Volume 54,  Number 7

November-December 2009

Photo by Perry McIntyre Jr.

Soccer Journal • November-December 2009

Published by: The National Soccer Coaches

Association of America
Editor: Dr. Jay Martin
Edwards Gym
Ohio Wesleyan University
Delaware, OH 43015 Jonathon Bornstein (12) provided the last-second
Office: 740-368-3727 heroics with his equalizing goal in the final minute
Fax: 740-368-3751 of stoppage time for a 2-2 tie with Costa Rica that
Email: jamartin@owu.edu gave the U.S. Men’s National Team the top spot in
Managing Editor: Craig Bohnert group qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.
Associate Editors: Mike Kennedy, Pat Madden
Editorial Subcommittee: Ray Alley, Dr. David Carr,
Dr. Hardy Fuchs, Mike Lentz, Alan Maher, Perry
McIntyre Jr., Len Oliver, Dr. Ron Quinn, Tim Schum,
Jeff Tipping, Frank Tschan, Jeff Vennell, Lang Wede-
meyer, Dr. Doug Williamson
NSCAA CEO and Executive Director:
10 Development, Enhancement and Sustainability of Expert Performance in Sport – A summary
of the U.S. Olympic Committee’s conference focusing on expert performance in sport. Focus: SJ Re-
Joe Cummings
search. Ages: All.

12 The
800 Ann Avenue
Kansas City, KS 66101 Complexities and Demands of the Professional Soccer Manager – Dr. Ian Lawrence
800-458-0678 • Fax: 913-362-3439 takes a look at the many forces tugging at high-level soccer coaches. Focus: Coaching. Ages:
NSCAA on the Internet: www.NSCAA.com College and Professional.

15 2010
To advertise in Soccer Journal, contact:
Chris Burt NSCAA Board of Directors Candidates – Participate in the 2010 NSCAA Board of Di-
Marketing Director rectors election – read the candidates’ statements and use the ballot between pages 16 and 17 to
make your voice heard.

22 Soccer
NSCAA
800 Ann Avenue Fitness and Heart Rate Training – Robert Taylor describes how Loyola University in Balti-
Kansas City, KS 66101 more incorporates heart rate monitors into their training. Focus: Fitness. Ages: U-15 and above.

26 Focus
800-458-0678 • Fax: 913-362-3439
Email: cburt@nscaa.com On: Speed of Play – From Success in Soccer magazine, David Linenberger offers these exercises to
improve speed of play. Focus: Youth Training. Ages: 14-18.

30 Apsychologist
Printer: R.R. Donnelly, Independence, Mo.
Three-Step Formula for Competition Readiness: From Preparation to Execution – USOC sport
••• Sean McCann returns with a look at moving into the “execution zone.” Focus: Psychology.
Ages: All.

34 Time
Fees for NSCAA
international membership Well Spent: Video and Film Analysis – In the second of this two-part series, Dr. Steve Smith
To cover increases in postage rates, the and Lee Schopp examine the technical requirements and merits of various video systems. Focus:
Technology. Ages: U-15 and above.

38 Heerenveen
following dues structure applies to members
outside of the United States: – NSCAA Master Coach Rob Herringer shares his observations of a training session
Europe $100 • Asia $110 at Heerenveen FC of the Dutch Eredivisie. Focus: SJ Training Session. Ages: All.
42 The
North/Central America $95
Transition Game: Playing in an Academic Environment – Frank Pace takes a look at what it
takes to move players from a club environment to an academic scene. Focus: In My Opinion.

46 Five
•••
Favorites: Noel Blake – From the pages of Insight magazine, Noel Blake offers his five top prac-
SOCCER JOURNAL tices for developing tactical awareness. Focus: Five Favorites. Ages: All.

52 Jüergen
(USPS, 568-630, ISSN 0560-3617)
is published bimonthly with one special issue Klinsmann – In the first of a two-part series, Editor Jay Martin sits down with the former Ger-
man National Team star and coach. Focus: SJ Interview. Ages: All.

57 Bench
in October by the NSCAA, 800 Ann Ave.,
Kansas City, KS 66101. ­Periodical postage paid Psychology – Eric Steeg offers thoughts on how to manage the delicate balancing act that is man-
at Kansas City, Kan., and additional mailing aging reserve players and creating a positive playing experience. Focus: Psychology. Ages: All.

58 IsEvansville,
offices. Subscription information: $12 of the
annual membership fee brings Soccer Collegiate Soccer the Key to MLS? – Mike Jacobs, the men’s coach at the University of
Journal to members for one year. It is just one takes a look at the impact intercollegiate soccer has had in developing talent for Ma-
jor League Soccer.

61 Soccer
­benefit of the annual $95 dues ($75 for youth
coaches). Postmaster: Send address changes to: Shorts – The Blond Arrow – Alfredo di Stefano; Getting a Bigger Bang for Your Training
Soccer Journal, 800 Ann Ave., Buck?; Some Thoughts from Division I.
Kansas City, KS 66101.

•••

Reproduction or reuse of this material

3 The President’s 5 Center Circle 7 Educational 9 Soccer Network
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the expressed written permission of the
National Soccer Coaches On the Cover: Michael Bradley got his head on a ball, applying pressure to the Costa
Association of America. Rican defense as the U.S. Men’s National Team faced the Ticos in Washington, D.C.,
on Oct. 14. Photo by Perry McIntyre Jr.

Soccer Journal November-December 2009 1

2 Soccer Journal November-December 2009

Then and Now
As a presidential year ends, a pause to reflect and appreciate
In 1968 a 12-year-old boy began to play soccer
in Irving, Texas. The league that was formed did
not have enough players to play in age groups, so
all players played together; 12-year-olds played
with 16-year-olds and every age in between.
Eric Nordstrom, the “father of soccer” in Irving,
had started something very new to the city, and
the excitement was everywhere. Games were
held at local recreation centers, junior high
schools and some parks. Parents supported
their kids, but had no real clue as to what they
were cheering for. For the first time we were all
experiencing a sport that the world already had
embraced.
I was that 12-year-old, and I played for the
Clippers. We were a team that had no clue what
to do, and it showed. We won zero games, tied
one and lost 11…and loved every minute of every
game! I was hooked completely, and my love for
the sport was instant.
I had no idea that soccer existed outside Irving,
and it was a few years later that our league de-
veloped to a point where we traveled and played
other cities. Back then there were no real clubs,
so players played for a city team. Great rivalries
grew with teams like the South Oak Cliff Pirates,
the Rangers from Richardson, the Mayas from
Irving, the Jets from North Dallas, the Taco Kids
from South Dallas, etc.
Today many of the key figures in North Texas
Soccer have their roots in one of these teams.
The true love and passion for the game has
been passed on to our kids, and they now are
carrying the torch.
I bring this up for a couple of reasons. What I
experienced was happening all across the country
at that time – I just didn’t know it. I think it’s impor-
tant for the young players that we coach today to
understand the history of our game so they can
learn to better appreciate what they have. The
second reason I bring this up is to thank some
people within our constituency group that continue
to drive the growth of soccer.
To Sunil Gulati, Dan Flynn and U.S. Soccer,
I appreciate all that you do as the leaders of our
federation. We have come so far as a soccer
nation, and I trust that with your leadership we’ll
continue to move forward.
With the development of club soccer over
the past few decades, we all certainly need to
say thank you to everyone who has had a part
in administering these various leagues. I know
we live in a competitive climate and society,
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
and we often don’t see eye to eye on issues,
but in this case, all of us should say thanks to
those who have operated US Youth Soccer,
U.S. Club Soccer, AYSO and SAY, as well as
to the many who are involved in all of the new
leagues such as Red Bull and the Elite League.
Without your efforts and time, our kids today
wouldn’t have the opportunities that they enjoy.
From those early years of 1968 and before,
we have come far as a soccer nation. It’s amaz-
I’ve seen so much change since those
early days in 1968. Let’s make sure that
the next generation gets to enjoy and
share all of the rewards that we have.
ing to look at the growth of our sport over the
years. Many of us are seeing things we thought
we’d never see. I’m just happy that the soccer
suppliers have come up with uniforms other
than those t-shirts and P.E. shorts we used
to wear!
Thanks to the leaders of Major League Soccer
for providing us with a stable professional league
that we can enjoy and learn from, and thanks
to the folks with Women’s Professional Soccer
for providing a second opportunity for a viable
women’s league.
To the leadership of the college game, many
thanks for your timeless efforts and energy to
make sure that we have a game at the collegiate
level that is second to none. The opportunity to
obtain an education while participating in the sport
we love is possible because of the work that you
all continue to do. Our youth today are so blessed
for this opportunity, which by the way is not the
case in other countries.
Finally, some very special thanks to our
NSCAA Executive Committee and full Board
of Directors. We have faced many challenges
this year, especially in light of the economic
climate. All of us have faced this in some form,
and I want our membership to know that this
group of people has put in countless hours
by Randy Waldrum
trying to manage our budget in a way that we
can continue to serve you, our members. It has
not been an easy task.
To those employees who work in our national
office, I want to say a special thank you. We
have made a change with our executive direc-
tor, and this is never an easy thing. We spent
some time without an executive director while
the search was being conducted, and Associ-
ate Executive Director Steve Veal stepped in
and carried us through this interim period. So,
thanks to Steve and the National Office staff
for continuing to move forward with the work
at hand.
A special thanks to our search committee,
chaired by Schellas Hyndman, that helped us
hire a fantastic CEO and Executive Director, Joe
Cummings. I look forward to working with Joe
next year and feel very confident that he has
the vision necessary to move us into the next 20
years and beyond.
Finally, thanks to my staff at Notre Dame, as
they have carried the load many times for me
while I was conducting NSCAA business. Dawn
Greathouse, Ken Nuber and Jeannette Boudway
– you all are true professionals! Most important,
thanks to my wife, Dianna, for being so giving
and supportive during this crazy ride – you are
the best.
I’ve seen so much change since those early
days in 1968. I never would have dreamed back
then that I could make a living in this sport. Let’s
make sure that the next generation gets to enjoy
and share all of the rewards that we have. So
a very special thanks to you, the membership,
whether you are a coach, referee, administrator,
or sponsor, for all that you do.
3
4 Soccer Journal November-December 2009

What Makes a Great Coach?
Looking for the aspects that must be present to reach that level
Some food for thought...
What makes a great coach? I suppose in many
ways this is a goal of Soccer Journal: to help you de-
fine a great coach, then to help all coaches become
great. A coach must master many functions, skills
and roles to survive, let alone be considered great.
The functions of a coach can be defined in the
same way any management text defines the func-
tions of a manager. Many argue that the functions
necessary to run IBM are the same needed to run
a team. After all, the coach is simply the CEO of his
or her organization. Most will agree that the func-
tions of a coach can be defined in four major areas:
• Planning
• Organizing
• Leading
• Evaluating
The skills necessary to be a great coach, on the
other hand, are a bit different. Again, according to
management texts, managerial skills can be broken
down into three main areas. Some texts will list the
skills in pyramid fashion with technique at the base,
followed by human skills and finally conceptual
skills at the apex.
Within the aforementioned skills, the coach (man-
ager) performs different roles. The great coaches
understand that coaching is not only Xs and Os
(technical skill), but much more. Coaches perform
many roles every day. The roles may include – but
are not limited to:
• Leader
• Figurehead
• Spokesperson
• Resource Allocator
• Negotiator
• Disturbance Handler
• Information Disseminator
• Tactician
• Long-Term Planner
A few months ago the English soccer magazine
FourFourTwo published a supplement entitled “The
Special Ones or What Makes a Great Manager.”
In the United States, we refer to the manager as
the coach, although there is a distinction in England
and most of the rest of the soccer-playing world. In
this country the roles of the coach change markedly.
The roles and skills of a coach may change between
high school and college coaches; between coaches
in different NCAA divisions; between coaches of
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
by Jay Martin, Editor
different genders and even within the ranks of • Success: Like it or not, wins and losses define
youth coaches. a manager’s career. Soccer history does not
The many variables in this country for coaches discuss balancing budgets, avoiding relegation
make it difficult to try to define what makes a great or whether you have to teach classes or not.
coach. In fact it would be close to impossible to • Man Management: If you can’t get your
identify the “greatest coaches” in the United States. players to perform, you won’t get anywhere as
The functions of a coach can be defined
in the same way any management text defines
the functions of a manager. After all, the coach
is simply the CEO of his or her organization.
These variables include: a coach. Knowing how to motivate, nurture,
• Age group insult and tease your players to get their best
• Gender is crucial.
• Budget • Strategy: Is there a long-term plan or vision for
• Job description your team or club? Have you set goals – both
• Facilities short-term and long-term – that you are moving
• Players toward?
• Infrastructure of the organization • Tactics: The elite coaches can wrong foot
• Staffing – assistant coaches, administrators etc. opponents, change a match, win a match
or prepare for a match with a single tactical
So how did FourFourTwo complete the task change.
of listing the greatest managers and coaches? • Team Building: Real Madrid learned that 11
Howard Wilkinson, Chairman of the LMA and the “galacticos” won’t make the best team. Good
last English manager to win the league title, stated coaches know that putting compatible play-
in the preface: ers on the field creates good teams. Players
“The list of human qualities that the men on the who are workers are just as important as the
(final) list possess is a long one. They have dura- superstars. And when your team needs “new
bility, determination, resilience, energy, intuition; blood,” do you have a vision to rebuild?
they are all strong and single-minded winners, • Genius: A certain je ne sais quoi, an aura that
they are top psychologists, top man managers. helps a coach drive a team to a championship
The list goes on…” or to reaching their potential with the sheer force
He goes on to suggest that in addition to the of his or her personality.
above, great coaches and managers have a tre-
mendous passion for soccer; are always striving The winner in FourFourTwo? Sir Alex Ferguson
for excellence and perfection; have tremendous was rated the best manager/coach of all time, beat-
communication skills; have a deep-seated self- ing out Bob Paisley, Sir Alf Ramsey and Matt Busby,
belief and an ability to act on intuition. among others.
To find coaches that exhibit all those qualities Where or how do you measure yourself in relation to
would be a daunting task. Using a committee of the six criteria above? Don’t get too nervous. The “Special
four, FourFourTwo decided on the six areas that One” – Jose Mourinho was a lowly 14th!!
best describe the best coach/manager:
5
6 Soccer Journal November-December 2009

