Futbol and Life Skills

Here we go. Allez, allez, allez.

Go, go, go! Allez, allez, allez.

Arriba va! Allez, allez, allez.

Go, go, go! Allez, allez, allez.

- Ricky Martin La Copa De La Vida

Juventus FC International Academy, Jan 2017

In the United States, soccer has been played at some level since the late 1800's. The governing body, the United States Football Association, was formed in 1913. Despite this, baseball, football, and basketball have dominated U.S. sports while soccer has continued to fly under the radar. It wasn't until the 1990s that soccer saw a significant increase in participation and resources. While soccer in the U.S. has seen a major upswing in popularity over last 2-3 decades, it is still a relatively new sport in the national spotlight. It's quite a different story in the rest of the world. Globally, there are over 4.0 billion followers of association football and it enjoys a global sphere of influence.

From Totalsportek.com 

Football is one of the most accessible sports in the world and there is hardly anyone in this world who has not kicked a ball at some point in their life. Football dominates sports headlines in some of the major countries in the world, including almost all European nations. In South America, football is more than just a game, it represents dreams and joy for kids in Brazil, Argentina, and other Latin countries. Let's take a look at some of the statistics which will put every argument to rest that Football is the biggest and most popular sport in the world.

Most watched competition in the world: The Football World Cup is by far the most watched sports competition in the world. 3.9 billion people tuned in at some point during the FIFA World Cup 2014, while the final match was watched by as many as 700 million people around the globe.

Highest paying sports competitions: $1.5 Billion is awarded in prize money and bonuses every year in the UEFA Champions League. In fact, four of the top five global sporting competitions with the highest prize money are football events (Champions League, FIFA World Cup, Europa League, UEFA Euro).

Most expensive sports TV rights deal: English Premier League football is the most watched professional sport league in the world. It is broadcast in 212 territories globally, with over 5 billion viewers tuning in to live action at some point every season. SkySports and BT Sports paid over £5.3 Billion for Premier League TV rights in the UK for three years, while another £3 Billion will be generated from  international rights.

Most professional leagues: Football boasts the most professional leagues in the world. Over 50 countries have established football leagues, and in most cases they have multiple leagues.

Biggest sport kit deals: Adidas pays £75 Million per year to Manchester United to be their official kit supplier.

Highest paid athletes: Top players are paid approximately £300,000 per week in salary by their respective clubs, while Ronaldo and Messi also feature in the top 5 of the most endorsed athletes in the world.

Richest sports teams: Approximately 30 football clubs fall among the 50 most valuable sports teams in the world. FIFA is the biggest and most powerful federation in sports.

Most popular sports teams on social media: Real Madrid and Barcelona are the most followed teams of any sport on social media with over 100 million followers each.

Most followed athlete: Cristiano Ronaldo is the most followed sports athlete with approximately 150 million followers on Facebook and Twitter.

  

Coach Stephanie and Coach Cora. Sorry, Coach "T", I don't have any pics of you in my photo archives.

Little H has been fortunate to work with a number of great coaches associated with Coast FA in Myrtle Beach (the kind of great coaches I alluded to in Give Blood, Play Rugby). The organization was well structured and we watched Little H progress through various stages as a player to the point where she was selected for the Player Development Center team. Her growth as a player was directly related to the level of coaching to which she was exposed. It was amazing to watch her confidence grow as her skills improved. We were happy to see that her coaches focused not only on developing those skills that would make the kids good soccer players, but also good team-mates, and good people on and off the field.

The intensity of youth sports in the U.S. is something to behold. Coaches, players, and parents take it very seriously and it's hard to argue with success. The USWNT (women's national soccer team) boasts an impressive international record: 3 World Cup titles, 4 Olympic gold medals, 7 CONCACAF Gold Cup wins, and 10 Algarve Cups. They won medals in every World Cup and Olympic tournament from 1991-2015, and have been ranked #1 or #2 in the world every year since 2003. While most of the players on the Ferns (NZ women's nat'l football team) play for clubs overseas, several play Div I soccer at major U.S. universities.

  

Little H just steps away from scoring her first career goal. The resemblance to her older cousin is uncanny.

Gold Medal winners!  2016 Coast Classic soccer tournament.

Moving to New Zealand, we had high hopes for Little H and her soccer development. We thought we would be coming to a country with a rich sporting tradition and a well designed system for the development of young players. And we did ... as long as that sport is rugby.

