RYS - Stages of Development

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RYS - Stages of Development for Players

The following document adopted from Mass Youth Soccer, has been modified slightly to fit within the development program ideals that Raynham Youth Soccer has outlined as part of its Coach and Player Development Program

Within Raynham Youth Soccers development and instructional program, we have developed the following guideline for youth player development. It is the purpose of this manual to help coaches of all experience levels, understand the skills that we want to teach our young players, provide you with the appropriate drills to help them master those skills and hopefully make it easier for everyone involved to have fun.

Based on our conviction that practice activities and objectives and game forms for youth players ought to be age-appropriate, this manual is intended to afford every young player a consistent method of learning the skills of the game. If we as coaches can maintain consistent coaching methods at each grade level, we will ensure that each child has the opportunity to maximize their potential.

We hope that this new organization will help coaches to create a more coherent, accurate system of training for their players. RYS thinks of youth development in Four stages:

Of course, every child is different. What is true for one ten year old girl may not be true for another, and there is a big difference between six year olds and eight year olds. But in this situation, we are content to speak in generalities.

Some of our ideas about the stage you will be involved with are attached.

Perhaps the most important points for coaches of the fall program are the following

The program depends on you as a volunteer and the energy you bring to practice
Your level of understanding of the fundamentals of the program and your ability to pass on that information to your players
Your organization will make practice flow and keep the childs attention
Make the Practice and Games Fun
Everyone plays every position
Everyone plays the same amount of time

The Final section of this manual (we hope to have it online soon) gives suggested drills as a fun way to teach skills. The drills are divided into threes segments:

Ball Control: Learning to control the ball with both feet, from any direction
Passing: Learning to direct the ball in the intended direction (wither as a pass to a teammate or a shot on goal) with the inside or outside of the foot.
Combination Drills: These drills allow the kids to take the Ball Control and Passing skills they have learned and apply them to endless situations. These Drills simulate game situations where success requires making quick decisions.

Take a few minutes to organize before each practice and determine which skills you want to work on during practice. This will keep practice running more smoothly and player attention will be greater. This in turn will make practice more fun for everyone. Ball Control and Passing drills are great ways to start practices while combination drills work well before scrimmage. Try to end each practice with a 20 30 minute scrimmage. Remember the game is the best teacher.

We hope this is a helpful resource to you with the fall program. Thank you for your dedication to the RYS program and hope you have a great year.

If you have any questions or need additional recourses please feel free to contact David Caron 508-386-1655.

Mass Youth Soccer offers these ideas about player development to youth coaches to help you to identify age-appropriate aims. For each two-year age grouping, we have proposed guidelines in the major elements of the game: technical, tactical, psychological or mental, and physical or fitness-related. We have also suggested some ideas about the practice environment and listed some resources for coaches of each age grouping.

Our purpose is to suggest a framework for the coherent introduction of soccer's techniques, tactical ideas, and fitness components. These ideas and guidelines, this framework, these suggestions are directed to you coaches to help you to plan a helpful progression of practice plans and intentions for your season.

Please remember:

These ideas are general. Every child is different: each has her or his own physique, mentality, motivation, cultural situation, etc. Some eight year olds are athletic and have played soccer for three years and love to compete; other eight year olds are not so athletic, are just beginning soccer, and are playing because their best friends are. Kids learn and develop and grow at different rates! There are precocious kids, late bloomers, erratic learners, etc.

Patience is vital. One way to consider this outline is as a source of simple, seasonal objectives. These objectives should always be considered in relation to long term outcomes and the players' needs - not the coaches' needs.

These ideas are not intended as final objectives or "end results". Player development is a long, never-ending process to be undertaken patiently by both players and coaches. Also, there are many intangible qualities which lead to success on the soccer field which are not discussed here: imagination, fantasy, tenacity, concentration, and others. An abundance of any of these intangibles - persistence, fighting power, creative flair, for example - can enhance a player's technique or tactical sense or compensate for deficiencies in these.

We urge you to avoid trying to "get ahead" of the ideas in this framework, but not to avoid reviewing and consolidating. Hesitate to go ahead, but don't hesitate to go back!

It is impossible to quantify the elements of soccer which are discussed here. These guidelines are intended to express in a general, global way what it is reasonable to expose players to at each age. Some players may exceed expectations; others may struggle to reach them. For example, one nine year old may receive a ball during a scrimmage, see that she can play it ahead, and turn up the field, balanced and with fluid technique. Another nine year old may have no idea about what to do when the ball arrives, be tense and rather clumsy as she tries to control it, and be indifferent to your suggestions when you approach her.

Few players will "master" all these elements at a given age, and their performance will almost certainly be inconsistent as they grow through pre-adolescence and puberty. Some players are more "technical", some more insightful and intuitive, some more physically gifted. A coach's challenge is to help each player achieve the most enjoyment and fulfillment at each age.

There are some parts of soccer involvement which are universal and consistent. All players of any age should reflect them: respect for the game, teammates, opponents, coaches, etc.; punctuality, responsibility, sporting attitudes.

We do not discuss coaching methods here: the "how" of organizing and inspiring and transmitting knowledge is the topic of another discussion altogether.
We also do not discuss goalkeeping here. We feel that all kids should be exposed to the rudiments of goalkeeping, that everyone should be encouraged to play in the goal occasionally until they are 12 (at least in practice!), and that no one should specialize as a keeper until she or he is at least 12. Goalkeepers now must be considered "field players" who need well-rounded skills. Goalkeeping is so specialized that it calls for its own set of guidelines.

Ultimately, all players must learn how to attack and how to defend by themselves, as part of a group, and as part of a team.

A reasonable aim for players at each age level, in relation to the techniques and tactical issues listed here:

Technically - solid, stable skills, under pressure and at speed.
Tactically - recognition and understanding of situations and decisive action or reaction in response to them.

There is an implicit challenge to all of us coaches here! We must all commit ourselves to learning as much as we can about children, technique, tactics, and physical preparation.

In an effort to help aid coaches in their own development, R.Y.S. will reimburse any coach who fulfills all requirements of a coaching course or license.

In considering these ideas, coaches should not lose sight of the most important element of youth soccer development: FUN!

The two big words are FUN and PLAY!