Youth Soccer Letter: Young Americans get taste of major clubs from the November 26, 2001 issue of Soccer America Magazine
Two former national team coaches have embraced a program that takes American youth teams to major foreign clubs.
For years, American youth soccer teams wishing to travel overseas had only one option: tournaments. Recently, European and South American clubs began inviting American teams to train at their facilities, on an ad hoc basis. Now, the process has been formalized.
The International Academy, a sports marketing company with U.S. headquarters in Atlanta, has announced agreements with 20 high-profile professional clubs. The result: American youth teams of all levels can now participate in training programs run by likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Liverpool, River Plate and Boca Juniors.
Last summer, the first for the expanded program, saw several American teams travel to Europe. The list included national U-16 champion FC Westchester of New York and three ODP squads from Southern California: the U-16 and U-14 girls and U-13 boys. The Golden State squads were led by Steve Sampson, former U.S. national team coach and current California Youth Soccer Association South ODP director.
The California teams trained with the Chelsea Youth Academy at Christ Hospital, a private school 40 miles south of London. The 150-acre setting, Sampson said, was “exactly what you envision for English architecture and ambiance: high ceilings, all oak and cherry wood. Then you walk 300 yards outside, and see 15 exceptionally conditioned fields. It was the perfect training environment.”
The Chelsea Academy staff, which included special goalkeeper trainers, worked with the California state coaches, based on their shared assessment of each group’s qualities. In addition to training, each team played three matches.
“They were very quick to assess both team and individual talents and needs,” Sampson said of the Chelsea coaches. “The sessions were high quality, and they got very involved with the kids.”
The English coaches stressed speed of play. However, Sampson said, “the prerequisite for that is quality movement without the ball. We in the U.S. often focus too much on the player with the ball and don’t spend enough time on movement off the ball.”
International coaches, working in their own setting, add an important element that American coaches familiar with their own players cannot, Sampson noted. The English coaches “look at things with fresh eyes. And they bring the perspective of a country where soccer is the national pastime, through an organization like Chelsea that has high demands and knows that youth development is so important.”
They were eager to work with high-quality American female players, he said, yet “they challenged them just as they did the boys.”
The Chelsea coaches observed all the matches, then shared their impressions with their U.S. counterparts. At the same time, the American players were socializing with English players, at post-game meals. Sampson called that interaction “fantastic.”
The International Academy offers sightseeing as well. The California players saw the traditional London attractions and traveled to the New Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, for the Charity Shield match between Liverpool and Manchester United. Watching the pre-game and match-time festivities “energized all the passions our kids already had for the game,” Sampson said.
Players were not the only ones who benefited, Sampson noted. Parents also had their eyes opened to soccer’s importance in other countries. Many were amazed that daily newspapers devote five pages each day to soccer news.
and don’t spend enough time on movement off the ball.
– Steve Sampson,
CYSA-South ODP director.
The International Academy offers parents the option to be as involved with their children as they wish or stay away from training entirely and sightsee on their own. However, Sampson structured Cal South’s program to allow some separation of players from parents, to help players prepare for the rigors of international travel.
The idea for the soccer training came from Alun Williams, chairman of the Wales-based International Academy, who realized that tournaments need not be the only option for American teams traveling overseas. He also hoped to showcase European club operations to American youth soccer coaches and administrators. Williams’ company earned its reputation in the 1990s by running worldwide ski instructional tours.
Sampson is already planning next year’s trip. However, he said, it might involve a different host club, perhaps Liverpool or Barcelona. He also hopes to add a few more days, in order to see more sights.
As for the International Academy, programs planned for the coming year include a soccer coaches’ symposium at Manchester United, a coaching license program in Europe accredited by UEFA, and – in a reverse travel opportunity – the chance for European players to attend camps at various U.S. locations hosted by Anson Dorrance, the former U.S. women’s national team coach.
The International Academy’s concept works well in any direction, said Dorrance, coach of the powerhouse University of North Carolina women’s team. “Every coach anywhere loves the chance to work with talented, passionate players he’s never seen before.” n
by Soccer America Youth Soccer Letter Executive Editor Dan Woog