A Training Game we determine as a competition to score goals. These games can take many forms from 1 player vs. 1 player to a full match of 11 v 11. As you might imagine they are usually the most favorite exercise in the entire portfolio. Kids love games so any variation to score engages them.

So what do we do as coaches? We manipulate these games in ways that allow players to scan the environment, to make good choices and to execute their decisions. We can alter numbers by playing 3v3 or 4v4 for example. What does this accomplish? More touches, more decisions, more courage required. We can alter the ways to score with 4 goals or dribble goals? What does this accomplish? More options to exploit space and more opportunity to put skills into practical application. We can play with neutrals. What does this accomplish? Players in attack will have additional players, encouraging them to find the free player and to manage space effectively. Defending players will learn to close space and recover the ball.

There are many more conditions we can alter to elicit the intelligence, skill and character required to compete with respect. As far as the kids are concerned, they are playing. They are trying to score more goals than their opponents. As far as coaches go, we know that we are embedding learning effectively.

Putting it all together?

We can use Rondos, Position Play Exercises and Training Games to full benefit. A session no longer places kids in lines waiting to perform. Traditional drills actually train kids to be cognitively off for more time than being tuned in. Why would we want to reinforce poor habits? We don’t. We want the children to be fully engaged searching for solutions. We want them to compete in context, just as they will need to do in during a weekend match.

Rondos.

Position Play Exercises.

Training Games.

Shake hands, high fives and off to loving parents.

This may not be the way you were taught the game. It is better. It is a more efficient and more effective way to learn. And it is indeed a heck of a lot more dynamic and fun.

Enjoy the process.

A Position Play Exercise we define as perimeter players keeping possession against internal defenders with the support of internal attackers.

This is not merely a keep away game, however. These exercises reinforce the architecture of space.

The transition from a Rondo to a Position Play Exercise is a leap in cognitive complexity. In short, an athlete must read more variables as he or she finds solutions. From the player’s perspective, they can exploit space wide, deep or internally. These are the same options afforded to the athlete in a match. Again, we are reinforcing an athlete’s capacity to find and exploit space in context against opponents. Again, we are offering the players the opportunity to make many decisions and to be on the ball frequently.

So we continue to develop the cognition, competence and character of each player. Those 3C’s again.

Consider a training session as an accordion. We start in tight with Rondos and expand the space as the session unfolds. Ultimately, the accordion will expand into a full match.

Without burdening you with the science behind learning, let us just say that players learn through pattern recognition and through solution-oriented actions. These exercises are founded upon the way children learn and how best they can apply that learning in a cognitively faithful manner.

Our kids can do this. It may not look as neat and tidy from the sidelines, but stay true to course. The children are in the process of learning.

“The position game consists of dozens of variants, from the most obvious to the most difficult. However, everyone, regardless of his or her talent, can train them. Getting started is difficult. The best way to train this skill is proceeding step by step.

Johan Cruyff

A rondo we define as  perimeter players keeping possession against internal defenders.

What is unique here is that this activation exercise is a simple exercise to teach so many soccer concepts. While this may not be the time to bore you with those details, let’s cross reference the exercise with our stated objective to develop players of great cognition, competence and character.

“Rondo, rondo, rondo every day. It is the best exercise there is.” (Xavi Hernandez, FC Barcelona)

Does a rondo promote cognitive development?

Since a player must scan her environment, choose the best option, and execute that option in real time against an opponent, then clearly the answer is YES.

Does a rondo nurture the development of competencies?

Since a player must continually pass and receive the ball, then a player is reinforcing technical skills. But we are also addressing an expanded definition of fundamentals which includes angles, distance, timing, lines, and situation. We can clearly answer YES.

Does a rondo develop character?

Given that a player competes and cooperates in context we see that he must be ambitious, dedicated, respectful and resilient. There are consequences for failure and rewards for success. We can clearly answer Yes.

There are so many more soccer concepts and principles of play embedded in this activity, but we detail here the 3C’s.  Cognition, competence, and character.

Clarity remains our asset.

We are clear that we want to promote learning and joy.

We are clear that we would like to nurture cognition, competence, and character.

We are clear that a player must find and exploit space in context.

