Many proponents believe that unstructured play will foster creativity in American soccer players. Roni Mansur is the Director of Coaching at Cambridge (Mass.) Youth Soccer, which has over 800 players and 70 coaches. Coach Mansur coaches a U-11 girls team and a U-6 co-ed team. He answered the following questions about the importance of unstructured play, sometimes referred to as street play, and how American soccer needs to encourage this form of soccer.
Why is now the time to bring "street soccer" to the United States?
In the aftermath of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, sports critics and pundits were quick to condemn the disappointing performances of the US National Team. This after many of these same experts jumped on the bandwagon in 2002, prophesizing the dawning of a new era in American soccer after the US side shocked the entire soccer world by making it to the quarterfinal stage of the tournament.
Although the 2006 performance was widely characterized as an under achievement, it did unveil a larger symptom plaguing American soccer. This symptom was masked largely by the unexpected feats of 2002. Steve Cherundolo, the right back on the 2006 Men's National Team, pinpoints this symptom: "I think on the whole, myself included, we weren't clever enough on the ball; we didn't create enough chances for our forwards."
This lack of cleverness on the ball or creativity is an intrinsic characteristic of the way soccer is played in the United States at all levels. At the professional level, only a handful of American players can be characterized as creative, and none of them perform consistently at the highest level to be considered a world-class creative player.
Most of the creative players in Major League Soccer (MLS) are foreign imports. It is widely recognized that great strides have been made in US soccer during the last decade; however, it is imperative that this symptom be addressed now, so American soccer has a chance to ascend to the next level during the next 10 years. The root of this symptom can be traced to the way in which American youth soccer players are coached and developed and the absence of street soccer in the American youth soccer environment.
The street soccer concept needs to be incorporated into the nation's youth soccer coaching philosophy and methodology to help foster creativity and imagination as we develop our next generation of soccer players. Coaches can take steps to incorporate this concept into soccer practices and games.
What is Street Soccer?
Street soccer refers to the various kinds of pickup soccer games played in parks, gyms, and in streets and alleys around the world. The defining characteristics of street soccer is that it is not organized. Players show up at the "field" and two teams are formed from the players available. Two "goals" are set up, the goalposts often being made from t-shirts, bags, rocks, or sticks. And, of course, a ball or representative round object is required. Everything else is negotiable, such as the boundaries and even the rules. There is no referee. There usually are no fans. There is no coach. It is soccer in its most basic and unadulterated form.
How is the development of young soccer players in the United States different form that in other top soccer-playing nations?
There are several key elements that exist in the youth soccer structures of top soccer-playing nations. First, there is a basic structure that enables young people to play the game from age 4 to 5 though their late teens. This foundational structure typically is provided by local youth soccer clubs, school teams, colleges and universities. This structure, usually absent or fragmented in many of the developing nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, now exists in American youth soccer.
Secondly, the leading soccer-playing nations have an effective process to identify and develop top young players. In most of these countries, the youth academies of professional soccer clubs identify and recruit talented players from their local communities. Regional and national teams typically are selected from the pool of players in these academies. In the United States, the Olympic Development Program (ODP) selects regional and national level players from open tryouts, which typically draw players from the top local youth soccer clubs. These youth soccer clubs are independent organizations and not affiliated with any professional soccer clubs, colleges or universities.
The key difference between the youth academies of professional clubs overseas and youth soccer clubs in the United States are the two feeder systems. Most top youth soccer clubs in the United States seek to win state cups and tournaments as early as the U-10 and U-11 age groups. In doing so, they often sacrifice individual player development. In contrast, there is a longer-term vision at the youth academies. Individual player development is the focus in these organizations because the primary objective is to develop each youth player as an individual in order to discover the one or two players who can progress to the next level and become professionals for the club. For instance, the goal of the soccer academies in England is to develop the next Stave Gerrard or Wayne Rooney rather than win the FA Youth Cup every year.
