Second PSW Soccer Breakfast a success

Area soccer stakeholders gathered in Rockville, Maryland early in the morning yesterday to share issues, learn, and network. The gathering was the second of its kind, promoted and hosted by Potomac Soccer Wire, and despite the light turnout – mostly due to our own poor planning and promotion – the range of topics, opinions, and networking contacts were as robust as ever. Proving once again, the need for the regional soccer community to bridge the communication gaps between organizations and individuals alike.

Individuals representing a variety of soccer interests attended, including representatives from pro teams, facility operators, state associations, youth clubs, adult leagues, and referees. Here’s a summary of the topics discussed, and some points made:

• Player Development, and the impact of the US Soccer Development Academy on the local soccer scene. Sub-topics dealt with player recruiting issues, how the DA chooses member clubs, and the impact the DA has had on ODP.
   
• The growing perceived competition between US Youth Soccer and US Club Soccer. Is the competition real, and if so, is it good or bad for youth soccer.
   
• Coaching education, and recent demand for the USSF “C” course. Information was shared that some local options for taking the “C” may be available this summer, though nothing is confirmed yet. Other discussions around coaching education surrounded the new curriculum for the state “D”, how NSCAA pushing education has helped improve both NSCAA and USSF courses, and the value of the National Youth License – a US Youth Soccer course.
   
• Speaking of education, it seemed to be a consensus that the more educated youth parents could become, the healthier the overall game would be. Soccer-educated parents better understand the culture and process of youth player development, are less likely to team-jump once they’ve found a good environment, and are better behaved during games. One attendee espoused the philosophy of a colleague that youth travel coaches should mirror school teachers more closely – having initial parent meetings, providing course curricula and syllabus, announcing an open-door policy for having scheduled one-on-one parent meetings, but then telling the parents to leave the classroom and let them teach. To paraphrase the point - “Parents aren’t allowed to sit in class and watch a teacher teach, and really, they shouldn’t be on the sidelines during practices for the same obvious reasons. Let the teacher teach, and be patient.”
   
• Referees were a big topic as well. Not so much about specific calls, games, or individuals though. Rather surrounding general issues of why some referees are better than others, and the apparent firewall between the referee community and the rest of the soccer world of coaches and players. Of particular frustration is the clear acknowledgment by pretty much the entire community of this firewall, yet very little was being done to breach it. Everyone agreed that more, better-educated referees would help the sport tremendously.  A couple of ideas and examples from the real world on dealing with this today were: Coaches requiring their players to take a referee course, even if they never picked up a whistle for a real game thereafter. Adding a referee/laws of the game education component to soccer camps. Referee organizations doing a much better job of promoting courses and communicating with soccer coaches and players in the community – this would include our own willingness at PSW to publish articles by referees and/or to provide forums for laws of the game Q&A. (interested referees should contact us at editor@potomacsoccerwire.com)

Those were the big topics, but many more issues were floating around and briefly discussed. All this with only six people in attendance! Imagine the information flow an networking opportunities if it were 60.

Other topics:

• Recent tournament cancellations and “Tournament Cancellation Insurance”. The insurance companies should recognize the advent of turf fields, and allow events to claim “total cancellation” benefits while still pushing some age groups to turf fields.
• How clubs can help the sport succeed by promoting area pro teams in general in our area.
• The developmental value of offering drop-in play, and how to balance it with field availability, costs, and liability.
• The false perception of many that Maryland SoccerPlex fields are closed “too easily”, noting several recent times when Montgomery County closed park fields, but the SoccerPlex was able to stay open.
• Should PSW be offering predictions of youth competition outcomes on our web site or not? At what age if so?
• The difference between “trying to win” and “a focus on winning” in youth player development.
• The incredible value of having youth players observe a pro-practice up-close and personal, and how eye-opening the practice intensity can be for so many kids that have trouble connecting the value of practice intensity with game performance.

If you hae an opinion on any of these topics, and would like to help the local soccer scene improve, then we really want to see you at the next breakfast. It will be at the Fredericksburg Field House, in Fredericksbur, VA. Breakfast on Friday, May 1st from 7:30-9:00 a.m., with the added fun/benefit of playing pick-up soccer immediately afterwards for those interested. Pick-up soccer at the Field House is a regular occrance on Tuesday and Friday mornings! Send your RSVP to editor@potomacsoccerwire.com if you plan to attend.

If you would like to continue this conversation, visit our discussion boards here, where we have also posted this summary of the meeting topics, and would like to hear what you think.