We are clear that a rondo is one exercise that accomplishes these objectives.

It’s a start.

We know our why.

To promote learning and joy.

We have our what.

We will nurture players of great intelligence, competence and character. 

Intelligent, skillful, and ambitious young athletes will be prepared to…

Manage oneself, space, and the ball to find and exploit space in context under pressure effectively.

Clarity is an asset.

We now understand that not all training meets this purpose. We now understand that our training exercises are not arbitrarily selected nor randomly implemented. We have a clear focus and only certain exercises will be both purposeful and joyful. That is, only certain exercises promote learning and joy effectively and efficiently.

Intelligence is a matter of scanning the environment and choosing the best option.

Skill is a matter of executing with precision.

Ambition is about being courageous in competition.

We can now throw thousands of traditional drills in the waste bin. Drills that do not require players to make decisions can go. Drills that do not require the application of skill in context can go. Drills that require more obedience than autonomy can be tossed. Drills that do not require layers to compete and cooperate can be set aside as well. This process of pruning weeds out the waste allows us to hone in on fruitful activities.

So what’s left?

Rondos

Position Play Exercises

Training Games

Each of these training exercises meet our 3C checklist. Each of these exercises develop cognition, competence and character. Each of these exercises ask players to compete and to cooperate in context.

By designing learning activities that reinforce learning, our children benefit tremendously.

If your child is on the training field, moving about, making decisions, making mistakes, being supported while being challenged then we have aligned our why to our what and how.

Enjoy the process.

“Make the ball your friend.”

These words from Johan Cruyff.

A top player will have about 53 seconds per match on the ball. Yes, less than a minute on the ball. What a player does with those precious seconds matters. Moreover, a player will make choices she feels she is capable of executing. We see here how perception-action coupling is shaped by the skill set a child possesses.

By making the ball her friend, a child will build the confidence to perform in context.

There are two critical settings a child can acquire ball control skills.

Individual Training: The time a player spends with the ball in an individualized and isolated environment.

Perhaps the best individual training involves a ball and a wall. So simple. Spending time building that relationship with the ball builds an athlete’s confidence and demonstrates a sense of commitment and dedication to learning. Without teammates or opponents, a child is left to create their own touches out of context, but with the freedom to explore beyond a structured setting. The time put in is valuable for so many reasons.

Team Training: The time a child spends within a collective and structured setting.

Team trainings afford a child context. Opponents in soccer are that context. Given that team trainings are restricted to a few hours per week, we want to take full advantage of what our peers can provide. Here, a child nurtures relationships as they nurture ball control skills. Cooperation and competition are the pillars of team training.

Ultimately, a child will be called to execute their relationship with the ball within a match environment. Thus, we are always training one’s capacity to execute choices with purpose against an adversary. Team trainings that are cognitively faithful to that reality are the best trainings indeed. Beyond that, Individual training powerfully enhances a child’s comfort with the ball.

Johan Cruyff was on target. The best players have a positive relationship with their friends.

Why not make the ball one of those friends?

Too often on fields across America we see kids passing and dribbling in lines. Ball skills, we preach. The rationale is that if we line them up and drill them, they will manage the complexities of the game.

The reality of soccer and of pedagogical science belies this logic.

Soccer is a game of space.

Where can our team exploit space against an adversary? How can we control space to deny our opponents? In reality, to manage space is to manage time. The earlier our children begin an honest learning journey, the better prepared they will be to play.

Again, we come back to our child’s ability to understand soccer, not just kick a ball.

Again, we come back to recognizing that soccer is about angles, distance, timing, lines, and situation.

Again, we come back to educating a child to be a player of great cognition, competence, and character.

When we believe that young athletes are intelligent beings capable of managing themselves, managing space and managing the ball, we coach differently than tradition holds. We do not limit our player’s prowess to booting a ball down the field. We encourage them to wrestle with sophisticated soccer concepts at young ages, knowing that in time they will come not only to understand them, but to master them beyond our imagination.

Managing space requires the context that opponents afford. It is a bit messy. Orderly lines turn into distorted triangles and diamonds. We allow our children to play with space and warp time to their benefit.

If you are watching a child standing in line, you are watching wasted opportunity.