Are We There Yet?
Is the American soccer culture closing in on the rest of the world?
In late July I attended a soccer spectacular in
Kansas and walked away wondering “Have we
arrived?” One of the best passers of the ball in the
history of the game was wearing No. 23 for the LA
Galaxy, bringing such a sublime array of distribution
that those spectators with an acute understanding
of the game were left, frequently, breathless. That
is where the real story begins.
Those in attendance knew that they were watch-
ing genius at work and David Beckham’s passes
frequently received a rippling round of applause. The
crowd was enthralled, just like any crowd in Europe
or Latin America – not just at the scoring of goals but
with the recognition of high-quality play. Having said
that, I also must point out that the game featured one
of the greatest goals ever seen in American soccer.
Kansas City forward Claudio Lopez saw the LA
Galaxy goalkeeper off his line and, from five yards
inside his own half of the field, drove a rocket over
the goalkeeper and into the net. The packed house
exploded in reaction to another piece of genius, even
though Lopez’ overall contribution to the game proved
to be far more modest than Beckham’s.
A packed house in the minor league baseball sta-
dium the Wizards currently use is just under 11,000,
but as someone once said, “Density is more important
than crowd size,” and the joint was jumping. Prior to
the game dozens of tailgaters wearing Wizards blue
shirts mixed freely and jovially with groups of Galaxy
fans clad in Beckham jerseys. It seemed to me that we
could teach the world a lesson or two about support-
ing a team without turning a sporting event into tribal
warfare. Hats off to the Wizards event staff for a night
that featured not only some exciting and enthralling
soccer, but also non-stop entertainment from begin-
ning to end – a truly festive occasion and a thoroughly
memorable night.
Beckham’s passing needs more commentary.
Before you pass it you have to get it, and his
ability to receive a ball and knock it off first time
was uncanny. His awareness of his teammates
and opponents at all times is the mark of a savvy
and enormously experienced master. The balls he
dwelled over with two or three touches were then
delivered with perfect pace and spin, including
a penetrating pass to Landon Donovan from the
halfway line, on the ground. The pass pierced
three or four lines of Wizards defenders, landed on
Donovan’s foot with perfection, only for the striker’s
shot on goal to be saved by indominatable Wizards
goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, who had a busy night.
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
by Jeff Tipping, Director of Coaching Education and Development
Beckham’s driving of the ball “on a rope” should
also be mentioned, especially as so many of our
players hook everything. The ability to drive the ball 50
yards enables center backs to hit the center forward in
the chest or midfielders to change the point of attack.
The technique of how to do this is examined in con-
siderable depth in the NSCAA National Diploma. It is
one of the techniques the NSCAA Academy believes
our players can get better at executing.
So…have we arrived? In many ways I think we
have. Returning home with a deep sense of satisfac-
It seemed to me that we could teach
the world a lesson or two about
supporting your team without turning
a sporting event into tribal warfare.
tion to watch MLS highlights and see similar spec-
tacles from around the country, I found it hard not to
reflect with pleasure on how far we have come. The
United States has all of the characteristics of a country
that has emerged from the shadows into the broad
sunlit uplands of soccer prominence. In my 35 years
in the U.S. there has never been more soccer on TV
(with American commentators); now there are two fully
functioning pro leagues that occupy a lot of that TV air
space and feature some of the world’s most talented
players. We see soccer shirts being worn in airports,
we have dozens of Americans playing overseas, we
have a men’s national team ranked in the top 10 on
a regular basis and a women’s national team always
ranked one or two. We have complexes being built
all around the country and millions of participants in
the game.
From an NSCAA standpoint and my standpoint as
the Director of Coaching Education and Development,
I am pleased to report one more sign that we have,
possibly, arrived. We now have six NSCAA members
who in the last couple of years have been hired by
foreign countries to coach overseas. Dan Gaspar
recently returned after his latest stint as goalkeeper
coach for the Portuguese National Team; Derek
Broadley, an NSCAA Master Coach holder, has been
hired by Bermuda to act as its director of coaching; and
NSCAA President Randy Waldrum recently served as
director of the Trinidad and Tobago Women’s National
Teams. In addition Wayne Harrison (an NSCAA Pre-
mier Diploma holder) has been hired as the academy
director for a professional team in Dubai, where he is
joining Lee Mitchell, also an NSCAA Master Coach
holder, who has been coaching a professional team
in the Middle East. We recently learned that NSCAA
member John Murphy, NSCAA Premier Diploma
holder and former director of soccer for the Colorado
Rapids, has been hired by Livingston Football Club in
Scotland as its first team coach. All of these coaches
are affiliated with the NSCAA either as staff or have
worked closely with the NSCAA Academy over the
years. It is refreshing to see our people being invited
overseas rather than it always being the other way
around.
One other measurement of our growth needs
notation and that is the number of foreign nationals
coming to NSCAA Coaching education events this
summer from India, Africa, the Caribbean, Canada
and numerous European countries.
We all have different measurements on the concept
of what it means to say we have finally arrived as a
sport, and we certainly have plenty of issues that we
must deal with. Of course, that measurement will be
different in the women’s game, where we are the
world’s leader, than the men’s. However, when we
have superstars playing in our packed stadiums before
knowledgeable and passionate fans, three or four TV
channels showing soccer numerous times during the
week, national team programs vying for international
success, NSCAA-educated members being invited to
coach overseas and flocks of internationals coming
to our educational events, it is not hard to believe that
there are great things happening in our country.
7
8 Soccer Journal November-December 2009
 Out of Tragedy, a Reminder of the Power of Human Spirit
The following was sub-
mitted by NSCAA member
Bobby Sauer, the men’s
assistant coach at Warner
University and varsity girls
coach at Freedom High
School. He holds an NSCAA
Advanced National Diploma
and a USSF C License.
Twenty years of coach-
ing soccer has given me the
opportunity to work with
and coach some incredible
people. I am not referring to
incredible soccer ability but
to truly incredible people.
Through our soccer affilia-
tions, we are familiar with
administrators, coaches,
parents, players, the media,
business partners and
everyone else involved in
soccer.
Of all of the acquain-
tances and relationships I
have made through soccer,
few compare to the re-
markable young lady I am
working with right now.
During a recent week-
end I was traveling with
my college team when I
received two phone calls in
a matter of 10 minutes. I
did not hear the phone ring
either time.
When I retrieved the
messages, I found one
from the father of one of
my high school players,
the other from her club
coach. Both men sounded
genuinely concerned
and anxious. I assumed
that my player had been
injured during a game. I
wish my initial concerns
were the extent of the
situation.
Bree McMahon is a
third-year varsity starter for
me at Freedom High School
in Orlando. She recently
had received a scholarship
offer from Brevard College
in North Carolina. I was ex-
cited for Bree’s accomplish-
ment, especially because I
played for Brevard College
many years ago.
Bree was equally as ex-
cited to share the news with
me. A couple days after her
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
visit and subsequent schol-
arship offer, she came run-
ning to share the news with
me at club practice, where I
was preparing to coach my
son’s U-13 team.
As she ran to me with
arms wide open for a con-
gratulatory hug, I stopped
her and reminded her of
my “No Hug Policy.” She
stopped, but pleaded her
case: “But coach, I just got
an offer to play at Brevard
and I just want one hug.”
Standing in front of a
group of parents, I needed
to comply with my own
rule even though I really
wanted to give her that con-
gratulatory hug. In an effort
to appease her I said “Next
year, when you are in col-
lege and you come home to
visit, I will give you a hug.”
I wish I had reconsidered
my policy at that point.
A few days later I made
that trip with my college
team and retrieved the
missed calls. I returned the
phone call to the club coach
first because he is a friend
– if something was wrong
I wanted to be prepared to
talk to Bree’s father with the
right information.
I was shocked when I
realized that he was notice-
ably crying as he answered
the phone. Between sobs he
explained to me that Bree
had been involved in an
accident while working a
car wash fundraiser for her
club team. A driver’s foot
had slipped and accelerated
instead of braking, and Bree
was pinned between the car
and a wall, causing extreme
trauma to both legs.
I have coached Bree for
a few years and have a close
friendship with her father.
I found myself speechless,
suspended in disbelief. Bree
is the kind of child that you
have to love. She is bright,
outgoing, feisty, smart, nice
and one heck of a kid. I
have observed this same
relationship with her club
coach and, as a matter of
fact, nearly everyone that
she meets through soccer.
She has a warm heart that
sucks you in.
Bree’s injuries were
extreme. The accident had
damaged the major arter-
ies in both legs, resulting
in an extreme amount
of blood loss to the legs.
Bree endured numerous
surgeries over the week-
end to return blood flow
to both legs and stabilize
her crushed right femur.
Eventually her physicians
were forced to amputate
her left leg above the knee
in order to save her life.
Ten days later, her
right leg still had numer-
ous problems which
will result in mobility
issues the rest of her life.
When I returned to town
after my college trip there
was concern that blood
clotting may cause fatal
complications. At that
point I had to seriously
face the thought of losing
this young lady.
Since the accident, Bree
has been featured on mul-
tiple news stations, as well
as in the Orlando Sentinel,
our market’s main daily
newspaper. She has created
an outpouring of support
from the soccer community,
both locally and statewide.
Ryan Longwell of
the NFL’s Minnesota
Vikings and Mia Hamm
have reached out to her.
National restaurant chains
and local merchants have
offered their support. Radio
stations and other media
outlets have committed to
continuing efforts to reach
out to our community for
their help. Together with
our school’s principal and
athletic department staff,
we are planning an event
to bring our communities
together to raise money to
cover the considerable out-
of-pocket expense that her
family faces.
Man, oh man, does
this girl have an impact.
It amazes me to see how a
community can respond
with such love and generos-
ity in response to such
a tragic accident. I have
shared the purest of love
as a husband and father. I
have experienced births,
broken arms and my own
serious illness. During each,
my family has been sur-
rounded by loving and sup-
portive friends and family.
However, witnessing
this outpouring of love
and support for Bree has
raised unique, immeasur-
able emotions. This is truly
a testament to Bree’s own
selfless giving to others and
a reflection of what she
would do for anyone in her
community.
What a wonderful story
of outreach by a commu-
nity. But this is not the end,
nor is it the moral, of the
story.
Bree is the story! Bree is
what makes me feel blessed.
Knowing Bree makes others
feel blessed. The interna-
tional soccer community is
blessed by its amazing indi-
viduals like Bree McMahon.
After all that has hap-
pened to this young lady
– after a traumatic accident,
after virtually having her
legs almost ripped off while
awake, after her left leg
was amputated below the
knee to save her life, after
potentially limited use of
her right leg – Bree remains
Bree.
She remains the same
precocious young lady she
was before the accident.
She has a sharp tongue, a
great sense of humor and
a positive attitude. When
her club coach sympatheti-
cally told her how sorry he
was she said, “Coach, ****
happens.”
She has told her mother
and father she wants to play
soccer, she wants to run
and that she wants to be my
captain this year. She will
be. She is eager to get back
to her team, to lead them
into each game, each train-
ing session by whatever
means possible. Neither
bump, trip nor slide tackle
from behind could slow this
girl down.
The Freedom High
School Lady Patriots, my
team – no scratch that,
Bree’s team – will celebrate
its senior night on Janu-
ary13, just three months
away. I am committed to
ensuring that Bree will
be on the field, side by
side with her teammates,
celebrating her life and her
senior year.
In the days since the
accident I have cried, I have
taken deep breaths and
found the words to explain
to family and friends what
is happening and how
Bree is doing. Through the
endless explanations and
updates, phone calls and
meetings during this time,
I have finally come to the
most important realization:
Through my relation-
ship with Bree McMahon,
I am the luckiest coach
around!
Oh, one more thing.
As I read over what I have
written above, one more
Bree story comes to mind.
It is the moral of this tale,
what epitomizes Bree. I
recently made my daily visit
to Bree. As I entered her
room and walked to stand
beside her bed, she did not
say hello. She did not cry.
Bree simply turned to me
and said, “Coach, you really
need to change that no hug
policy,”
To know Bree McMa-
hon is to be blessed. Her
story, her life is a message
of love, community and
the preciousness of life.
Donations to Breanna’s
recovery fund are being ac-
cepted by the Old Southern
Bank. The contact person at
Old Southern Bank is Don-
na Ramirez at dramirez@
OldSouthernBank.com. The
address at Old Southern
Bank is 250 N. Orange
Ave., Orlando, FL. 32801.
The phone number is (407)
420-3900.
9
SJ Research
DEVELOPMENT, ENHANCEMENT
AND SUSTAINABILITY OF EXPERT
PERFORMANCE IN SPORT
This article was first published in the USOC
e-zine in summer 2009. For more information go
to www.teamusa.org and click on coaching.
On Nov. 13-14, 2008, the U.S. Committee
held a conference focusing on Expert Perfor-
mance in Sport. Some of the top experts in the
world presented their research and its implica-
tion to sport. This article provides key points
made by each of the presenters.
K. Anders Ericsson, Ph.D., studies the
cognitive structure of expert performance in
domains such as music, chess and sports, and
how expert performers attain their superior
performance by acquiring complex cognitive
mechanisms and physiological adaptations
through extended deliberate practice. He has
edited several books on expertise —“Expert
Performance in Sports” (2001), “Cambridge
Handbook of Expertise and Expert Perfor-
mance” (2006) and “Development of Profes-
sional Expertise: Measurement of Expert
Performance and Design of Optimal Learning
Environments” (in press).
Key Points from K. Anders Ericsson: Develop-
ment of Skills in High-Level Performances
• Practice for practice’s sake is not beneficial
to improve expert performance. “Deliber-
ate practice” – practice with goals and
expectations along with monitoring by a
coach – makes a difference. This can be
done through “individualized training
activities especially designed by a coach
or teacher to improve specific aspects
of an individual’s performance through
repetition and successive refinement. To
receive maximal benefit from feedback,
individuals have to monitor their training
with full concentration, which is effortful
and limits the duration of daily training.”
(Ericsson and Lehmann) The idea is that
the athletes stretch themselves into areas
where they have to concentrate fully to
gain benefit.
• Experts become expert with 10,000 hours
or 10 years of deliberate practice. Less ac-
complished performers have lower num-
bers of hours spent in deliberate practice.
The most important aspect is the number
of hours spent in deliberate practice refin-
ing skills. Time appears to be the major
factor, not ability or talent. Child prodi-
gies are starting their training time earlier
and have more hours of practice at an
earlier age.
• Experts can see the situation and make de-
cisions regarding the situation more quickly
than beginners.
10
• Practicing skills by themselves is a hall-
mark of expert performers at all stages of
development. Expert chess players spent
more than 6,000 hours studying chess
games of the masters, not playing chess
games. A student was trying to predict
the next move of an expert player and
compared moves to see if the two of them
made the same move and, if not, try to
determine what the expert saw.
• Skilled performance is not correlated to IQ.
• Expert performers are more consistent in
duplicating their skills than recreational-
level athletes. Experience is necessary
and cannot be substituted. The building
blocks for success: solid fundamentals,
refined representations, and speed and
articulation.
Richard A. Schmidt, Ph.D., is known as
one of the research leaders in human motor
behavior (or human performance); Schmidt
has more than 35 years of experience in this
area and has published widely – 150 articles
and three books. He has a consulting firm,
Human Performance Research, in Los An-
geles, where he works in the area of human
factors and ergonomics. Human factors is the
field of study concerned with the interaction
of human capabilities/limitations and the
design of “things” (broadly defined, such as
toasters, cars, software, etc.).
Key Points from Richard A. Schmidt: Principles of
Practice for the Development of Skilled Actions
• The differences between “blocked” and
“random” practice were analyzed for ef-
fectiveness. An example of blocked prac-
tice was a child learning multiplication
tables, and the teacher continued to ask
5 x 5 =? After a period of time, the child
does not think about the answer or the
process and just responds. An example of
random practice would be that the coach
is working on three different aspects (1, 2
and 3), the coach would have the athlete
work on 1, then 3, then 1, then 2, then
3, then 2. The athlete would not know
what to expect at practice and would
have to “retrieve” information to perform
each task. One of the key points is not to
practice similar skills one after the other
as some confusion may occur. (Example:
Dribble around cones, shoot free throw,
dribble around cones, shoot lay-up, shoot
free throw, shoot lay-up, dribble around
cones).
• Block practice is good for performance of
a skill, but random is better for competi-
tion skills.
• It is important for athletes to develop “re-
trieval skills” for playing sports and mak-
ing decisions in games. One way to help
develop these skills is “spaced practice.”
You work on the skill and in a couple of
hours or days repeat the skill to see if the
athlete can retrieve it from memory.
• FEEDBACK – the most important factor in
learning a skill.
• The coach typically provides feedback to
the athlete, although athletes can learn to
provide themselves feedback based on both
process and outcome.
• Various types of feedback:
o Augmented – The coach provides “aug-
mented feedback” either about the out-
come or the quality of the action.
o Summary – Provide feedback back after
five, 10 or 15 performances of a skill. To
retain the skill after it is learned, summa-
ry feedback after 10 or 15 performances
is beneficial.
o Instantaneous – This is the tendency for
most coaches, but it is the least beneficial.
o Continuous and Concurrent – This type
of feedback is less effective for retention.
o Bandwidth – The coach establishes a high
level and a low level of acceptable perfor-
mances and makes comments only when
the performance is on either side of the
“bandwidth.”
Dr. Peter Vint is a senior sport technolo-
gist with the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Per-
formance Services Division. Vint received his
bachelor’s degree in sports science research
with a minor in mathematics from Northern
Illinois University in 1989, and his master’s
degree in biomechanics from the University
of Delaware in 1993. He earned his Ph.D.
in Biomechanics at Arizona State University
in 1997 and subsequently was employed
as an assistant professor in biomechanics at
the University of North Carolina at Greens-
boro. Prior to accepting his position with the
USOC, Vint held a postdoctoral fellowship
in motor control at Arizona State University
and was hired as a research scientist with a
human factors research firm in Tempe, Ariz.
Key Points from Peter Vint: Feedback Theory and
Application: Best Practices and Practical Solutions
• The three types of instructional styles are:
o Explicit – Coach defines process, athlete
just acts.
o Implicit – Athlete figures out the relation-
ships and rules themselves.
o Guided Discovery – Coach provides
clues, and athlete establishes relationship
and rules.
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
• Six feedback considerations:
1. Provide feedback and design practices
to maximize learning and competition
performance.
2. Provide feedback that athletes cannot
obtain themselves.
3. Help athletes become introspective and
independent.
4. When ready, provide athletes opportu-
nity to control delivery of feedback.
5. Prioritize feedback so it can be acted
upon in the time frame considered.
6. Provide feedback more frequently dur-
ing early skill acquisition phase, less
frequently later (fade out the feedback).
• Deterministic modeling – Helps the coach
by showing the relationships between a
performance or skill and the factors that
contribute to the performance or skill. It
is a flow chart of factors that helps a coach
prioritize training emphasis and determines
factors that contribute to performance. The
process helps the coach define the direction
of training.
• Making a rubric – Once the coach under-
stands the skill and the components of the
skill, a rubric can be designed to provide
an evaluation tool. The coach can isolate
sections of the skill to evaluate and provide
feedback to the athlete.
A. Mark Williams is Professor of Motor
Behavior at the Research Institute for Sport
and Exercise Sciences at Liverpool John
Moores University in the United Kingdom. His
research interests focus on expertise and its
acquisition across domains, with a particular
focus on expert performance, skill acquisition
and effective practice and instruction. Over
the last 10 years, he has received more than
$4 million in external support and has been
funded by Research Councils such as the Eco-
nomic and Social Research Council and British
Academy, by commercial companies such as
Nike and Umbro, by federal agencies such as
the Office of Naval Research and by national
governing bodies of sport such as the English
Football Association, UEFA, FIFA, the English
Cricket Board, Sports Coach UK and UK Sport.
These grants largely have focused on issues
related to skill acquisition, simulation training
and effective practice and instruction.
Key Points from Mark Williams: Anticipation
Skill in Sport: From Testing to Training
• There is no difference between an expert
performer and beginner as far as visual mea-
sures – experts do not have superior visual
function or visual acuity. The difference in
the expert and beginner is how the expert
processes the information that the eye takes
in.
• Anticipation skills are used to try to predict
the movement of an opponent or object.
• Expert athletes have the ability to pick up
advanced postural anticipation cues. Posi-
tioning of hips, shoulders and feet provide
the expert valuable cues as well as the speed
of the ball or opponent. They are much bet-
ter developing cues prior to ball contact.
Experts use more and more varied cues than
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
a beginning athlete, who use a smaller num-
ber of postural cues.
• Expert athletes could view film and rec-
ognize patterns of play that they had
previously seen. This skill enables them to
process information in a more meaningful
manner to their play – they see patterns
and structures.
• Using eye-tracking equipment, research
shows that experts use more effective
visual search strategies. Expert athletes
look at different areas for different periods
of time than beginners. Beginners tend
to watch the ball more, and the expert is
looking for the pattern of play and search-
es more of the field. It is more reactive
than anticipatory with the beginner.
• Expert athletes have a greater knowledge of
situational probabilities. They have seen the
situation and can anticipate probable action.
They develop a hierarchy of probability.
• An enhanced awareness of tactical opportu-
nities is an expert skill. Experts determine
the next move prior to receiving the ball.
• Postural recognition occurs in future elite
athletes at around 12. However, those ath-
letes measured had more practice hours
than the sub-elite group. It is based on
experience.
• In testing shooters, there is a period of eye
fixation – a “quiet eye period.” Those shoot-
ers who could maintain the time of eye fixa-
tion tended to be better shooters.
• From Theory to Practice: Identify postural
cues to teach athletes – you can use video
to assist in this by showing the action that
you want the athlete to react to (e.g. goal
kick, volleyball set and spike) and ask-
ing the athlete to react to the action seen.
Experts respond with 90 to 95 percent ac-
curacy; with training the beginner will see
an increase in response time.
• Athlete anxiety is lower with guided discov-
ery than with explicit direction.
Key Points from Mark Williams’ second presen-
tation: Practice and Instruction in Sport: Chal-
lenging Tradition!
• Learning – “… a set of processes associated
with practice or experience that leads to a
relatively permanent change in the capabil-
ity for movement.” Performance – “… ob-
served behavior.”
• Expert athletes spent more time in non-
coached deliberate play than athletes who
were released from teams.
• Athletes in the Soccer Academy in England
spend 18 hours a week in practice. The
breakdown of that practice is four hours of
team practice, five hours of individual prac-
tice and nine hours of deliberate play.
• For effective learning – a coach should
demonstrate only when necessary, only af-
ter initial practice on task. A coach should
have variation and randomness in practice
and provide the least amount of feedback.
• The challenge for a coach is to come up
with a way to provide the least amount of
instruction.
• Conveying information to athletes – most
coaches demonstrate. The learner picks up
the relative motion or the coordination pat-
tern of the movement. Demonstration is
most effective early in learning. Demonstra-
tions are less effective when trying to refine
or scale an existing movement pattern. It
is hard to pick up the subtle differences in
movements through demonstration.
• Can demonstrations be detrimental? It is
possible that demonstration stifles creativ-
ity in learning; it puts the focus on the
technical aspect over what you want for an
outcome (action). Children will focus on
your feedback instead of trying to model
the form demonstrated. Optimal time for
practice is 1-1.5 hours in length, but that
depends on the nature of the skill and the
work-to-rest ratio.
• Practice when fatigued is detrimental to per-
formance in the practice session. An athlete
has to perform when fatigued in competi-
tion (sport-dependent).
o Specific practice – repetitive practice of a
skill under constant practice conditions
(Schmidt’s blocked practice) is better for
performance in session.
o Variable practice – variety within practice
conditions (Schmidt’s random practice) is
better for learning.
• Manipulating a variety of factors that might
occur during competition is the challenge
for the coach. Such factors are distance,
speed, height or direction of skill.
• Contextual Interference – Block practice
is low in contextual interference. The
athlete can focus on one skill without
interference of other skills in the context
of the sport. Random practice is high
in contextual interference as the athlete
practices several skills in a random man-
ner. Low contextual practice is better for
performance in a session; high contextual
practice is better for overall learning.
• Combining variable practices with high
contextual interference skill with the skills
being markedly different is the best method.
• Feedback
o Feedback is more important early in the
learning stage.
o It is a factor in the correct development of
the skill being learned.
o The coach wants learners to develop the
ability to detect and correct their own er-
rors.
o Feedback frequency should be decreased
over time.
• Prescriptive v. Guided Discovery coaching
o In prescriptive coaching, a coach provides
all the cues for learning and prescribes ac-
tivities. Learning is more efficient initially,
but skills are more likely to break down
under pressure.
o In guided-discovery coaching, a coach
guides an athlete into learning a skill by
providing opportunity for the athlete to
learn the skill; the coach provides cues
when needed. The skills the athlete
learns are more adaptable and unique,
are more resistant to forgetting and less
likely to break down under pressure,
but it takes more time for the athlete to
learn initially.
11
Coaching • College and Professional
The Complexities and Demands
of the Professional Soccer Manager
By Ian Lawrence, York University
Professional soccer teams in England and
the United States have different structures (i.e.
manager v. coach). Dr. Ian Lawrence researches
the added demands placed on a professional
soccer manager in the United Kingdom.
In professional association football
(soccer), as in other high-status sports, the
position of manager represents a stressful
and turbulent occupation in which individu-
als are publicly held responsible for a team’s
performance. In a role that is legendary for
its insecurity of tenure, it is perhaps not
surprising that effective, and by definition
this means successful, managers are a highly
valued commodity.
In 2006-07, more than half of the 92
managers that started the English profession-
al league season had been fired by season’s
end. The average length of tenure per mana-
gerial position during this period averaged
just two years. Whether management in cur-
rent-day professional soccer should be con-
sidered a profession is a contentious issue.
By definition, elite soccer managers should
demonstrate a high level of education and
training enforced by their governing body.
However, the professional status of managers
in the United Kingdom is a relatively new
phenomenon, heralded by the creation of the
FIFA Pro license in 1997. The first graduates
followed in 1998.
The Role(s) of the
Professional Soccer Manager
In the United Kingdom, a professional soc-
cer manager traditionally has been expected to
have responsibilities above and beyond those
generally expected of a coach in the United
States. The first professional coach in the Unit-
ed Kingdom credited with having a modern
managerial role was Herbert Chapman in the
1920s. The first English national soccer team
coach, Walter Winterbottom in 1947, also had
a managerial role. The tradition of a coach who
embraces a variety of roles exceeding those
normally expected of a coach continues to this
day in British soccer. As such the title of coach
may be limited and not fully represent the
multi-disciplinary nature of the job.
The all-embracing title of “manager” is dis-
tinct from that of coach. A manager’s respon-
sibilities are close to those held by a combina-
tion of head coach and athletic director in
the United States. Traditionally, a coach has a
12
prescribed and limited number of roles, which world of the modern manager is something
typically includes a planned, coordinated and that any club sports psychologist has to be
integrated program of athlete preparation (Bak- acutely aware of. This pressure-cooker envi-
er, Horton, Robertson-Wilson & Wall, 2003). ronment may best be summarized by former
In contrast, a modern professional soccer man- Liverpool FC manager Kenny Dalglish, who
ager must acknowledge the importance of his allegedly had a coffee mug in his kitchen
role from a business or financial perspective. with the slogan, “We interrupt this marriage
Some theorists have attempted to distin- to bring you the football season.” (Garfield,
guish the difference between a manager and 2002)
a leader by emphasizing the organizational In light of the high levels of stress that
role of the manager and the vision and are associated with soccer management,
direction provided by leaders (Weinberg & it is interesting that a number of leader-
Gould, 2003), but the role of manager (see ship traits appear to be associated with the
Table 1) clearly encompasses elements of concepts of hardiness and mental toughness
both. The consensus appears to be that man- (e.g. achievement orientation, persistence,
agement implies leadership, but that leaders self-confidence, stress tolerance etc.). For
need not necessarily be managers. The example, the work of existential psycholo-
complexity of the role of professional soccer gists (Kobasa, 1979; Kobasa, Maddi, &
manager is in the
necessity to maxi-
mize the output of Roles of a Professional Soccer Manager
the club by orga-
Core Responsibilities First team selection
nizing, planning,
Method of play
staffing, directing
Assembly, maintenance of a playing
and controlling;
squad
leadership is just
one aspect of the Prime Tasks Club coaching policy
directing function. Player discipline, fitness, preparation
Because manage- and well-being
ment is essentially Player development
a role that is likely Appointment of assistant staff
to include leader- Attendance at board meetings
ship and coaching Media dealings
responsibilities,
research evidence Contributory Tasks Salary/contract of players
Club scouting policy
from both leader-
ship and coaching Club youth policy
domains will be Preparing match program notes
briefly reviewed General public relations/sponsorship
in this paper. The dealings
extended role of a
professional soccer
manager is summarized in the table on this Khan, 1982) led to greater understanding
page. of the stress-illness relationship, and the
Inevitably, a manager is subjected to cognitive mechanisms that enable individu-
pressure from a variety of source – fans, club als to function efficiently and tolerate highly
owners, players and media. A “fear of failure” stressful situations without becoming ill. Ko-
has the cumulative effect of creating an basa (1979) found that executives who were
intense working environment and potentially exposed to highly stressful environments
exacerbating the climate of insecurity. A but remained healthy (as opposed to those
palpable “fear of humiliation” and repercus- who became ill) were characterized by a set
sions both on a professional and family level of distinct cognitive attributes that has been
are features of a sport embraced by a culture described as the hardy personality.
in which every observer considers himself an The three dimensions of hardiness as
expert. The sponsors of the English Premier highlighted by Kobasa (1979) reflect: com-
League have stated that there are 60 million mitment (which reflects an individual’s
soccer managers in Britain, 59.999 million ability to feel deeply involved or committed
of whom are unemployed. The high-pressure to the activities in their lives); control (deci-
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
sional control, or the ability to autonomous-
ly choose between various coping strategies
in order to deal with stress; and cognitive
control, the ability to appraise stressful
events as being part of an ongoing life plan,
thus deactivating their jarring effects); and
challenge (the anticipation of change rather
than stability as the norm, and the interpre-
tation of change as a challenge or chance to
grow rather than as a threat). These three
dimensions appear to act as a buffer to stress
(Kobasa, 1979; Kobasa et al., 1982).
Maddi (2004) suggested that hardiness
represents a manifestation of existential
courage; that is, without courage, individu-
als may revert to habitual past choices and
behaviors (holding on to what is already
known and familiar) rather than seeking out
new and perhaps more effective alternatives.
This concept easily can be transferred to
soccer management, where a cursory glance
at professional managers in England reveals a
distinction between those who have applied
scientific principles to training and embraced
new developments in sports science, and
those who have more rigid, set ideas about
how things should be done, which usually is
rooted in past traditions.
In more sports-specific research, Clough,
Earle and Sewell (2002) developed the
concept of the hardy personality by adding
confidence as a further dimension to pro-
duce their own concept of mental toughness.
Alongside this, Clough et al. developed an
instrument that appears to be a valid and re-
liable measure of mental toughness (Clough
et al., 2002; Crust & Clough, 2005) that is
known as the MT48. Clough et al. state that:
Mentally tough individuals tend to be
sociable and outgoing; as they are able to re-
main calm and relaxed, they are competitive
in many situations and have lower anxiety
levels than others. With a high sense of
self-belief and an unshakable faith that they
control their own destiny, these individuals
can remain relatively unaffected by competi-
tion or adversity. (p. 38)
Intuition tells us that the ability to func-
tion effectively, not just in terms of remain-
ing healthy, but also in terms of decision-
making and remaining clear and logical in
thought when experiencing adversity, would
be an important characteristic of a soccer
manager. That includes keeping players
focused on what is important and connect-
ing with team members’ core values. Recent
research has shown that mental toughness
is positively correlated with performance of
endurance tasks (Crust & Clough, 2005);
negatively correlated with perceptions of
exertion in conditions of high-intensity
exercise; and predicts those individuals who
are more likely to be able to bounce back
(show resilience) after negative feedback
(Clough et al., 2002). Although research into
mental toughness still is at an early stage and
has focused mostly on sports performers, ex-
tending such research to incorporate soccer
managers would enhance knowledge of what
some researchers have described as one of
the most important psychological attributes
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
in achieving excellence (Jones, Hanton, &
Connaughton, 2002).
Recent research has shown that hardiness
can be learned, and that hardiness train-
ing with managers can lead to increased job
satisfaction, lower levels of stress, strain,
anxiety, disgust and blood pressure (Maddi,
Khan, & Maddi, 1998). These researchers
developed a training program that involved
business managers learning how to cope
effectively with stressful circumstances; give
and get assistance and encouragement in so-
cial interactions; engage in the self-care that
supports effective coping and social support;
and use the feedback from these activities to
deepen their hardiness attitudes. Extending
hardiness and mental toughness research to
soccer managers should be encouraged; it is
apparent that some managers thrive on the
pressures of the job, but others succumb to
the stress and appear ill at ease.
What makes a good leader?
The simple answer is success. Cha-
risma may theoretically count, but only if
it reinforces the leader’s ability to generate
a supportive atmosphere. Success in soccer
clearly demonstrates that leadership ability
is founded on personal strengths that are
inward or intrinsic to the individual. The
personal strengths: vision, self-belief, results
focus, courage and integrity. According to
Heller (2003), those are the traits that man-
agers must develop to close the gap between
their potential and their achievement.
The above five strengths, while vital,
may not be enough. They achieve their
impact through teamwork, visibility, com-
municating, attention and commitment.
These five outward processes, common to
all organizations but ineffectively executed
in most teams, enable staff to close the gap
between potential and reality. The need for
these qualities and attributes is universal:
all managers, at all levels, like all players in
all sports, will enjoy more success the more
they develop these assets.
Despite a focus upon theory and re-
search, it is clear that variables outside the
manager’s direct control (such as finance, in-
jury and refereeing decisions) inevitably will
affect the degree of success that individuals
experience. Also, it is recognized that there
will be some soccer managers (by way of
traits, behaviors or interactions) that do not
conform to the proposed composite view, but
who are effective. There will be instances in
which the unique skills and knowledge of a
manager will enable him to function in ways
that appear contrary to research evidence,
but still be successful.
The utilization of sports science techniques
and practices within professional soccer is evi-
dently growing in recognition (Richardson &
Riley, 2004). The majority of professional clubs
and national associations now employ sports
scientists in their quest to gain a “competitive
edge.” Indeed the FA has created a “Psychology
Football Strategy” to increase awareness within
professional clubs. However, this development
evidently fails to address the psychological
needs of the manager.
Innovative and reflective manager-train-
ing courses can help individuals learn to
manage their responsibilities as effectively as
possible and facilitate critical interventions.
One such initiative in Britain is the training
program available to all soccer managers
at Warwick Business School in the United
Kingdom (certificate in Applied Manage-
ment). This new qualification is unique in
European soccer and contains training in
marketing, media relations, sports psychol-
ogy, branding and influencing skills.
In England, up until the creation of the
UEFA professional license, being a former
player seems to have been the main qualifi-
cation for soccer management. In Germany,
in contrast, aspiring managers have to
undergo a mandatory apprenticeship of two
years in the lower leagues. The challenge in
developing a management-education course
is to enable prospective candidates to learn
effectively from their experience (Borrie &
Knowles, 2003). Cognitive skills develop
through experience; a course that enables
individuals to reflect on their skills will
enhance their effectiveness in a dynamic,
diverse and complex activity.
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Crust, L., & Clough, P. J. (2005). Relationship
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The effectiveness of hardiness training. Con-
sulting Psychology Journal, 50, 78-86.
Richardson, D., & Riley, P. (2004). The role of
the Sports Scientist within professional foot-
ball. Insight: The FA Coaches Association
Journal, 3(5), 52.
13
14 Soccer Journal November-December 2009
 2010 NSCAA Board of Directors Candidates
VICE PRESIDEnT FOR COMMunICATIOnS AnD
MARKETIng
Jack Huckel
Hometown: Gan-
sevoort, N.Y.
Years as an
NSCAA Member: 36
Current soccer
involvement: Direc-
tor of Museum and
Archives, (Communi-
cations and Con-
stituency Services),
National Soccer Hall Huckel
of Fame and Museum,
Oneonta, N.Y.
Current NSCAA involvement: Secretary,
Board of Directors; Hall of Fame Committee
chairman; Awards Committee member; Con-
vention Committee Meals and Social Functions
Subcommittee member; Assistant Historian;
Brand Development Committee member.
NSCAA Board, Committee, and Academy
experience: Former member, Honor Award
Committee; former member, and chairman,
NCAA and ECAC New York Tournament
Selection Committee; former member; NSCAA
Coach of the Year Committee; earned an
NSCAA Premier Diploma.
History of soccer involvement: I began
playing in high school (1962), continued in
college and played amateur soccer – total playing
career of about 15 years that I restarted last year,
joining an O-40 indoor league and an O-50
outdoor league. I played much of that career
as a goalkeeper, but also played in the field.
Goalkeeper was my most successful position and
as an amateur player I was often asked to join
other teams when they entered tournaments and
needed replacement players.
I began coaching with my first teaching job
in the fall of 1968 and, in the end, coached
high school teams for 10 years and college
teams for 20 years. I also coached in club pro-
grams at various times.
Always interested in history in general,
I transferred that interest to U.S. and inter-
national soccer history in the late 1970s and
became active in researching, interviewing and
writing about the history of the game. My first
foray into this field was a series of interviews
with players on the 1950 U.S. National Team
that defeated England. I recently concluded
that series by meeting Bert Williams, the Eng-
land goalkeeper on that fateful day.
In 2000 I left full-time coaching to join the
National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum and
have continued to develop my knowledge of
the history of the game, while at the same time
working to more actively inform the general
public of the tradition of soccer in the United
States. This has been my biggest challenge in
the game!
I have been named the Maine College
Coach of the Year and have been honored to
receive an NSCAA Letter of Commendation.
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
I want to serve on the NSCAA Board of Di-
rectors because: I believe my 36 years of mem-
bership and the varied roles I have played in the
game – as a player, a coach, a coaching educator,
an administrator, a manager, and an historian
– provide me a valuable backdrop on which to
build the future of the NSCAA. I know that we
are a strong and important organization that must
meet new challenges in today’s and tomorrow’s
society as we support and educate coaches at
multiple levels of the game, from the new youth
coach to the seasoned professional. Because I
have been involved and/or interacted at all these
levels, I bring a deeper perspective to the issues
we face, and I will ask the questions that move
our discussions to the heart of the matter and will
work to build an ever-improving organization as
we create the NSCAA for tomorrow’s coaches.
In addition, my experience during the past
year as Secretary to the Board of Directors and
the Executive Committee has brought me up
to speed with the evolving issues facing our
organization, such as the demands of financial
management in perilous times, and the recent
successfully concluded leadership search.
These experiences have further prepared me to
fulfill the responsibilities of Vice President for
Marketing and Communications on the Board
of Directors and Executive Committee.
I believe my strongest qualifications for
this position are:
1) My year of experience as Secretary of the
Board of Directors and Executive Committee,
2) The longevity of my service to the game
and the NSCAA,
3) A commitment to working to maintain and
promote the NSCAA as the primary soccer
coaches association in the United States,
4) An undying commitment to build soccer’s
presence in the United States,
5) The diversity of my career, and
6) An insatiable quest to learn more about the
game.
During my tenure on the NSCAA Board
of Directors I would like to see:
1) Our organization become a stronger, more
recognized and more influential voice for
soccer in the United States,
2) Our organization work to broaden the per-
spective of coaches beyond solely coaching
the team, encouraging our membership to
become effective ambassadors for the game,
and to play an important role in building a
fan culture in future generations of players
and their families.
What steps would you propose the
NSCAA take to improve its image and influ-
ence within the U.S. soccer community?
1) Identify what our current image is among
soccer coaches and other organizations in
the U.S. soccer world, such as U.S. Soccer,
MLS, WPS, NCAA, etc.
2) Concurrently, ask an ad hoc task force to
make recommendations as to what image
the NSCAA should strive to achieve.
3) Study the dissonance between the two and
develop a plan that informs and recruits
membership to create the desired image.
What steps would you propose the
NSCAA take to enhance its position as a
leader of coaching education in the U.S.?
1) Regularly survey our membership as to
their education needs – in what areas do
they perceive that instruction is needed?
2) Continue to study the programs being of-
fered in other coaching programs, especially
those programs that aim instruction at the
club and youth level.
3) Continue to provide introductory short-
course programs at low fees so we can cap-
ture starting coaches with both the NSCAA
teaching process and the content.
4) Continue to work to put the NSCAA in the
forefront of the reporting on soccer coach-
ing with position papers on critical issues.
5) Create analysis reports on major competi-
tions in the United States, identifying the
strengths and weaknesses of the teams and
players involved and include a section on
proposed training methods to correct the
weaknesses and to maximize the strengths.
What steps would you propose the
NSCAA take to better serve its members?
1) We must continue to survey the member-
ship and ask for their help in identifying
needs and desires.
2) Continue the program of finding ways to
respond to these identified needs.
3) Continue to work to put the NSCAA in the
forefront of the reporting on soccer coach-
ing with position papers on critical issues.
4) Create analysis reports on major competi-
tions in the United States, identifying the
strengths and weaknesses of the teams and
players involved and include a section on
proposed training methods to correct the
weaknesses and to maximize the strengths.
Given the current economic climate, what
types of creative fiscal strategies have you
observed that might be transferable and thus
positively impact the NSCAA’s economic plan-
ning? A return to basics seems to me to be the
correct policy in times of stress. That is some-
thing we practice with our teams and it fits with
our financial practices. Consequently, the need is
to identify those services and programs that have
lasting and impactful value and be sure those are
funded at appropriate levels while decreasing or
eliminating the investments that serve to “gild the
lily,” so to speak.
The process must be pursued by the Board of
Directors and the CEO/Executive Director with
due diligence and in consultation with National
Office department heads and NSCAA committee
chairs who are closest to the general membership.
Goal 1 of the NSCAA’s strategic plan
for 2008-2012 is: Be the media’s primary
15
source on soccer coaching and player devel-
