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ISC Philosophy for the U9/U10 Age AthleteFrom Director of Coaching Jon Cook 9/5/06Coaching the Youth PlayerThe U9 and U10 year for soccer players is an exciting time for both players and coaches. Players are enthusiastic about learning new skills and they adapt well to new challenges. The U9 and U10 players play soccer because it is a fun sport that offers them the opportunity to play and compete without a lot of interruption in the action. If both parents and coaches structure the environment in training and games properly, the game of soccer should afford every child the opportunity to exercise a tremendous amount of freedom of movement, decision-making, and expression in each training session and in each match. Young players need to play soccer in an environment that gives players the freedom to simply have fun and explore the game with an unabashed creativity and spontaneity. Most U9 and U10 players who join the ISC thrive in our player developmental and child-centered approach which allows the kids to play without concern of reprisal for making mistakes or playing "out of position" during an official match. In the ISC we do our very best to help players improve without taking any of the fun and individual creativity out of the game of soccer.One of the things that the ISC is best known for is our high level of quality coaching and teaching that we offer to all of our U9 and U10 players. We believe strongly in paying special attention to the youth player because the U9-U10 years are critical years in which players need to develop a solid technical skills foundation. In order to help players improve their skills and at the same time enjoy the game to its fullest extent, young children need qualified and expert level coaches. To be a successful youth coach for U9-U10 players, the youth coach must know more than the rules of the game and how to play soccer. The youth coach must also understand the players. When an ISC coach sets up any practice or training goal for the U9 or U10 player, he/she is careful to consider all of the factors that affect the learning environment for the young player. Just as elementary teachers must be cognizant of the intellectual capabilities and emotional needs of their students, a good youth coach must understand the cognitive limits of the U9 and U10 player. Moreover, the coach must be aware of the psychomotor developmental traits of most 9 and 10 year olds. Coaches must also understand the psychosocial characteristics common to kids of this age. Without a broad and deep understanding of the characteristics common to players of this age, the coach will set unrealistic goals for players and for teams. In the long run, any approach to youth coaching that does not take account of the unique characteristics of young children will discourage children and take the fun out of the game. Few soccer organizations take as much pride in their teaching and coaching of the young player as the ISC. Each new ISC parent should feel confident that the club has spent the last 10 years revising our training plan to ensure that his/her U9 and U10 player will have fun each day, and at the same time receive the best age appropriate instruction. Playing Time for the U9 and U10 Player in the Iowa Soccer ClubSoccer isn't fun if your child isn't allowed to play in games. Although the ISC is known as a competitive club in Iowa City, all U9 and U10 players deserve the right to play in both halves of every match. In fact, who can say that any U9 or U10 player is really a competitive player yet? We view all of our U9 and U10 players as developing soccer players rather than competitive players. Therefore, our focus for the U9 and U10 player is centered on individual player improvement and collective team development. This means that we measure success by player and team progress, not by wins and losses. While everyone wants to win games, our most important goal for every soccer match in the U9 and U10 year is to make sure that ALL of our players improve and have fun at each game. Players cannot improve at the U9 and U10 age if they don't play in games. While we don't guarantee that every player will play exactly the same amount of time during each match, we do guarantee that each child will play in 10 minutes of each half. Given the fact that most league games at the U9-U10 age are about 40 minutes long, your child will be playing in close to half of each game.Team Formations for ISC U9-U10 TeamsPlayers in the U9-U10 age group play in a 6v6 format. This means that each team has five field players and a goalie. Each team is allowed 10 players per roster. When we form teams for the U9-U10 age groups, our coaching staff takes all of the available players that are interested in playing in a particular age group and then divides the players on teams with the intent purpose of forming teams that are as even in ability as possible. The ISC does not form "A" teams or "B" teams at the U9-U10 age group. We do not believe that the process of grouping the 10 players that seem to be furthest ahead in their soccer ability and development at 8 or 9 years onto one team is consistent with the ISC philosophy of player development. To reiterate the point made many times before in this philosophy statement, our primary purpose and goal with our U9-U10 teams is to encourage and assist players in their progress toward individual and team development. Experienced soccer coaches understand that soccer players develop at vastly different rates and at different times. Trying to pick the 10 players that will be the best soccer players in the long run is an exercise in futility. Therefore, we do not believe that grouping the best players on one team together at such a young age is beneficial to each individual's overall player development nor do we believe that such an approach fosters a positive and healthy attitude amongst parents and children. We strive to engender a real passion and excitement for soccer amongst