Conversely, if you are watching your child play in triangles and diamonds against some number of opponents thwarting their efforts, then you are watching your child’s development in process.

Yes, it may be a bit messy, but all profound learning is.

Let’s let our children find their space.

We all hope to raise self-reliant children.

There is so much packed into that challenge but let’s focus on the pertinent.

Managing oneself is about perceiving our environment, conceiving of the options available to us, deciding on a course of action, executing that decision and assessing the efficacy of that action.

Perceive

Conceive

Decide

Execute

Assess

This is a process we do every waking moment. Those of us that manage ourselves well tend to be more successful across many fronts. Soccer is not so important in the big scheme of life, but it does afford us an opportunity to manage ourselves using the same process that will guide us favorably forward.

This is cognitive development.

This is also what it means to be a more intelligent athlete, a player of great vision and precision.

To make this more manageable for children we speak of this process…

Scan – Choose – Do

In sport, this is done more as simultaneous combustion than laboriously slow problem-solving. Soccer gives us merely milliseconds to engage. The variables are many and the possibilities infinite and yet our athletes perform within that context.

Thus, it becomes critical to maintain the matrimony of perception and action. An effective methodology will respect that process and build a portfolio of training activities that nurture a child’s ability to make decisions in real time.

We can see now the limits of traditional training. We can see now the debilitating drills that dilute the process and rob our children of total development. Passing a ball back and forth at a team training deprives a child of the possibility to scan her environment, to choose the best option and to execute her choice. We do not seek robotic puppets orderly aligned to give us the illusion of learning.  We seek to raise self-reliant children.

An exercise that requires players to scan, to choose, and to do is an exercise that has value for a child managing oneself.

We have embarked on a journey. A patient and purposeful journey to implement a methodology. 

But why?

To promote learning and joy. 

Of that we are certain. We aim to promote learning and joy for each and every child in our charge. We have clarity of purpose: To promote learning and joy. 

But what now? 

Do we leave that objective to chance? Do we just share a logo and let each coach teach as he or she sees fit? Do we play roulette? Maybe we get it right? Maybe we get it wrong? 

Development is a choice. It is about deliberately choosing to pursue efficiency and excellence. It is about taking destiny in hand and wrinkling it toward a favorable outcome. 

Methodology: an analysis and evaluation of subjects to be taught and the methods of teaching them

A methodology is the what and how forged from two fundamental questions. 

1. What do we want to nurture?

2. How will we nurture it?

You cannot leap to question #2 without answering question #1. No shortcuts. No quick fixes. No off-the-shelf solutions.  We must debate the qualities we hope to nurture in our young athletes. We must define the ideal. This is a process of analysis and evaluation. 

Here’s what we choose to do. 

We will nurture players of great intelligence, competence and character. 

A pretty big ‘what’ some might say. However, we can all agree that soccer (and life for that matter) requires intelligence, skill and character. So why just kick a ball when we can accomplish so much more? 

We are on a journey. A patient and purposeful journey. Our why and what will guide that journey. 

The steps ahead will guide us through the how. 

Join us. 

We think your child’s development is worth you doing so. 

We know our why.

To promote learning and joy. 

We have our what.

We will nurture players of great intelligence, competence and character. 

But how?

How we will most effectively and efficiently accomplish this?

What does applied intelligence, applied skill, and applied character look like in soccer? Well, soccer is an invasion game that requires players to find and exploit space in the face of an adversary. 

Find and exploit space in context.

Find and exploit space in context. 

Finding space requires vision. Exploiting space requires technical precision. Doing so in context requires character. And most importantly, all three are based upon an understanding of cooperative and competitive spatial relationships. So a player needs to understand how to manage oneself. manage space, and manage the ball. 

Manage oneself, space, and the ball to find and exploit space in context under pressure. 

Manage oneself, space, and the ball to find and exploit space in context under pressure. 

And do so simultaneously! Yes, simultaneously, continually, and consistently under pressure. 

Simultaneously, continually, consistently, under pressure.

Simultaneously, continually, consistently, under pressure. 

WOW!

Apparently lining kids up to pass a ball back and forth is not going to get us very far. Thus, the traditional training paradigm now appears woefully inadequate in light of the demands a child faces to master the sport.

