OREGON YOUTH SOCCER ASSOCIATION’S MONTHLY MAGAZINE
ISSUE #13
GOAL LINES WINNING CULTURE We’ve been having some fantastic conversations in the Oregon Youth Soccer Association office about the mentality of winning, and how important it is, at what age it matters, and the emphasis we put on it as coaches and club leaders. Soccer, by definition of being a sport, requires a winner and a loser, but are we putting too much emphasis on achieving wins over player development. Is winning a league more important than players improving over the course of the 14 week slog. Conversely, do we want the often-maligned ‘participation trophy’ generation? Should everyone get a medal? Are we missing important life lessons by allowing everyone to ‘win’. We take a look in this issue, at both sides of the argument, and give pause for thought about how you define a winning culture…
THE OLYMPIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM The Olympic Development Program (ODP) is a national program run under the auspices of US Youth Soccer. Its mission is to identify players of the highest caliber on a continuing and consistent basis, which in turn aids the development of elite youth soccer players in representing their state, region, and country in soccer competitions. The Portland Timbers and Thorns are contracted by Oregon Youth Soccer to administer their ODP program and make technical decisions. It is a significant stage of both the Portland Timbers and Thorns development pyramid, and the training groups are also referred to as; Academy Reserve teams or Pre-Academy teams respectfully. These collaborative programs aim to identify and develop the top players in Oregon and SW Washington (both boys and girls) to prepare them as student/athletes for exposure to regional and national ODP programs, as well as collegiate and potentially professional soccer settings.
WHERE DOES IT FIT IN THE OREGON LANDSCAPE? ODP participation does not mean that the players cannot participate on their club team. On the contrary, Timbers-Thorns-ODP participation, whether at the pool, state, regional, or national level, is concurrent with club team participation. A mutually agreed upon training calendar is implemented. Participation at this elite level provides many advantages for the clubs too, such as exposure. The advantages of player development outweigh any conflicts this might pose and indeed criteria will be produced to protect the club from poaching or recruiting within the soccer year. Typically teams are pooled into larger groups for training purposes, and then after 6 months of training as a group, 23 are selected from each age group to represent Oregon at the ODP Region IV championships.
WHERE IT FITS
ODP The Olympic Development Program is sanctioned and granted to OYSA, and we contract out the Timbers to run it for us.
CORNER TOP OF THE HEAP!
BY THE NUMBERS:
The Timbers sit atop the Western Conference for the first time in almost 2 years as they head into
3-1 record
Sunday’s clash against the New England Revolution.
12 goals for
It’s not hard to see why though when you look at the team. The introduction this season of Blanco
6 goals against
and Guzman has been huge, along with the true-and-tested, but now formidable partnership of Diego Valeri and Fanendo Adi sees Portland occupy two of the top three spots in the MLS in both
6,808 miles travelled this season so far
goals scored, and shots taken categories. Jake Gleeson is also second in saves, so you can count
for away games (round trip)
that category as a good one, but most fans would prefer he be more bored than he has been.
Top scorers - Adi/Valeri (4 goals)
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Check out our favorite Timbers videos this month that you may not have seen
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
NEXT OPPONENT
Here are the most recent match highlights from our favorite team
Sunday April 2nd
Providence Park
6pm PST
C-LICENSE NOW AVAILABLE
DATES
Oregon Youth Soccer is the sole provider of USSF coaching education in the
Course Meeting: June 11-18, 2017
state, and we are very proud to be offering the C-license this Spring/Summer for coaches that meet the requirements. Details can be found in the Digital Coaching Center by clicking ‘Register’.
Development Period: June 19 - September 1, 2017 Assessment Meeting (testing): September 1 - 3, 2017 Candidates must attend ALL parts of the course to receive license. Missing any part will result in a failing grade.