Finally, young players in the top soccer-playing nations have sufficient opportunities to experiment with the game without adult supervision. In most countries around the world, pickup games and street soccer are a way of life, and these young players play soccer almost every day. This is where many of the developing nations make up for the lack of a formal structure. It is in this aspect that youth players in the United States are disadvantaged compared with their global counterparts. US soccer experiences are almost always supervised and controlled by adults.
Why is now the time to bring "street soccer" to the United States?
In the aftermath of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, sports critics and pundits were quick to condemn the disappointing performances of the US National Team. This after many of these same experts jumped on the bandwagon in 2002, prophesizing the dawning of a new era in American soccer after the US side shocked the entire soccer world by making it to the quarterfinal stage of the tournament.
Although the 2006 performance was widely characterized as an under achievement, it did unveil a larger symptom plaguing American soccer. This symptom was masked largely by the unexpected feats of 2002. Steve Cherundolo, the right back on the 2006 Men's National Team, pinpoints this symptom: "I think on the whole, myself included, we weren't clever enough on the ball; we didn't create enough chances for our forwards."
This lack of cleverness on the ball or creativity is an intrinsic characteristic of the way soccer is played in the United States at all levels. At the professional level, only a handful of American players can be characterized as creative, and none of them perform consistently at the highest level to be considered a world-class creative player.
Most of the creative players in Major League Soccer (MLS) are foreign imports. It is widely recognized that great strides have been made in US soccer during the last decade; however, it is imperative that this symptom be addressed now, so American soccer has a chance to ascend to the next level during the next 10 years. The root of this symptom can be traced to the way in which American youth soccer players are coached and developed and the absence of street soccer in the American youth soccer environment.
The street soccer concept needs to be incorporated into the nation's youth soccer coaching philosophy and methodology to help foster creativity and imagination as we develop our next generation of soccer players. Coaches can take steps to incorporate this concept into soccer practices and games.
What is Street Soccer?
Street soccer refers to the various kinds of pickup soccer games played in parks, gyms, and in streets and alleys around the world. The defining characteristics of street soccer is that it is not organized. Players show up at the "field" and two teams are formed from the players available. Two "goals" are set up, the goalposts often being made from t-shirts, bags, rocks, or sticks. And, of course, a ball or representative round object is required. Everything else is negotiable, such as the boundaries and even the rules. There is no referee. There usually are no fans. There is no coach. It is soccer in its most basic and unadulterated form.
How is the development of young soccer players in the United States different form that in other top soccer-playing nations?
There are several key elements that exist in the youth soccer structures of top soccer-playing nations. First, there is a basic structure that enables young people to play the game from age 4 to 5 though their late teens. This foundational structure typically is provided by local youth soccer clubs, school teams, colleges and universities. This structure, usually absent or fragmented in many of the developing nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, now exists in American youth soccer.
Secondly, the leading soccer-playing nations have an effective process to identify and develop top young players. In most of these countries, the youth academies of professional soccer clubs identify and recruit talented players from their local communities. Regional and national teams typically are selected from the pool of players in these academies. In the United States, the Olympic Development Program (ODP) selects regional and national level players from open tryouts, which typically draw players from the top local youth soccer clubs. These youth soccer clubs are independent organizations and not affiliated with any professional soccer clubs, colleges or universities.
The key difference between the youth academies of professional clubs overseas and youth soccer clubs in the United States are the two feeder systems. Most top youth soccer clubs in the United States seek to win state cups and tournaments as early as the U-10 and U-11 age groups. In doing so, they often sacrifice individual player development. In contrast, there is a longer-term vision at the youth academies. Individual player development is the focus in these organizations because the primary objective is to develop each youth player as an individual in order to discover the one or two players who can progress to the next level and become professionals for the club. For instance, the goal of the soccer academies in England is to develop the next Stave Gerrard or Wayne Rooney rather than win the FA Youth Cup every year.
Finally, young players in the top soccer-playing nations have sufficient opportunities to experiment with the game without adult supervision. In most countries around the world, pickup games and street soccer are a way of life, and these young players play soccer almost every day. This is where many of the developing nations make up for the lack of a formal structure. It is in this aspect that youth players in the United States are disadvantaged compared with their global counterparts. US soccer experiences are almost always supervised and controlled by adults.