opment topics in the United States. Please
address your experience in working with
the media, including successes you have had
in developing media coverage.
As the National Soccer Hall of Fame and
Museum’s primary media contact for the past
eight years, I have had regular contact with the
media in all its forms on the national as well as
the local scale. I have made appearances on lo-
cal radio stations, on national television and at
stadiums and at games to promote the Hall of
Fame and Museum. I planned and coordinated
with national media organizations coverage of
Hall of Fame events such as election announce-
ments, Induction, and Hall of Fame Games.
I believe the greatest success has been
to markedly increase the coverage of Hall of
Fame events and announcements in the media.
When I began, the recognition of Hall of Fame
players and of the Hall of Fame and Museum
itself was minimal. Currently Hall of Famers
are almost universally identified when they are
mentioned in print or introduced on radio or
television. The symbolic “red jacket,” denoting
a Hall of Famer, has gained credence and has
begun to be used as shorthand in reference to
the Hall of Famers, the Hall of Fame, and its
induction ceremonies.
Lastly, the Hall of Fame and especially its
historical archive have become the record of the
sport and the historical content contained therein
is accessed regularly by members of the media
as they prepare stories. The use of this resource
has accelerated over the past eight years as I have
worked to make it available to the media.
Goal 2 of the NSCAA’s strategic plan for
2008-2012 is: Provide the online resource
of choice for soccer coaches. Please address
your experience with online (e.g. web site,
Internet, social marketing, etc.) communica-
tions and marketing.
In my position at the National Soccer Hall
of Fame and Museum, I have been responsible
for the overall look, feel and content of the
Hall of Fame’s web site. With others I have
strategized how best to present the information
we have, how best to spur web site visitors to
interact with the content and how best to use
the web site to promote events and programs
of and at the Hall of Fame.
We have just begun to use the social media
aspects of connecting with Hall of Fame virtual
visitors and the start-up experiences have indi-
cated that there is much more to learn and that
the field is rapidly expanding with multiple
platforms and avenues for communications.
As we continue to use a few of those platforms
(Twitter and Facebook), evaluate others and
decide to not engage in some, we will become
better at meeting social media users’ expecta-
tions and become more expert at how we can
use these tools to drive engagement and build
both the credibility and utility of the Hall of
Fame to today’s soccer public. As a part of this,
I have also been interviewed on Internet radio.
I see the same needs and process ongoing at
the NSCAA and will be able to transfer the Hall
of Fame’s experiences and lessons to the NSCAA.
As you have observed various aspects of
the NSCAA’s previous efforts at both com-
16
munication and marketing, what are the
strengths of such efforts? Weaknesses?
Strengths: Good, honest and competent
people who show a reverence for the NSCAA’s
mission in executing both programs. They show
a willingness to evaluate all aspects of their re-
sponsibilities and to genuinely search for the best
way to move the organization forward.
Weaknesses: Perhaps the largest weakness is
trying to execute too many discrete initiatives.
We, as a Board and as a staff, need to do a better
job of educating ourselves as to the pluses and
minuses of each endeavor and, in consequence,
choose more carefully where we invest our most
precious resource, the people involved.
Relative to being a good Vice President
for Communications and Marketing of the
NSCAA, what learning experiences have you
had in other organizations that you will
bring to your work as a member of the
NSCAA Executive Committee?
My work at the National Soccer Hall of Fame
and Museum has involved me in virtually all
aspects of the marketing and communications
of a national organization. From negotiating
broadcast events to working with local suppliers
in support of the Hall of Fame events; from pro-
viding copy to speakers to building an offer for a
sponsor agreement, I have interacted with many
of the same players with which the NSCAA must
engage to build its message and to increase its
force in the marketplace of ideas and commerce.
There are so many diverse experiences that I have
been part of over my service, they are simply too
numerous to list, but here are two that I believe
will have a definite impact on my service to the
NSCAA:
1) Negotiating with MLS and WUSA teams to
play a Hall of Fame Game, and
2) Creating communications and marketing strate-
gies to promote and support numerous Hall of
Fame events, such as Induction Weekend, and
NSCAA Convention programming.
What other types of organizational
experiences will you bring to the Communi-
cations and Marketing position that might
be unique and contribute to the continued
progress of the NSCAA?
I bring, most critically, a diverse career in
soccer and an almost 50-year involvement in
the game plus my most recent experiences at
the National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum.
These, along with the life experiences we all
have: the frustrations, the accomplishments; the
friendships and the connections of a lifetime from
being a church and town library board member;
from raising children and sending them out into
the world; from working at small schools and at
major universities, all these provide me with a
rich backdrop upon which to frame the decisions
that will be made as I serve the NSCAA.
I am deeply humbled to have been en-
dorsed by you, the membership, to be amongst
the elected leadership team. I trust that you
will continue to support me and to engage me
in person whenever you see me, to call, write
or email as the occasion demands, so I can also
learn from your experiences and provide the
best possible service to you.
secretary
Marti Coan
Hometown:
Neenah, Wis.
Years as an
NSCAA Member: 19
Current soccer
involvement: Secre-
tary for Paper Valley
Youth Soccer Club;
Board of Directors,
Wisconsin Soccer Coan
Coaches Association;
High School Girls
Representative, NSCAA Board of Directors.
Current NSCAA involvement: High School
Girls Representative to the Board of Directors;
Chair of the Membership Council; Chair of the
Technical Communications Committee; Regional
Chair, Girls High School Scholar All-America
Committee; member of the Women’s Committee.
NSCAA Board, Committee and Academy
experience: High School Girls Representative to
the Board of Directors; Chair of the Membership
Council; Chair of Technical Communications
Committee; Women’s Committee Algarve Sympo-
sium Coordinator (2009); Regional Chair, Girls
Scholar All-America Committee; Regional Chair,
Boys Scholar All-America Committee; Women’s
Committee; NSCAA Regional Representative
to Board of Directors; National Diploma; High
School Coaches Diploma; Director of Coaching
Diploma; Women’s Final Four Symposiums
History of soccer involvement: I started
out as a team “gofer” long before the term Soccer
Mom came on the scene. Then it all began….
Various years/seasons as a youth coach at the
same time serving as Registrar and Secretary
of the local youth club. Expanded my soccer
horizons by attending the Women in Soccer
Leadership Conference provided by Women’s
Soccer Foundation in Seattle, Wash. Coach and
counselor for U.S. Winning Mood Soccer Camp
in The Netherlands for 12 years. Established first
Women’s Indoor league in the area at Local Y; five
years as an NCAA Division III women’s assistant
coach; 20 seasons as a high school coach (12
with girls, eight with boys); Wisconsin Masonic
All-Star Game (coach, assistant coach, and three
years as team representative); Wisconsin Soc-
cer Coaches Association member since 1988,
including three terms as president, three terms
as secretary, seven years as convention chair and
currently on the Board of Directors and Chair
of WSCA Convention; currently secretary of
Paper Valley Youth Soccer Club; player co-ed and
mom’s league soccer from 1982-2004.
I want to serve on the NSCAA Board of
Directors because: I want to seek out ways of
maintaining and enhancing the feeling of fel-
lowship, camaraderie and family that represents
the very best of the National Soccer Coaches
Association of America. I would like to further
the growth of our Association while helping us
become more flexible, efficient and forward-
thinking in addressing member needs.
I believe my strongest qualifications for
this position are:
• Organizational abilities
• Collaboration and consensus building
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
• Connections with multiple constituent groups
• Patience, persistence and tenacity
• Experience in multiple levels of the game
• Current involvement in grassroots club and
high school soccer issues
• The time to devote to addressing the issues
facing the NSCAA
During my tenure on the NSCAA Board
of Directors I would like to see: Continued
growth in membership, educational opportuni-
ties and grassroots recognition of the NSCAA
brand. I would continue to identify and strive
to meet the needs of our diverse membership
and member constituent groups.
What steps would you propose the
NSCAA take to improve its image and influ-
ence within the U.S. soccer community?
• Continue to work with all soccer entities to
ensure acceptance of NSCAA coaching cre-
dentials across the country.
• Expand the NSCAA’s Internet presence
through social networking sites, etc.
• Increase visibility through search engine op-
timization so NSCAA is the very first option
listed when soccer education is searched.
• Increase the web site “membership spotlight”
activity to highlight the NSCAA background
and affiliation of high profile coaches.
• Develop a Who’s Who of NSCAA Alumni in
the U.S. and worldwide soccer community.
What steps would you propose the
NSCAA take to enhance its position as a
leader of coaching education in the U.S.?
Initiate concerted efforts to establish partner-
ships with all soccer organizations throughout
the U.S. (and world) in order to have NSCAA
Coaching courses and curricula recognized as
official criteria for coaching positions.
What steps would you propose the
NSCAA take to better serve its members? Council allowed me to provide feedback on
I would continue to build on our web ca-
pabilities for members. We have made steps
by starting the Soccer Communities pages. I
would like to see the NSCAA expand efforts to
reach grassroots soccer organizations and the
entry-level coach by providing an interactive
online information center tied to membership.
This would provide educational materials for
our members in a searchable database format
utilizing existing published NSCAA materials
that complement our Academy Courses and
the NSCAA Education experience. mouth, Ill.
Given the current economic climate, what
types of creative fiscal strategies have you
observed that might be transferable and
thus positively impact the NSCAA’s economic
planning? Implement business best practice
methodology throughout the NSCAA (Lean, 6
Sigma, etc.) to improve efficiency and response
to member issues. I believe this will result in an
organization that our members see as personal,
personable and effective in providing our high
quality product. This will reduce cost of current
operations and allow us to provide continued
excellent service to our growing membership
without having to add additional staff.
Relative to being a good Secretary of
the NSCAA, what learning experiences have
you had in other organizations that you
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
will bring to your work as a member of
the NSCAA Executive Committee? Attend-
ing the Women in Soccer Leadership Confer-
ence in 1994 in Seattle opened my eyes to the
tremendous potential for women in leadership
positions to impact not only the women’s
game but all facets of our sport. The impact
of learning from those pioneers of women’s
leadership in our game led me to coaching all
genders, all ages and multiple levels of soccer.
It provided the backdrop for me to develop my
communication and consensus-building skills
to promote our great game. Working with local
clubs, state high school and soccer associations
and high school and college administrations
has developed my persistence in pursuit of
goals and an understanding of the importance
of the administrator’s role in the successful
development and implementation of effective
organizational policies and procedures.
What other types of organizational
experiences will you bring to the Secretary
position that might be unique and contrib-
ute to the continued progress of the NSCAA?
Attending the NSCAA Director of Coaching
course put me in touch with the concerns in
managing youth soccer clubs and the needs
of coaches in today’s environment. Driving to
Kansas City to help move the NSCAA offices
gave me additional insight to the depth of car-
ing and commitment the national office staff
bring to their jobs. Organizing Wisconsin’s
State High School Coaches conventions pro-
vides me with tremendous empathy for our
Convention committee and our staff. Partici-
pating in development of the initial NSCAA
High School Coaches Diploma by attending
and providing feedback contributed greatly to
my respect for the work that goes into develop-
ing educational curriculum. Sitting on the Wis-
consin Interscholastic Soccer Coaches Advisory
issues in High School soccer while hearing and
acting on the concerns and viewpoints of High
school Coaches from all over Wisconsin. As a
member of the executive board of a youth soc-
cer club I get to see firsthand the opportunities
and obstacles that abound in youth soccer at
the local level and how they are resolved.
George Perry
Hometown: Mon-
Years as an
NSCAA Member: 26
Current soccer
involvement: Men’s
Soccer Coach at Mon-
mouth (Ill.) College;
Illinois and Region
II ODP instructional Perry
staff; coordinator of the
youth soccer program
at the Monmouth YMCA.
Current NSCAA involvement: Board of Direc-
tors Men’s College Representative; Senior National
Staff Instructor; member of the Education Commit-
tee, Non-Residential; member of the Membership
Committee; chair of the Jerry Yeagley Award for
Exceptional Personal Achievement.
NSCAA Board, Committee or Academy
experience: NSCAA Academy Staff, 1985-Pres-
ent; Region I Representative to the NSCAA Board
of Directors, 1986-91; Chair of the NSCAA/
Division I Legislative Committee, 1993-95;
Associate Director of Coaching to the NSCAA
Academy, 1995-2000; Chair of the NSCAA Youth
Long-Term Service Award, 1997-03; Education
Committee member to the NSCAA Director of
Coaching, 1999-Present; NSCAA Representa-
tive to the AYSO National Advisory Council,
2001-02; NSCAA Membership Committee,
2003-present; chair of the Jerry Yeagley Award for
Exceptional Personal Achievement, 2005-present;
chair of the Non-Residential Subcommittee of the
Education Committee, 2007-09; Men’s College
Representative to the NSCAA Board of Directors,
2007-present.
History of soccer involvement: There are
four main areas in which I am involved with
soccer on a regular basis:
1) Coaching Education – as a Senior Academy
Staff member, education has been a priority
for me for a majority of my coaching career. I
was also Director of Coaching for the Indiana
Youth Soccer Association for two years.
2) Youth Soccer – every community I have lived, I
have been involved with player and coaching de-
velopment for the local youth soccer programs.
I enjoy working with young players as much (if
not more) as the older ones.
3) College Soccer – I am beginning my 28th year
working at the college level, either as an assistant
coach (five years at Indiana University) and 23
years as a head coach (University of Rochester,
St. Bonaventure University, Wabash College,
Rockford College and Monmouth College).
4) Administration – I have felt that if a coach
wants to see the game progress and wants to see
change in current policy/organization, you have
to get involved at the administrative level.
I want to serve on the NSCAA Board of
Directors because: The NSCAA has been one
of the most important aspects of my soccer ca-
reer. It has provided me with a solid education-
al foundation, great mentorship, tremendous
peer support and the opportunity to take my
teaching and coaching to another level. Serving
as a board member allows me to give back to
the Association that has given me so much. I
also feel that I have a good understanding of
the vast diversity within the Association and
hope to represent their interests to the best of
my ability. I believe the growth of our Associa-
tion is based on connecting to coaches of all
ages and levels and showing them the various
ways membership in the NSCAA will benefit
their coaching and their players.
I believe my strongest qualifications for
this position are: My ability to work with
various groups to an end that is acceptable to
the group and help the growth of our associa-
tion and our game.
During my tenure on the NSCAA Board
of Directors I would like to see: The Board
continue to improve the NSCAA’s member-
ship benefits. We need to expand and promote
benefits that are meaningful to our member
coaches and to those we want to bring into the
Association.
17
 What steps would you propose the
NSCAA take to improve its image and influ-
ence within the U.S. soccer community?
Education is the core of our Association,
through our Coaching Academy, Conven-
tion and services, awards and benefits offered
to our coaches. We need to take educational
programs into new areas of the country and
expand our offerings to meet the needs of the
coaches in our Association. We need to bolster
our non-residential offerings through contin-
ued staff identification and development.
What steps would you propose the
NSCAA take to enhance its position as a
leader of coaching education in the U.S.?
The NSCAA needs to continue to develop
and improve our web site and communica-
tion with our membership. We need to bring
to the forefront the quality of our curriculum,
academy instructors, our teaching methodol-
ogy and individual members of the association.
We need to organize our membership to help
us promote these strengths.
What steps would you propose the
NSCAA take to better serve its members?
We need to continue to develop quality pro-
grams that address the variety of needs of our
membership. These programs will be in coach-
ing courses, web site education, books, DVDs
and exposure to the variety of opportunities of
national and international programs.
Given the current economic climate,
what types of creative fiscal strategies have
you observed that might be transferable
and thus positively impact the NSCAA’s
economic planning? We can look to utilize the
Internet as a better way of communicating with
Board members, committee members and the
membership in general.
Relative to being a good Secretary of
the NSCAA, what learning experiences have
you had in other organizations that you
will bring to your work as a member of the
NSCAA Executive Committee? Having served
on the Board of Directors in a couple of roles, I
have seen the Board work to improve its opera-
tion for the benefit of the Association. I have
witnessed a number of past and present Board
members who have taken the association in
new and positive direction, through the orga-
nization chart developed by Joe Morrone and
Board and Association members to the current
Strategic Plan by Louise Waxler and Board
and Association members. I have worked on
curriculum development, admissions review
committees and disciplinary review boards at
the college level that have helped me look at
all sides of an argument to come to a resolu-
tion that work for the institution but also treats
the individual or group respectfully and with
compassion.
What other types of organizational
experiences will you bring to the Secretary
position that might be unique and con-
tribute to the continued progress of the
NSCAA? I have taken minutes for a variety of
committee meetings. I believe I can record the
actual comments and also relate the important
discussions that are appropriate to the topic
being discussed.
18
Men’s college representative
Mike Jacobs
Hometown:
Evansville, Ind.
Years as an
NSCAA Member: 16
Current soccer
involvement: Men’s
soccer coach, Univer-
sity of Evansville
Current NSCAA
involvement: Soccer
Jacobs
Journal Editorial
Board; chair of the
Glenn “Mooch” Myernick National Assistant
Coach of the Year Committee; member of
the Division I National Rankings Committee
(Missouri Valley Conference representative);
member of the Youth All-America Committee
NSCAA Board, Committee and Academy
experience: NSCAA Advanced National Diploma
holder; regular contributor to Soccer Journal;
former chair of the Division I New York Region
Rankings Committee; former member of the
Division I Great Lakes Region Rankings Com-
mittee; formerly assisted Fred Schmalz with
the Scholar All-America Committee, Midwest
Region; inaugural winner of the Glenn “Mooch”
Myernick National Assistant Coach of the Year
(2004); Evansville team twice received College
Team Academic Award (2007, 2008)
History of soccer involvement: I would
like to consider myself a teacher of the game –
taking pride in helping develop young players
technically and tactically, as well as fostering
their interest level and enthusiasm in the game,
hopefully teaching lessons that transcend
soccer. I also would consider myself a student
as well, taking a lot of pride in professional
development – staying current with the game
by travelling to see teams both domestically
and abroad train, and at varying levels (full
professional and youth academies). You can
never learn enough, and I take a lot of pride in
helping foster a passion in the game, be it for
my players or my own children at home.
I want to serve on the NSCAA Board of
Directors because: I want to make a difference
in helping grow the game in our country – at
the collegiate, professional and youth levels.
The NSCAA has given me so many opportuni-
ties to develop as a coach and teacher, and it’s
important for me to give back to the game. I
want to be an example for young coaches and
leaders in the game, and share in creating more
initiatives to help further their opportunities in
the same fashion that my mentors have done
for me.
I believe my strongest qualifications for
this position are: The experiences as both
a coach and administrator at the collegiate,
professional, high school and club levels. I feel
that I bring a unique reference point to the
Board of Directors. I also hope that my passion
for the game, coupled with my enthusiasm,
commitment and character make me someone
that our members can relate to and respect.
During my tenure on the NSCAA Board
of Directors I would like to see: The college
game grow back to the visibility and interest
level it had when the College Cup in Rich-
mond during the 1990s and was one of THE
hot tickets in American soccer; our constitu-
ents develop more of a sense of proprietorship
in regards to NCAA soccer and with Major
League Soccer – they are OUR top standards
of play at the collegiate and professional levels,
and we need to work on more cooperative
efforts between the members of NSCAA and
MLS to support these leagues more; we also
need to develop more cooperative initiatives
between NCAA soccer and MLS and USL
– create a partnership that will enhance op-
portunities to develop young professionals;
more professional development opportunities
available for our coaching members; member-
ship continue to grow at all levels of coaching
in our country; generate more enthusiasm for
members to participate in our coaching educa-
tion opportunities.
What contributions have you previously
made to the NSCAA’s efforts to improve both
its relationship with the men’s college coach-
ing community as well as services offered
that constituency? After receiving the inaugural
Glenn “Mooch” Myernick National Assistant
Coach of the Year Award, I was asked to chair
the committee for that award. This has given me
a unique opportunity to interact with coaches at
the Division I, II and III levels in hopes of iden-
tifying and recognizing our top assistants, which
I believe has opened up a strong line of commu-
nication between myself and the head coaches
and assistants at many levels of collegiate soccer.
NSCAA Division I Chair Sasho Cirovski and
Division I Intercollegiate Programs Director Rob
Kehoe have invited me to be a form of ‘at-large
member’ of the Division I Conference Represen-
tative group to share ideas and concepts on grow-
ing the game. Sasho has done so much to expand
College Soccer – my hope is to be someone that
can facilitate and assist in any way possible. I
have also served on committees to help honor
and recognize our outstanding coaches for their
work, as well as committees that help recognize
their teams as well. I regularly attend both the
College Cup weekend as well as the NSCAA
Convention in hopes of connecting with peers
who share my interest in growing the game.
What are strategies you might try to
suggest to improve both of the above aspects
of the NSCAA’s current programs to enhance
men’s collegiate soccer? Getting to be an as-
sistant at Duke University under John Rennie
gave me the opportunity to see the work of both
Coach Rennie and Coach Jerry Yeagley in leading
our NSCAA Division I coaches committee – they
were visionaries in their attempt to market the
game of college soccer, as well as to connect
with entities like Major League Soccer, create
committees to explore rule changes, and to grow
the game in general. I want to be someone who
can help the game at the collegiate level continue
to grow and thrive, and to do so at each of the
collegiate levels in the NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA
and NCCAA. I would do so by drawing from the
experiences I saw from Coach Rennie and Coach
Yeagley – encouraging our coaching committees
to be inclusive. The more diverse backgrounds
we have involved in the process, the more we can
make the game stronger.
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
girls’ high school representative
Jim Bruno
Hometown:
Brookeville, Md.
Years as an
NSCAA Member: 15
Current soccer
involvement: Girls
high school coach,
22 years; coach of
two girls travel teams
(U-10 and U-13);
director of Montgom- Bruno
ery Soccer Academy
(camps); trainer of coaches and clinicians for
Montgomery Soccer Inc. (Club); Private High
School Girls Representative for Maryland As-
sociation of Coaches of Soccer.
Current NSCAA involvement: None
NSCAA Board, Committee and Academy
experience: None
History of soccer involvement:
• Began coaching at recreational level in
1984. Moved up to classic and select boys
teams through 1998. Coached girls select
since 1994, taking teams to State Cup finals
in 2006 and 2008. Presently coaching two
WAGS teams; U-10 and U-13.
• In 1988 started as coach of first girls team at
Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in
Wheaton, Md. Have continued coaching there
(record 325-85-38), earning five league cham-
pionships. Teams were in the NSCAA top 25
final rankings in 1995, 1998, 2000, 2001 and
2003. In 1998 named NSCAA’s Private School
Girls Coach of the Year, and in 1998, 2002
and 2007 NSCAA Maryland Private School
Girls Coach of the Year. Have been selected by
Washington Post, Montgomery Journal, Mont-
gomery Gazette and Washington Catholic
Athletic Conference as coach of the year one
or more times.
• Named Montgomery Soccer Inc.’s “Premier
Coach of the Year” in 2002 and 2006.
• Hold the NSCAA Premier Diploma.
• Have held positions as Montgomery Soccer,
Inc. Director of Coaching, and Maryland
District Development Program.
I want to serve on the NSCAA Board of
Directors because: I’m interested in getting
involved with NSCAA on a national level. I’ve
benefited so much in my career from NSCAA’s
Convention clinics and diploma courses and
I’d like to raise the awareness of high school
coaches around the country to those benefits.
I believe my strongest qualifications for
this position are: I believe I am an excellent
organizer and communicator. I’ve coached
high school soccer in the state of Maryland
for 22 years and have developed relationships
with both boys and girls high school and club
coaches of all levels.
During my tenure on the NSCAA Board
of Directors I would like to see: An improved
membership in NSCAA of public and private
high school coaches. I’d like to improve relation-
ship between boys and girls programs.
What contributions have you previously
made to the NSCAA’s efforts to improve both
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
its relationship with the girls’ high school
coaching community as well as services of-
fered that constituency? I have been active in
the Maryland’s organization as a state representa-
tive; however, I have not had the opportunity to
participate on a national level.
What are strategies you might try
to suggest to improve both of the above
aspects of the NSCAA’s current programs to
enhance girls’ high school soccer? I’d like try
to educate the state high school representatives
on the advantages and programs offered by the
NSCAA and to improve communication from
the local to national level.
Jason Pendleton
Hometown: Law-
rence, Kan.
Years as an
NSCAA Member: 7
Current soccer
involvement: Girls
and boys soccer coach
at Free State High
School, youth coach
for U-9 and U-14
Pendleton
premier teams.
Current NSCAA in-
volvement: NSCAA State Technical Coordinator
for Kansas, NSCAA Associate Staff Coach (slated
to teach in both the High School Diploma and
Non-Residential National courses in 2010).
NSCAA Board, Committee and Academy
experience: NSCAA National, Advanced Na-
tional and Premier Diplomas.
History of soccer involvement: I began
playing soccer at the age of 8 and continued
through college where I played at McPherson
College (Kan.) after completing my football eli-
gibility. I began my coaching career at Stockdale
High School in Bakersfield, Calif., in 1992 and
coached for two years before moving to Kansas.
I started the boys program at Wyandotte High
School in Kansas City, Kan., and coached there
for three years before being hired at Free State
High School, where I have been the coach for 11
years. Additionally as the STC for Kansas I have
the responsibility of conducting non-residential
coaching education courses throughout the
state. Contributed article to Soccer Journal titled
“Coaching For Life” that focused on using coach-
ing as a conduit to teach life skills.
I want to serve on the NSCAA Board of
Directors because: Education is my passion, and
I strongly believe in the mission of the NSCAA to
help educate coaches. Thus I want to find more
ways that I can positively impact coaching educa-
tion and think that the Board offers an excellent
avenue to reach a greater number of people. I
think high school coaches have a tremendous im-
pact on the game of soccer in America and want
to find ways to connect high school coaches with
the great services the NSCAA offers. Additionally,
there are some outstanding high school coaches
in America that I would like to find a way to
bring into vital roles within the NSCAA. Creating
a more connected relationship between the two
groups is a major goal. Carolina Soccer Coaches Association member;
I believe my strongest qualifications for
this position are: Enthusiasm, passion and
commitment to make a difference in the lives
of others. As a high school teacher and coach
I am motivated to find new methods to help
myself regularly improve my teaching and
coaching to better reach the student-athletes.
During my tenure on the NSCAA Board
of Directors I would like to see: The NSCAA
develop partnerships with state high school
coaching associations across the United States.
By expanding this relationship and emphasizing
coaching education as the crucial element of the
partnership, the NSCAA can have a tremendous
impact on the quality of coaching that is taking
place across the country in high schools. As a
high school boys and girls varsity head coach
for the last 16 years, I understand the needs and
challenges faced by high school coaches and
want to find ways to help the NSCAA work to
help high school coaches in those areas.
What contributions have you previously
made to the NSCAA’s efforts to improve
both its relationship with the girls’ high
school coaching community as well as
services offered that constituency? I am cur-
rently working along with other key coaches
in the state of Kansas to create a specific
partnership with the NSCAA and our coaches
association. As the NSCAA STC for Kansas and
as a high school coach in Kansas I wear both
hats and can give high school coaches great in-
formation about the value of the NSCAA while
simultaneously educating the NSCAA about
issues that high school coaches face. Both the
NSCAA and high school coaches have the same
objectives toward education. I am working to
try and help us combine the two groups to bet-
ter serve our student-athletes through award
recognition and coaching education. It is our
desire to have regular coaching seminars/sym-
posiums and the high school coaching diploma
become annual events in the state of Kansas.
What are strategies you might try to
suggest to improve both of the above aspects
of the NSCAA’s current programs to enhance
girls’ high school soccer? The first strategy is to
improve communication and inform high school
coaches of what the NSCAA’s mission is and how
that fits into what high school coaches are trying
to do as well. The second strategy is to look at
the state associations that already have strong
relationships with the NSCAA, such as Ohio, and
to talk with their leaders and try to model other
states on what is working well for them.
Kevin Sims
Hometown: Gas-
tonia, N.C.
Years as an
NSCAA Member: 29
Current soccer
involvement: Athletics
director and varsity
boys and girls coach
at Gaston Day School;
conference president; Sims
conference soccer
coordinator; North
North Carolina State Independent Schools
Athletic Association State Tournament Seeding
19
Committee Chair for boys and girls.
Current NSCAA involvement: Region
representative, Soccer Ambassadors; Secondary
Schools National Assistant Coach of the Year
Committee; NSCAA Convention Speakers In-
troduction Committee Chair; NSCAA Ad Hoc
Convention Committee Chair
NSCAA Board, Committee and Academy
experience: Board of Directors, (2001); Na-
tional High School Ethics Committee (1994-
2001); National chair, Winter and Spring Sec-
ondary Girls Ranking Committee (1996-2001);
Winter and Spring Secondary Girls Ranking
Committee (1990-2001); Region III chair, Girls
All-American Committee (1988-2000); State
chair, Boys and Girls All-America (1990-1996);
State chair, Secondary Boys Coach of the Year
(1987-1996)
History of soccer involvement: I find
it a challenge to describe briefly what has
been a lifelong passion. I grew up in a soccer
coach’s home and it took. I played through
high school, for four years at the University
of Virginia, and as an amateur as long as the
legs and lungs would allow. I coached my first
youth team when I was 14 years old and have
coached youth teams, youth club teams, state
ODP teams, regional ODP teams, college club
teams, college teams and high school teams
since that first venture in 1970. I have devoted
most of that time to coaching boys and girls
high school teams for more than 25 years
since 1981. I have been a State Staff Coach in
Virginia, Tennessee and Oregon. I have served
on several boards, have worked to establish a
few clubs and coaching associations and have
found myself among the chief promoters,
organizers and coordinators of most efforts
within my organizations to bring attention to
the game and the players.
I want to serve on the NSCAA Board of
Directors because: Of my love and passion for
soccer and the NSCAA. Serving the NSCAA is
a way to pay it forward. Soccer has been very
good to me and I enjoy trying to be very good
to soccer. The NSCAA’s mission of educating
coaches, of encouraging excellence, of serving
the soccer community, of promoting the high-
est standards of ethics and sportsmanship, of
honoring and celebrating those who cherish
and build the beautiful game and of serving the
best interests of players, coaches, officials and
fans of the game at all age levels is right. I have
been fortunate to experience soccer in numer-
ous capacities and enjoy putting those experi-
ences to work. I am especially passionate about
the role of the high school coach and wish to
assist that group in expressing its voice.
I believe my strongest qualifications
for this position are: My familiarity with the
NSCAA functions and governance; my profes-
sional and administrative skills; my broad
and diverse soccer experiences over several
decades; and my passion for enhancing soccer.
During my tenure on the NSCAA Board
of Directors I would like to see: The NSCAA’s
To vote in the 2010 Board of Directors election, complete the ballot found between pages 16 and 17,
affix the appropriate postage and return to the NSCAA office
by the close of business on Friday, Jan. 8, 2010.
20
vision of a deeply diverse and broad-based soccer
community mature further. I would like to see a
fuller voice given to a philosophy of coaching that
is at all times and at all levels player-centered, a
philosophy that invites a diversity of approaches,
yet honors the notion that all coaching endeavors
start first with what is best for the player. To the
greater extent coaches and administrators can
agree on such a philosophy, to a greater extent
factions within the soccer community will dimin-
ish. I wish to celebrate the varied opportunities
for support and development of players. I wish to
chase a vision of soccer player development that
finds harmony among the various developmental
paths.
What contributions have you previously
made to the NSCAA’s efforts to improve
both its relationship with the girls’ high
school coaching community as well as
services offered that constituency? Previ-
ous contributions include: Serving on the
Board as well as several committees (ranking,
All-America, ethics, Coach of the Year) as
outlined previously; promoting the NSCAA
coaching academy, symposium and Conven-
tion attendance among as many high school
girls coaches as possible; promoting NSCAA
membership among girls high school coaches
through full participation in the Share the
Membership program; helping to establish
state coaching association organizations which
include NSCAA membership within the state
association membership; and submitting
numerous links to the NSCAA for inclusion on
the site’s web page for state high school soccer
associations.
What are strategies you might try
to suggest to improve both of the above
aspects of the NSCAA’s current programs
to enhance girls’ high school soccer? Pursue
further media attention for girls high school
soccer accomplishments and events. Pursue
educational topics devoted to the special needs
of girls high school soccer coaches (online
education, symposiums, convention sessions).
Cultivate special relationships between high
school girls soccer coaches and club teams/
coaches, college teams/coaches and WPS
teams/coaches.
boys’ youth representative
Kevin Denson
Hometown: Vir-
ginia Beach, Va.
Years as a Mem-
ber: 26
Current soccer
involvement: U-17
Boys Travel Coach,
Boys High School
Coach, Girls Region I
ODP Coach Denson
Current NSCAA
involvement: Boys
High School Region II Coach of the Year chair.
NSCAA Board, Committee, and Academy
experience: I have conducted State and Region
Diploma courses, I served as the Boys High
School Spring Top 20 chair for 10 years, I
served as the Virginia High School Boys Chair
for Coach of the Year and All-America for 15
years.
History of soccer involvement: I have
been a youth soccer coach since 1978 and a
High School Coach since 1985. I served as
a Division III women’s coach for three years,
and a Division I women’s assistant coach for
nine years. I have been on the Region I girls
ODP staff since 1992. I have conducted both
NSCAA and USSF courses including the Na-
tional C license course.
I want to serve on the NSCAA Board of
Directors because: The NSCAA has been a
tremendous resource/mentor/partner for me
during the last 25 years. I would consider it
a privilege to be able to help the organization
and its membership, to help continue their
quality of coaching and to continue to be the
number one coaching organization in the
world.
I believe my strongest qualifications for
this position are: My 30-plus years involved
with all areas of youth soccer. I have coached
all levels of youth soccer from recreation to
the ODP level. I have also served as a league
administrator, club director of coaching and I
served on the Virginia Youth Soccer Board of
Directors.
During my tenure on the NSCAA Board
of Directors I would like to see: Our organi-
zation become more involved with the issues
affecting youth soccer. One of those issues is
length of season and the number of separate
organizations that are vying for a player’s time.
Secondly, I would like to see an increase of
state and regional academy courses targeted at
coaches for players under the age of 10.
What contributions have you previously
made to the NSCAA’s efforts to improve
both its relationship with the youth boys’
coaching community as well as services
offered that constituency? Whenever I have
conducted a youth soccer coaching course
or clinic, I always try to pass along as much
information about our organization and show
others the benefits of membership. I am a firm
believer in the NSCAA’s mission statement, core
values and most importantly the code of ethics.
The more exposure we can get to these critical
youth coaches the better our game will be.
What are strategies you might try
to suggest to improve both of the above
aspects of the NSCAA’s current programs to
enhance youth boys’ soccer? We need to co-
ordinate our efforts with the other youth soccer
associations and devise a strategic plan that
puts the success of the individual player first
and winning second. We also need more focus
at the youth level on fun and development. We
can accomplish this by have more clinics and
courses aimed at those youth coaches.
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
Soccer Journal November-December 2009 21
Fitness • U-15 and above
Soccer Fitness and
Heart Rate Training
By Robert Taylor, Fitness Coach
Loyola University, Baltimore, Md.
Since speaking at the 2008 NSCAA Con-
vention in Baltimore, I have received numerous
questions regarding some of the creative con-
ditioning protocols that we have used in the
soccer programs at Loyola University in Mary-
land. Traditionally, we use distance, time and
a progressive rest-to-work ratio to design our
conditioning program. In order to optimize our
rest-to-work ratio, we divide the team into a
number of groups based on an athlete’s speed.
This grouping increases the competitive nature
of the fitness sessions. We also track each
player’s heart rate during every fitness session
using the Polar Team System, supplemental
kits and monitors. All athletes are taught how
to determine their maximum heart rates and
target heart rate zones. This data enhances our
player feedback and helps the coaching staff
understand the differences among athletes and
their fitness potential. This feedback enables
us to accurately assess when players need more
rest or if more can be asked of the athlete.
Before starting any workout, our players
execute a moving warm-up that focuses on
increasing the movement potential of each joint
of the body. We incorporate speed drills into our
warm-up every day to educate our players on the
skills associated with proper running mechanics.
A good moving warm-up should last 10 to 15
minutes with the goal of increasing the internal
core body temperature. This increase in core tem-
perature is normally defined when a substantial
sweat is achieved. We have our athletes achieve
four to six minutes above 80 percent of their
maximum heart rate during this time.
Following the moving warm-up, 10 minutes
is allocated to dynamically stretch the entire body.
We incorporate our active range-of-motion exer-
cises into our form running/speed drill program,
as well as use static stretching techniques to make
sure each athlete is ready for that day’s fitness ses-
sion. Following workouts, we allow 15 minutes
for warm down and a more thorough stretch,
which may include band stretching, partner
stretching and both flex/stretch (aka PNF) and
myofascial release techniques.
The rest-to-work ratio in our conditioning
programs is dictated initially by the time of year.
As our programs approach the pre-season, we
are looking for the athlete to be able to repeat
high-effort performances at full speed with lim-
ited to no mental breakdown. From January to
March, we break into four groups and have a 3:1
rest-to-work ratio. From spring break through
June, we use three groups or a 2:1 ratio. From
July through pre-season, we ask the athletes to
perform at a very high level with limited recovery
and generally only use two groups (1:1).
At Loyola, we use the Precision Performance
software from Polar to track our players’ heart
22
rate (see sample chart below). This technology your hands, and defensive slide back to starting
enhances our conditioning program and enables position. Sprint to third cone, fall down on your
the coaching staff, athletic trainers and strength stomach and touch chest to the ground. Explode
coach to develop individual workouts specific back to an upright position, and sprint back to
to position, playing time, effort at practice and start. Sprint outside the penalty area to the next
athletic potential. corner, and repeat. The goal is to complete one
A guideline similar to the rest-to-work ratio lap with good technique in less than a minute.
helps us identify individuals who need more or Time of year dictates the number of groups and
less attention. From January to March, the work- rest-to-work ratio. Begin by completing five reps
outs are evaluated as a “success” if the athlete and progress your athletes to 10 throughout your
exceeds more than 80 percent of their maximum conditioning program.
heart rate (maxHR) during the work phase, and
can recover to less than 70 percent during the Combo Workout
rest period. From spring break through June, Start on the side of the 18, sprint to the edge
the expectation is moved up to 85 percent and of the six-yard box and back to the start position.
Sample Heart Rate Chart
75 percent respec-
tively. Then from July
through pre-season, we
are trying to replicate
the cardiovascular
stress that the player
will incur during a
game. We use 90 per-
cent during the work
phase and 80 percent
for our rest. During
the season, we expect
to have more than 80 Shuttle Workout
percent of the total
duration of our small-
sided games or fitness
sessions being spent
above 80 percent of the
maxHR.
Shuttle Workout
Begin by backped-
aling to the first cone,
touch a knee to the
ground in a lunge posi- Combo Workout
tion, and backpedal
back to the start. Defensive slide to second cone, Next, defensive slide to the penalty marker area
fall down on your back, and touch shoulder and back. Then, backpedal to the far side of the
blades to the ground. Then get up without using six-yard box and backpedal back. Finally, sprint
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
Soccer Journal November-December 2009 23
Pyramid Workout Sideline Combo Workout
to the far side of the penalty area and sprint equals one rep. Time
back through the start position. Our goal is to be of year dictates groups
under 60 seconds with good technique. Time of and rest-to-work ratio
year dictates the number of groups and rest-to- between reps. Begin
work ratio. Begin by completing five reps, and by completing three
progress your athletes to 10 throughout your reps and progress your
conditioning program. athletes to six through-
out your conditioning
Pyramid Workout program.
Starting on sideline, sprint one width of the
field. Then sprint three, five, four and two widths Eighty-Eights Workout
as fast as possible. For a 75-yard-wide field, we Starting on the
use 15 seconds per width ran as our goal time. end line, sprint to
Use different body positions for starting stances, top of the six and
or add a task when changing directions to back, 18 to six, Four Spots Workout
increase the intensity. Take into account to adjust midfield to 18, far 18
goal time when adding these components. Time to midfield, far six to
of year dictates the number of groups and rest-to- far 18, and far six to
work ratio. Begin by completing four reps, and far end line. The goal
progress your athletes to eight throughout your is to be under 88
conditioning program. seconds, and that is
when the next group
Sideline Combo Workout begins. Time of year
Starting on the sideline, backpedal to the dictates groups and
edge of the penalty area and back. Next, sprint to rest-to-work ratio
the edge of the six-yard box and back, continue between reps. Begin
alternating backpedal and sprint to the opposite by completing three
side of the 18, to the far sideline and then in reps and progress
reverse. As an alternative, try sprinting the first, your athletes to six
fourth, and last segment, defensive slide the throughout your
second and fifth, and backpedal the third and conditioning pro- Eighty-Eights Workout
sixth. Completing all seven sprints equals one gram.
rep. Time of year dictates groups and rest-to- Add these workouts to your fitness ses- For more innovative training techniques
work ratio between segments. Begin by complet- sions to increase your team’s cardiovascular appropriate for soccer, check out the “Bal-
ing four reps and progress your athletes to eight efficiency and to build team camaraderie. Ask ance Training for Soccer” DVD at www.
throughout your conditioning program. the players to juggle a ball, to extend their rest ChampionshipProductions.com. If you have
periods so they focus on improving their touch questions regarding incorporating Polar
Four Spots Workout while in a fatigued state. The more competitive technology into your team’s training, contact
Starting on the end line, sprint to the top of the session, the greater the effort and improve- Marcelo Aller at marcelo.aller@polar.fi.
the six-yard box and back, to the 18 and back, ments will be. Using time is only one way to To gain hands-on experience, contact Rob
then rest 10 seconds (A). Next, repeat A and add hold athletes accountable. Try grouping your Taylor at rptaylor@loyola.edu regarding the
a sprint to the midfield line and back, then rest players so that there is a consistent, challeng- annual strength and conditioning/athlete
20 seconds (B). The third segment repeats B and ing race to the finish. Reward effort, not neces- performance conference hosted every July
adds a sprint to the far 18 and back to midfield sarily the winner. Also please remember that at Loyola College in Baltimore, Md. Also for
line. Then rest 30 seconds (C). Finally, sprint to the players in the back may be working harder additional resources regarding your strength
the 18-yard line and back to midfield, the six than the person in front. Know your personnel and conditioning needs, click on our
and back to midfield, end line to 18, and six and what motivates them to get the most out of strength and conditioning website at loyola-
to end line (D). Completing all four segments your athletes. greyhounds.cstv.com/Strength.html.

