External Articles of Interest:

• https://www.socceramerica.com/youth-soccers-alphabet-soup-is-running-out-of-let/
  • Excellent views within the comment section outlining the issues.
• https://www.soccertoday.com/youth-soccer-news-alphabet-soup-youth-soccer-us-youth-soccer/?cn-reloaded=1

It is very confusing for parents in today’s youth soccer culture, as a focus has come onto the league and bracket. Sadly, youth soccer is now seen as a marketplace, and the US is the only country in the world which sees it this way, and it’s having a detrimental effect on youth development.

NPL, ECNL, EA, GA, MLS Next, and many more, are all name of leagues. They are all business opportunities competing against each other to say they have the best players. It’s all built on an opportunity for an adult somewhere to make a lot of money from FOMO and clubs within them to market. They all sell the structure of ‘merit-based competition’, i.e. winning. All of this goes against the science which supports development as a process, the psychology of open mindset and nurturing confidence, and the social support of belonging (players are used as they see fit to continue the winning). When youth soccer becomes a ‘merit-based’ structure, you prioritize outcome from younger ages, negatively affect individuals’ confidence through their perception of worth against outcome they cannot control, and burnout from the pressure and ‘performance’ coaching through their younger years.

A players learning is dependent on the learning experience the club creates within training, the psychosocial support of creating an open mindset to taking risk, and social support of belonging. All of this is in contrast to what is now expected in youth soccer, which has become a business before sport culture. Sport pedagogy relies upon 4 components of coaches, players, task, environment, meaning coaches as lifelong learners, players as committed learners, tasks to challenge players, and an athlete centered environment. Unfortunately, this is not a consideration in US youth soccer, with no objective measure for clubs’ effectiveness.

Throughout the world, clubs/academies, are measured on their structure and organization, and the athlete centered environment that’s created. We are very proud that we stick to these principles and continue to support the players deep learning and not be led by external outcome gratification.

We are excited to share we will be continuing our partnership with DICKS Sporting Goods to bring discount opportunities to all players locally to Fremont.

Look out for our weekend events with DICKS and future online coupons.

Today, DICK’S Sporting Goods creates confidence and excitement by inspiring, supporting and personally equipping all athletes to achieve their dreams. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, the leading omnichannel retailer serves athletes and outdoor enthusiasts in more than 850 DICK’S Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy, Public Lands, Moosejaw, Going Going Gone! and Warehouse Sale stores, online, and through the DICK’S mobile app. DICK’S also owns and operates DICK’S House of Sport and Golf Galaxy Performance Center, as well as GameChanger, a youth sports mobile platform for live streaming, scheduling, communications and scorekeeping.

We create an inclusive environment where passionate, skilled, and diverse teammates thrive.
We create and build leading brands that serve and inspire athletes.
We deliver shareholder value through growth and relentless improvement.
We make a lasting impact on communities through sport.

We are hurtling towards the time of the year where we subject kids to being judged against each other, told from young ages if they are ‘elite’ or ‘not good enough’, and encourage parents to chase the many acronyms and furthest distances to travel. Teams as young as U6 being called ‘Pre-Acronym’, when all the science shows we cannot accurately predict a players adult performance until post puberty, the ‘Pre’ being the selling point to get numbers in the door, a total fabrication of expectations for the parents and unnecessary pressure on the child.

What we’ll see first is the social media and messaging, or teams that have won this and that, are the next best thing, and storming towards championships across the country. None of this is relevant in a players development in youth sports, and a great article about how we’ve now become fixated on the wrong factors – https://changingthegameproject.com/winning-vs-fulfillment-how-society-teaches-us-to-focus-on-the-wrong-things-in-youth-sports/

Common questions we receive this time of year is about what bracket a team will be in, what tournaments will we be going to, what’s the teams win record, etc. These are all outcome based questions on teams, and none of these are in reference to the individual player, nor the learning environment the player will be in. Tournaments are a great way for clubs to drive revenue or for private entities to make a profit, but these are at the detriment of the players welfare.

Youth Soccer is not Adult Soccer, these have very different objectives, and therefore are almost completely different sports.