WHAT IS THE DCC? The U.S. Soccer Coaching Department was established in the early 1970s by famed West German teacher and coach, Dettmar Cramer. Each level of the U.S. Soccer Coaching License Pathway is designed to meet the needs of coaches ranging from the coach who is inexperienced in soccer to the former professional player who desires to coach in amateur, professional or international competitions. U.S. Soccer’s Digital Coaching Center (DCC), a state-of-the art online educational platform, allows coaches to create a personal profile, register for courses, communicate with technical staff, take part in online courses, create session plans with an online graphics tool, access an archive of U.S. Soccer training sessions and much more.
CORNER THEY’RE BACK!!
BY THE NUMBERS:
The girls are back finally. We’ve only been able to watch the boys play, and this month we welcome back the world’s best supported female sports team in any sport, the
No numbers to report yet as the season kicks off this month.
Portland Thorns.
Not a lot of game action to report on so far, with only the pre-season invitationals
Below are how the standings from last year finished!
taking place.
The exciting news however is that the NWSL enters it’s fifth season, and that’s a record for a women’s league here. They also signed deal with Lifetime TV. Big news, and huge for the future of women’s soccer. See the video below!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Check out our favorite Thorns videos this month that you may not have seen
NEXT OPPONENT
Saturday, April 15th
Providence Park
12pm PST
RECORDS ABOUT TO FALL…JOHN BAIN REFLECTS
Jamie Goldberg of the Oregonian, sat down for a wonderful interview with Timbers legend, and Westside Timbers director, John Bain, to discuss the impending breaking of his scoring records by the current Timbers. Read below, and click the logo for the rest of the interview, and pictures! John Bain arrived in Portland at the age of 20 with the expectation that he would spend the summer of 1978 gaining experience with the Portland Timbers in the old North American Soccer League before returning to a higher level of competition in England. Instead, Bain fell in love with the Rose City and went on to earn his place in club history during five remarkable seasons where he set club records in both career goals (45) and career assists (55). His renowned career in Portland earned him a spot in the Timbers Ring of Honor in 2011. Bain's records have remained intact over the last 35 years, but that could change as early as Sunday. Timbers forward Fanendo Adi tied Bain's all-time, allera Timbers record for goals scored last week in Columbus and Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri (41 goals, 44 assists) is approaching both the career goals and assists records. "Records are there to be broken," Bain told the Oregonian/OregonLive. "It was just a matter of time before someone broke the goal scoring record that I have and that's kind of nice that there are two players that are going to break it this year. Adi is a fantastic goal scorer and Valeri is a fantastic player." While Bain said that it has been special to hold the two records, being a part of the Timbers' storied history is what makes him most proud. Bain, a native of Scotland, arrived in Portland on loan from English side Bristol City in 1978, just three years after the Timbers were founded. He quickly made a name for himself on the field, helping the Timbers reach the NASL Conference Championship in his first season. As a playmaking midfielder, he never thought of himself as a prolific goal scorer, but he found himself contributing almost as many goals as assists over his 148 league appearances. "I'm pretty proud that I was able to contribute to the Timbers… To read the rest of this article, head over to the original story by clicking the logo to the right:
GRASSROOTS COORDINATOR: ALY HOLLEWIJN All of our Grassroots Coordinators have extensive coaching background around the state of Oregon, and elsewhere so they bring unique experiences to their particular region.
Aly is our southern Oregon GRC and she recently had the opportunity to travel to Spain to take part in the TOVO training experience with Todd Beane, it’s creator. Aly describes what the sessions were all about and her overall experience here.