That’s a start. 

We now recognize that a paradigm shift is needed and are willing to replace the old methods of training with something else – something more dynamic, more engaging, and more effective in reaching our what. 

That’s definitely a start.  Now on to training kids to… 

Manage oneself, space, and the ball to find and exploit space in context under pressure effectively.

Seems a bit daunting, but hang in there. We have a solution. 

Manage Oneself

Perceive & Conceive

Decision-making & Creativity

Execute & Assess

Manage Space

Create & Compact Space

In possession 1, 2, 3

Quick in Transition

Organize Defensively while in Possession

Defend 1, 2, 3

Manage the Ball

Play What You See

Receive with Purpose

Pass with Purpose 

Circulate the Ball with Intent to Advance

Cognition -

Intelligent :  The ideal player applies their inherent mental capacities robustly while also seeking to acquire and apply additional knowledge and skills.

Creative :  The ideal player leverages their assembled attributes to take risks of invention, innovation and surprise, thus transcending mere instinct or recitation.

Decisive :  The ideal player is rapidly selective, aware that their choices have sequential importance that catalyze change in their favor. 

Competence -

Athletic :  The ideal player maintains their physical qualities of endurance, strength, agility, flexibility, and stability before, during and in recovery after training or competition.

Technical :  The ideal player continually builds their mastery of game and athletic methods and components.

Character -

Positive :  The ideal player maintains a healthy mental attitude about themselves, their situation and the future during times of success, stress, and/or disappointment.

Passionate :  The ideal player maintains and displays an unquestionable desire to excel in their capability to contribute, potential for advancement, and love of the game.

Self-disciplined :  The ideal player transcends instructions and training provided to them by correcting, molding and perfecting their mental, physical, and personal faculties through voluntary initiative, exercise and training.

Committed :  The ideal player is unwavering in their focus on and fulfillment of their obligations to their goals, team, and potential.

Humble :  The ideal player celebrates success in full acknowledgment of the value of their teammates, coaching, opponents, family, and other contributors.

Courageous :  The ideal player is consistently brave in their training, competition and responsibilities.

Character

Passionate 

Positive

Patient

Committed 

Adaptable

Competence

Education

Communication

Motivation

Principles of Play

Systems of Play 

Training Protocols 

Cognition

Cognition

Perceive

Conceive 

Decision-making

Execute

Assess

Dear Parents and Players.

As you may know, Marin FC has embarked on an ambitious initiative to build a club-wide methodology over the next three years intent upon improving the manner in which the club develops our student-athletes.

Objectives :

The overall objective is to promote learning and joy within and beyond soccer. Nothing is more important than a healthy childhood with positive mentors and supportive friends. By creating and implementing a club-wide methodology, Marin FC will be able to offer a consistent and coherent program for all players.

Focus :

The program will be implemented at every level of the club and across all ages over the coming years. This season of 2021/22, the initial focus will be advancements to the U13-U19 Blue Teams for both boys and girls. Access to all critical materials does spread to all coaches and teams as they become ready and interested.  So far, we have seen remarkable adoption throughout the club.

Program in Process :

The program has already led to clarity regarding a new Marin FC Player Rubric and new Marin FC Coach Rubric. These set the ideals and expectations of our players and coaches and define what we hope to cultivate and foster. We will share more on that in future updates. Ongoing are details of establishing Principles of Play and a Training Session Template for the coaches and teams.

Who :

The program is in development with myself, Todd Beane, bolstered by my colleagues from Barcelona, and the Marin FC Senior Technical Staff. I personally spent two weeks recently in Marin where I conducted several demonstration training sessions for the staff and I got to observe over 30 trainings of teams at all ages.

Next Steps :

We are in process with coaching education and training session creation for the focus group teams. The coaches are taking TOVO online courses, conducting webcasts and engaged in coaching tutorials. The process is taking place and the changes will become more evident as the season unfolds.

We want to thank the club leaders, volunteers and the entire coaching staff for their commitment. We would also like to thank you, the parents, for entrusting us to build a better program for your children.

Kind regards,

Todd Beane, TOVO Founder