GERMANY FOUNDATION PHASE
We touched on Germany Youth Soccer above and here's a bit on more on some of the changes they made to make youth soccer developmentally fair, age appropriate, more game time, more dribbling, more individual success, more goals and more ball contacts.
In U11's they switched from 7v7 to small sided games with 2 goals at each end and shooting zones focusing on fun, player centered and adults only supporting.
A player who is intelligent goes through 4 phases being to observe the environment, understand what’s going on, make a decision and then execute but most training only focuses on execution.
Clubs now have 3 mini pitches on the same 7v7 ground and everyone plays all the time.
Players must be in the shooting zone in order to score and there's a last touch out of bounds rule.
Players have 2 attractors which is the ball and the goal and if you only have goals at each end then players only use the middle of the pitch so put extra goals on the sides to encourage playing with width.
The coach should invest more into thinking about the rules of the game and allow the rules to do the job and then sit back and observe, acting as a facilitator.
Play 2v2 on a ground 16x20m.
Play 3v3 on a ground 25x20m.
Play 5v5 on a ground 40x25m.
Play 7v7 (at under 10/11 level) on a ground 55x35m.
YOUTH RUGBY
Under 5/6 is 4v4 with a focus on fun, individual focus with no set positions.
Under 7/8 is 5v5 with the same focus as U5/6.
Under 9/10 is 7v7v with a 2/3/2 formation, an introduction to roles/responsibilities in each 3rd and a rotation of positions for all players.
Under 11/12 is 9v9 with a 2/5/2 or 3/3/3 formation with the same focus as U9/10.
Under 13/14 is 8v8 with a 2/4/2 formation, a set formation and/.or strategy and players can only play in 1 area.
Under 15 is 8v8 with a 2/4/2 formation, adaptable strategies and players now have primary and secondary positions.
Under 17 is 8v8 with even more adaptable strategies and again primary and secondary positions.
BELGIUM YOUTH SOCCER
Analysis showed some u8/9’s touched the ball just twice in a half and I've seen my son train for over an hour without getting 1 kick at his local football club.
They adopted a new philosophy to let them dribble and play in small sided games such as 2v2, 5v5 and 8v8 with player development replacing player rankings.
The top 14 – 18 year old players are offered additional training x 4 mornings per week x 2 hours by the same coaches (school based), but they can still train with their local clubs and they can also choose what ratio that is from week to week resulting in some cases, receiving the opportunity for twice as much coaching as normal.
School based training is grade dependent too, so it keeps the focus on academics at the same time.
They took out tackling so players could educate themselves on when to anticipate and when to drop off etc.
GERMAN YOUTH SOCCER
This goes deeper into their youth soccer revamp from above.
Small sided games with shorter playing times, players regularly rotating with everyone involved and no referees or coaches - no adults!
They organise game afternoon/festivals rather than formal matches within leagues.
2v2 on small pitch with 2 goals per team.
3v3 on a small pitch with 2 goals per team.
5v5 on a medium pitch with 1 goal per team.
5v5 on a slightly bigger pitch then the medium pitch with 2 goals per team.
5v5 on a bigger pitch, somewhere around 40x25m with 2 goals per team.
7v7 on the biggest pitch around 55x35m with 1 goal per team.
Heading of the ball is essentially eliminated.
Kids wanna play with the ball and score goals.
Under 6/7 is 2v2 on 16x20m pitch, 2 substitutes per team, 2 goals per team, goals can only be scored from within the forward half.
This age group can also do 3v3 on a 28x22m pitch with 2 substitutes and goals per team but scoring can only be attempted from within the 6m zone.
No goal keepers, players rotate after each goal, teams play 5 – 7 x 10min games over the entire festival using the 1 winner moves up and loser moves down sequence so each team will eventually find their optimal challenge point.
Under 8/9 is 3v3 on a 28x22m pitch and this age group can also play 5v5 on 40x25m pitch.
The 3v3 game is the same as under 6/7 above but the 5v5 game has 2 substitutes and 1 goal per team, again played winner up/loser down style.
Under 10/11 is 5v5 the same as under 8/9 but can also play 7v7 on a 55x35m pitch with 1 goal keeper per team with 2 x 12min games.
GAELIC GO GAMES
This comes from multi-sport Cork coach Colm Crowley and the changes he made to their junior youth program.
They moved from 7v7 for under 7 and 8's down to 5v5 which resulted in more 1v1's, more shots on goal, more ball touches and more individual skill executions per player.
The 7v7 game involves more rucks with 3 or more players involved, less potential movement and less touches and players being more spread out/away from the action - junior AFL to a tee.
Under 9/10 moved to 7v7 and under 11 to 9v9.
He also found that if there is 14 total players play a 10min game and everything is equal then each player would have 42secs of meaningful ball contact but if there is only 10 players total then that time increases up to 60secs.
The games also end up being more free flowing, less rucks, more clean strikes/kicks, less tackles, faster ball movement, less immediate interceptions, more space on a smaller pitch (35x20m) and the dominant players still dominate but with less impact on the game in the fact that there’s at least a play between them passing and receiving the ball back.
JUNIOR SPORT
Organise teams and games via ability.
If you have to mix abilities the use a scoring system based on ability with 2 - 3x normal goal scores for those yet to develop their skills.
Use playing zones.
Coaches can play as neutrals to ensure the ball gets to everyone.
Use a scoring system for the skill you want to encourage the players to try.
ALL IN ACRONYM
Last year at my son's local club we had Collingwood premiership player Shane Morwood come and speak to us about building a thorough junior program and the foundations he laid were ALL IN being Ask, Listen, Learn, Include and Nurture.
4 CORNER DEVELOPMENT CONTINUUM
If you really wanna build your youth program out to really push long term development then you can use this framework from UEFA Soccer coach Gary Piggott which runs from aged 5 all the way through to age 20.
For technique, the focus for 5 – 11 year old's should be on basic technique's, ball/wall activities, improving basic skills, using games as a teacher, a rotation of positions, playing other sports and small sided games.
For 10 – 16 year old's, focus on improving technique's, skill execution, understanding the role in the team, attacking principles, defensive principles and individual units/groups using 9v9 to 11v11 games.
For 15 – 20 year old's focus on technique proficiency, improving decision making, complete problem solving and understanding defensive and attacking strategies using 11v11 and other small sided games.
For player psychology, the focus for 5 – 11 year old's should be on enthusiasm, imagination, exploration, avoiding anxiety/boredom, progressive introduction to psychological skills and progressive group activities.
For 10 – 16 year old's focus on the self concept, awareness, responsibility, goal setting, confidence and coping strategies.
For 15 – 20 year old's focus on lifestyle skills, develop a stable temperament, understanding, communication and advancing coping strategies.
Physically, for 5 – 11 year old's focus on agility, balance, coordination, speed, kinaesthesia, catching, passing, kicking, running, jumping, change of direction, motor control, mixed activities and multi skills.
for 10 – 16 year old's focus on adolescence growth spurt, aerobic development, changing shape, early/late maturation and athleticism changes.
For 15 – 20 year old's focus on muscle gains, strength improvements, power increases, lactate training, improving recovery and ensuring full potential is progressively being achieved.
Socially, for 5 – 11 year old's focus on fun/enjoyment, support from parents/school, inclusion/participation, forming relationships, providing safe environments with simple roles and ethics.
For 10 – 16 year old's focus on accepting responsibility, fair play, peer group features, values/beliefs and appropriate behaviors.
For 15 – 20 year old's focus on developing emotion stability, being socially responsible, recognising cultural differences, dealing with conflict and appreciating others.
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