#1 A Mastery Approach to winning
There are two ways to win and feel successful in sports. The way we typically think of winning, Scoreboard Winning, means that we have outscored our opponent. The other way to win and feel successful is to take a Mastery Approach. This type of winner focuses on effort, learning, and recovering from mistakes. Being a mastery winner is more important, more satisfying and should be the end goal. Positive Coaching Alliance uses an acronym, ELM (Effort, Learning, Mistakes are OK), to keep coaches, athletes and parents mindful of a Mastery focus.
Effort is an important measurement for success because it measures what you can control, instead of focusing on what’s out of your hands. If an athlete or team is giving their best effort at practices and games, then they are working toward mastering their sport and that is a win. A team that loses on the scoreboard with maximum effort can still take pride, while a team that wins on the scoreboard but didn’t try hard might not feel as satisfied.
Coaches should emphasize
learning as a core goal during practices and games. Players who learn new skills and talents are en route to mastering their sports. Winning on the scoreboard can be a byproduct of players learning and improving.
Finally, assuring players that
mistakes are OK will free them to pursue more learning and improvement. Athletes who are afraid to mess up will never feel comfortable trying something new or adjusting to changes as they occur in sport. To help players recover from these mistakes, coaches can also develop a mistake ritual to help them move forward and focus on the most important play – the next play.
Source: Positive Coaching Alliance
#2 Futsal as a year-round development tool
Much has been written about the benefits of the game of Futsal as it relates to soccer players (
here,
here,
here,
here, and the list goes on). U.S. Soccer Development Academy lists benefits including a fast-paced game, numerous touches, awareness, speed of play, learning to support, and increased knowledge. We believe that a Futsal component to each season differentiates the program and is an opportunity to develop technical skill and ability.
#3 Curriculum that is both individual player focused and age-appropriate
Our curriculum is focused on the individual player, and then builds into how they can help their team. Oftentimes, Clubs focus on a style of play that favors the team over the individual resulting in lackluster individual player development. We flip that paradigm on it's head and help players explore their individual creativity while also analyzing how that impacts team results.
#4 All four components below are interrelated with the four key points in soccer. Developing these components in the training sessions are essential to create an appropriate environment in order to develop top soccer players.
Intensity: Practices must be performed at game intensity. Short working periods of high-intensity develops the technical quality and the quick, tactical decisions required in the game. Reproducing game intensity during training sessions is essential to the improvement of the different types of speed and endurance.
Game understanding: Developing vision and game awareness is crucial from an early age. In soccer, one action is never repeated in exactly the same way and game situations change constantly. Collective practices and experience in different game situations aids the player by improving his/her knowledge of the game.
Quality: A quality touch of the ball is indispensable to the tactical side of game-efficiency. Technique in soccer allows for great diversity; therefore repeating specific technical actions in a game context provides the player with a wide range of technical movements. Coaches will insist on a clean touch on the ball as well as quality technique.
Competitiveness: Opposed and high-intensity practices are essential in the development of high-quality and competitive players. Developing committed and competitive players from an early age is an indispensable aspect in the creation of successful teams.
Source: U.S. Soccer Concepts and Coaching Guidelines 2012