THE TOVO EXPERIENCE IN CATALONIA What is TOVO? I’m sure you have seen the name, heard the buzz, or taken a glimpse into this evolving concept. If you haven’t, that is ok, you will soon, in fact you are right now. For years I have watched Todd Beane create this concept and recently I watched in awe has he brought it to fruition. What TOVO is, is much more than the X’s and O’s but a true dive into all of the elements that we all strive to bring into our coaching philosophies. For over a decade of coaching I have loved teaching the game and connecting with my athletes. I dove into coaching education as young as I could. Today, I help facilitate and engage coaches in coaching education and also run my own programs. While doing all of this I have always felt a missing piece in what I was providing as a coach as a whole. TOVO gave me the piece that I have been fervently seeking for the past few years. The course elevated my game awareness but also brought me back to ensuring I focused on the human element when engaging with all players. We did not just watch demonstrations of rondo’s and small sided games. We watched them in action, discussed the impact of these games with leaders in the game, and saw the end result with the local youth and the Barcelona Youth. When we were not engaging on the field we were hosted in classroom sessions to discuss the application of the cognitive and human element. Facts, anecdotes, hands on demonstrations, and profound lectures helped us connect the potential that we all hold as coaches. The mastermind behind the course and concept, Todd Beane did not let anything escape him when making this program available. We were hosted in Sites, Spain, a small Catalonian beach town, fed three incredible Mediterranean meals a day, and were strongly encourage to use the beautiful walk to the breathtaking seaside stadium as a chance to connect and discuss what we were learning. In the evenings we dove deeper into the content while playing ping pong with Jon Van’t Schip, we did not have the weight of a test on our shoulders but the excited of what questions and discussion points to bring the next day. In this course we had coaches who have coached successful national teams and coaches who have spent less than a year coaching. Everyone had something to offer and all of us gained greatly from the experience. This was not a vacation on the beach but a refreshing approach to coaching education. We had long days that flew by and we were pushed to think beyond where any of us ever had before. Despite what we all thought, we all opened our minds even further to the game and came back with more passion running through our blood.
WHAT’S HAPPENING NEAR YOU? Looking to improve your coaching knowledge base? Thinking of moving onto the next level, or maybe just a refresher course before the season? What about other soccer-related events?
Check out the schedule of events near you. Coaching and referee courses are asterisked in red!
To register for a coaching course, simply click the course listing to be taken to the registration page
PORTLAND METRO AREA ★Beaverton 4/8 Grade 8 Referee course
SOUTHERN OREGON ★E-license 8/25-27 Location tbd
CENTRAL OREGON ★Willamalane Center, 5/5 Lane United FC vs. NW Christian
★Providence Park 4/15 Timbers vs. Sporting KC
★Willamalane Center, 5/19 Lane United FC vs. FC Cougars
★Providence Park 4/15 Thorns vs. Orlando
★Willamalane Center, 5/26 Lane United FC vs. FC Rovers
★Providence Park 4/22 Timbers vs. Vancouver
★Willamalane Center, 6/2 Lane United FC vs. Sounders FC
★Providence Park 4/29 Thorns vs. Chicago Red Stars
★Willamalane Center, 6/13 Lane United FC vs. S. Oregon
★ Providence Park 5/6 Thorns vs. Seattle Reign
★Willamalane Center, 6/22 Lane United FC vs. Timbers U23
★Providence Park 5/14 Timbers vs. Atlanta
★Willamalane Center, 6/29 Lane United FC vs. Victoria FC
★Providence Park 5/27 Thorns vs. Boston Breakers
★E-license 7/14 - 16 Eugene, OR
★ Providence Park, 6/2 Timbers vs. San Jose Earthquakes
★Portland, 6/11 USSF ‘C’ License
Click team badge for their full game schedule
WINNING CULTURE - IT HURTS PLAYER DEVELOPMENT!
