Jim Harte

Club Soccer is a $3,000/year babysitting service with better marketing. 15 years coaching. The development ROI at many clubs is a joke.

Tony Pulis spent almost a year filming a documentary series for Sky Sports called "Chasing the Dream," investigating the academy system in English football. What he found should concern every coach and parent involved in youth football. 91% of young players in academies never play a professional game, but it's what happens to them after they're released that he thinks needs urgent attention. I've broken down his key points in the comments 👇

Not sure if this is everywhere… just took the dogs for a walk for a 🏀 break and nearly every kid in the neighborhood seemed to be shooting hoops. Why can’t this happen in soccer? Is it because…

USMNT legend Tab Ramos has called out coaching in American youth soccer 🗣️ He believes due to various circumstances, coaches are making things too complicated for young players— which ultimately harms them instead of helping them develop. “I was able to coach youth soccer outside of the national teams for a period of about 10 years,” Tab began. “Unfortunately nowadays, the game has gotten so complicated, the pyramid of soccer in this country has gotten so complicated that it's very difficult for coaches.” “By the way, it's a really big effort to get your C license, your B license, and your A license. It's an effort. It takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of money. And so now these coaches are going to go back to a club, you know, after spending all this money on their coaching education, those coaches have to get paid.” “And in order to get paid, you have to sort of not only teach the players, but you have to kind of put on a show of all of the things that you learn.” “So now I get to the complicated area. Because now what if you hired me in California? Here I am. I'm the former U.S. Soccer technical director and under-20 national team coach for four World Cups, and I have my pro license, and you bring me in and I take your players, because you just hired me to coach your team, because I'm this incredibly knowledgeable guy. And I come in and I just do small sided games with your players.” “The parents of the kids on your team are gonna be sitting around and going, ‘Wait, why are we paying for this?’ But this is what happens.” “See, I would have enough confidence to go there and do that. But the problem is that every coach in the country has to respond to a technical director.” “And because of that, they have to put on this very, you know, difficult training session that's in sequence from your activation, to your small five v two, to your small sided possession, to then the body of your work, to then the tactical to then the big game, right? You got to go through the whole thing.” “They have to do that. And the reason they have to do that is because their technical director is under pressure.” “Because for the technical director to have his club in this league, the ECNL, or whatever, you need to have all of these standards.” “And because of those standards, now the technical director is forced to hire someone who can do all these things.” “Well, at the end of the day, there's all these standards and all these things going on. And who's not benefiting is the player, because the player would benefit more from things being simple, right?” “And of course, it's only my opinion, but I think I've gotten enough experience. Forget the playing side. I've gotten enough experience on the coaching side at all levels, from youth national teams to coaching in MLS at Houston Dynamo to say, ‘Okay, let's put the brakes on this. Our training sessions are getting too complicated. How about let's go back to the beginning, right?’” “That's what matters. This is how players learn the most. And of course, every once in a while you have to have your tactical sessions, and your exercises, where you have the certain patterns to goal, and like I get all of that.” “Of course, we all know that stuff. But the simpler we make it, the more we put players in game like situations and one v one, the better.” [via Sports Recruiting USA]

PABLO AIMAR: "There’s no greater frustration than hearing someone say, 'There are no creative players.' Especially after repeating 800 mechanical drills, all the same. Where the hell is creativity supposed to come from if everything becomes an automatic loop?... If we tell a 15-year-old kid who wants to try a dribble not to do it because he lost the ball two or three times, what do we expect to happen?... At that age, he’s going to lose it twenty times, and that’s OK! Because it’s in those twenty falls where courage is born, where the vision sharpens, and that spark ignites—something that can’t be replicated."