Soccer in the USA: The Outsider's View on College Soccer

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This is another article that was sparked by an ancient Twitter thread. A lot of threads in the past have acted as place holders for my thoughts, until I can come back at a later stage, and polish them off.

College Soccer Circlejerk

Here's why us foreigners struggle with the college coach mentality in the US. I have stopped listening to some podcasts and reading some websites, because it just feels like a massive circlejerk where so many of these types are tugging each other off over their achievements.

Excerpts from an interview in a soccer journal; College coach's advice to youth coaches to prepare young players for the college game...

Understand how strength and conditioning prepares you for soccer. This is high on the list of priorities. Physical preparation is a huge part of the adult game, but Americans place a lot of emphasis on it. Quads and abs don't make up for a poor first touch.

Understand sleep, nutrition, warm up, recovery etc. Again, important. Was it Harry Redknapp who said if you can't play a pass, a bowl of pasta won't do you much good? We are assuming these players can already do that, which is often not the case.

Get exposure to other sports for the benefit of being a multi sport athlete. This is kind of a logical fallacy. Multi sport can supplement an athlete that doesn't play enough of their sport. It also helps greatly for athletes playing sports with a smaller skill set...

And with less critical thinking. For example, compare the skill sets, decisions, and practice of soccer players to handegg players. Playing basketball and tennis will help the handegg players far more than it will help the soccer players.

The greatest footballers in history only ever played football. Are you telling us Maradona would have been even better had he played a bit of baseball and volleyball?

There are psychological benefits to multi sport; different coaching styles, more exposure to success/failure and risk/reward, more teammates to interact with for communication skills, being a top player on one team, a poor player on another team, and the related self efficacy.

Like I said, multi sport helps fill in the gaps. Two identical players, both practice soccer for two hours a week. Player A only does soccer Player B also does three hours of basketball, two of volleyball, and two of track. Player B will improve more over an extended time period.

But imagine how much better at soccer Player B would become if instead of nine hours of varied sport, they did nine hours of soccer? We can create a third identical child (triplets) Player C. Player C does nine hours of soccer per week, improves more than B, leaves A for dead.

Why do so many college athletes have histories of multi sport? Because often these sports aren't dynamic. Baseball and handegg are predictable, drilled, narrow skill set games, with very limited decision making.

Look at the amount of reps, engagement, and autonomy these kids have during practices for handegg and baseball. They have to do other sports to supplement their development because all they have done is push ups, weights, laps, and stand in a field waiting their turn.

Honest to God, baseball must be deathly boring for a kid. Hey Timmy, you're going to stand by yourself in a hot field for long periods of time, interspersed with long periods of sitting down, and you will average a turn every forty minutes. And if we lose, I will scream at you.

Timmy has to do running, volleyball, and basketball, because he sure didn't learn agility, balance, coordination and other vital skills that are necessary for baseball while actually playing baseball.

The soccer equivalent would be that you do nothing during ninety minutes, apart from twenty unopposed sprints, and twenty passes. You need to be good at those things, but if all you do is play that match, you don't improve those skills. The game does not provide repetitions.

If that's how soccer was played, multi sport would make far more sense. But it is an intense game full of decisions, requiring a broad skill set, surrounded by ever changing variables. You get better at the thing by doing the thing.

So the stereotype of the college game is fit, muscular, tall, lacking in technical ability or intelligence, with bags of hustle. Required skills; booting it, positional discipline, and never playing a square pass.

This makes the game look and feel like other American sports, because it can become so regimented. No room for flair or creativity. Thus it is trained in a similar manner. You get good at what you do, and they want you to be good at winning headers, winning knock downs...

Winning flick ons, and making runs in behind. How do we get good at this? Fitness training and pattern play. The exact opposite of how we develop creative and intelligent players.

Not sure if this is due to transference of English mentality a couple generations ago, baseball or handegg coaches being roped into doing soccer, American ignorance, foreigners and ex pros exploiting that, or a mixture. And which came first?

Nevertheless, "the weight room" seems to be the key to all sporting solutions. Like Messi would be twice the player he is if he improved his bench press or deadlift.

And the secret to being a successful college coach is... RECRUITMENT That's not coaching, that's scouting. Like these people, I also have the title "coach" but our jobs are very different. I am a talent developer, they are a talent recruiter. In my world, that's not coaching.

There are times when I have visibly blown the minds of American players, parents, coaches, and referees. I am distinctly average, and genuinely feel bad when someone is impressed by what I do. It's like we are describing the concept of a wheel, when the rest of the world flies.

Their eyes bulge, their brains swell, their hearts even skip a beat. Wow. OMG I didn't know you could do that. I didn't know you could see the game that way. I never thought of that. I never knew that. This is totally different to everything I did when I played.

am a nobody that has achieved very little. Why is it that I am the one to so frequently spark these minor epiphanies? Try watching a game on TV for once.

Joys of college coaching; seeing what your team can accomplish... TOGETHER!!! Also interacting with alumni, apparently. I like to converse with friends about the glory days of when we won a pub league plastic trophy. Does it mean more to play in front of aluminium bleachers?

So much of this focuses on things like team culture, leadership, accountability etc. I get that. Brilliant. 100% this is really important. But it just sounds like a more articulate version of the stereotypical "gotta hustle" give 110% generic teamtalks heard at youth games.

Having watched and read interviews of college coaches from other sports, it's always about psychological and social aspects. Using words to keep grounded, accountability pacts, team slogans, becoming a family, and even tugging on bracelets when frustrated or nervous.

But that's not the entire game. All you have said is fluff that sounds impressive to idiots. Soccer is better than the other sports, so let's act like it. Talk about your culture and values, but also WHAT IS REQUIRED TECHNICALLY TO COMPETE TACTICALLY

So if I'm a young coach wanting to get into the college game, first tell me why? The pleasure of shaping young lives Developing potential future pro stars Creating a positive training environment for young athletes To serve our national team Give it purpose.

Then move onto how Physical, psychological, social, technical development Culture, environment, philosophy Tactical trends Rules and how it shapes your game plan

Then what Young adult players Highly athletic of average skill World class facilities Committed training environment Large amount of staff

A difference can be made, not just in the lives of the players you are honoured to have a duty of care over, but also in the culture of this country's game, and the future of the national team. This circlejerk has to stop, because you are falling behind.