Panthers United Soccer Association

INTRODUCTION

Panthers USA’s has a training mentality of player development as the primary focus. As such, the expectation is that our coaches and trainers will conduct themselves in the interest of advancing the individual skills of every player on his/her team before focusing on the team results and winning games.

Countless hours of research has been conducted by such groups and US Youth Soccer and NSCAA – looking into the “best practices” of how to develop our young players. Panthers USA, in conjunction with our training partners have researched these organizations, as well as others, in order to compare their information with our philosophy. The combination of these efforts resulted in the creation of this PUSA Training Syllabus that you are reading.

THE FACETS OF THE GAME

 There are five facets of the game of soccer that are widely believed to represent the chemical make-up of the soccer player. As a trainer, it is important to recognize that all five of these components exist and that each of these are discussed with your team because each of these pillars become part of the all-important “positive learning environment” which we are all tasked with creating for our young players.

The first is area is Technical. This is the earliest aspect of the game that we teach. Technical skills is also known as foot skills and the development of this includes performing the acts of dribbling, passing, shooting, changing directions with the ball, etc.

The second is the called Tactical. While some of this is taught at an early age (U6/U7) – it is certainly a minority of the training session. Again, BSC believes that our national youth soccer organizations have it right – player development before team success. With each year that passes, a larger and larger percentage of your training session will be spent on this aspect of the game.

Third is the Physical component. The primary activity around this component is conditioning. The recommended types of conditioning vary depending upon age, but cardiovascular is certainly going to be a part of it. That said, remember the rule of the three “L”’s to avoid – No laps, No lines, No lectures. Conditioning for the younger kids will come with scrimmages and the like. For the older kids, you will want to incorporate physical conditioning into the drills forcing this aspect of the game to develop while the player is working on other aspects of his/her game.

The fourth is the mental aspect of the game. Boys and Girls, younger and older, novice and advanced… all of these groups deal with the mental demands of the game. Soccer is one of the more mentally demanding sports these children will play. Many traditional “American” sports have lots of planning time during the game. Whether you look at baseball, basketball, or football – there is time to plan and think through a scenario. In soccer, the scenario changes every time the ball or players move leaving everyone on the field with a heavy demand to recognize, interpret, and respond. Research shows that kids generally have a very difficult time understanding concepts such as “open space” and “maintaining a diamond” as we refer to them in soccer until they get into U12 and above. That doesn’t mean that you don’t discuss these things in your sessions before that, but have realistic expectations about how they will respond.

The fifth and final component is Social/Physiological. This is an aspect of the game that is often overlooked in youth soccer. This pillar includes such things as team politics, behavior amongst players, reasons for taking the field (interest and drivers), diet and lifestyle. Boys and girls tend to come at this pillar from two different points and pass each other along the way. Younger female players tend to initially play for the social aspect of the game – being with friends, etc. She also tends to look for a friendship with her coach and will tend to respond better when she can find that. As she gets older, the social aspect of the game begins to be replaced by competition and other personal drivers. Conversely, the boys tend to play early-on for the love of the competition but as they age they begin to get distracted by social aspects of life (both on and off the field) and only the more intense players can stay focused through this period.

CURRICULUM

Panthers USA strongly support the use of small-sided games at all ages to develop our players. The curriculum contained herein does not cover specific drills. It exists for the purpose of communicating the club’s philosophies of player development. It is recommended (at all levels) that small-sided games become a huge part of your training sessions. 

Our development curriculum begins with “Player Development” from ages four through ten. During the early touches phase of development, the young player will work to quickly develop his/her technical ability, confidence and comfort with the ball while advancing his/her understanding of the game.
 

“Team Play” is phase two and includes ages eleven through fourteen. By the age of twelve, most all players have developed technical habits that will be hard to change drastically – therefore the hope is that our “Player Development” phase has developed strong personal habits for each player. Now, those individual skills continue to be practiced while the player challenges himself/herself with decision making and tactical awareness. Individual development continues but shows itself more as team development, as each player must learn the ebb and flow of the game as a team working in unity.

