AZ Alkmaar are one of the leading clubs in soccer for their holistic approach to club and player development, with a proud tradition of fostering its home-grown talent in to the senior squad. In an age of high financial risk and reward, AZ keep to their principles and philosophy, and maintain a successful club. The focus on development from top to bottom of its club structure allows AZ to not prioritize winning outside of its senior squad.
In the senior squad there are 17 homegrown, developed players, 50% of the starting lineup are homegrown while 53% of the playing minutes being performed by players from the academy.
The youth of AZ practice at the same facilities, sharing the same clubhouse, but are always kept separate from the seniors but within touching distance, creating a boundary before the step up to senior level so players know it’s there and achievable, inspiring motivation to succeed.
The Philosophy
Winning is only a priority at senior level, from U23 and below through its youth system there are no expectations for winning, but players come with a desire and drive to win and compete. At U17 players are coached how to win, not be confused with must win, it’s a mindset that gets instilled in to the players on how to use their development to find success through results. The focus on development enables the club o work towards a club curriculum where the next game is not the priority, but the inclusion of all disciplines through all the Phases in We and They.
The curriculum is split in to blocks of 2 weeks, a periodized structure to where the player can receive all the knowledge and tools to become an all-round player to develop to their full potential. The macro cycle is for WE and THEY, a 2-week block. At the micro level the Phases are separated and worked on in the WE/THEY. The breakdown of a weeks training is as follows –
Monday – 2 hours, movement and skill acquisition, always under the pressure of opposition. Ending with a game.
Tuesday – 1 hour of athleticism, gym technique, exercise movement, 1 hour of soccer specific fitness.
Wednesday – skill acquisition, tactical SSG, work ration of 1:1.
Thursday – 11v11
Friday – Preparation for game – how to play defense and attack.
The players are encouraged to play to win without the importance of the result, creating a desire to perform through discipline, desire, and self-respect for the efforts put in by a player. How to win is important, and is what development is when giving the players the tools that are needed to perform, always a development approach. The proactive development pathway allows the player to work on their own game, reactive coaching is only within the game itself.
How to Create a High Performance Culture
Marijn Beuker
A key component of instilling a high performance culture is to think differently, be brave to believe in youth process.
There needs to be a buy in from all involved and with capable organization staff who are knowledgeable in the process and structure of the club’s long term development pathway. The vision needs to be clearly defined with an outline for all to follow, a pathway to a defined success, and understanding what is talent. Is talent nurtured or from nature? How can we bring out the best in the natural traits of the player through the nurturing of skill acquisition and game insight?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC82Il2cjqA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQoJqDi8490 let kids fail, allow them to fall and get up to learn from their mistakes.
Great reading source – The Gold Mine Effect
The culture of a club is important if you want the holistic long-term development approach. The environment needs to be one where everyone can thrive within the organization, where everyday people are working towards their defined goal, and the belief in the culture remains strong and is passed on to others.
The Culture
Standards
- Raise your bar
- Focus on the process
- Use the power of examples
Fun Task, Try It
Raise your hand in the air
Take a note of where your arm is raised to
Now try and reach higher
Get up on your toes, straighten your arm, and point your fingers
Naturally there is always more than what we can give at first, raise your bar
Look for Discomfort
FEAR. Face everything and respond. Work at your fears, challenge then and come out stronger.
‘do not handicap your children by making their lives easy’, Robert A Heinlein
Stimulate Creativity, Solution Focused Learning
Let them know the end outcome, allow them to create the path to get there. Implicit learning.
Understanding
Get to know yourself and get to know the person across the table. Understand what motivates that person, learn what may hold them back and what enables them to work at their optimal level. Knowing and teaching others that being a good human will make you a good player. The All Blacks culture.
Be demanding, honest and direct, but make players believe they can be developed
AZ Youth Academy
Bart Heuringh
The AZ academy sees the development of players as more than just practices on the field, or the use of tactics within a game. The club philosophy and its principles is to see the bigger picture of the players journey, and the importance of all the different disciplines needed of a player. They also see learning differently, and aim to teach their players why to do things, rather than just the how.
The prevention of issues far outweighs the need to fix a problem. Education is the key to understanding and having people believe in your process.
‘it’s easier to build strong children than repair broken men’ Frederick Douglass
AZ have a learning system where you begin with motivation, using the opportunity to grab the attention of the player, then applying the knowledge. Firstly, find the motivation (wanting to be the best 1v1 player in attack) grab the attention through videos of idols and high performers (Cristiano Ronaldo dribbling a ball at defenders), then help and guide the players with the tools they need to be able to perform. This works great for difficult disciplines such as diet and sleep.
“Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.” Plato
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