our U9-U10 kids in the ISC. It is our goal to encourage the young players to play soccer for as many years as they can. Putting an emphasis on forming a "super star" team that wins all of its games at this age does nothing but satisfy the egos of the coaches and parents. When young players are surveyed and asked why they play sports at this age, very few young children cite winning as the most important factor. Most kids at this age, play sports because they are fun. While kids still need to win games to develop a positive attitude toward their team and its development, forming one team in each ISC age group that wins all of its games while the other ISC teams in the same age group struggle to find success is not an approach that is in the best interest of all of the kids, including the players on the so-called "A" team.The process that we follow to form teams is relatively simple. At the U9 year we take all of the players and form teams that we believe will be as even in ability as is possible. Generally, we keep the same players together for the entire year, including the fall and spring seasons. When the players move on to the U10 year, we take all of the available players, including any new players, and mix the teams again. This approach allows new players to play with some of the kids that were on the team at the U9 year. By mixing new players and players with one year's experience in the club, the balance of outcomes in regard to wins and losses for all of our teams is evened out. We would not take all of our new players and put them all on one team together for the U10 year. These new players enjoy far greater success when we mix them with the players that were with us for the U9 year. Moreover, by moving players from team to team in August of each year, we give the players an opportunity to compete in games with some of the other players in their same age group within the ISC. In sum, teams are not grouped by ability, geographic area, nor are team assignments based on friendships alone. All team formations for the U9-U10 years are made with the purpose of fielding equal ability based teams so that each ISC team has a reasonable chance to experience success. PositionsOften when a child joins an ISC team at the U9 or 10 year, his/her parents ask what our policy is in regard to specializing in positions. Because the U9 or U10 player is a developing player, the ISC coaching staff believe that young players will enjoy greater long-term success and experience more overall enjoyment in the game of soccer if they are given the opportunity to play in a number of different positions throughout each season. To reiterate, we measure success at the U9 and U10 years in regard to player improvement and team progress, not by wins and losses. Young players can handle playing as a defender in one half of the game and playing as a forward in the other half of the game. Not only can young players handle playing more than one position, the experience of playing in more than one position is a great learning opportunity for each individual on the team.The argument can be made that there may be disadvantages in regard to the outcome of each match when we move a particular player who might be the team's best defender to a forward for the second half. However, we feel VERY strongly that the short-term negatives of such a move are far outweighed by the long-term benefits that will be reaped by the individual player and subsequently the team as a whole. Each position offers players a different vantage point to view and experience the game. Each position on the field offers players different technical and skill challenges that are important for players to experience in order for the players to enjoy long-term success in the game of soccer. We feel that keeping players in one position for an entire season or even an entire year is detrimental to the development of the player. Let me provide an example. I knew this player who was quite a spectacular goal scorer at U9 and U10. He was very fast and he seemed to be much quicker than anyone he played against. He relied almost solely on his speed to score goals, which worked at the U9-U10 level. His team coach always played him at forward because he always produced goals for the team. When he reached his U12 year, most of the other players had caught up to his speed advantage and he no longer scored goals. Because he was no longer scoring goals, his new coach tried to move him into other positions so that the player could find success. However, the player resisted playing in new positions and struggled to adapt to the different roles required of the other positions. Not only did he struggle with the tactical demands of the different positions, he had developed only some of the technical skills necessary to have success in the game of soccer because he had only been asked to repeat one task game in and game out. When his new coach played him in the midfield, he struggled to adjust to the transition of the game and he didn't know how to connect and combine with other midfielders. When his new coach played him as a defender, he hadn't learned any of the skills of defending. Eventually, this player, who had once loved soccer, quit the game because he was no longer having fun. I always believed that if this player had been challenged at a young age to play in different places on the field, he would have learned so much more about the game. It is examples like the one mentioned above which have helped us to formulate our current policy. In the long run, we believe it is more important to keep kids playing sports such as soccer for as many years as possible rather than focusing our energies on posting a terrific win/loss record during the U9-U10 seasons. Our policy of moving players from position to position in different games provides each player with different challenges and responsibilities and goes a long way to keeping kids excited about soccer. Jon Cook ISC Coaching Director Previous: Overview Next: U13/U14 Philosophy |