Finally, “Systems” is the third phase and it is generally applied to players of ages fifteen through eighteen. At this phase, players are focusing heavily on learning different systems and strategies of play – including different formations and how they match-up against each other, etc. The “Strategies” phase is the least common phase to be trained within BSC as many of the players at this age are training more with their school than their club. That said, there are varying degrees of each phase in most training sessions on our fields – regardless of age.

Structure and planning is an important part of all training sessions. While the kids won’t likely respond well to an authoritarian style, they will certainly respond to someone who commands (not demands) respect. In planning your training session, consider focusing on:

a.      Dynamic/Static Stretching

b.      Speed and Agility

c.       Unopposed Drill

d.      Opposed Drill (U6-U11) / Game Related Practice (U12-U18)

e.      Conditioned Game (U6-U11) / Fun Game (U12-U18)

f.        Game

g.      Cool Down

Panthers USA also believe that unstructured play is an important part of the development process with players U9 and above. It is recommended that PUSA coaches/trainers have some sessions throughout the season where unstructured and uninterrupted play is the only item on the plan (within appropriate age groups). Even if it’s just a couple of times per season, let it happen. You can even dangle it as a reward in sessions that precede it. Allow the kids to pick teams. Allow them to work through decisions. Encourage them to try new things while they are out there, but refrain from coaching while they are playing. Our young players need to learn to make faster and better decisions during play – and a highly structured learning environment without exposure to unstructured play will not foster the creativity and confidence needed in decision making.

AGE SPECIFIC TRAINING

At the U6 and U7 ages (Early Touches) you are focusing on foot skills. This includes abilities related to both individual play and group/team play. It’s important, even at this age, to begin to promote good sportsmanship. Not only will it prevent problems for you (or future coaches) down the line, but these types of conversations rub-off on parents as well to keep all involved in a similar state of mind.

Individual Play

·         Dribbling and related activities

·         Juggling – get them trying it early. Start from a seated position.

·         Defending Skills

·         Build Confidence in each player! Foster success but don’t make it too easy to achieve.

Group Play

·         Passing and receiving – mastering the basic techniques.

·         Heads-up! Start to plant the seed of knowing at least where people are, even though special awareness will escape them at this age.

Other

·         Promote good sportsmanship towards teammates, opponents, coaches and refs at all times.

·         Make sure that the kids are enjoying themselves out there!

The U8, U9 and U10 players are still in the Early Touches phase of training – but these players are ready for some additional challenges. More emphasis should start to be placed on the execution of the skills that have been practiced for the last two years, with fine tuning of the skills being the primary objective. At the same time, players will now start picking up on soccer terms and begin to dig their feet in to the sport. The concept of space is still difficult for many, but shapes on the field are beginning to form.

Individual Play

·         Next level of skill development. Include defensive posturing.

·         Playing the ball in the air (trapping, receiving, directing, etc)

·         Shielding and protecting the ball

·         Begin challenging the players with various “moves“ and promote trying those moves during scrimmages and games

Group Play

·         Begin expecting that the players hold shapes for you.

·         Work on pressure/cover/balance

·         Begin planting the seeds of space

·         Work on throw-in strategy as well as corner kicks and goal kicks.

Other

·         Start setting goals with the players – make them accountable for learning and give them something to drive towards personally.

·         Support the players by investigating available clinics and camps.

Moving on to the U11 and U12 age groups – you’re approaching the point where the players’ habits will become pretty set in stone with the exception of eventual tweaking. Use this timeframe to correct any remaining bad habits, keeping a specific eye open for opportunities to correct. In the meantime, the shift begins to incorporate more tactics and strategy into your training sessions. At this point – your players should be understanding things such as building walls (incorporating keeper responsibilities into this process), transition play, combination play, capitalizing on set-play situations, and other related team-oriented lessons.

Continue tweaking skills throughout your time with the players no matter what their age is, and keep with small-sided games to help the players learn. By the U13 and U14 age group, focus more and more time on strategy-related lessons. Stress quick and confident decisions, constant movement of the ball through a series of crisp and accurate passing, etc. Players at this point are likely involved with their Junior High School team as well so keep that in mind when it comes to scheduling training, etc.