24 Soccer Journal November-December 2009

Soccer Journal November-December 2009 25
Youth Training • Ages 14-18

Focus on:
By David Linenberger

Speed in soccer has become very important. We must look at how

Speed
of play
speed relates through the components of the game:
1) Technical speed – quickness with the ball or the ability to manipu-
late the ball at speed and maintain control.
2) Tactical speed – processing information from the game and quickly
choosing an appropriate response to the situation.
3) Pure speed – the ability to overcome the distance between two
points in the shortest amount of time.
4) Mental speed – ability of the player to be aware of all factors, condi-
tions and options inside and outside the game.

Speed of play in this session will deal mainly with technical, tactical and
mental speed. The game demands that players react quickly in tight areas
and read the situation to make correct decisions. This does not mean that
the game must be played “full throttle,” but players must have the ability to
play quickly and intelligently when the game demands it. Speed of play also Exercise 2
can be looked at as changing the speed or rhythm of the game. • 6 v. 3 in three teams
To train players for quickness, coaches must place higher demands • 15 yard x 25 yard area (depending on ability level)
on them to react, think and to deal with the ball faster. We can do this
Organization/Setup
by manipulating the pressures of the game: limiting time (reducing the
• Three teams of three in three different colors
number of touches the players are allowed), limiting space (reducing
• Two teams of three keep the ball away from the third team
the size of the playing area) or adding opponents.
• When possession is lost, the team losing the ball defends

Speed Exercises Key Coaching Points

• Same as above
• Create proper angles of support
• Receive away from pressure
• Keep ball moving
• Know when to play first time or receive and play
• Quick transition – when ball is lost
Variations
• Touch restrictions (limit time)
• Reduce the size of the area (limit space and time)

Exercise 1
• Warm-up
• Nine in a group with three balls
• Unrestricted area
Organization/Setup
• Sequence passing with three balls
• Players are numbered 1-9
• 1 plays to 2, 2 to 3 etc., 9 to 1
• Players are to pass the ball and move – there should be no standing
• Balls start with Nos. 1,4 and 7
Key Coaching Points
• Quality of pass – to feet or to appropriate space
• Body position when receiving – facing the field and the player to pass to Exercise 3
• Quality of first touch – in the direction of the next pass • 4 v. 4 + 1
• Perception/reaction – awareness of the location of “number below • 25 yard x 35 yard (depending on ability level)
and above“
Organization/Setup
Variations • Two teams of four with one “joker” playing for the team in possession
• Touch restrictions (limit time) • Play to lines or zones or small goals or big goals
• Combinations – alternating long passes with short passes (i.e. a long
pass must be supported short and then next pass is long) Key Coaching Points
• Same as above, but now have a direction to influence decisions
• Penetration to score or keep possession (decision making)

26 Soccer Journal November-December 2009

Soccer Journal November-December 2009 27
Variations
• Touch restrictions (limit time)
• Reduce the size of the area (limit space and time)

Speed Game
Setup
• Area: A football field with a middle-zone and two full-size goals
• Number of players: 3 v. 3 + 6 v. 6 (3 v. 3 + 3 v. 3 – 4 v. 4 + 8 v. 8) +
two goalkeepers
Exercise 4 • Organization: Three players from each team are “middle” players
• 9 v. 9 with goalkeepers who must not leave the middle zone. The remaining six players are
• Half field (depending on ability level) “sprint” players. After a set time the three “middle” players change
Organization/Setup with three of the “sprint” players from the same team.
• No restrictions Description
• Play to goals The game consists of two sub-games.
Key Coaching Points Sub-Game 1 – The “middle” players play 3 v. 3 with one ball in the
• Put it ALL together middle-zone (the “sprint” players do not participate), where they defend
• Coach within the game and attack a row of cones. When a team knocks over one of its oppo-
• Coach what you see nents’ cones, then one of its own cones is transferred to the opponents’
row of the cones.
Variations Sub-Game 2 – A “middle” player from sub-game 1 can at any time
• Touch restrictions – (limit time) pass the ball out of the middle zone toward one of the goals for one of
• Reduce the size of the area – (limit space and time) the “sprint“-players (from the same team) to chase and try to score a
goal. The “sprint” player may score only if the ball is reached inside the
shaded area. A player from the other team also can attempt to gain pos-

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session of the ball as soon as it leaves the middle zone and, if successful,
this player can score without any restrictions. Only one player from
each team is allowed to compete for the balls passed from the middle
zone.
As soon as a ball is passed out of the middle zone in Sub-Game 1, a
“middle” player from the opposing team runs to fetch a new ball, which
is positioned behind each team’s row of cones (by the “sprint” players),
and the game is continued.
Rules
The goalkeepers must stay inside the penalty area.
SCORING
One point is given for knocking down a cone in sub-game 1. Three
points are given for scoring a goal in sub-game 2. The game is won by
the team with the most points after a set game time.
VARIATIONS
• Two players from each team may sprint after the ball.
• Sub-Game 2 is played with two balls at the same time.
HINTS FOR THE COACH
The task of the “middle” players is either to knock down the
opponents’ cones or to make an accurate pass so that one of their
“sprint“ players can receive the ball inside the shaded area. The
“sprint” players must chase the ball or an opponent with maximum
speed, but should walk back toward the middle zone after each
sprint in order to receiver. The inclusion of the first variation will
increase the number of sprints. However, the quality of each sprint
may decrease if the subsequent rest periods are too short. The sec-
ond variation should increase the number of sprints as it will give
the players in Sub-Game 1 more time and space to make a pass out
of the middle zone. It may be necessary to increase the number of
players in Sub-Game 1 if this variation is used.

28 Soccer Journal November-December 2009

Soccer Journal November-December 2009 29
Psychology • All Ages
A Three-Step Formula for Competition Readiness:
FROM PREPARATION TO EXECUTION
By Sean McCann, USOC Sport
Psychologist – Strength and
Power
This article originally was pub-
lished in the U.S. Olympic Commit-
tee e-zine in Winter 2008-09. It is
reprinted with permission.
When an athlete prepares well,
has the talent, but simply doesn’t
execute, it is frustrating and often
puzzling to figure out what went
wrong. At the Olympics, it is
relatively rare to see a total per-
formance collapse. When athletes
underperform at the Games, the
most common phenomenon is a
series of small, atypical mistakes
and changes in performance.
Added together, these changes and
mistakes derail the performance
just enough to create a below-av-
erage performance. Through my
years of work as a sport psycholo-
gist, I have tried to determine
which factors are present when
athletes underperform and what
enables some athletes to perform
at their best, time after time. After
eight Olympics, I have observed a
few consistent factors that result in
strong performances.
Key to Strong Performances:
Being in “Execution Mode”
“When you’re out there in
the big league pressure cooker, a
pitcher’s attitude – his utter confi-
dence that he has an advantage of
will and luck and guts over the hit-
ter – is almost as important as his
stuff.” Bill Veeck
Athletes do not have to be
“in the zone” or having a “peak
experience” to perform well under
pressure. But there are some basic
characteristics of an athlete’s mind-
set when things go well. I call it
“execution mode,” a state of mind
in which an athlete has simple
thoughts, a very clear idea of what
needs to be done and complete
confidence that executing this
clear idea will mean success.
Simplicity and clarity of
thoughts. For best performances,
athletes are operating with a
stripped-down, uncluttered mind.
Technique has been reduced to
a shorthand. Strategy is a simple
idea. The internal mind is quiet,
but the senses are open and aware.
Thoughts are almost completely in
30
the present.
Certainty regarding focus.
During best performances, there
is no confusion or uncertainty
about where the mind should be.
Athletes are sure they are on the
proper performance path, which
makes it easier to keep proper
performance focus. Certainty and
the absence of doubt reduce self-
consciousness.
Confidence in approach.
Athletes who perform well are
completely confident that what
they are doing is correct. With this
confidence, they can fully commit
to the simple, clear ideas above.
They know exactly what they are
trying to execute, and they trust.
They trust that executing this plan
will be enough for success. This
trust and confidence decreases
the tendency to become defensive
and increases the ability to stay
relaxed, athletic and aggressive.
Virtually every athlete in every
sport I have talked to about these
issues agrees that these three fac-
tors are present in great and good
performances. Most consistently
strong performers will agree with
these ideas, but they often say that
they hadn’t really thought about
these factors or given them a name.
For most successful athletes, they
discovered how to get into that state
of mind by trial and error. I believe
coaches can help more athletes get
into execution mode by setting it as
an explicit goal for competition and
explaining that there are three steps
on the path to execution mode.
Execution Mode: The end stage
of competition preparation
Developing an effective competi-
tion plan is an ongoing task for elite
coaches and athletes; however, this
article will be limited to the short-
term process that takes place within
the time frame of a competition.
Which steps does a well-prepared
and talented athlete take from the
arrival at a competition to the point
of successful execution?
It should be helpful to athletes
to break down the path to execution
mode into three separate and essen-
tial steps. These are the three steps
that all successful athletes must
learn to incorporate into the process
of preparing for competition.
Let’s take the example of a
national team that arrives at an
international competition site two or
three days before competing. There
are lots of tasks to accomplish to be
ready to compete. It is important
to note that athletes cannot and
should not be in execution mode
during that entire time. There is
a time and a place for questions,
analysis, critique, expectations,
complex thinking, distractions and
coaching during this time, but as
athletes move closer to competition,
an athlete’s mindset must change.
The following list of changes gives
a sense of the differences between
an athlete’s mind upon arrival at a
competition and the moment that
competition starts.
Step One: Building a Foundation
Arriving at a big competition,
an athlete has much to do, much
to think about and much informa-
tion to gather. This is the point
where the years, months and days of
preparation must be integrated with
the specific issues of this competi-
tion. As coach, you must be sure
your athletes are aware of location
specifics, that they are prepared for
anything unique in this environ-
ment, that their equipment is in
order, that their technique is solid,
that they understand all the logistics
of this competition and that they
believe they can do well. If your
athletes have questions, distractions,
concerns or doubt, you want them
to surface and get addressed here
and now, rather than later.
Remember, athletes will not be
able to move to the next step unless
they are certain their foundation is
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
solid. You may not like that your
athletes have basic concerns about
their technique or equipment two
days before the world champion-
ships, but if you don’t let athletes
express and work through those
concerns now, be ready for these
issues to surface under stress, right
as the competition begins.
As a coach, you may benefit
from realizing that you are going
through a parallel process. You ar-
rive at a new venue, figure out the
best route to the venue from your
hotel, determine where and when
the coaches’ meeting is, work
through logistics, wonder about
your athletes’ state of mind and
body, wonder if you have prepared
them properly, look for any special
opportunities or challenges this
specific venue creates, develop a
mental map of your environment,
set up your coaching tools, have
more discussions, think through
any other details and manage any
personal distractions. Only then
can you move on to the specifics
of getting each athlete ready to
compete. You need a solid founda-
tion to coach effectively and your
athletes need a solid foundation
before they can move on as well.
Together, you must be convinced
you are ready for Step Two.
Step Two: Identifying
Specific Performance Keys
Step Two is the easiest step
to overlook or skip. It is the con-
scious narrowing and transforma-
tion of thinking from the general
to the specific. It moves from
Soccer Journal November-December 2009 31
broad strategy to specific tactics.
Here an athlete moves from basic
technique to the application of
technique for this specific compe-
tition. Step Two requires deci-
sion-making, calculation of risk
and a search for the most essential
performance keys. This step is the
point where athletes may have to
admit their limits, or get out of
their comfort zone, but still find a
way to get the best result pos-
sible. An 800-meter runner may
be more “comfortable” running
from the front, but determine that
this is a poor strategy given the
tendencies of his competitors in
this race. A wrestler may “prefer” answer these questions well, they keep thoughts simple and clear, it is thoughts simple and clear and
an attacking high-risk/high-gain must consider their own abilities harder to see that this is a product of help an athlete feel confident.
strategy, but decide that against and the specific competition chal- work rather than a personality trait. Perhaps the most helpful thing
this opponent a better result is lenges, and begin the process of The work enables an athlete to trust you can do as a coach to get your
likely to come from a calculated commitment. Commitment always and helps the athlete manage worry. athlete into execution mode is to
“counter-move” style means letting go of options, and Worry is a kind of multi-tasking name it and emphasize that this
Sometimes the calculation and making a choice. As a coach, you that always interferes with high per- way of thinking and behaving is a
decision-making of Step Two is an must help your athletes see that formance. An athlete who worries specific goal for competition. Some
open discussion between athlete there is only one best choice for suc- usually is stuck on Step One or Two. athletes may never have thought
and coach. For example, a ski cess. From this choice flows a few No athlete will be able to about it, and most athletes have not
racer may worry that a line is too specific performance keys that will consistently get into execution thought about it as a multi-stage
risky and aggressive, but acknowl- become the blueprint for thinking in mode without having done the process. The figure above may help
edges that holding back here will execution mode. work in Steps One and Two. As a explain that there is a time and
not produce a podium result. In coach, you can help by developing place for all kinds of thinking at
this case, the ski racer and coach Step Three: Move into Execution Mode a system that walks your athletes a competition, but that an athlete
may have to work hard together to If you have ever coached a through this process. In a recent should be moving toward a specific
see the best strategy and help the supremely confident athlete on a Olympic Coach column, I wrote kind of thinking when the clock
athlete believe it can be executed. performance roll, you have seen an about the value of pre-competition starts or the whistle blows. Some
As a coach, you will know your athlete who has figured out how to routines. One way to think about coaches who see this figure quickly
athlete is ready for the final step flip the switch and get into execu- effective routines is that they are a realize that this model also describes
when they can answer the question tion mode. Although it is easy to see mechanism to take an athlete into the process of coaching. Are you a
– “What are the two or three things that this athlete exudes confidence execution mode. Routines reduce coach who can get into your execu-
you must do to perform well?” To and certainty and knows how to the multi-tasking of worry, keep tion mode?

