Why do we often find people in coaching positions that have no idea what they are doing?
The reason is two-fold:
Lack of Soccer IQ in America
Poor Coaching Education
Is Soccer Part Of Our Identity?
According to SportsBrief.com, the MLS ranks 4th most popular sport in the United States. The MLS has recently surpassed the NHL in the rankings.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but is there a sport bigger than soccer in England, Spain, Germany, France, Portugal, Argentina, or Brazil? This is where our issue lies. The average American knows much more about football, baseball, and basketball than they do soccer.
In short, soccer is not our identity like it is for the best countries in the world. On Sundays in America, we watch the NFL, not the Premier League.
We find football, baseball, and basketball-minded people in soccer coaching positions. However, their coaching strategies are not effective when teaching soccer. Motivation and personality characteristics are universal, but each sport’s specific skill sets and abilities are not. We need to make sure we are either 1. Getting the right people in these positions or 2. Educating people in these positions properly.
Many people in these positions played soccer when they were younger, so they believe they could coach. The game has developed so much in the past 2-3 decades. Better yet, it will continue to grow and change in the next 2-3 decades. We need better coaching education. Soccer is not in the American identity.
So How Do We Help Educate These Coaches?
The first step is realizing that soccer isn’t quite rooted in our culture, at least not yet. Not like baseball, basketball, and football are. Understanding this is vital because we must educate our coaches differently. Passing a few Grassroots and Safety courses ONCE is not enough to be a coach. These courses are essential, but the learning cannot end there. There is much more to learn after those courses especially because the game constantly changes. We need continuous education requirements in all of our coaching licensing systems.
As we’ve seen throughout the years, the game changes with time. Most recently, the 4-2-3-1 has become dominant at all levels, but just like the 4-4-2, 3-5-2, and the 2010s 4-3-3, it will fall out of favor at some point. Additionally, the creativity once seen in the game has been somewhat faded out and replaced by a more passing-centric style. Not to say we don’t have artists in today’s day and age, quite the opposite, it has simply been shown picking and choosing to tap into that creativity is vital.
In further detail, not only do we have to keep these coaches updated with what’s going on, but we also need to show them how to coach accordingly, as you don’t fully grasp something until you can teach it. The most important thing is to show coaches how to coach a team without telling or showing the players EXACTLY what to do. There is nothing in the coaching world I can stress more than this. We, as coaches, aren’t painting the canvas for our players; we are providing them their own canvas to paint on.
In the end, coaches must be required to continue taking coaching courses, whether it directly leads to a license or not. Just as in school, we have to continue honing our skills to progress to higher-level courses. By requiring coaches to continue learning, they will be up to date with the country’s philosophy and plan for soccer in the USA.
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