ask
parents to sign a Code of Conduct that outlines the dos and
don’ts.
Steve Heighway
emphasized in his presentations that the academy coaching staff
goes to
great pains
educating the parents on the relatively low rate of academy
graduates who
actually
become professional players. Steve stresses how competitive it
is, and that
parents have
to prepare their son emotionally and practically for the
possibility of getting
released by
the club. According to Steve Heighway, one of the toughest parts
of the job
is managing
parent’s expectations and releasing players and shattering their
dreams. The
players in
Liverpool’s academy are all technically strong, so the ones who
do make it are
those with the
right mental strength and character that can deal with the
stresses and the
ups and downs.
In his
presentation, Tony Carr, the West Ham Academy Director, outlined
his academies’
philosophy on
player development as follows:
- Open
attacking style predominantly 1 & 2 touch movement.
- Player led
philosophy.
- Let the
players express themselves and let them make the decisions.
- Enjoyable
learning environment. Serious but fun.
- Repetition
based program.
- Technique
based training, breeding good habits.
- Development
of the player, not the team. The end product is what matters,
not results.
Tony Carr
emphasized that the goal is to develop players rather than
teams. Game results
are not
important. West Ham do not emphasize conditioning/strength until
U-15 but hire
an expert to
work on balance, left-right stability and coordination with the
younger
players.
The Girls
Academies
Most of the
Premier League clubs run academies for girls that serve as the
feeder system
into their
women’s team, but the girls academies are not as developed or
well funded as
the boys. In
most cases, the girls have to pay for their own kit, facilities
and travel.
Arsenal is one
of the few clubs that funds a residential academy for girls.
It all starts
at the school levels. The girls’ academy coaching staff conducts
free clinics at
local schools
in order to promote women’s soccer and identify the most
promising
players. These
clinics are for girls between the ages 6 to 16. The best talent
is then
invited to
train in Development Centers. These centers do not play
organized league
games and only
train. From there, the very best players are invited to join the
club’s
Center of
Excellence at the U-10, U-12, U-14 and U-16 age groups. These
teams play
friendly games
against other club’s where no standings are kept.
Players are
signed for one year intervals until U-16. At that point, the
best players are
signed into
the U-18 Academy team and can progress from there into the
reserve team
and finally to
the senior women’s first team.
Since women’s
soccer in England is not professional, many of the top English
players
aspire to come
to the USA and play college soccer. Many American college
coaches
travel
frequently to European countries such as England to scout for
talent and focus
mainly on the
European national team level players. Overall, the level of the
women’s
game in the
USA is superior to that found in England, but the gap is slowly
closing.
WHAT LESSONS
CAN WE LEARN FROM ENGLAND
The English
player development system has undergone drastic changes in the
last decade.
The irony is
that, while The FA has been for many decades a recognized world
leader in
coaching
education and has exported its soccer educational curriculum all
over the globe,
its player
development was steadily falling behind the leading soccer
nations such as
Holland, France, Italy, Brazil and Argentina. Cultural and historical
traditions and a
somewhat
insular approach had to be overcome in England in order to
embrace the
methods of
some of these leading soccer nations. But now, the
‘Europeanization’ process
in England is
in full swing.
So, the first
lesson we can learn from England is that we must also adopt an
open mind
and learn from
everyone and not fall into an insular mind set of ‘this is
America and we
do things
differently here’. We might be in America, but in soccer, we are
competing
with the rest
of the world and can ignore it at our own peril. Our current
youth soccer
environment
has very similar problems to those that existed in England prior
to the
academy system
and we need to address them just as they had to address them.
Those of us
who had the privilege to watch the Liverpool U-18 teams train
and play
against our
ODP team would agree that technically, we are still behind the
top youth
players from
abroad. Our players are still prone to giving the ball way
needlessly due to
poor control
or misplaced passing and the lesson is clearly that our coaches
need to spend
more time on
developing technique in the formative ages of 6-14. When the
game is
faster, our
players’ technique breaks down too easily.
The other
lessons we can learn from England is in the area of child
welfare and risk
management.
The Premiership academies’ commitment to a sensitive treatment
of the
players is
impressive. Even though it’s a business, they are clearly
committed to a childcentered
approach that
puts the best interest of the individual player first. They are
stridently
monitoring player abuse, both mental and physical, ensure enough
playing time
for each
player to build confidence and skill, and invest considerable
resources and
money to
develop rounded human beings rather than just soccer players.
It’s an eye
opener to see how the English academies are protecting the
players as one
would protect
a fragile and valuable treasure. For example, restricting the
number of
games to 30
per year. In the USA, elite players play between 50-100 games
per year,
which is not
only excessive and counterproductive, but a form of player
abuse. The
Liverpool U-18
team that visited Atlanta in May spent 10 days in America, but
only
played a total
of 3 games. When our teams travel, they play multiple games per
day,
which is
ridiculous. Our players’ experience should be about quality, not
quantity.
The academies
are also very careful to educate and protect the players from
any risky
behavior, such
as unhealthy life style, poor nutrition, lack of supervision, or
any potential
dangerous
situations when traveling. Our clubs could learn a lot from
their approach and
high regard
for players’ well being. Players’ code of conduct, as well as
parents’ and
coaches’ code,
as well as policies addressing safety for team travel, practice
and game
days would be
a good start.
The English
academies see their youth program as an investment for the
future. In
contrast,
American youth soccer is regarded as a revenue producer, a
profit center. The
day will have
to come when the MLS clubs will take over the development of our
elite
players and do
it along a similar philosophy to the English academies. Until
that
happens, our
youth clubs should monitor the behavior of our coaches and
educate the
parents to
ensure that our players are protected from trophy hunting
mentality, burnout,
and a
misplaced emphasis on winning at younger ages. We must follow
the English
example and do
a better job of protecting the players’ safety, while promoting
the
technical and
creative aspects of the game over team building.
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