32 Soccer Journal November-December 2009

Soccer Journal November-December 2009 33
Technology • U-15 and above

Time Well Spent:

Video and Film Analysis

By Dr. Steve Smith and
Lee Schopp, Hope College, Mich.
In the second installment of this
two-part article, the authors examine
the technical requirements and mer-
its of various video systems.
Video analysis equipment has
great potential to be a useful tool
in the coach’s arsenal of weapons.
In this article, we will examine the
technology needed to tape a game,
deliver video to a computer, cut
video into teachable moments and
record into DVD format.
wishes to tape over each match
and not store the original tape.
• These cameras are becoming
less popular in the marketplace
as hard-drive cameras are re-
placing them.
HARD-DRIVE CAMERAS
Strengths of hard-drive cameras
• Hard-drive cameras have a vari-
ety of storage sizes. Purchase one
with at least 30 gigabytes (gb) of
• Conversion is lengthy – as
much as 120 minutes for a 90
minute game.
• If there is a glitch during record-
ing, there is no backup tape (file
is on the hard drive only).
• You cannot import through
firewire while taping the game.
That means editing of the record-
ing cannot begin until it is in a
format that iMovie can read.
process. If framed too tightly
(zoomed in too close), a coach
will not be able to see plays and
runs developing in front of and
behind the ball. If the fram-
ing is loose (is not zoomed in
enough), it may be difficult for
a coach to identify players on
the field.
• A coach should review the
video of a match with the
camera operator to identify

Filming Demands
The technical demands of taping
a game for analysis are not difficult.
Many coaches already are recording
their games. In order to be able to
transfer tape easily onto a computer
for analysis and game breakdown,
the camera used must be either a
mini-DV recording camera or one of
the newer-style cameras with a hard
drive built into the camera. The
choice of cameras is a matter of per-
sonal preference; both camera styles
have strengths and weaknesses. We
have outlined some basic pros and
cons of each camera type.

MInI-DV CAMERAS
Strengths of mini-DV cameras
• Mini-DV cameras can connect
with a firewire to a computer
and import recordings into a
computer while taping in real
time. Simply plug a firewire
into the camera, connect to
a Macintosh computer, open
iMovie and press import (Fig-
ure 1).
• Mini-DV cameras can record
onto a mini-DV storage tape
that can create a backup tape
even after importing into a
computer.
• Mini-DV cameras can record
the match, and a coach can
import the match tape at a later
time if the weather or other
conditions prohibit the use of a
computer at the time of record-
ing.
Challenges of mini-DV cameras
• Tapes are expensive unless one
Figure 1 – iMovie HD screen for importing video into Macintosh system.
storage space. This will provide
storage of at least three matches.
• Hard-drive cameras easily can
store a saved file onto an ex-
ternal hard drive. Files can be
compressed for long-term stor-
age and each game’s file takes
up little space.
Challenges of hard-drive cameras
• After being loaded onto a com-
puter, files usually have to be
converted to a format that soft-
ware programs such as iMovie
can read.
In addition to understanding
the choices available in filming
equipment, a coach must examine
other aspects of camera usage. Dis-
tances, height and angle all should
be considered.
Distance
• The distance from the field
needs to be far enough that the
entire field can be panned and
included.
• The video operator needs to
understand that framing is an
important part of the recording • Sideline video at field level has
preferences for future analysis.
Having a consistent person to
record matches will enhance
the video’s usefulness.
Height
• Elevated viewing always makes
analysis of game film more ef-
fective. Heights of 25 feet and
above are best.
• It is possible that even a simple
scaffolding set can be used, but
the safety of the camera opera-
tor always must be ensured.

34 Soccer Journal November-December 2009

Soccer Journal November-December 2009 35
 greater usage in a highlight or
entertainment video than game
analysis.

Angle
• The camera is best set at the
midfield stripe at the height de-
scribed earlier.
• Panning during flow of play
should keep the ball toward the
center of the screen.
• For restarts the ball should
be framed at one side of the
screen so the coach can clearly
see the run patterns in front of
the ball.
• After a restart, the camera opera-
tor must zoom out again so that
full team play can be observed.

Computer Hardware
and Software Demands
Most coaches have access
to various brands and styles of
computers without having to
purchase new equipment specifi-
cally for digital editing. Low-cost
software exists for importing and
editing video. Most computers
come equipped with some sort of
simple digital editing software.
If a computer purchase is
necessary, the authors suggest an
Apple Macbook Pro for portable
usage. Macintosh computers are
well known for their seamless
integration of digital capture and
editing. iMovie is an applica-
tion that is included with every
Apple computer. The computer
does not have to be portable, but
if the coach wishes to use the
firewire for simultaneous capture
as described earlier, portable
is much more convenient. The
recording still can be brought back
to a desktop computer for game
analysis.
Storage Demands
Video can be stored many
ways once recording and conver-
sion have taken place. Videotape
in all its forms has a finite shelf
life. Tape stored over time will de-
teriorate. Digital format archiving
is virtually permanent. At the
time of this writing a one-terabyte
Figure 2. iDVD screen for customized DVD production using logos and field shots.
storage disc cost about $170. A
storage device of this size will
store raw footage and edited clips
for about 50 full matches. With
compressed archiving, there is
room for even more! We prefer to
keep all games uncompressed for
at least two years for easy access.
Display Demands
Once a recording is captured,
converted and analyzed, it can be
presented for public viewing in
a variety of ways. Most useful for
a coach is burning the video to
DVD format. Macintosh comput-
ers typically include iDVD. The
iMovie file can simply be “shared”
to iDVD, which accepts the iMovie
file and offers creative screens for
menu selection much like a DVD
that would be purchased at a local
video store. Most of the iDVD
menus even can be customized
to include pictures and logos of
your team on the initial selection
screen.
These preset formats are
simple to select and modify. After
selecting the menu theme, one
simply needs to press the “burn to
DVD” selection and the computer
will do the rest. Be aware that this
process of burning the DVD takes
about three hours as the video will
be “rendered” within iDVD. It is
a lengthy process and takes most
of the computer’s resources while
accomplishing the task. We rec-
ommend not using the computer
for other tasks while burning the
DVD. The rendering of video is a
task you may want to have your
computer perform overnight.
Video also can be produced
for other formats, including You-
Tube, small portable devices and
web-based locations. Each one of
these formats can be determined
in the final export stage of video
production. The options are up
to the preferences of the coaches
and athletes. The quality of the
picture after conversion will vary analysis. If a coach desires to find
with the format; DVD format of-
fers the best clarity.
Time Demands
Perhaps the first thing to con- that when used to bring about
sider when undertaking video
analysis is how long it will take.
There is a cost to using video
effectively. A coach can invest a
lot of time in both the technical
and evaluative aspects of video
analysis. The process involves:
• Transfer time (varies as indi-
cated earlier)
• Observation time (at least 90
minutes)
• Film breakdown time (about 60
minutes)
• Making QuickTime movies (20
minutes)
• iDVD production (about three
hours for the computer to ren-
der the video, but the coach
can walk away).
Conclusion
Because of the demands on a
coach of recording and managing
computer storage, a coach must be
committed to the value of video
an edge and improve a team’s per-
formance, using video effectively
can be another helpful tool in the
coach’s repertoire. It is possible
change in training and match play,
video analysis may be the best use
of time in fine-tuning a winning
program.

36 Soccer Journal November-December 2009

Soccer Journal November-December 2009 37
SJ Training Session

HEERENVEEN
NSCAA Master Coach Rob Her-
ringer shares his observations of a
training session at Heerrenveen in
the Netherlands. The session is a
ers performed different dynamic
movements as they were called
out by the trainer. The moves
included:
and a few words from the
trainer, the players pass and
move in pairs to complete
the warm-up. The keepers
ball back for Player 1, who
passes a through ball to Play-
er 3. Player 4 checks away
and runs into space to receive
typical Dutch/KNVB-type session • Shuffles – both sides separated and worked with the ball and dribbles back to
with emphasis on passing patterns • High knees the keeper coach. the starting point.
and 11 v. 11. • Heels to butt • Pattern 3 (Diagram 4): Up,
• One-footed hops Passing Patterns back and through; Player 1
The players arrived at the • Two-footed hops Passing patterns are a part of passes to Player 2; Player 2
training facility by bus and quickly • Striders a typical Dutch training session. lays it off for Player 1, who
made their way to the field to be- This part of the session was con- plays a through pass to Player
gin preparations for training. The The progression that followed: ducted by the team manager. 3; Player 3 plays it back to
players had their own pre-training • Players form two lines and • Pattern 1 (Diagram 2): Pass Player 2; Player 2 plays back
routines. perform “build up” sprints and follow to the next line; to 3, who plays a through
across the field. Build up all passes are two-touch; the pass to Player 4, who drib-
Dynamic Warm-up sprints have the players start last player receives the ball bles at speed to the starting
This session was led by Henk running slow and increasing across his body and makes an point. All players follow the
Helsing, the fitness trainer. The speed to a full sprint. explosive move to receive the ball to the next line.
team started in a tight area the • Players formed an S shape in ball and dribbles back to the • Pattern 4: The same pat-
size about a quarter of the full runs across the field, acceler- starting point. tern as Diagram 4, but when
field. The fitness trainer was in the ating each time they changed • Pattern 2 (Diagram 3): This Player 3 receives the ball
middle of the team instructing the direction. pattern has Player 1 passing back from Player 2 he/she
players. (see Diagram 1) The play- • After some static stretching to Player 2; Player 2 lays the plays a 1-2 with Player 4 and

Diagram 1

Diagram 1 Diagram 3

Diagram 2

Diagram 2 Diagram 4

38 Soccer Journal November-December 2009

Soccer Journal November-December 2009 39
 springs him/her into space; Player 4 dribbles at speed to the start-
ing point.

During this phase of training, the keepers worked with the goal-
keeper coach. The training included:
• Basic shot stopping
• Receiving crosses from different angles and both sides
• Dealing with back passes – good and bad
• Working on distribution with feet and hands

11 v. 11
Many Dutch sessions end with 11 v. 11. In this case the start-
ers played the reserves. The starters played a 1-4-3-3 shape and the
reserves played a 1-4-2-3-1 shape (Diagram 5). Play always began with
the goalkeeper. The manager stopped play and made coaching points,
including:
• Working on throw-ins in the attacking third. He stressed the play-
ers’ interchanging position in order to better receive the ball and
keep possession.
• Working on the spacing and positioning of the central midfield
players in order to ensure total coverage of the central positions
while attacking and defending.
• Changing a couple of players from the second team to the first
team.

The 11 v. 11 session lasted 30 minutes.

Diagram 5

40 Soccer Journal November-December 2009

In My Opinion
THE TRANSITION GAME
Playing in an Academic Environment
By Frank Pace
As important as the transition from offense
to defense, and defense to offense is to the
outcome of a game, the most important transi-
tion any players will make is the transition to
playing in an academic environment.
The first day that freshmen arrive on the
campus of our all-girls private high school,
they hear something they have never heard in
all their years of AYSO, Club or ODP: “Soccer
is a privilege earned in the classroom.” We
tell them they’d better get used to hearing
it, because to play in high school or college,
they have to succeed with the books. We also
inform our players that despite whatever they
have accomplished in the past and despite
whatever thoughts Mom and Dad have filled
their heads with about how good they are,
there are no entitlements. They are starting
over. The slate has been wiped clean. They
need to prove they can handle a rigorous
academic load and at the same time prove they
can compete against older, stronger and often
quicker players. They will get that chance, first
on the practice field, then on the playing field,
if they can be both good students and good
citizens in our community.
AIDING THE TRANSITION
Clearly communicate your philosophy
and expectations: Whether the goal is for your
student-athletes to maintain a 3.5 grade point
average or simply to stay in good academic
standing, let them know what you expect in
clear and measurable terms.
Playing time is not included in tuition (or
a college scholarship). Our teams are playing
competitive soccer. We don’t have an everyone-
plays philosophy. It is the best players who
play, regardless of which class they are in. In
high school, because we don’t recruit, talent is
often cyclical. This is good; it fosters competi-
tion. In an academic environment, we graduate
kids. Every season is a new year. Every team
is a new team with its own personality and
challenges. Just because you started last year
doesn’t mean you will start this year. Just
because we won last year doesn’t mean we
will win this year. Three seasons ago we had
one freshman on our varsity team. This season
there are eight. The best players play. Just like
in college. You may be in the national team
pool, but if the kid playing in front of you is
a better player, you either beat her out or wait
your turn.
We also explain to our kids that there are
only two positions on our team, on the field
or off. It you don’t like where we are playing
you on the field, we will gladly change your
position.
Assign mentors/Ask a senior: We’ve ob-
served that teams in an academic environment
seem to take on the personality of the senior
42
class. That’s why from Day 1, regardless of
the playing reputation an incoming freshman
brings to our school, we establish a culture
of respect for the traditions and players who
have preceded them. Teaching the students
about Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy soccer
history makes our Alumni Games all the more
meaningful and the FSHA jersey more special.
Our players learn that respect is to be earned,
not given, but we will give them every chance
to earn respect.
The challenges facing any one
of our incoming freshmen are usually
not unlike those experienced by their
upper class teammates a few years earlier.
Kids today live more complicated lives than
older generations. However, the challenges
facing any one of our incoming freshmen are
usually not unlike those experienced by their
upper class teammates a few years earlier.
If there is trouble with a teacher, a class,
a parent, friend or the coach, we have our
girls talk to an upperclassman. We encourage
our upperclassmen to become mentors to the
younger players. We ask them to teach the
expectations and traditions of our programs
as the generation before taught them. If a kid
is frustrated by not starting or playing less in
high school or college than in club, chances
are that the senior all-conference defender
once occupied that same spot on the bench.
We want the upperclassman to explain how
she dealt with it. In fact, this year we matched
a senior player with a freshman player for that
very purpose. Gaining the respect and trust
of upperclassmen is important in making the
transition to playing in an academic environ-
ment. It also invests the older players in the
well-being of the newcomers. This investment
process is critical, especially for girls.
As the coach, you also know which upper-
classmen will best reinforce your coaching phi-
losophy and explain your coaching personality,
so when assigning mentors, choose wisely.
Create accountability: We expect the girls to
take responsibility for their own actions.
We expect homework to be turned in on
time. We expect classes to be attended daily,
and we expect our girls to be good citizens.
The accountability factor is doubly important
in college, because players have to get up on
their own, feed themselves and get to class, not
because Mom and Dad are making them, but
because they understand that anything less is a
one-way ticket home. At Sacred Heart, if a girl
has a detention for any reason on game day,
she goes to detention. If she misses the game,
that’s too bad. Explaining to her teammates
why she let them down is harder for a player
than missing a game.
We also expect our girls to communicate
for themselves. We do not accept phone calls
or e-mails from parents explaining why their
daughter “won’t be at practice today.” There are
acceptable reasons for missing or being late to
practice (rehab, for one). There is no reason
the player can’t make the call or send the
e-mail herself. Anything less is considered an
unexcused absence and carries consequences
previously communicated to them. Legendary
basketball coach John Wooden says the worst
thing you can do for anyone is something they
can and should do for themselves. Amen.
The great thing about an academic environ-
ment is that everything is objective. A 3.2 GPA
is a 3.2 GPA. A 2-1 loss is a 2-1 loss. GPA and
scoreboard are a player’s ultimate measure
of accountability as long as the results are
achieved within the boundaries of the rules.
Compete, compete, compete: Young players
are losing their competitive edge. A kid buries
a ball in the side netting trying to score near
post from an impossible angle and hears “un-
lucky.” There is nothing unlucky about poor
discipline and bad execution. Players need
to prepare for every game as if it is the most
important game of the year. No game is dispos-
able. We want our kids to feel good after a
game and bad after a loss. At the club level you
often don’t know whom you are playing within
the structure of endless tournament games.
Lose in the morning, win in the afternoon and
the kids go home happy. We need to teach our
kids to compete.
Our kids know, often months in advance,
when they are playing traditional rivals. Teach
your players what to do the day before to
prepare for a game. Teach them what, how
and when to eat. Teach them to make sure that
their equipment is all packed the night before
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
Soccer Journal November-December 2009 43
and that they get enough sleep. In short, teach
them how to mentally prepare to play a soccer
game. Those skills are sorely lacking.
Competitive soccer is supposed to be fun,
but not everyone gets a trophy. One of our
freshman players said it better than I ever
could have in a pre-game meeting recently
when she defined competitive soccer as “War-
rior Fun.” North Carolina v. Notre Dame,
USC v. UCLA, Williams v. Amherst. Your best
against their best. That’s fun all right, “Warrior
Fun.”
For the last word on building competitors,
read Jay Martin’s Center Circle editorial in the
Nov.-Dec. 2008 issue of Soccer Journal. It may
be the most photocopied, faxed or e-mailed
article SJ ever published.
Be consistent: Abe Lemons, the Hall of
Fame basketball coach, used to say that he
didn’t have any rules because he didn’t want
to have to punish his best players. Whether
you have few rules like coach Lemons or a
lot of rules as coach Wooden did, be consis-
tent in how you enforce them. Your players
have long memories. Several years ago we let
a minor transgression slide without conse-
quence. Three years later when we went to
discipline a player for that very same viola-
tion of our rules, that player reminded us
that we “hadn’t punished Courtney” during
her freshman year for doing the same thing.
We were accountable. We admitted to hav-
ing made a mistake three years earlier, but
disciplined the player anyway as a lesson to
both the current freshmen and the coaches.
We also have a zero-tolerance policy for
academic fraud, drugs or alcohol.
Control the hype: It’s important to build
team chemistry. You may have the best player
in the history of your school, but let those
players prove themselves on the field before all
the hype begins. Make sure to give your upper-
classmen all the preseason accolades in both
the school and local papers. Let the newcomers
play their way into the headlines.
There is not a lot of coverage for club
games, so your kids won’t have a lot of experi-
ence with media exposure, but local media
often does take an interest in high school and
college teams. Take a moment during one
of your preseason practices to instruct your
players on what and how to speak to the
media. Teach them not to get caught up in the
excitement of the interview process, not to say
anything they wouldn’t want to read in the
paper and never to say anything that would
reflect poorly on the team or an opponent.
Remind them, too, that publicity is like poison.
It’s okay as long as you don’t swallow it.
TRANSITIONING PARENTS
More and more, I hear from college
coaches that the parents are trying to insert
themselves into the college game in a manner
similar to the way they control club teams.
In fact, I know a successful Division I coach
who lost her job, in part, because of parental
complaints about her coaching style. Don’t
bury your head in the sand on this one. If it
hasn’t happened yet at your school, it’s coming.
Too many parents have taken to “agenting” for
44
their kids. Helicopter parents, they’re called:
They are always hovering. They’ve been doing
it up to and through high school. It’s not going
to change unless you change it.
John Wooden says, “Coaches are teach-
ers.” We tell our parents not to ask a coach
any question you wouldn’t ask your daughter’s
chemistry or math teacher. “How is Sally do-
ing, and what can she do to get better?” is an
appropriate question. “How can you possibly
play Joanne instead of Sally?” is not. Any time
one player is compared with another player,
both players lose.
Keep reminding your players the key word
in scholarship – be it athletic or academic –
is “scholar,” and that soccer is a privilege
earned in the classroom.
Regarding e-mails, I have found e-mailing
to be a passive-aggressive form of communica-
tion. They make people brave. Our parents are
discouraged from sending e-mails to coaches
regarding on-field decisions. We tell our
parents, if you wouldn’t e-mail the chemistry
teachers, don’t e-mail us. However, if you do
feel the need to e-mail the coaches, our admin-
istration has endorsed a policy that states you
also must send it to your daughter, our athletic
director and our vice principal of student
affairs. A parent is informed that should they
send an e-mail without the aforementioned
people copied, the coaches will forward it on.
You would be amazed at how few e-mails we
now receive. A complete list of communication
procedures is presented to the parents prior to
the beginning of every season.
FITNESS: THE FIRST MILESTONE
One of the biggest failings incoming
freshmen (and their parents) make transition-
ing into the academic environment is not
understanding the level of fitness that will be
required. We tell our graduating seniors when
they go to college that if you want to impress
your coaches, come in fit. Your first goal
should be to finish in the top three or four of
your measured fitness runs on the week you
report to camp. The same goes at the high
school level. We do a version of the Cooper
Test called “The Wall.” We have been running
it for years, so the level of measurement has
remained constant. It’s become an FSHA tradi-
tion. As we have gotten better athletes over the
years, team times have fallen, but individual
bests remain pretty constant.
Yet one thing is sure: our fittest players
tend to be our best-skilled and most commit-
ted, players who have gone on to excel at the
college level. We run “The Wall” periodically
throughout both the preseason and the regular
season, documenting every player’s result,
down to splits. We then make the results avail-
able to parents who wish to see them. “Susie’s
not playing because she hasn’t passed her
fitness requirement” saves a lot of explaining. It
also gets the message across to Susie loud and
clear – get in shape. I often joke to our cross-
country coach how easy he has it picking his
“starting lineup” – all he has to do is look at his
stopwatch. Make sure your incoming players
have plenty of advance notice of your fitness
expectations. The rest is up to them.
A FINAL NOTE TO COACHES
Coaching in an academic environment
(especially at the college level) is more difficult
now than ever before. We need to be teachers,
role models, mentors and psychologists as well
as coaches. Most important, we need to be
patient while our players are transitioning. We
need to be patient as they learn to prioritize
their time between classes, homework and
soccer five, sometimes six, days a week – with
maybe a little social time mixed in. Plus sleep.
It’s a big difference from two nights a week of
club practice.
Be patient in adjusting kids to your style
of play. Many kids come to high school or
college having played for only one club
coach for the majority of their careers.
They will be confused and conflicted. Most
of them don’t watch soccer on TV, so they
know only one style of play. Some have
played only in a flat four zonal defending
scheme. Others have never played with three
forwards. Unfortunately, kids don’t just play
soccer these days. They can only play the
way they have been programmed to play.
Still they are good kids, and you are a good
coach. They will figure out what you are sell-
ing and they will buy into it.
As you transition kids into a high school or
college program scholarship, keep reminding
your players the key word in scholarship – be it
athletic or academic – is “scholar,” and that soccer
is a privilege earned in the classroom.
Frank Pace (Ksidekicks@aol.com) is in his
11th season as co-head coach at Flintridge Sacred
Heart Academy in La Canada, Calif. His teams
have sent more than 20 players into the college
soccer ranks. Voted goalkeeper of the decade at
Jacksonville University (1970-79), he is a longtime
member of the NSCAA and a frequent contributor
to Soccer Journal.
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
Soccer Journal November-December 2009 45
Exercises • All Ages

Five Favorite Practices of

NOEL BLAKE
This originally was published in Insight, the official magazine of the English FA. Go to TheFA.com for more information. Noel Blake was born in Jamaica,
played in the EPL, earned his UEFA A license and now works with the FA in youth development.
I firmly believe that it is a part of a coach’s responsibility to prepare Yo creo firmamente que es en parte la responsabilidad del entre-
players to meet the demands and requirements of their game in order to nador preparar a los jugadores a lograr las demandas y requisitos para
maximize their performance. These demands can be broken down into lograr un esfuerzo máximo en su juego. Estas demandas son y pueden
the four pillars of soccer development: ser cumplidas en cuatro aspectos del desarollo:
• The Physical • Lo físico
• The Technical • La técnica
• The Tactical • La táctica
• The Psychological/Social • Lo sicológico/social

I will share some practices that I have been fortunate to observe dur-
ing my trips abroad. All of them can be adapted and varied to suit your
team, but I think they are more effective with the older age groups (15
and above). In addition to this tactical understanding, always remember
to maintain the emphasis on fun and enjoyment.
Me gustaría compartir unos tipos de entrenamientos que he tenido
la oportunidad de observar durante mis viajes. Todos pueden ser adap-
tados o variados a su equipo pero creo que tendrán más eficacia particu-
larmente con los jugadores mayores. Además de entender la táctica, hay
que siempre dar énfasis a que los jugadores disfruten de los ejercicios.

ExERCISE #1 EJERCICIO #1
Rotational Possession, Posesión Rotativa, Estilo
Real Madrid Style Real Madrid
Objective Objetivo
• The team in possession looks to • El equipo en posesión del balón
move the ball through the center busca cambiar la dirección por la
space zona central.
• Retain possession for long peri- • Mantenga posesión lo más que
ods of time sea posible con el foco de colorcar
• Overloading a side and posses- jugadores más hacia a un lado y
sion retener posesión del balón.
Organization Organización
• Two end zones as shown (4 v. 4) • Dos zonas opuestas como se in-
• Central Zone (2 v. 2) (+1 or 2 dica en el diagrama con juego de
floaters) 4 v 4.
Rules • En la zona central se juega 2 v 2,
• Defending team must stay in its assigned zone (+1/2 jugadores son flotantes.
• Ball can be played into any zone, switching the play or playing back Las reglas de juego
into a zone • El equipo que está de defensa debe mantenerse dentro de su zona.
Progression • El balón se puede jugar a cualquier zona, cambiando la dirección de
• Cannot play the ball back to the man who passed to you juego de un lado al otro.
• Two-touch in the end zone (4 v 4) Progresión
• Count passes before moving the ball (e.g., 4 passes and then play • No se puede devolver el balón a quien te lo pasó.
across the field) • Dos toques al balón en las zonas opuestas o sea las laterales.
• Restrict the number of touches for the floaters • Número de pases antes de cambiar la dirección de juego.
Coaching Points • Limitar los toques al balón a los jugadores flotantes.
• Quality of passes Puntos claves
• Creating space • La calidad de los pases
• Movement and preparation to receive the ball • Creatividad de espacio
• Support, Angle, Distance • Acercándose al balón para recibirlo
• Communication ª Apoyo, ángulo y distancia
• Comunicación

Soccer Journal would like to thank member coach Phil Vigil

for his assistance in translating this article into Spanish.

46 Soccer Journal November-December 2009

Soccer Journal November-December 2009 47
Exercise #2 EJERCICIO #2
Crossing and Finishing at Speed, Cruzando y Rematando a Velocidad
Valencia Style –Phase 1 Cruzando y Remantando a Velocidad, Estilo
Objective Valencia – Progresión 1
• Crossing and finishing at game speed Objetivo
Organization • Cruzando y rematando a velocidad
• One speed ladder Organización
• Three groups of five players • Usando la escalera de piso que se coloca
o Group 1: Work the ladders sobre el terreno.
o Group 2: Passing to group 3 • Tres grupos de cinco jugadores.
o Group 3: Sprinting to cross for group o Grupo 1 – Corriendo las escaleras de
1 runner piso con rapidez.
o Grupo 2 – Pasando al grupo 3.
o Grupo 3 – Corriendo de sprint para el
cruce al jugador del grupo 1.