Another great article pulled from the above link – https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39740282/caitlin-clark-iowa-2024-ncaa-women-basketball-tournament-ready-march

No one is saying that players shouldn’t go out to try and win, but the priority in youth sports is the process, of self growth and overcoming challenges to support life skills such as resilience and commitment. The challenge and competition within youth sports coming form the individuals drive and desire to improve intrinsically, and not for what is expected from extrinsic sources. Youth soccer is process driven, and not outcome dependent.

Ask your club, or prospective club the following…

• What is your player development pathway (and not a list of league names!)?
• What are your learning methods (pedagogy)?
• What methodologies do you use for training (activity types)?
• How do you support the person and not just the player?
• What education do you provide for the coaches?

Continuing our relationships with adidas, and partnership with Tri-City Volunteers to bring awareness and support of their great mission to provide for the local community.

Sign up to attend the 24/25 Season Evaluations – https://go.teamsnap.com/forms/424930

Movement, learning, and progression, through our Play philosophy.

• Modern coaching methodologies for long term deep learning, as opposed to short term recital of information.
• Play philosophy for realism and understanding of time and space, as opposed to isolated repetitive movements.
• Holistic development of the person, as opposed to concentrated focus on just the player.

Join us on our development pathway of process over outcome to support the players enthusiasm and love for the game.

A great discussion between Dan Abrahams, Ben Freakley, and Larissa Mills; about the issues around phone usage and social media in sport, it’s effects on youth.

To begin with, it’s important we realize this is a societal issue, but like almost all issues we find in society, youth sports reflects these problems in it’s microclimate.

Research has found some alarming statistics where by 16, kids are hitting huge overall hours of usage, even as young as 4 years old the hours of usage is alarming.

• Kids are brains are under developed, effecting ability to learn, where they cannot focus, are tired, and lack attention.
• 71% have negative self-talk.
• Social media platforms are a significant influence over youths.
• 98% of kids 12 years and older have phones
• Phones and technology have negatively effected movement and communication.

Phones have been identified as having a block on performance, this due to it’s effects on routine, and social medias comments and stories about performance being constructed by opinions. Children are now learning and developing cognitively at a slower rate than previous generations.

While an easy solution, but hard to accomplish, it is recommended that youth athletes post and leave – publish messages of positivity, leave, and do not engage.

Longer times on the phone have been shown to increase depression and anxiety.

There is potential for positivity, there are opportunities for learning through open lines of communication. To do this though, ‘look sideways’, look for inspiration and not comparison.

There are solutions to how we can support youth athletes, and the youth in general with the effects of phones and social media on the individuals growth and development, and mental well-being.

• Create routines  around training (phones in backpacks, etc.).
• Create daily routines (no phones in bedrooms, at the dinner table, etc.).
• Setting boundaries on content (pictures, when pictures are taken, etc.).
• Create protocols (inclusivity of all within groups, when is the phone used).

Habits reduces phone addiction and social media addiction

When discussing the use of phones and social media, use open ended questions for deep engagement on the reasons ‘why’ it’s better to be off the phone; bringing awareness of which voices are being involved with the youth athlete, i.e., self awareness of whose voice really matters. This will better support the buy in to banning phones at important times, this being those times spent at sports with team mates, and family events.

• Interventions at sporting events (training and games) are key to engaging conversation, utilizing pre, during, and post activity breaks, to break down psychology into attention, intensity, and intent.
• Squash ANTS (automatic negative thoughts)
  • Incorporate this mental skill into practice
  • Use social governance to support each other
• Establish values early on, providing purpose to social media use and avoiding the clustered approach to scrolling through social media. Think big picture to refrain from phone and social media usage, framing and reviewing the day around:
  • What actions today will/did align with my values, behaviors, and goals?

Key Takeaways:

The brain takes 20 minutes to refocus after phone usage (smart watches are a real problem!).

• Are you in a state to engage in learning if you are not focused from the start?
• Without attention, intensity, and intent, learning is greatly compromised.

Support children/athletes to be their own person.

• Move away from comparison as a context in both online and in-person identity models.

Congratulations to Ezekiel Grundler on his commitment to Chester University, UK.