In New Zealand, "sport" is rugby, and rugby is king. To be fair, kids can get involved in other team sports such as field hockey, netball, cricket, and (surprisingly) basketball, but the best athletes are steered toward rugby. Rugby also commands the greatest amount of resources, from practice facilities and equipment, to coaching clinics, referee training, and player development. In the Emergency Department, when caring for patients who sustain head injuries while playing rugby, we can refer to specific protocols developed by NZ Rugby and by Manawatu Rugby, our local rugby union.

Winchester School summer football team.

Soccer, especially girls' soccer, in our area is considerably less well developed and supported. When we first arrived last October, the winter club soccer season was over and Little H had already missed out on tryouts for the regional Federation Talent Centre squad. We tried signing her up for two different all-girls leagues, both an indoor and an outdoor league, but neither of them had enough girls in her age-group to form a team. She attended a skills camp put on by Central Football and we finally found a summer league team that was a couple of players short, so she joined them mid-season. It was through Central Football and the Winchester School team that she got her foot in the door.

Little H is at a critical age for sports development. Girls as young as 7 start to become body conscious and lose confidence; half of all girls stop playing sports by age 17. She is every bit as good as, and better than most of, the boys she plays with and against, but to see her on the pitch you wouldn't know it. Her body language is closed and she physically separates herself from the boys on the sidelines. She plays on a mixed gender squad because that's her only option. With Coast FA previously, and now with the Central Football Talent Centre, she plays on a girls' team. She is much more open and relaxed. On the pitch, she is noticeably more aggressive chasing the ball and the game. At the end of a session, it is obvious how much more she enjoys the game when she is playing with other girls.

  

  

Juventus FC International Academy, Jan 2017

While we were waiting for the winter football season sign-ups to start, an amazing opportunity came along. Juventus FC is one of the most successful football clubs in Italy as well as on the international stage. They have a highly acclaimed youth development programme and have put together a series of development camps to export their methods. The Academies are designed to develop players' and coaches' skills through the Juventus training methods. Their International Academies are held on every continent, 36 programmes in 22 countries. This year they held an Academy in Palmerston North, NZ.

From the Academy website:

The principles underlying the project are fair play, having fun, sharing experiences, and learning to appreciate the importance of victory but also to accept defeat.

Juventus Academy aims to improve the youngsters' technical skills but also their personal qualities in line with the main guiding concept: "Develop people first and footballers second." 

Youth soccer in New Zealand follows many of these same principles.

  

She's got game.

Soccer development in New Zealand is a much more gradual process than what we have been used to in the U.S. NZ Football is well organized and regimented with specific skill progressions designed for each age group. It starts with First Kicks (4-6 yo). Players practice and play on the same day, and they are jointly coached by their parents. Each player's parents take a turn at coaching. Parents who are identified as having coaching potential are offered training to upskill their coaching abilities. In "Fun Football" (7-8 yo), training and matches are still organized on the same day, though additional midweek practices are optional. Coaches are still drawn from a pool of parent volunteers. There are intra-club matches, as well as inter-club matches.

Little H plays for Ruahine AFC and she is involved in "Mini Football" (9-12 yo). At this level, coaches are generally well-trained and certified, though parent volunteers are still utilized in certain circumstances. Mid-week practices are still optional but much more common. Something that we found really interesting, and have really come to like, is the game-day schedule. Teams start out with a pre-game skills session, then swap ends of the field and engage in a skills session with the opposing coaches. After running through each team's skill sessions, the match is on.

Coach Greg with the post-game wrap-up after a tough loss.

The focus on the pitch, and in school, here in NZ is on developing good people and good citizens. At this age-group, there is an attempt to keep it non-competitive. When LH attended her first Central Football Talent Centre training session last week, one of the parents asked if the girls would be coached in specific aspects of the game and positional play. The response was that they were more concerned about developing the players' skills and confidence. The focus is on fun, not competition. As we prepare to return to the U.S., we contacted LH's middle school to make sure she would be enrolled. They asked for her grades and test scores. I'm not sure how they are going to respond when we tell them that her school doesn't do grades or test scores. They barely do homework!

We were so used to the high pressure, high stakes, aggressive school/sports environment in the U.S. that we were a little taken aback by the attitude here. We were wondering how LH was ever going to progress in her skills as a player when the focus wasn't nearly as intense. I suspect the high-pressure atmosphere of school and sports in the U.S. leads to higher rates of anxiety and burnout in young students and athletes. Early on, I'm sure we came across as typical obnoxious American sports parents, yelling from the sideline. We eventually came to adopt the Kiwi way ... I worry, though, how we are ever going to assimilate, and how LH will respond, once we return; although it likely won't be long before we are yelling from the sideline once again.

GOOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!!