Crossing and Finishing at Speed, Cruzando y Remantando a Velocidad, Estilo

Valencia Style –Phase 2 Valencia – Progresión 2
Objective Objetivo
• Crossing and finishing at game speed • Cruzando y rematando a velocidad
Organization Progresión
• Same as above, add a player in Group 2 • Preparación de pases del grupo 2.
to combine with a teammate and sprint • Preparación para los jugadores para
into the box sprint al area. Aumentar la intensidad
• Build up the practice to add defenders del entrenamiento para incluir la defensa
(two defenders in the box) ( o defensores).
Coaching Points Puntos claves
• Speed of movement in ladders • Velocidad de movimiento después de
• Quality of the service salir de la escalera de piso.
• Speed of play of the wide players • Calidad del pase al lateral y el cruce ha-
• Timing of runs cia adentro al area.
• Communication • Velocidad de los laterales (aceleración y deceleración).
• Defenders and goalkeepers make this match-related • Calidad del cruce.
• Comunicación.
• Que sea como jugando un partido normal (para la defensa y el por-
tero).

Exercise #3 EJERCICIO #3
Rotation Possession Game, Partido de Posesión y Rotación
Real Madrid Style Objetivo
Objective • Retener posesión al enfrentarse al
• Retain possession by playing oponente usando jugadas de com-
the way you are facing using binación y movimiento (cambiando
combination play and rotational posiciones).
movement Organización
Organization • 7 v. 7
• 7 v. 7 • Usando cuatro maniquines como
• Four mannequins of corner flags figuras en el campo.
as shown • Dos jugadores de cada equipo
• Two players on each team marcando a los maniquines acti-
must be “on” the mannequins vamente.
(Active) • Ejercicios de posesión sin una
• Non-directional practice dirección específica.
Progression Progresión
• Players on the mannequins rotate off after receiving a pass from in- • Los jugadores giran de los maniquines al recibir un pase de un com-
side pañero de adentro (un jugador siempre tiene que marcar un mani-
• Another player rotates on to the mannequin quin dejando 5 v 5 en el centro).
• Players on the mannequin are not allowed to move more than 2 or 3 • No se les permite a los jugadores marcando los maniquines moverse
yards to receive a ball más de dos o tres yardas en cualquier lado.
Coaching Points Punto claves
• Quality of pass • Calidad del pase.
• Movement to receive the ball (angle and distance) • Movimiento del jugador para recibir el balón (ângulo y distancia).
• Combination play • Jugadas de combinación.
• Defending team defends correctly • Que el equipo de defensa defienda bien.
• Communication • Comunicación.

48 Soccer Journal November-December 2009

Soccer Journal November-December 2009 49
Exercise #4 EJERCICIO #4
Switch Play Counterattacking, Valen- Cambio de Juego Contraatacando,
cia Style Estilo Valencia
Objectives Objetivo
• Counterattacking from a 4-3-3 • No dejar al equipo rojo con-
formation traatacar para anotar goles en las 4
• Defending the counterattack from áreas designadas.
a 4-4-2 formation Organización
Organization • El equipo del contraataque juega
• The counterattacking team (Blue) 4-3-3 atacando la única portería.
plays 4-3-3 and attacks big goal • El otro equipo juega 4-4-2 ata-
• The Red team plays 4-4-2 and at- cando las cuatro áreas hacia el
tacks the four small goals blanco.
• Change teams around so both get • Como se indica en el diagrama.
a chance to counterattack and • Cambiar el papel de ambos equi-
defend the counterattack pos para poder practicar el con-
Coaching points traataque y la defense.
• Game speed Punto Clave
• Al rítmo como si fuera un par-
tido oficial.

Exercise #5 EJERCICIO #5
Crossing and Finishing, Ajax Style Cruzando y Rematando – Estilo Ajax
Objectives Objetivo
• Scoring goals from shots and • Anotando goles de cruces y re-
crosses matando.
Organization Organización
• Four groups of players and a • Como se indica en el diagrama.
goalkeeper as shown • Cuatro grupos de jugadores.
• Set up seven mannequins or cor- • Dos porteros.
ner flags as shown • El proceso.
• Blue plays ball to red for shot on • Azul a rojo.
Goal No. 1 • Rojo remata a la portería # 1 y
• Red runs around the mannequin después se despegar en el área alre-
into the box dedor de los maniquines.
• When red shoots the ball, white • Al primer toque de rojo antes de
joins him/her in the box rematar, el jugador color gris emp-
• On red’s first touch on the shot, gray begins to dribble around the ieza driblear.
mannequins and delivers across to white and red • Los jugadores rojos y amarillos corren adentro del área buscando un
• The rotation is Blue to Red; Red to White; White to Blue; Gray re- cruce para rematar. Rotación: jugadores de color azul a rojo, rojo a
mains in crossing line amarillo, amarillo a azul (Los jugadores de color gris solamente cru-
Progression zan el balón).
• Work the opposite side Progesión
• Add defenders • Utilizar la lateral opuesta.
Coaching Points • Añadir una defense.
• Quality of passing Puntos claves
• Good first touch • Calidad de los pases.
• Finishing • El primer toque.
• Timing of runs • Rematando para anotar goles.
• Quality of cross • La duración de la corrida.
• La calidad de los cruces.

50 Soccer Journal November-December 2009

Soccer Journal November-December 2009 51
SJ Interview
JÜRGEN
KLINSMANN
This is the first of a two-part interview with Jürgen Klinsmann. Soccer
Journal Editor Jay Martin interviewed Klinsmann in Munich in March 2009.
I guess the first question has to be, after such a successful profes-
sional career, why coach?
Well, after living in the United States, I saw the business side of
things, worked on several projects, but from a completely different
perspective. Then I just surprisingly got the offer to take over the Ger-
man team, to take them to the World Cup. Then during that I realized
that this was really a lot of fun to me, something that fulfills you, and
it’s something where you can have a big influence on developing the
players and their career. So, I think that was all in the back of my mind.
Would that be something of interest? But it took a while to really get
into it. Now, after that experience with the national team, I knew that
this was what I wanted to do; this is what I would love to do. Obviously
it’s one step less than trying to score the goals yourself, but it is a far
bigger picture than as a player and a far bigger
challenge than as a player, and it’s fascinating to
work with people next to you that put all the
energy they have into it. You build a team around My philosophy is simple: I’d like to have
the team, which is of tremendous importance,
and then you work with the team to help them
hopefully reach the next level. I enjoy coaching a players reach the next level, to improve their
lot, it’s very fulfilling.
Was the transition difficult from player to level, to improve everyone if possible throughout
coach?
No, it was really not that difficult because
I had my break living in the United States and
learning under people on the business side. I
slowly got back into the technical side, briefly
with the Galaxy and Doug Hamilton and Sigi
(Schmid). I followed his path a bit, worked out a bit with the Galaxy
when I was younger. So it was a very slow progression toward the
coaching role. I mean I understood that the role of a coach is a very
different one; you have to cover a lot of different fields. I observed the
other American big sports. I had the opportunity to meet with coaches
from other professional sports, Phil Jackson with the Lakers, or others,
so I got a very wide picture throughout sports, and I think that just
helps you.
You must have thought that you might coach in the future; you did
go to that special German course for former professional players.
Yes. What happened was that after I finished playing, a year later the
(German) Federation said well you know, we want to make sure that the
last generation of really big trophy winners stay connected to the game.
So the DFB came up with that idea. So they called me. I was already
living in the U.S. They wanted to ask if I could organize it because I was
the captain of the ’96 European Championship team. I called all the
guys and said that they’re offering a special course. They were interest-
ed, but only if it’s really a crash course. If you’re out of playing already,
they couldn’t say let’s do it in nine months. So we talked back and forth,
we organized it, so the Federation said that since I organized it I had to
come as well, so okay, I went. I did it, and it was a very good course; it
was obviously a very compressed course, but they did speak a lot about
theory, and it’s good to see the theoretical side of things. They sent every
one of us out for a week’s study of whatever professional team they’d
chosen. I did it with Sigi Schmid in the U.S. It was a big help. Most
of my (German) teammates played in Italy, they played abroad; they
know the game is played differently in every country depending on the
cultural background. I had an amazing amount of coaches in my career,
52
(and) I memorized what they said. Beckenbauer, Trappatoni, Wenger
etc. I had about 20 really high-profile coaches in my career. With every
one of them, you find things that are useful now. But then it’s also learn-
ing by doing it, by experiencing it, and you always make mistakes, but
you learn from it, and it’s a wonderful thing.
What was the best advice about coaching that you ever received
from one of those coaches?
Certainly they came from different areas. I received obviously a lot
of advice. Technical advice, management advice, organizational skills,
communication skills, there are things that you take with you. Especial-
ly from tournaments; I played in three World Cups and three European
Championships. Especially with the stress level being extremely high,
there are certain things that you take from coaches. How do they react
to this enormous pressure and stress? One thing Otto Rehhagel always
said: Statements or behaviors right before, during and after a game you
the whole year.
shouldn’t take too seriously. You should let it go, because that’s when
players and everyone are subject to stress, and nervous, so they over-
react. I just give them their emotional exit, whatever it is, whether it’s
players screaming, (or) somebody making mistakes with the media half
an hour after the game. He always said to not be too involved at that
point, to let things go that happen under extreme stress. That was one
important thing and a great example, and he’s still my mentor today.
He always says that when things get really dramatic and stressful, just
focus on the game. The media, internal turbulence that you might have
– just focus on what is important, and that’s the game. Because now we
play with a rhythm here, basically a game every three or four days, so
now the next game defines the team. You’re the one the team depends
on. The public is a big part of your daily life. Wherever they go they’re
in touch with people; they are huge, you know, and it’s the European
culture, it’s hard, you aren’t getting away. The only way is to send out
your girlfriend or your wife to go grocery shopping. You have to cross
paths with people, so wherever you go tomorrow they will talk about
the game tonight. They won’t talk about the upcoming game, or the pre-
vious game before that; you become part of a soccer culture that defines
your daily life. You aren’t getting away with anything.
What’s your coaching philosophy?
My philosophy is simple: I’d like to have players reach the next
level, to improve their level, to improve everyone if possible throughout
the whole year. Helping them when they have questions, evaluate them
and after a couple of months say, okay, this is how we look at you, this
is how you can improve technically, tactically, as a team player, what
your role is there, how you deal with your life as an overall professional.
We can be ready with areas for improvement in play, lifestyle, there are
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
so many fields. We just try to help them; those that just want informa- introduced a completely different fitness approach, which the German
tion, we give them feedback, and we want feedback. We want personali- national team players knew from the World Cup, but the other players
ties, we want people that position themselves, because that puts them hadn’t experienced. We are focusing on the long run, which is a gamble
more into a role in that they also have to deliver. So we want people that because in the short term we need to be getting results, so we need to
are willing to take responsibility, and speak up, because then we can balance the goals and the environment in which we’re working. The
ask even more of them. When you compete at the highest level, when payoff will come later, but if we don’t have results overnight, if they
you play in the Champions League, you need players that have that don’t happen in the beginning, everyone gets nervous and wonders
confidence and have that sense where they don’t really need to always whether or not this is the right path and are we doing a good job. So
be looking at the coach anymore. I always say, it’s your time to play; it’s you run the risk that everything will be questioned 10 times before it
your time now, so as a coach, you just try to help them. I define myself will be accepted. In Germany if you come into a successful environment
as more of a helper. Yes, there’s a lot of responsibility, but once the game (like the one at Bayern Munich), they expect you to continue. They won
starts, there is little you can do. the German Cup and the German Championship and then everyone
automatically says, why change this? We’ve won two titles obviously, so
I know that not only do you want to develop players on the field, why change? (But) the demand of the board was that we want to be at
but you also are very interested in what happens to players off the the top in Europe again. So in Europe they failed completely last season,
field and in other aspects of their lives. Is that true? they got really hammered in the UEFA Cup. I came in and said we have
Well, when I started with practice with the national team, five years to win the domestic trophies in order to re-qualify for the Champions
ago, we started to make it clear that everything that the players do off League, but in order to get back into the European spotlight, we have
the field has an influence at the end of the day on the field. So if they a hell of a lot of work to do. It was quite a challenging process up and
understand how the media works, if they understand what they can through today, but I think we are on a good path.
learn from psychology, if they understand how to put their money on
the side and plan their lives after their career—whatever topics we can Martin Jol said earlier this year, in the first round (first half of the
choose in helping them to develop as a rounded person—the benefits German season), that you (Klinsmann) are changing the way German
are for them. One day—maybe not now, maybe now they think soccer coaching will be for the future. Is this what he was talking about?
is their entire world—but after the 2006 World Cup every one of them This total player development, instead of just on the field, such as the
came up and said, wow, these last two years have really made a big performance center aspects?
change in my life. We coached them: Keep going, you don’t know what I think everyone is curious how this all will develop. I know Martin
will happen tomorrow, so prepare yourself. because of his time at Tottenham, believes as I do that you get ahead
when you empower people. It has to do with empowerment. And
The facility at your training ground suggests to me that you be- empowerment is a very, very strict and challenging thing. Because here,
lieve the environment around a team, around players, is very impor- if you empower people, they see it as a loss of authority of the coach.
tant. Is that true? So, if I empower the chief analyst to speak up to the players, to do a 20-
Yes. We believe that if they feel comfortable, if they walk into a facil- minute session about Sporting Lisbon last night, the player might look
ity and say this is ours, this is our place, then they’re excited, there’s a
flow of energy in there. We think about the process, coming in an hour
before practice, preparing for practice, doing work before, leading up to
the practice. There’s a flow between fitness coaches, the physical thera-
pists, and the soccer coaches themselves, all the way up to nutrition
after practice, food, and then meetings where we have an auditorium
similar to colleges, with simultaneous translations for the players. One
of our biggest challenges is language; in European soccer we have play-
ers from all over the world. Argentineans, Brazilians, French, Italian,
Turkish, Belgian, we have them all, so we need to find a bridge. We have
a partnership with a language institute in Munich, educated simultane-
ous translators on standby. They come up whenever I call a meeting,
they put the headsets on so they know what I’m talking about, even if
it’s just for five minutes, we use them as language teachers as well. They
are young guys, they’re educated for soccer, soccer-specific language, all
those things we try to give them and to send for them, they’re important
for the job. To get to the training ground next to ours, we call it the
performance center. It was built in July. There are 280 employees work-
ing for Bayern Munich. We created a restaurant for them downstairs
that was not there before; it was an open restaurant for fans. They could
read and have a coffee or whatever. Now we’ve changed that all, and
they have their own place where they can eat food and have lunch from
11:30 to 1:30. That gives a connection to the performance center. It’s
the same style to the players, the players, sometimes we go down there
without the players, and we eat with the workers. We have a meet-
ing upstairs, then we eat downstairs, and we connect with the people
that work for the club, so they feel what’s going on, that the coaches
are just as much a part of the club as the secretaries in the offices. The
infrastructure we’ve changed quite a bit, learning from different sports,
different environments, also obviously looking abroad. What is Man-
chester United doing, what is Barcelona doing? We look at those things
to see what’s going. We still think that those little things at the end of
the day can really matter. That can really matter, because it makes the
team comfortable. And we believe that once the players buy into it, and
they feel it, they become better, because they get more and more into a
role where they have to pay back.
How are the players accepting this?
There were many, many questions the first three or four months. We