Ezekiel will be traveling to England to play and study at University of Chester at their Football Academy.

Ezekiel had been with the 2006 age group throughout his Foundation Phase years, and into his later Development Phase years, moving to Texas in 2021 with his family. Ezekiel has been featured throughout his time at the club on our website and social media for his commitment to training and practicing outside of club events.

Ezekiel’s dedication to training, his intrinsic motivation to be the best he can be while enjoying his love for the game, has seen him excel with his football, and a great example of how much influence the psychosocial pillar has on later year performance.

We are very proud of Ezekiel’s achievements, and enjoy hearing from the family on his development and the families adventures in Texas. We now look forward to hearing all about Ezekiel’s adventures at the University of Chester.

Practicing at Home, Commitment and Dedication – Ezekiel Grundler

Training at Home

Due to the strong winds, and forecasts for heavy rain, and multiple weather warnings for flooding and high winds, we feel it is in the best interest of everyone’s safety to cancel tonight.

Soccer is an outdoor sport, played in winds and rain, but we also have a duty of care for all invested in the training experience, and with weather warnings for the area already closing down many outdoor activities, we must also consider the safety of everyone not only on the field but the conditions when leaving the house per the commute.

Training will go ahead in the rain, the wind, and other inclement weather, it is important we dress appropriately for these instances. In general we are very lucky in California as the weather is frequently mild and outside of any extremes.

Preparing for the Winter Sessions

Players need to dress appropriately for the conditions, and in the rain a rain jacket is recommended, and at least a warm up top should be worn. In the car following the practice a change of top should be ready. Players will not get sick from being in the rain, but will if not prepared for post exercise.

As a reminder, all players also need to be in Fremont YSC attire for all practices.

Rahul Berry

It was truly a very unique experience for me. I got the opportunity to learn from various professional coaches and former professional players. It was great to see the numerous field sessions that were taking place and I really got to see different approaches that were taken by all the coaches during field sessions.

Empowering Players

• Focus on teaching players to make their own decisions during field sessions. Let them play freely and offer coaching points as the session continues on.
• Design activities that provide more game like experiences for the players.

Goalkeepers

• During goalkeeper sessions, find ways where you can get all goalkeepers involved in the session. Goalkeepers have evolved in modern playing trends, isolated training no longer supports the role of the keeper as an integral player involved in ball possession and defending spaces.
• Goalkeepers are being evolved into more than just being shot stoppers and being more involved as playing from the back with their feet as this provides an advantage to transition from build up to attacking into the opponents half of the field.

Culture

• Creating a positive environment for all players by building connections players and parents not only during training sessions but also outside of the sport.
• If a player seems unmotivated during training sessions offer guidance to better support them, providing interventions of support and empathy rather than traditional scolding for effort.

Yichen

The convention was a great experience, offering a variety of different styles from elite coaches from around the world and from different coaching experiences (college, club, professional), and the level of preparation and details which goes into the session design and layout for layering between activity transitions.

Competitive Environment

• Competitive environments simulate the intensity and decision-making demands of real match situations, however, consideration must be for the learning to take place where cognitive processing isn’t overlooked for physical performance.
  • Competitive environments allow players to make mistakes where it’s better for the players to learn.
    • Setup the practice with pressure (time, space, opponents)
    • Set individual targets and challenges for a psychological consideration of training
    • Add more things or restrictions step by step

Methodology – Rondos

Rondo training is valuable and could have several forms

• Technical Skill Refinement
  • Ball control and First touch
  • Passing
  • Movement
• Teamwork and Communication
• High Pressure game like scenarios
• Practice the technical skill
• Practice Transition
  • Manipulating the rate of transitions to effect the physical component (increased transitions for power and strength resulting from more accelerations and decelerations; fewer transitions for speed)
• Practice the Communication
  • Verbal communication for roles and responsibilities, non-verbal communication of player and ball movement.
• Set competitions and challenges for teams to compete against each other.

Leadership Environment

• Decentralized the leadership – Empower players with responsibilities
  • Delegate tasks to players
• Giving players ownership of something in training
  • Rotate captains
  • Captains to maintain the discipline in training
  • Captains to set standards in effort and team culture