Soccer Journal November-December 2009 53

at it as, why is the coach not doing this? Why is he not the one talking
about Sporting Lisbon? But I come in and I say, Michael, one of our as-
sistants, put the video together, he knows every secret about Sporting.
They will go to that video and learn it inside and out, and everything he
tells me, I learn it, and I use it. I’d rather spend those two hours that I
have there in special talks with my players, so I empower somebody to
get that role covered. Empowerment, on the German side, is still seen
as a weakness, so that’s what Martin means. We have not only a results
challenge, we have to deliver the results, meaning that we as individu-
als are responsible for delivering the trophies at the end of the season.
That’s what the fans want to see: They want to stay in their environment
to be seen as the elite club, the top club in Germany. On one hand you
have to produce results, and on the other hand you have to develop a
new culture, and you have to develop a long-term picture in order to
be competitive with (Manchester) United, with Barcelona, with those
teams. We talk about the top teams in Europe, which are the big four
in England (Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal), the big
three in Italy (Milan, Inter, and Juventus), and the top two in Spain
(Barcelona and Real Madrid), and then there’s only one German team,
and that is Bayern Munich. So at the same time I need to make sure we
win the championship to guarantee the Champions League next year,
but we also have to compete on a larger scale.
You want the double, but it’s just not enough,
so maybe you have to sacrifice. We’ve won the
double 10 times, but we want more. It’s been a I think that every one of us has some
real challenge to compete on all fronts. It’s been
an interesting nine months so far, because I was
hired in January of last year, so I had to wait until type of leadership. If you call it up or not,
the season ended. I agreed to not give any media
statements; I prepared the performance end basi-
cally and then came in at the beginning of July. if you develop it or not, depends on what’s
It really worked out perfectly; he (Hitzfield, the
previous Bayern manager) appreciated it, because
I gave him support, I was very happy with every
win, and it picked him up. I wanted to say good
things, but everyone was already looking into the
future and asking what was coming up.
When you think of the best possible coach, what are the three ad-
jectives that describe that coach?
There are many areas to cover. I think empowerment is one of
them. Cultural tolerance is another thing that is important to under-
stand. You need to understand the athletes that you’re dealing with.
You can’t just say that they play badly or well. There are thousands of
reasons why a player doesn’t produce. We have an extremely talented
player from South America here. He’s been in the team for five years,
and yet he’s not breaking through here yet, because it is just taking time
for him to adjust. Munich is different from Buenos Aires. Language, dif-
ferences in languages spoken within the team, the philosophy around
the team with the media. If you don’t break through in two or three
months, they tell you that you have failed. You have to give players
time, and I believe in that. I believe in this player; I think he will break
through sooner or later. So you need to learn how an athlete functions.
You have to believe in everyone, and then at the end of the time period
you come to the conclusion that maybe the player is not made for the
environment of Bayern Munich. Lucas Podolski is not made for the
environment at Bayern Munich because it’s a constant, constant compe-
tition every single day. I told him that he has to challenge the other two
strikers, and if you’re better, you’re better and you’re going to play. But
this fight, this kind of competition for his place, the other players were
a little stronger in it. Now he will go back to his roots, to where he used
to play, and he won’t have to do that (fight for his place).
I’m sure having played in all of these different countries has
helped you quite a bit.
I’m so grateful now to have played everywhere, because of the ex-
periences. Living in those places, understanding them, how the French
are, the Italian background, the English background. I know now when
(Italian striker) Luca Toni comes up with certain statements, what he
actually means, and I can read him because I know his cultural back-
ground. So it can really honestly help you to read people, and you have
to deal with several different kinds of people, you have to deal with an
54
Argentinean different than a Brazilian. And even all of those Brazilians
are different, so you just try to learn about them. So I think that under-
standing people is a vital tool for a coach.
All of the coaches you’ve mentioned, including yourself, are great
leaders. Is leadership something that a person is born with, or can
you develop leadership over a period of time?
I think the talent of leadership is in all of us. It depends on your
personal environment, if you get help as a player to develop leadership,
throughout your school, your educational path, and then whether you
have the hunger. There are so many components of leadership. I think
that every one of us has some type of leadership. If you call it up or not,
if you develop it or not, depends on what’s going on in your daily life.
I can see players working with me and see tremendous leadership, and
see in some of them having the potential to become good coaches. But
it is a constant process you’re going through, and I think I learned a lot
in those 10 years living in the U.S. about different types of leadership.
I went to Duke University, and listened to Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski),
seminars that help you to learn, and then watching other people, other
coaches. Pete Carroll (head football coach at the University of Southern
California) is another great example of leadership completely differ-
going on in your daily life.
ent from a Coach K. If you observe, you don’t even necessarily have to
sit down with them, but just read and observe and go through some
books. There are industry leaders; we have right now amazing leader-
ship in this country.
How important is losing games to the process, or is it important,
to the overall process of a player and a coach to learn?
I think it’s very important because they need to deal with setbacks.
They need to deal with critics, they need to deal with down moments. It
is a fine line, in terms of an aggressive environment here, because it (los-
ing) can break your neck as well. So, yes, you need those defeats, you
need those to get down to Earth to focus and deal with the critics, but
you can’t afford too many of them, otherwise your environment can fall
apart. The media are such a powerful force in countries like England,
Germany, and even Spain with the top two teams, that no matter what
your plans are in the long run, even if you get approved by 95 percent
for your job, this 5 percent could kill you. We have experienced similar
things here, which is why you have to go game to game and make sure
that you get those results. Then at the end of the day the media do not
ask anymore about your philosophy, about your knowledge, about your
leadership, about your understanding of the team and your role with
the team. We live in a media environment that absolutely has to sell and
doesn’t need to inform people anymore. Maybe 20 years ago, the media
had the job to actually inform people. Now the media has the job to sell
something to people, and they don’t care what it is. So your role within
the media environment is that it is nothing to take personally; you are
just a tool to the media. A player or a coach is just a tool for them to
sell the paper or to get their ratings on TV. It’s not about you, whether
you’re right or wrong. It’s about how they can sell this game tonight,
should we start positively, negatively. They discuss that within their of-
fices, so if they decide the Klinsmann is on the ropes, then they sell this.
It’s not because they hate you or anything; it’s because they need the job.
They have the power to influence 70,000 fans that go to the stadium, if
they come in positive, if they come in negative; so it is challenging.
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
 Do you use any form of goal-setting with the players? I know win-
ning trophies are ultimately the goal for Bayern Munich, but are
there smaller goals that you work with for players with the coaching
staff?
We basically develop these player profiles, and within these profiles
we define their goals. This is done on a very personal, individual level.
Say if it’s technical defending, or positioning, or whatever work it is that
we want you to do additionally, or your role within the team personal-
ity-wise, so that’s where we stand with them on a personal basis. On a
team basis, our goal was to reach the top teams in Europe again, and
to follow a path that is kind of being demonstrated over years by the
standard of play in the Champions League. So in order to reach that
level, we told them this is why we have to do certain work. Champi-
ons League games are games that are constantly on the edge of a rope.
That means you have to be physically on top of things, on top of things
technically, you have to be focused at both ends. The development of
soccer over the last years has shown that there’s far less risk taken now
by teams than there was before. So the Champions League actually sets
the tone for the national teams. In the Champions League, let’s say eight
out of 10 teams play a 4-5-1. You will see the next big European Cham-
pionship or World Cup with eight out of 10 teams playing a 4-5-1. So
the Champions League affects the game globally. We came in and said,
“Okay guys, in order to be competitive in the Champions League, this
is what we need to have done.” Now Bayern Munich is a team that can’t
really play a 4-5-1; I believe in a proactive style of football. I would like
to set the tone on the football field, to be the team that is able to control
the game. We are forced often into this role in the Bundesliga because
all the teams against us play defensively. So we basically have no choice,
so we have a squad of players where we are forced to play with at least
two strikers. It’s totally fine with me because I’d rather go in with two
strikers if it’s possible. But you still have to watch what’s going on with
the other top teams in Europe, in order to not run into counterat-
tacks…if you play Barcelona or if you play Manchester United. You
have to be smart. Those games now, hopefully after doing our home-
work tonight and getting into the quarterfinal, those will be games
that will be decided maybe by free kicks or corner kicks, and by just
constantly fighting in every area of the field and by being as compact as
possible. So it has become a kind of dilemma in football, because you
see our teams moving in different directions. You have more opportu-
nities if you have players on the outside that can play those diagonal
balls 40, 50 yards, which we have. We have Franck Ribéry, or Massimo
Oddo, some players who won’t play tonight because we give our other
flank players a chance to play, but we have players switching sides right
away to open up the game. But this is the direction we’ve gone for the
last five, six, seven years. You’ll see it in the next World Cup, when the
next European Championship comes along, this is what coaches are
playing. The Champions League sets the tone for all that.
It used to be the World Cup that set the tone for the whole world.
Exactly, and it shifted, by this huge presence media-wise of the
Champions League. I think that the UEFA did an amazing job pushing
that Champions League into a format that is incredible. I mean tonight
our game will be seen in more than 100 countries. They can choose,
those countries, whether they watch our game, or Manchester United,
or Arsenal, or whatever it is, but the players know that. The players
are greedy for the Champions League, and that is shown in Brazil, it’s
shown in Argentina, so that’s where things start really developing for
them because of the higher tension level. National team coaches look
at what’s going on. What is Alex Ferguson doing? What are all of these
very experienced coaches doing? They see also that we’ve shifted as a
game towards a 4-5-1. You know Arsene Wenger plays a 4-5-1, and
Mourinho plays a 4-5-1, and even for the Dutch people with Hiddink
play a 4-5-1 from a 4-3-3. So the two outside wingers become defend-
ers, everybody behind the ball, and then depend on their qualities go-
ing forward. Spain is the major example. They were by far the best team
in the European Championships by demonstrating how you execute a
4-5-1 with midfielders going forward, slicing into the defense. It’s just
incredible. It is also important for player development. What is the
role of the striker? What is the role of the midfielder? The new system
kind of melts players more and more together. There are midfielders
who now have the ability to become strikers, and then morph right
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
back into defenders again. You have fullbacks that are playmakers, and
obviously still the role of the #6 (holding or defensive midfielder) is still
as important as ever. He’s the brain behind the system. Mark van Bom-
mel is that for us. We tell him that he’s our quarterback. He must make
sure that defensively we’re always compact. He must make sure that we
switch the ball when needed. But then at the same time there is the one
against one with players going into the box, the Messis and the Riberys,
and the Cristiano Ronaldos of this world.
The playmakers now on a lot of teams are moving to the outside
instead of being in the middle. I think that’s a big change as well.
This is coming to the wings, because many teams now play with a
double 6 going through the middle. You will see a team tonight, Sport-
ing Lisbon. Their key is coming from the outside with good players.
In the first game, in Lisbon, they had 10 crosses in the first half. They
were all sharp, they were just flying in, they were looking to get a goal
in the first half, and we were under pressure, and then we got one right
before the half and it just kind of broke their neck. They are a team that
deserves to be in the top 16 in Europe. Three days later they tied Porto,
0-0, so it is interesting from just a technical perspective.
Speaking of that, from a coaching perspective, which is more
important: game preparation, or adjustments that take place in a
game?
In-game adjustments are obviously important, but they are limited.
To be honest, you can do adjustments at halftime, adjustments with
three subs, and maybe you shift one thing or another during the game,
but I think it’s more important the days before a game to have them
really realize what the challenge is. We as coaches are limited once the
game starts, we are absolutely limited. We have to be honest also; now
80, 90, even 95 percent of it at that point is up to the guys on the field.
If it hasn’t sunk in by that point, then I think it’s almost impossible that
they get it in the game, because during a game, the emotional level in
their brains is so high that you can’t count on them to have rational
technical discussions on anything. They have vision only through emo-
tions. It’s game day, it’s game day; the emotional side is a big part of it.
What’s important to you when you select your staff? Your assistant
coaches specifically.
Obviously their qualities, no doubt about that, their qualifications
are very important. But it’s also important that they have a big inner
drive to become better. An assistant coach for me, the first thing he has
to say is that he wants to become a head coach. If he would say I’m a
loyal assistant coach, I wouldn’t go with that. So I’ve said to my team,
what’s your goal, and if they say their goal is to become a head coach,
then okay, that’s what I want. Nick (Theslof) is an assistant, Nick is a
young, talented coach, his goal is to become a head coach one day of a
good team. So I need to know from a physical therapist, from a doctor,
from a fitness coach that their goal is to become a better doctor, to be-
come a great fitness coach, and I introduced myself at the beginning of
the season and said that whenever you have classes for additional edu-
cation, I want you to use those. I give you always free weekends, time
is never a problem. So I observe if they do that, and if somebody would
just think that, I’m there, I made it at Bayern Munich (as an assistant),
and they are satisfied with just that, then there might be a change at the
end of the season.
You’ve already said that you empower your staff, you empower
your players. What do you demand from your assistant coaches on a
daily basis?
I demand from my team that they obviously are very thorough in
their preparation for the upcoming games, for our opponents, that they
watch the videos about the other teams, that they talk through that,
that they define what we’re going to see when we show the players. I
expect them to prepare for training sessions in different options, giv-
ing me two, three, four options every day. So when I come in, I say,
“What do you want to achieve with the training session?” How does
it fit into the week, how does it fit with the long-term plan? Does it fit
with something we need to maybe solve from the last game? And does
it fit into what we have now with the upcoming opponents? So it’s a
nonstop thing for our assistants with preparation. Then I come in and
we define it together – what will be the content of the training session,
55
what will be the goals. I’m always the one to communicate it to the
team, but they’ve done the majority of that work beforehand. My role
then becomes more of a managerial role. I deal with the board of the
club on a daily basis. The media department, I deal with the environ-
ment of people that want something from this team, I deal with the
team administrators and tell them organizational issues, what I want to
see, what we might change. As you know, I think my team is doing a
tremendous job, and I think that they work extremely hard and accom-
plish a lot. Obviously, for somebody coming from a U.S. environment,
which is also a very demanding and tough environment, but coming
here where this game is lived through every person on the street, it’s a
different feel that you can’t escape from anything.
And I think that’s what they live and breathe right
now. Landon (Donovan) has been here with us
for a few weeks, and I wish it would have been I think there’s tremendous, tremendous
longer. We have three high-profile strikers for
next season, and it wouldn’t make sense in this
moment to have a fourth striker, and the financial appreciation for the situation in the U.S.
crisis has hit here, too. So we had to tell Landon,
“Yes, you can play here, yes, you have all the
qualities, yes, you can break through here, but It’s come a long way, and it still obviously
it’s just too much of a financial burden to take on
at this time.” But in this team for 10 weeks, he
learned a lot. It will help him this year, and hope-
fully it helps him make that big jump, because
quality-wise he can play in any team. He just has
to get really nasty, he has to get nasty every day
in training. Not training like yesterday, because we played before, that’s
not a hard training session, but all of the other sessions is a war; I don’t
want to use that word, but that’s what it is. It’s a difficult environment
where they define their own hierarchy within the group every day. They
do passes purposely to make you look bad, they make comments in
order to make you mentally shaky; it’s all part of it. It’s all part of dealing
with the stress.
How do you discipline players at this level if you have to deal with
an off-the-field issue, or even an on-the-field issue?
When you have a multi-cultural team, every one of these guys takes
criticism in a completely different way. Some have no problem when
they are criticized in front of the team, some have a major problem with
getting criticized like that, because in their culture that’s simply not the
way to do it. Depending on what kind of guy does it, I react differently.
If I have the feeling that he needs a little slap in his face (figuratively) in
front of the guys, he gets that. I don’t like to do it, because I want the
guys to realize themselves that they made a mistake. The first thing I
always tell them right away, this was wrong. Then they see what he is
doing with that, and now depending on the personality, I’ll say it to ev-
eryone, I might just keep it between us, or I might make a comment in
front of the team that doesn’t directly mention that guy, or if I think that
now it’s really necessary to make it clear for all of us, then I say that this
was bad. I don’t believe in fines, that kind of stuff, because they’re mak-
ing so much money that it’s not relevant to them. Young people who are
making millions and millions of dollars, they get a fine of $10,000 or
$20,000, and they don’t even know how to take that, because they don’t
even know how to handle the entire money issue themselves because it’s
far too much, and still they get it because the market is that way, and it’s
okay, but I’m not the guy that comes in and hands out fines.
Do you have a lot of rules?
They had rules last year, and they had big issues there, on the
discipline side, they made many rules. If there are some disrespectful
players, then you need to make it clear that this is not allowed at Bayern
Munich. You represent one of the biggest teams in the world, and if this
is not what you want, then come to us and use the door. It’s a simple
discussion like that. But I think they really understand that this is some-
thing that is special. We had some issues at the beginning of the season,
some bad games, because they thought the Bundesliga would be won by
itself, that we will win it no matter what, who cares, that what we really
want is the Champions League. We talked and talked and talked and
yet they just couldn’t quite pull it up in the Bundesliga. We’d play at 80
percent, 90 percent, which in reality is a whole lot of effort, but we were
missing that extra 10 percent, and every opponent that plays us gives
56
110 percent, and then they fall apart afterward. So I thought about it
and I realized that I need to make things clearer. So I got nasty, and then
they were kind of getting really anxious, and I was telling the guys that
if you aren’t in for this then I will call five guys from the amateur team
because they are hungry. They realized, “Okay, now the coach is getting
really serious,” and that’s when we started going in the right direction.
I think every coach needs to read his environment and his players, see
what is right and what is wrong, an overall catalog of rules. This might
be helpful just to set the tone, but it is more that you have to remind
them on a daily basis, let’s clean up the locker room, because otherwise
the equipment guy has to clean out all of that dirty stuff. Is that fair to
has a long way to go.
him? He already has to wash it, now you’re making him pick it up as
well? So we had some issues, and now you come in and it’s pretty clean.
It won’t ever be 100 percent, but you know if you get to 80 percent, it’s
great. It’s a generation now that gets anything it wants; because of the
standards that they enjoy in society, they probably don’t even have to
pay at the restaurant. That’s the reality and it comes also from the U.S.,
from the big sports, all of that from the NBA and the NFL, and espe-
cially baseball. Soccer is just as problematic here as well.
How about the USA? Where are we in soccer?
I think there’s tremendous, tremendous appreciation for the situation
in the U.S. It’s come a long way, and it still obviously has a long way to
go. But the pace is tremendous, if you look at the MLS, how they built
the infrastructure in only a few years. They’re now trying to connect
somehow to the developmental system, to the youth system; some have
farm teams. I mean, obviously the biggest challenge is how big the United
States is, and how many interests are involved in it, all of the different
youth federations, two educational systems for coaches – but it’s going
in a good direction. It will never be perfect, but not even Germany is
perfect, or England, or Italy in its system. Even here you have very similar
challenges to the U.S., depending on the content you teach, whether it’s
the right stuff, depending on the situation of the coaches, the standing
of the coaches, depending on where the talent comes through. I think
the biggest challenge for the U.S is to get the pyramid back to their A’s. I
think the pyramid is so upside down because it’s a pay-to-play system in
the youth development, and this is the biggest enemy of U.S. soccer – the
biggest enemy. And if they could somehow get it more reasonable, get it
down to where everybody could afford to play, so that it’s not a scholar-
ship-driven society anymore – that is the biggest challenge. But it’s a
cultural challenge, it’s not a soccer-specific challenge. And for people it’s a
big thing, for people in Europe, that you have to pay quite a lot of money
for your child to play for a good youth team in the U.S. – they don’t be-
lieve that. They don’t believe that the youth coaches are paid coaches, and
that you get scholarships for that at universities. It’s impossible for Europe
and South America to understand the American system, so I think the
system itself is its biggest enemy, and still it’s progressing, still it’s growing
and getting better and better. You have now, I don’t know how many first-
division players in Europe from the U.S. Amazingly good goalkeepers,
a generation of goalkeepers that is outstanding, with Tim Howard, Brad
Friedel, Kasey Keller. It’s just amazing. You have now good field players
too, and hopefully the next generation improves as well. So it’s moving.
It’s taking a lot of work to get done, but it’s baffling, because I’ve lived
there for 10 years, and I think there is so much potential, so much still to
get done. It will be great someday.
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
Psychology • All Ages
Bench Psychology
Managing Reserve Players Toward a Positive Playing Experience
By Eric Steeg
This article is focused on
coaches and players on competitive
and tryout-oriented teams from
youth to professional levels.
Soccer players who invest
countless hours to improve condi-
tioning and technical foot skills and
sacrifice their winter and summer
vacations for the soccer pitch expect
to contribute to the team’s efforts
on game day. When hard work
fails to be “rewarded” with playing
time, an athlete quickly can become
frustrated and unmotivated. Most
coaches can vividly recall those
“rotten apple” players that spoil and
undermine positive team chem-
istry and success. Unfortunately,
most players place a tremendous
importance on game time, using
the number of minutes they play on
game day to define their personal
value and contribution to the team.
It can be difficult as a coach to cor-
rect this misperception.
Coaches avoid playing time
discussions for a variety of reasons.
Some avoid addressing this topic be-
cause they want to create a competi-
tive and an uneasy climate where
all players are “on the bubble.” In
this instance, coaches believe that
uncertainty in starting status and
playing time motivates players to
stay sharp and focused. However,
this technique may work only for
the first month of the season until
the players know the majority of the
roster will be most likely set.
Just as many coaches ignore
the playing time topic because
they do not know how to best
handle discussing this issue with
athletes. But by not talking about
playing time openly, a coach un-
wittingly may convey the message
that the players who don’t play as
much are not as important.
The reality is players partici-
pate in sports with aspirations and
expectations of playing. Often
they believe playing in games is
the only way to contribute to the
team, have fun and see themselves
as a meaningful part of the larger
group. With players placing such an
importance on playing time, athletes
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
and teams would be best served
having a coach who addresses issues
of playing time. In an effort to avoid
the frustration and retaliation that
often develops in players who give
much of themselves but aren’t given
any playing time in return, coaches
In an effort to avoid the frustration and retaliation
that develops in players who give much of themselves
but aren’t given playing time in return, coaches can
address the issue of playing time in a number of ways.
can address the issue of playing time
in a number of ways.
1. Schedule individual meetings for
the beginning of the season.
These meetings provide a valu-
able opportunity to discuss
playing time expectations, clarify
goals and roles and show players
that you value their hard work
and time. An effective technique
to use during these meetings
is to ask players what are their
strengths and how they can best
contribute to the team. It is vital
that you are honest and clear
with players when discussing
roles and areas that need im-
provement. When players know
what a coach expects of them
from the beginning of the season,
they have the choice to accept or
move on. If the players are non-
starters, impress upon them what
strengths they bring to the team
and that their value to the team
cannot and should not be mea-
sured in how many minutes they
play come game day.
2. Articulate clear team policies to
the group.
Early in the season, it is impor-
tant to communicate to both
players and parents the proper
avenues to discuss questions of
playing time. For example, man-
dating that playing time issues
are not to be discussed directly
after a game and should be con-
ducted directly with the coach
during a one-on-one meeting can
help prevent damaging situations.
While the above strategies are
best employed at the beginning of
the season, how can coaches deal
with playing time frustration as they
arise during the highs and lows of a
competitive season? The following
strategies can be used by a coaching
staff to avoid conflict, promote team
unity and enhance participation
satisfaction in players who may not
see much playing time.
1. Spend equal time with role players.
Spend as much time speaking
with and addressing non-start-
ers as you do starters. Remind
the team the value of the “bench
player” by congratulating them
on practice accomplishments,
positive attitudes and strong
work ethics. Have the coaching
staff monitor and provide feed-
back to players who are on the
bubble and motivated to take
their game to the next level.
2. Help role players experience
competition.
Often one of the most significant
aspects non-starters miss is the
simple thrill of competition. By
developing competitive practices
that include intra-squad scrim-
mages, non-starters and starters
alike will be engaged in fun and
healthful competition that will
produce a motivating practice
climate while further developing
team camaraderie. In addition,
it is vital as a coach to com-
municate clearly to non-starters
what they need to do to improve.
By helping players set clear and
realistic short- and long-term
goals, non-starters’ energy and
effort will be focused on specific
areas of improvements, and an
internal competitive spirit will
be ignited. To be most beneficial,
coaches need to provide frequent
detailed feedback while an ath-
lete is progressing towards these
goals. If done well, competitive-
ness, motivation, role acceptance
and participation satisfaction will
increase in non-starters.
There certainly is no magic
formula to deal with the many is-
sues that may develop throughout
a season regarding playing time. By
addressing playing time, coaches
can defuse non-starters’ frustrations,
raise enjoyment in participation and
establish a clear and honest line of
communication that is appreciated
by players and parents alike.
Eric Steege is in the doctoral program
for Sport and Exercise Psychology at West
Virginia University and a volunteer as-
sistant coach with the WVU men’s soccer
team. If you have any specific issues to
discuss, contact Eric at (608) 213-5025 or
by email at esteege@mix.wvu.edu.
57
 Is Collegiate Soccer
the Key to MLS?
By Mike Jacobs
Men’s Coach, University of Evansville
At a time where Major League Soccer has
dissolved its Reserve Division as the league
continues to expand, more and more emphasis
is being placed on scouting and identifying
talent. If you look at common trends in the
league, MLS has to look no further than to start
their scouting plans in NCAA college soccer.
With the expansion of the league, includ-
ing San Jose last season, Seattle this season and
more on the way with Philadelphia, Portland
and Vancouver, it has become an accepted
practice among league and team executives to
comment on the fact that there are not enough
capable players to go around. Rosters have
been made smaller, and have eliminated the
potential for a Reserve Division to be able to
develop good young American players.
Another accepted practice among that
same group is to claim that college soccer
is not doing a good enough job developing
players. Comparing the NCAA with other
outside entities or even Major League Soccer
will show that no one else is sending more
players into the league and developing more
players than college soccer.
“Not having a reserve league really dam-
ages the potential of developing players in
our league,” said Peter Vermes, Technical
Director for the Kansas City Wizards. “What
are you (MLS teams) doing with player
numbers 12 to 24? With the reserve league,
every one of those guys played. Every team
is different with what they were doing with
developing players, and has different views
about how important developing young
players and building their roster really is.”
Unlike many other domestic leagues
around the world, outside of the United Soccer
Leagues (USL), there are no other established
lower levels for young players to ply their
trade prior to reaching the highest level of
professional soccer. With most MLS clubs
preferring to draft collegiate players in the MLS
SuperDraft or as free agents, rather than pay a
transfer fee to USL clubs for their contracted
players, young American collegiate players ap-
pear to be the most viable option.
The majority of 18- to 22-year-olds are
not ready to make that jump straight into
that level, so until Major League Soccer cre-
ates another development model, attending
a college and playing 20-25 games in the fall
is probably the next best option. Training
in a context with strength and conditioning
58
coaches, coupled with functional training
and exhibition matches during the winter/
spring by more than capable coaches, are op-
portunities that most young players probably
weren’t exposed to at the youth level.
“Every college program is different in
what they are doing to develop professional
players – you can’t stereotype college soccer
The most successful teams in
Major League Soccer have established
formulas for success through the
American collegiate system.
as a whole,” said Vermes. “It comes down to
the individual college program, and how im-
portant developing professional players are
to that coach and program. College coaches
have to be willing to put the time in, and
most MLS coaches know which college guys
are doing that.”
College soccer is the best option for MLS
clubs to identify potential prospects, and
the most successful teams in the league have
established formulas for success through the
American collegiate system.
Sixty-four percent (242 of 378) of play-
ers who appeared in Major League Soccer
matches during the 2008 season had plied
their trade at the collegiate level, and the
most successful teams in the league during
the past five seasons have their rosters lit-
tered with former college players.
The Houston Dynamo, winners of the
MLS Cup in 2006 and 2007, had the most
former college players on their roster in
2008, with 17 of their 21 players hav-
ing seen action last season (81 percent).
Included in that group as key contributors
were Brian Ching (Gonzaga), Brad Davis
(Saint Louis University), Stuart Holden
(Clemson), Brian Mullan and Richard Mul-
rooney (Creighton), Bobby Boswell (Florida
International), Wade Barrett (William and
Mary), Ricardo Clark (Furman) and Eddie
Robinson (North Carolina).
The 2008 MLS Cup Champions, the Co-
lumbus Crew had 20 former collegiate play-
ers among their 26 players (77 percent), and
actually led the league with the most 4-year
college players on their rosters with 65 per-
cent: Alejandro Moreno (UNC Greensboro),
Brad Evans (UC Irvine), Danny O’Rourke
(Indiana) and Will Hesmer (Wake Forest)
were all key to the Crew’s championship
run, and plied their trade with four years of
college soccer experience. Frankie Hejduk
(UCLA – three years), Brian Carroll (Wake
Forest – three years) and Chad Marshall
(Stanford – two years) also played major
roles with the Crew and gained experience at
the collegiate level.
The Columbus Crew was able to build
their roster through the vision of Sigi
Schmid, one of the most successful coaches
at the collegiate level. Schmid had won
National Championships in 1985, 1990
and 1997 at UCLA, turning them into a
perennial power at the collegiate level while
proving to be one of the premier develop-
ers of professional players – few universities
have churned out as many MLS prospects as
UCLA since the league’s inception.
On the other side of the spectrum,
Toronto FC’s lack of success so far as a MLS
franchise could coincide with their lack of
previous apprenticeship at the college level
– they traditionally have had fewer college
players (39 percent in 2008) and four-year
college players (24 percent in 2008) on their
roster than any other franchise. Their roster
has fluctuated significantly from one year
to the next, and Toronto doesn’t have a real
American college soccer presence on the
staff. They are also under some different con-
straints from the other current teams in the
league, with roster limitations on American
players.
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
 DC United’s fall

NSCAA photo by Craig Bohnert.

from the upper ech-
elon of Major League
Soccer also could be
tied to the combina-
tion of their lack of
success with selec-
tion of international
players as well as
their lack of players
with college pedigree
– they had the next
smallest number of
college players on
their roster in 2008
at 51 percent.
Franchises have
even looked to im-
prove their fortunes
by plucking coaches
out of the college
game – FC Dallas
head coach Schellas
Hyndman was one
of the more success-
ful collegiate coaches
through stints at Roger Espinosa (second from left) put Ohio State into the early lead with this goal against eventual champion Wake
Southern Method- Forest in the 2007 NCAA championship match. Espinosa now plays with the Kansas City Wizards. Wake’s Julian
ist University and Valentin (No. 4), Pat Phelan (No. 5) and Brian Edwards (No. 1) also are plying their trade in Major League Soccer.
Eastern Illinois – fol-
lowing the trends that
brought Bruce Arena (NFL) or Major League Baseball (MLB), You’re in good hands with goalkeepers.
(now with Los Angeles) and Schmid (now with which have full staffs of scouts and directors Out of the 14 MLS teams in 2008, 12
Seattle) into the league. of scouting and player personnel. of them had starting goalkeepers that came
The opportunities that benefit coaches “The biggest problem is that all of the leagues out of college soccer. Drafting a good young
like Schmid or Arena, or technical direc- that we would be scouting (NCAA, USL) are American goalkeeper out of the college ranks
tors like Vermes (former assistant coach and playing while our league is playing,” said Vermes. is very similar to getting a quarterback in
player at Rutgers University) through their “If you don’t have a coaching staff that can focus the NFL – goalkeepers need to get repeti-
experiences coaching at the collegiate level their time on scouting, you won’t be prepared. If tion of matches at a good standard, which is
give them a definite advantage in player you put too much time into it, you will neglect not normally an option at the highest level
identification. They have had the opportu- your first team. You need to constantly evaluate of professional soccer. Instead of toiling on
nity to watch a number of the top collegiate and keep the finger on the pulse of what’s going the bench for a very formative time of their
prospects play as youth players while re- on in our country while taking care of your own career, they can have their learning curve
cruiting, as well as the opportunity to coach team – which presents a lot of difficulties in try- accelerated by getting the chance to play
or coach against them. Their exposure to a ing to balance both.” important matches at the collegiate level.
network of college coaches that they have Billy Beane of the Oakland Athletics revolu- Joining an MLS team as a 22-year old with
coached with and against can also help them tionized the player identification process in valuable experience, then serving as an ap-
find where the bodies are buried – helping Major League Baseball, chronicled in the book prentice for a couple of years before taking
them gain insight into where the top col- “Moneyball.” One major difference between over that job, seem to be a normal practice
legiate prospects are, and keeping good tabs baseball and soccer is that there are not a lot on successful teams in the league. Standouts
on those prospect’s progress. of tangible statistics that translate to scouting Will Hesmer (Columbus), Matt Reis (New
“Identifying players is a process, and you players in soccer. England) and Jon Busch (Chicago) are all
formulate a lot of your philosophies and “Our sport doesn’t have statistics that can good examples of that, and have been in-
opinions by working at the college level,” said be measured as closely as you might find in vited into U.S. National Team camps recently
Vermes. “It’s not the sole criteria, but it’s a football,” said Vermes. “It’s hard to go with as well.
larger piece of the puzzle, whether it’s watching real numbers like a 40-yard dash, because Even young goalkeepers like Brad Guzan
players, or developing man-management skills those don’t always apply in our game in (formerly of Chivas USA), who logged the
when working with young players.” comparison to the other skills a player has majority of their team’s minutes in goal this
Where Major League Soccer is behind to have. In most cases, we need to trust our past season, had to wait their turn for a couple
other leagues around the world, as well as own eyes when evaluating players, and see of years before the job was handed over to
other domestic sports, is the depth of their how they would fit into our team. What them full-time. Guzan was the only goalkeeper
scouting and player identification. Where might be right for one coach might be totally in recent memory up until this season who
it is a common practice for clubs around different for another.” was given an opportunity as a rookie, and that
the world to have a staff of full-time and The 2010 MLS SuperDraft is just a few happened in an expansion team with limited
part-time scouts, most MLS coaches attempt weeks away, but for teams looking to put depth. Stefan Frei (Toronto FC) has had the
to identify prospects themselves. With their together a creative scouting strategy, here are unique opportunity to step right in from the
own playing season going on during the some good places to start their own “Mon- college ranks this season, and has had some
college fall season, MLS coaching staffs have eyball” strategies when looking for prospects encouraging results in the early stages of the
limited opportunities to watch prospects. within the college game: MLS season. Milos Kocic (DC United) and Alec
This is unlike the National Football League Dufty (New York Red Bulls) had both been

Soccer Journal November-December 2009 59

thrust into early season action in their rookie
seasons.
With the Supplemental Draft no longer
available to MLS teams, there were only five
goalkeepers selected in this past 2009 MLS
SuperDraft. You may find more and more MLS
teams look to save their draft picks for field
players, and try to pick up more goalkeepers as
free agents.
Collegiate defenders are ready and able.
There are no positions where collegiate
players tend to translate at the highest level
better than at the back. The 2008 season’s MLS
Rookie of the Year Sean Franklin (Los Angeles)
was a well-thought-of four-year college pros-
pect out of Cal State Northridge and logged
2,385 minutes as a central defender despite the
fact that he is a natural right back.
Other key defenders that have been able to
come out of college and contribute immedi-
ately in the past few MLS SuperDrafts include
Bakary Soumare (Chicago) and Michael
Harrington (Kansas City) in the 2007 draft;
Marvell Wynne (drafted by New York) in 2006;
Michael Parkhurst (formerly New England),
Gonzalo Segares (Chicago), Ugo Ihemelu
(drafted by Los Angeles), Drew Moor (FC
Dallas) and Kevin Goldthwaite (drafted by San
Jose) in 2005.
Five of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft first-
round selections were defenders. Omar
Gonzales (Los Angeles), Rodney Wallace (DC
United), Matt Besler (Kansas City), Jeremy Hall Ashe (Houston) both were able to come into
(New York) and Kevin Alston (New England)
all have contributed straight away. Darrius
Barnes (New England) was taken in the later
stages of the MLS SuperDraft, and the Duke
University product has become a “write-in” for already been able to contribute as attacking
the Revs’ backline.
Piano carriers, but probably not piano players. asset on any team, and tends to be a staple in
The old adage in putting together a team
is “you need to have the right blend of piano
players (creative players) and piano carriers
(hard-working and industrious players).” There his partnering striker into the game creates a
have been very few young American attacking
midfielders that have been able to come into
the league and play – most of the most creative ster and Hermann Trophy finalist Zakuani in
attacking midfielders out of the college ranks hope of him being able to get behind defenses
have started as flank players and moved inside
after a couple of seasons (Clint Dempsey, for-
merly with New England; Davy Arnaud with
Kansas City; Stuart Holden with Houston).
Most MLS clubs will go abroad for creative
attacking midfielders, but college soccer has
been able to develop good holding midfielders
and pacy wide players.
Defensive midfielders with college experi-
ence also have shown the ability to develop as
committee defenders. Maurice Edu (formerly
with Toronto FC), Ricardo Clark (Houston),
Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado) and Brian Car-
roll (Columbus) are all members of the U.S.
National Team set-up and have spent at least
three years in the college game prior to emerg-
ing in MLS. Each of those players was able to
contribute immediately as rookies due to their
range defensively and their ability to connect
passes in the midfield. Sam Cronin (Toronto
FC) has contributed significantly as a rookie
60
this season and is a prototype of the American in the same fashion as he had in the college
college soccer player. Virtually every MLS club game. In most cases, penetrating players at the
has a key holding player that has come out of collegiate level have been able to translate that
the college ranks. into the professional game as well.
Speed kills. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
The biggest difference between the col- Very similar to being able to produce pacy,
legiate and MLS levels is the speed of play. The penetrating attacking players, the college game
demands with decision-making in tight spaces has also been able to produce big target players
is much higher. Where the opportunity to start as well. Brian McBride has had a long and il-
out playing out wide in the channels gives lustrious career as the face of our U.S. National
players more time and space to get acclimated Team. Long before he was a standout in MLS
Be it as central defenders or as outside
backs, the athleticism of amateur
American players allows them to catch up that
much more at the next level.
at the next level, it also enables the fast, direct and in England, he was banging in goals at
winger-types to apply their skill set at the next Saint Louis University. Brian Ching (Houston)
level. Dane Richards (New York) and Corey and Conor Casey (Colorado) are strong target
players who have been standouts at the col-
the league and contribute in a similar fashion legiate and professional levels, and are now
as they were in college. Chris Pontius (DC viable options for our full national team.
United), Steve Zakuani (Seattle) and Hall Maybe college soccer is not developing
(New York) are examples of rookies who have players at the rate that MLS executives would
like, but it has created a foundation for success
players on the flanks this season. among the league’s top teams. If the league can
Having a fast, direct option up front is an take the next step in creating an infrastructure
that identifies these players, we might be able
the American college game. Pairing up a player to help develop even more players who can
like this with a proper target who is capable of work themselves up through the college ranks.
holding onto the ball in possession and bring “At the end of the day, you have to look
across the board at the league,” said Vermes.
devastating combination. Seattle used the No. “Some want to slap college soccer in the face,
1 pick in the 2009 SuperDraft on Akron speed- but you have to accept the facts that all the
teams in MLS are built around players that
have played in college.”
Horst Richardson Claims Landmark 500th Win
Colorado College men’s soccer coach Horst Richardson picked up career victory No. 500
on Sept. 26, although he was absent from the pitch when his squad presented him with the
win, attending the funeral of a former team member.
He became the fourth Division III coach and ninth in any NCAA division to achieve the
milestone in the Tigers’ victory over Dallas. He is in his 44th season at the school.
“I’m very happy about achieving the milestone,” Richardson said, “but I wish I could
enjoy it under different circumstances.”
Richardson attended the funeral of Chris Quon, a former Tiger student-athlete from the
Chicago area who perished in late September. Quon, who also played lacrosse at the school,
graduated last May with a degree in economics. The Tigers decided to dedicate this season
to his memory. Richardson described Quon as “an inspiration to his teammates through his
upbeat nature, outgoing personality and his athletic ability.”
In the team’s second win since learning of Quon’s death, Richardson became the fifth ac-
tive coach in any NCAA division with 500 wins. The victory clinched the 2009 Boddington
Memorial Tournament title, in an event named for the school’s previous soccer coach, whom
Richardson succeeded in 1966.
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
Soccer Shorts
The Blond Arrow – Alfredo di Stefano
From the pages of 4-4-2 Magazine
Forget Pelé and Maradona. Even Diego
himself (and April’s FFT) will tell you that Real
Madrid’s legendary Blond Arrow actually was the
greatest footballer the world has ever seen. From
the pages of Four-Four-Two
Countless footballers have earned winner’s
medals, a place in the hearts of fans or their
15 minutes of fame. Some have produced mo-
ments of magic that linger forever in the minds
of those fortunate enough to witness them,
or clinched immortality by carrying teams to
glory. But few can truly claim to have changed
history. And none can claim to have changed
history quite like “The Blond Arrow,” Alfredo
di Stefano – a pioneer, artist, wit and winner,
the most important player of all time and to
many, the greatest.
Di Stefano jokes he became a footballer
only by chance. “One day,” he explains, “an
electrician came to our house. He played for
River Plate, and he got chatting to my mum.
She told him I played a bit of football, so he
took me for a trial. When I got there, I was
asked who introduced me and I replied: ‘My
mum.’” It was a chance encounter that changed
the game. As UEFA president Michel Platini
puts it: “The history of football simply can not
be imagined without Don Alfredo’s extraordi-
nary presence.”
Diego Maradona may have taken tiny Na-
poli to an unthinkable Scudetto and Argentina
to an improbable World Cup, but when it
comes to a lasting legacy, that barely registers
against the impact of the man who was born
in Buenos Aires 60 years before the hand and
feet of God defeated England. Di Stefano is the
only man Maradona ever rated more highly
than himself; the man who altered the face of
football forever.
When FIFA was to name the 20th century’s
best player, they couldn’t decide between Pelé
and Maradona. Few could. Not even Mara-
dona, who remarked: “I really don’t know
if I was better than Pelé.” What Maradona
did know, though, was that “Di Stefano was
better than Pelé.” “The mere mention of Don
Alfredo,” he insisted, “fills me with pride.”
The near-mythical Inter Milan and Barce-
lona coach Helenio Herrera agreed. “If Pelé was
the lead violinist,” he once said, “Di Stefano
was the entire orchestra.”
Di Stefano played for three different coun-
tries but never exhibited his talent at the World
Cup. He performed his magic in an age before
television ownership became common, in a
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
country just emerging from political and social
isolation. So he rarely is afforded the status
handed to those two universally accepted
greats.
His finest moment came in the 1960 Eu-
ropean Cup Final, when Real Madrid defeated
Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 at Hampden Park – a
match that the BBC in Scotland replayed for
years every Christmas, the only one that con-
tinues to sell, still in black and white, on DVD.
At the game, according to one report, Madrid
“played like angels” in front of the largest-ever
crowd for a Eurpean Cup Final.
It was a performance that the Guard-
ian journalist Richard Williams described
as “Fonteyn and Nureyev, Bob Dylan at the
Albert Hall, the first night of the Rite of Spring,
Olivier at his peak, the Armory Show and the
Sydney Opera House all rolled into one.” Sir
Alex Ferguson, watching from the stands, still
remembers it as the finest game he ever saw;
one in which, according to another newspaper,
“Real flaunted all that has made them incom-
parable.” “To list Real Madrid’s team,” added
this scribe, “is to chronicle greatness.” And the
greatest of them all, the undisputed leader of
the side, was Di Stefano – “a great amongst
greats” says Platini.
Such sublime football, unfolded in front of
a Scottish audience, thrust Di Stefano into Brit-
ish consciousness, but soon he would largely
disappear from most minds. That one game
was a mere fleeting vision of perfection.
In England, Maradona and Pelé are fol-
lowed by Best or Charlton; in France by Platini
or Zidane; in Holland by Cruyff; in Brazil by
Garrincha; in Germany by Beckenbauer; across
the world, by a combination of them all. In
Spain, where Di Stefano played, it’s not that he
follows Pelé and Maradona, it’s that he matches
them. Exceeds them, even. Joaquin Peiro, the
Spanish midfielder who played in the great
Inter Milan team that won the European Cup
in the mid-60s, speaks for many in Spain when
he says, “For me, the No.1 is Di Stefano.”
Those who saw him knew. Those who
didn’t missed out. Sadly, there are many of
them. In 1950 and 1954, his native Argen-
tina did not go to the World Cup; in 1958
his adopted Spain did not qualify; in 1962, a
muscle injury prevented him from traveling.
His absence is one of the tragedies of the game.
“If Di Stefano had played at the World Cup,”
says Just Fontaine, “he would be recognized as
the white Pelé.”
With that gruff, impenetrable accent, punc-
tuated with Argentinean slang and wisecracks
A collection of brief articles
of interest to soccer coaches.
that characterize him, Di Stefano insists: “For
me, it was always about the team.”
If FIFA struggled to decide between
Maradona and Pelé, there was no doubt when
it came to naming the century’s best club.
Recently named the club’s honorary president,
Di Stefano collected the award on behalf of
Real Madrid. It was fitting that his award was
about the team. “He was my favorite player,”
recalls Cruyff, “and what I most loved about Di
Stefano was everything he did, he did for the
team.”
Without Di Stefano, much of modern
football does not make sense. He destroyed
the tactical orthodoxy of the WM formation
with his constant movement and awareness
and propelled the game into the modern era.
“Di Stefano turned still photographs into the
cinema,” says Arrigo Sacchi. When he did an
advert for tights, a photograph of him with his
wife’s legs splashed across newspapers, it was
a first for a footballer. And how many players
could claim to have been kidnapped, as Di Ste-
fano was in 1963 in Venezuela? Even now he
insists with a smile, “They seemed like decent
enough kids.”
He contributed more than any other player
to making the European Cup the biggest club
competition in the world. Without him, it may
never have gotten off the ground. Without
him, Madrid might not have, either. In fact,
without Di Stefano, Real Madrid does not
make sense – their entire identity is bound up
in what he brought to the club.
“He made Spain Madridista, and he it
was who carried Real Madrid across borders,”
insists club president Ramon Calderon – and
he’s right.
Even Real Madrid’s relationship with Bar-
celona would be different. The Argentinean’s
transfer to Madrid, not the Catalans, in 1953
proved a turning point and the ultimate bone
of contention in the globe’s biggest soccer
rivalry. His disputed transfer, involving River
Plate, Columbian club Millonarios, Barca,
Madrid, FIFA and the Spanish state, still smarts
at the Nou Camp. When it comes to ruing the
ones that got away, Barcelona’s failure to secure
Di Stefano, who had already played three
“friendlies” for them, surely must rank as the
biggest mistake in soccer history. Or, according
to Barcelona’s black legend, the biggest con in
soccer history.
Don’t hold it against Di Stefano, but
Spain’s social and political history would have
changed, too. After all, one Franco regime of-
ficial, witnessing Madrid’s marauding European
success, described the club as the “greatest
embassy we have ever had” at a time of ostra-
cism. Di Stefano stood at its head, the most
important ambassador of all.
61
 “The history of Madrid starts with him; his
arrival was the beginning of Madrid’s legend,”
claims former striker Emilio Butragueño.
When the Blond Arrow joined Real Madrid
in 1953, they weren’t a particularly good team.
They had won the league only twice and hadn’t
done so in 20 years. Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao,
Atletico Madrid (then called Atletico Aviacion)
and Valencia had all won more.
Di Stefano keeps a small medallion in
his pocket engraved with “River Plate – San
Lorenzo de Almagro, 1947”: The day of his
first game back at River after a year on loan
at Huracan, the day he singled out as the best
moment of his career. It’s the only thing he
carries with him everywhere, except his now
inseparable walking stick, a concession to age
for a man who, despite a recent heart attack,
is lucid, alive and funny as ever. He’s at his
happiest talking of his time playing in Los
Cardales, some 40 miles outside Buenos Aires,
and speaks with fondness of “players from
the potreros (the rough streets) who would
have made it, but had to earn money for their
families instead.”
And yet, for all that – and despite two
South American Player of the Year Awards
– his greatest triumphs came in Europe at Real
Madrid.
He won eight league titles in 11 seasons;
since his arrival, Madrid has won 29. More
important, Madrid won the first five Euro-
pean Cups, establishing a dynasty that defines
the club: no football team has ever been as
synonymous with a trophy as Madrid with the
European Cup.
Madrid had other players, of course. Paco
Gento and Ferenc Puskas were among the
finest of their generation. But Di Stefano was
the best. “For children of the 1950s, Di Stefano
was above all a victorious sound on the radio,
his name echoed round like a heartbeat associ-
ated with some success or other, transporting
us to the Parques des Princes, San Siro or
Hampden Park,” recalls the editor of sports
Getting a Bigger Bang for Your Training Buck?
Posted by Jay Williams, Ph.D.,
to www.scienceofsocceronline.com
Coaches and athletes constantly are search-
ing for ways to improve fitness. Endurance
and interval training are the most often used.
However, these programs usually require a
time commitment of 30 to 60 minutes per day.
This time commitment makes it difficult, if not
impossible, to incorporate endurance training
into a typical practice session.
Researchers at McMaster University have
found that a program of brief, high-intensity
exercise might improve fitness more than a
traditional endurance training program. This
program requires only two to three minutes of
exercise per session – a much bigger bang for
the training buck. But can this type of training
be effectively used by soccer players?
In a series of studies headed by Dr. Kirsten
Burgomaster, the researchers asked their subjects
62
daily ASI, Alfredo Relaño.
Di Stefano was top scorer in the league five
times, finishing his career with 216 goals in
282 games for Madrid – a figure that makes
him the club’s leading scorer in La Liga. He
scored in every one of those five European Cup
finals, becoming the competition’s highest-ever
goal scorer with 49 – a figure surpassed only
recently by the current captain Raul (in twice
as many games). In total, Di Stefano scored
418 goals for Madrid.
And he wasn’t even a striker. Not really,
even if he did wear the No. 9. Goals alone do
not account for two Ballon d’Ors and Spanish
Player of the Year awards. “He had it all,” says
Fontaine. “He was quick, technically gifted,
good in the air, a goal scorer, an organizer and
a respected leader.” “He brought to Europe a
tango made of perfect technique and terrify-
ing acceleration,” adds Michel Platini. Bobby
Charlton recalls: “He totally controlled the
game. You looked at him and asked yourself:
‘How can I possibly stop him?”’
The answer, much of the time, was that
you couldn’t – Di Stefano knew it. Ten minutes
into one game, he turned to Fidel Ugarte, a
young defender, and said: “Are you going to
follow me everywhere, sonny?” Nervously,
Ugarte replied, “Yes, my coach told me I have
to.” “Okay,” shrugged Di Stefano, “you might
even learn something.”
Calderon recalls listening to the radio and
imagining “some kind of superman.” It’s easy to
see why. Di Stefano was everywhere. L’Equipe
dubbed him “L’ Omnipresente.” “It’s no exag-
geration to say that he played like three players
put together,” says his official biographer. “He
was a midfielder who won the ball and started
the play, a No. 10 who controlled the game
and delivered the final pass and a striker who
put the ball in the net. If you put together
Redondo, Zidane and Ronaldo (the Brazilian),
you might just get close to what he was.”
“The only thing he didn’t do,” says one for-
mer teammate, “was play in goal.” “Actually,”
to perform a very small number of very high-
intensity bouts of exercise. The high-intensity
training groups used a stationary bicycle and
performed 30 seconds of all-out, supra-maximal
exercise – they pedaled as hard as they could for
30 seconds. They then rested for four minutes
and repeated the bout four to six times. This was
done three times per week for either two or six
weeks. For comparison, an endurance training
group cycled continuously for 40 to 60 minutes
per session five times per week.
After only two weeks of training (only six
sessions), the high-intensity group doubled
its endurance time. That is, they exercised
for nearly twice as long before reaching
exhaustion. They also improved time-trial
performance by 10 percent. The endurance
group showed little to no improvement. After
six weeks the high-intensity group showed
several important biochemical changes within
Di Stefano grins, “I did once, for River when
they had their first-choice keeper sent off.”
It is not just Di Stefano’s talent that won
him such success and admiration, but his tem-
perament, too: his determination and desire
to win, even if it meant sacrificing himself.
Especially if it meant sacrificing himself. The
great Italian Gianni Rivera recalls one occa-
sion when Inter put two players on him. So Di
Stefano ran around the most pointless areas of
the pitch, sprinting about the full-back areas,
seemingly running blind, tiring them out and
leaving space for his teammates. “He drove us
mad,” Rivera sighs.
“He was the brainiest player I ever saw,”
says Charlton, “and he oozed effort and cour-
age. He was an inspiring leader and the perfect
example to others.”
“I always saw football as a game in which
you have to run and swat,” Di Stefano says.
And he could be sharp with his tongue and
fiercely irritable with those who didn’t give
their all in pursuit of victory. His quick-fire
response to another Madrid great, Amancio, is
the stuff of legend – the embodiment of what
Madrid likes to think they’re all about; talent
and commitment wrapped in one.
Before a match, Amancio noted that his
Real Madrid shirt was plain white. “Hey, my
shirt has no Real Madrid shield on it,” he
announced. “You’ve got to sweat for it first,
sunshine,” replied Di Stefano.
Di Stefano certainly sweated for his shirt.
Not that Eusebio cared: Portugal’s finest ever
player still claims that swapping jerseys with
the Blond Arrow was “the greatest satisfaction
of my life.” Football will forever be grateful to
an electrician from River and a mother’s love.
Ramon Calderon likes to tell the anecdote of
a father and son strolling through a park and
coming across a statue of Di Stefano. “Daddy,”
says the boy, “was he a player?” “No,” says
his father, “he was a team.” Not just any team
either: the greatest team in history.
the muscle, such as glycogen, phosphocre-
atine levels and metabolic enzyme activities.
However, laboratory measures of “fitness” such
as VO2max and exercise heart rates were not
improved.
A key difference in the two training groups
was the amount of time spent training and the
total amount of work performed. Training for
high-intensity group required about two to
three minutes of actual exercise compared with
60 minutes for the endurance group. Includ-
ing recovery, the high-intensity session lasted
approximately 20 minutes. Also, the high-in-
tensity group performed about half as much
total work as the endurance group. The bottom
line is that high-intensity training resulted in
greater improvements with less time and work.
As a coach, it’s easy to see how this type of
high-intensity training would be a tremendous
benefit for improving fitness when practice
time is limited. The big question is, should
coaches consider using this type of training
with their players? Instead of using an exercise
bike, players could do repeated 30 second
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
sprints (or 200-300 meter sprints) with a
four-minute recovery. But before abandoning
traditional training, coaches. Should consider
a few things.
First, the researchers are quick to point out
that they don’t know for sure if high-intensity
training provides all of the cardiovascular,
metabolic and muscular benefits that tradition-
al endurance training does. It’s also not known
if the improvements are long-lasting.
Second, it’s not known if the improvements
found in these studies will translate into im-
proved fitness over the course of a 70- to 90-
minute match. This is particularly important
when one considers the stop-start, run-sprint
nature of soccer.
Third, and most important, cycling is
much different than running when it comes
to impact forces on the knee, ankle and hip.
Using high-intensity running during training
might increase the risk of orthopedic, over-use
injuries, especially in young athletes. At the
Some Thoughts from Division I
By Carson Porter
I’ve gone through quite an interesting
coaching transition in the last six months.
After spending the last five seasons with Jay
Vidovich and the Wake Forest men’s soccer
program, I took a job on the staff of the Capital
Area Soccer League in Raleigh, N.C. I made
the move partly for personal reasons, but it
also was interesting from a soccer standpoint,
trading in the stresses of how we will replace
seven starters who are all now professionals for
the stresses of choosing between two 11-year-
old girls for one slot on a classic team. Instead
of helping top young American players like
Hermann Trophy winner Marcus Tracy and
first-team NSCAA All-America Corben Bone
develop their extreme talents, I was teaching
the basics of a pass, how to move off the ball,
how to receive the ball with the outside of your
foot, or even how to properly tie a shoelace! In
short, A BIG DIFFERENCE.
As I went through the stresses of a move
and getting used to a new staff and sur-
roundings, I had time to reflect on the last
five seasons, how I had matured as a coach,
what I needed to do to continue my coaching
development and how I would tackle this new
job and new challenge. I am far too young to
feel like my ideas are “right” or I should be
telling anyone what to do, but I have had an
opportunity to spend time with some wonder-
ful players and excellent coaches, and my hope
is that this article can get any coach at any level
to simply stop and think.
Here are some ideas, observations and
opinions that aim to get any coach at any level
thinking about a simple question: How Do We
Make it Better? This question can be exciting
and stimulating, or frustrating and answerless,
a question that when asked by Jay in the Wake
Forest soccer office on some days would result
in a two-hour discussion, while on others
would make me want to walk right out of his
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
very least, players should be allowed a day or
two to recover from each training session.
For now, this series of studies raises some
interesting ideas regarding training. They may
ultimately cause us to re-think how we go
about fitness development. However, much
more work needs to be done to determine of
high-intensity training is appropriate and effec-
tive for young footballers. Note: Many thanks
to Dr. Don Kirkendall of the FIFA Medical
Assessment and Research Centre for suggesting
this topic.
References
Gibala MJ, McGee SL (2008) Metabolic adap-
tations to short-term high-intensity interval
training: A little pain for a lot of gain? Exer-
cise and Sports Sciences Reviews, 36:58-63.
Burgomaster KA, Howarth KR, Phillips SM,
Rakobowchuk, MacDonald MJ, McGee SL,
Gibala MJ (2008) Similar metabolic adapta-
tion during exercise after low volume sprint
office in frustration. Regardless, it’s a simple
question that all of us as coaches should be
asking ourselves continually.
Be Prepared
During the course of our day on the Wake
Forest staff as we dealt with recruiting phone
calls, camp questions, academic reports and
player meetings, at some point there would be
a lull. The office was quiet, and like clockwork
Jay would call through the wall with the same
six words that came each and every day, “What
do you think for training?” For coaches it was
the best part of our day, to stop everything and
spend 20 or so minutes on training.
It didn’t start out that way. In the first year
at Wake Forest, when Michael Parkhurst was
our center back and players such as James Riley,
Scott Sealy, Brian Edwards and Justin Moose
led our team, I wasn’t ready for that question. I
wasn’t prepared. As a young coach, I figured we
would roll the ball out, let these talented players
play a little possession, maybe do some finishing
and if we had enough time, let the guys strike a
few set pieces, eventually collecting our national
championship and then going to the NSCAA
Convention in January feeling pretty good about
ourselves…NOT QUITE.
Following Jay’s example, and realizing that
I needed to get better, I quickly started plot-
ting and thinking about training all the time. I
changed. I thought about our team whenever I
had a free minute. I made time to think about
the team. I began to turn off the stereo in my
car and spend my drive to and from campus
thinking about our team and how I could help
them succeed. I drank one cup of coffee each
day; I always drank it by myself, and I always
thought about the team. Sometimes I had
a notepad with me, sometimes not, but the
important thing is that I began to dedicate time
to think about the team. I was ready for those
six words whenever they would come. I loved
interval and traditional endurance training
in humans. Journal of Physiology, 586:151-
160.
Gibala MJ, Little JP, van Essen M, Wilkin GP,
Burgomaster KA, Safdar A, Raha S, Tarnop-
olsky MA (2006) Short-term spring inter-
val versus traditional endurance training:
similar initial adaptations in human skeletal
muscle and exercise performance. Journal of
Physiology, 575:901-911.
Burgomaster KA, Heigenhauser GJF, Gibala MJ
(2005) Effect of short-term sprint interval
training on human skeletal muscle carbo-
hydrate metabolism during exercise and
time-trial performance. Journal of Applied
Physiology, 100:2041-2047.
Burgomaster KS, Hughes SC, Heigenhauser
GJF, Bradwell SN, Gibalb MJ (2004) Six
sessions of sprint interval training increases
muscle oxidative potential and cycle endur-
ance capacity in humans. Journal of Applied
Physiology, 98:1985-1990.
those 20 minutes when our opinions were dis-
sected, disagreed with, eventually resulting in
the day’s practice plan.
Practice plans are different for nine-year-
olds. Tactics are rarely discussed. Things that
are “givens” to top players have to be man-
aged for the younger ones, and goals have to
change. I have three broad goals for the young
CASL players I work with today: They must
move on to the higher age groups knowing the
proper techniques of the game (ball striking,
first touches, passing, etc.), they must be able
to perform these techniques at an age-based
high speed/intensity and they must develop
good training habits. These are very differ-
ent from the three goals of winning an ACC
regular season, an ACC championship and an
NCAA national championship.
Each set of goals needs a coach’s prepara-
tion. Be prepared, know what the goals of a
training session are, make sure you have the
proper equipment, the right number of players
for the practice and the right attitude. If you
come to a training session having just gotten
off of a long day’s work and aren’t ready for
practice, the kids will know, and they will
suffer because of it. It’s no different from those
rare days when we had recruits on campus, or
Jay had an ACC conference call in the morn-
ing and an interview in the afternoon, and we
didn’t answer those six key words, and our
kids suffered because of it.
Create a Winning Environment
Being prepared for training is a big step
toward creating a winning environment, which
ultimately will lead to positive results and
development of your teams and players.
A winning environment, to me, is a safe
area where players are willing to put their very
best out on the practice field and aren’t afraid
of failure, criticism or even praise. A winning
environment teaches lessons, rewards improve-
ment and breeds competition.
At Wake Forest our environment started
with a trash can, symbolic of all of the “stuff”
players dealt with during the course of the
63
day. As soon as we got to practice and as soon
as they were ready to train, they all stopped
at that trash can and symbolically “threw” all
girlfriend problems, exam stress or roommate
issues away, ready to spend an hour and a half
trying to get better. At CASL on the U-14 girls
team, it starts with a handshake to the coach. A
very simple practice that, as I watched, meant
so much to these girls. It is a split second when
each player is just a girl shaking the hand of
someone they look up to. They enjoy this time
when they get to greet their coach as a person
and not as their coach. It teaches life lessons
-- a firm handshake, looking someone in the
eye when you are talking to them and the con-
fidence to speak to an adult. It also is a great
chance for the coach to recognize the mood
of each player and see how everyone is doing.
The girls don’t come up to the coach and shake
hands unless they are ready for practice, and
similarly, coaches don’t shake hands unless
training is planned out, cones are put out, and
they are also ready to go. And the environment
begins to take shape.
As training gets started, organization, prep-
aration and goals of practice help to form your
team’s environment. Be consistent. At Wake, as
we played 5 v. 2 before practice (another im-
portant piece of our culture), the players used
to jokingly try to predict what we were doing
for training. Most of the time, because our
team and coach had a certain style and identity,
they weren’t far off in their predictions. Variety
is important, but not nearly as important as
consistency. Players need time to “master” the
drill, and as they master your drills and your
coaching personality, their minds free up and
focus on team and individual improvement.
Create competition in your environment.
Give goals to players and teams and challenge
them to reach these goals. There is a ton of
criticism directed at coaches or teams that
play just for wins and losses. I believe such a
Three new college teams entering competition in 2010
Lubbock Christian University President Dr.
Ken L. Jones and athletic director Paul Hise of-
ficially announced that the athletic department
is adding men’s and women’s soccer, to begin
intercollegiate play in the National Association
of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) beginning
in the fall of 2010. Hise also introduced Kyle
Beard as the men’s head soccer coach and
Babak Abouzar as the women’s head coach in a
press conference held at the Rip Griffin Center.
The two programs, the first new programs
at LCU since softball was added in 2008, give
the school 11 varsity athletic programs. The
two teams will compete at an on-campus facil-
ity currently being constructed on the west side
of campus near PlainsCapital Park and will play
in the Sooner Athletic Conference, which cur-
rently has 10 men’s programs and 11 women’s
programs competing in soccer. The men’s
program will serve as the highest form of soccer
within the Lubbock city limits, as Texas Tech
University has only women’s soccer.
Beard comes to LCU after serving as a
foreign vocational missionary in Rwanda
64
narrow focus is completely wrong, but what
isn’t wrong is adding competition into each
training session. One of our youth coaches
recently emailed me describing a juggling club
that he has set up within his team. I admit-
tedly laughed at the email when I first read
it, but after thinking about this “club” that
rewards 11-year-old kids for their juggling
improvement, I thought, WHY NOT? It poses
a challenge, they get a positive reward, and
it creates a competitive environment where
kids are trying to outdo themselves and their
teammates. At Wake we didn’t do juggling
clubs, but we did take photos each day of the
winning team in whatever competition we had
that day. We posted the photos in the locker
room, which created pride for the winning
team. It was a small thing that we weren’t sure
was effective, but the first day we didn’t take
a picture because the “dumb assistant coach”
forgot the camera, the players weren’t happy
about it. Each day the players played to get
in that picture – one player even announced
to the team that he was changing his name to
Kodak because he was in so many of our team’s
pictures. You won’t know when it happens, but
one day you will see the change in your team’s
environment. The day we all died laughing
at “Kodak” was the day that I knew we had
something special.
Care
All coaches say they care, but I’m not really shows in the way the teams play, which is a
sure if everyone does. It sounds silly, sappy and result of the preparation they put in and the
elementary, but when I look back at team suc-
cesses (as well as failures), a lot of it had to do as coaches can be better prepared, creating an
with caring for the players. This idea reaches
far and wide and covers all types of things
within the coaching profession. One of my
favorite memories at Wake Forest was when
we were preparing to go to Boston College and of soccer background you have or what level
play on their turf field. We got permission from that you played at, I am quite certain that if
our football program to use the turf field they
(Africa) in a partnership with South Plains
Church of Christ. While working in Rwanda,
Beard also served in the soccer community as
the head coach of the Rwanda women’s national
team (2006-08) and the men’s national futsal
development team (2008-09). He helped lead
the women’s national team to a Kigali Centennial
Cup championship title in 2007 and to CECAFA
Cup Qualifier. Beard also served as an assistant
coach for the Rwanda men’s U-20 and U-17
national team (2007-09).
Abouzar currently is the graduate assistant
coach for the Lipscomb University women’s team
in Nashville, Tenn., completing his second season
with the NCAA Div. I program. An NJCAA All-
America and part of a NJCAA National Cham-
pionship while at Richland College in Dallas, he
spent two seasons there before transferring to
Lipscomb University. In two seasons as a defend-
er with the Bisons, Abouzar claimed Atlantic Sun
All-Academic honors. He holds a USSF National
“D” license and a NSCAA Regional Goalkeeper
diploma.
had on their practice facilities, but we had no
goals (probably because the “dumb assistant
coach” forgot to request them). It would have
been easy to put together a training session
with some possession and technical goalkeeper
work, but the staff, from the head coach down,
cared too much to do that. At 6 a.m. we met
at the stadium and the four of us carried two
goals down for a 7 a.m. training session. I
couldn’t feel my hands until the end of prac-
tice, but it was worth it.
Care for your players. Make an extra phone
call to them to make sure they are okay or that
they understood what you asked for at prac-
tice; drop an email to the team if you didn’t
like practice that day to tell them why; spend
an extra 15 minutes with a player to work with
them on set pieces or juggling. During my time
at Wake we had some unbelievable players and
an unbelievable coach. People always would
ask me what we were doing, thinking that we
just had these unbelievable training sessions,
but the easiest and best answer that I always
gave was that we just cared for our kids. We
did everything we could for them as players,
people and as a team to set them up for suc-
cess, and when you care for them at that level
they will undoubtedly return the favor three
times over. From afar I watch coaches like
José Mourinho, Jürgen Klinnsman, Dominic
Kinnear and Bob Bradley, and I can see the
care that they put into their work. The care
environment they have created. With care, we
environment that will foster growth.
One of the beautiful things about coaching
is that you don’t have to be a fantastic player to
be a fantastic coach. But no matter what kind
you don’t care, you can’t coach.
Women’s Soccer Comes to Michigan Tech
Michigan Technological University is
adding women’s soccer to its varsity athletic
program and will begin intercollegiate compe-
tition as a member of the Great Lakes Intercol-
legiate Athletic Conference next fall.
Long-time Michigan Tech supporter Pat
Nelson of Kingsford, Mich., donated 100
percent of the costs associated with starting up
the program, including initial costs for equip-
ment, locker room renovation and first-year
coaching salaries.
Michigan Tech’s home soccer facility will
be Sherman Field, which was set up for soccer
when the synthetic turf was installed in sum-
mer 2008. Scholarships will be available and
a tryout will be held for current Tech students
to fill out the roster for the first season. Tech’s
2010 schedule is being finalized, but there
will be at least 14 GLIAC games, with seven of
those to be played at Sherman Field. Women’s
soccer is the first sport to be added to the
Michigan Tech varsity lineup since Nordic ski-
ing was elevated from club status in 1989-90.
Soccer Journal November-December 2009
Soccer Journal November-December 2009 65
66 Soccer Journal November-December 2009