Is the primary focus on what the club can do for the young player, or what the young player can do for the club? Unfortunately in the U.S., our cultural beliefs idealize winning as the sole marker of success. As Paul Mairs and Richard Shaw note, many clubs are driven by an “insatiable appetite for winning, instantaneous gratification, and a premature focus on what is best for the team instead of focusing on the development of each individual player.” A quick perusal of the majority of local clubs’ websites — plastered with photos of their teams holding trophies, boasting of goals totals for elementary school kids — will confirm this observation. Believing these clubs must be doing a good job, parents are happy to drive their children great distances and freely open their wallets to provide the best opportunities possible. What they fail to realize is this culture of winning can have a significant negative impact not only on their children’s enjoyment of the sport, but ultimately on their development as well. It is a vicious cycle pushing clubs to advertise their trophies rather than their retention and improvement of players’ abilities. In their publication "Foundations of Sports and Exercise Psychology," Robert Weinberg and Daniel Gould explain the critical factors contributing to early withdraw from sports are a lack of enjoyment, excessive pressure and an overemphasis on winning. In fact, if you ask young soccer players for reasons why they enjoy playing soccer, “winning” isn’t even in the top 10 most common answers. As adults, we hijack their experience to satisfy our purposes. All too frequently, games represent the “big stage” and are overhyped by parents… Click the logo to the right to jump to the full story by Scott Pugh of the Deseret News….
WINNING CULTURE - MISUNDERSTANDING WINNING
With long term player development (LTPD) being more recognized than ever before, there is a misunderstanding with regards to ‘Winning’ and the ‘Win at all costs’ approach in youth soccer. We need to understand that LTPD is very much about winning, however it is the emphasis on winning that needs to be adjusted depending on the stage of development and the level of play. As players progress through each stage the importance placed on winning becomes greater, however the principles necessary to developing a winner must always be taught. We must nurture and develop the winning mentality in our young players just as much as all the other necessary skills it takes to play soccer at a high level. The game is meant to be won, but its not won so easily. Our players must learn before they can truly call themselves winners. In other words winning happens with experience, knowledge and an understanding of the game. A combination of technical skill, tactical knowledge, psychological strength and physical capability make up the modern day soccer player. The stronger these skills, the more likely they become winners. We can’t expect to win at the highest level if we don’t train to compete at the highest level. Let’s have a look at what it takes to be a winner. Click the logo to the right to jump to the full story by Victor Satei of Sport IQ….
MEANWHILE, IN EUGENE…
THE BEGINNING OF A NEW CHAPTER
It was all finally coming to an end. One chapter of my life was closing, and my dream of becoming an MLS player was FINALLY starting to come to fruition. After six months of limbo looking for a professional club, followed by six months of bouncing around, training, and playing with different teams, I was finally going to find a permanent home. I had been at camp with the US U20s when it finally settled that I would be settling down and really focusing on my professional career. Amid preparing for World Cup Qualifying, the MLS Draft was always in the back of my mind. The big question: where would I end up? I showed up a couple days late due to my national team commitments, and then had a further delay in playing because of paperwork issues. Though I wasn’t as involved in the combine as guys who were there all week, I enjoyed every minute of it. From meeting with different teams, to hanging around with such a diverse group of young players who share my passion to succeed, my short spell at the Combine went by ever so quick. Having had the privilege of being a pre-signed player for the draft, the question I was being asked when I was walking around the hotel was basically always the same: Where do you want to go? In the end, my responses were similar, but always revolved around the politically correct “I’m open to every team” answer. The more I thought about it or read into my situation after meetings, the more of an idea I had about my future that was well unsolved. In the end, I just decided to stop looking into things, focus on my game, and just let the future take care of itself. Towards the end of the combine, I played in one game filled with ups and downs, but I was satisfied with the way the week had gone on and off the field. Then came draft day. The day I had been waiting for since the day I signed in August. A day that I would look back on for the rest of my life.
To read the rest of this article, head over to the original site at DMV Soccer by clicking the logo to the right:
The Federation Internationale de Powerchair Football Association (FIPFA), in partnership with the United States Power Soccer Association (USPSA) are pleased to announce the draw for the 2017 FIPFA World Cup. This took place on Thursday 23rd February, hosted in partnership with the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) in Chicago, IL. The 2017 FIPFA World Cup will have the following 10 teams competing to become World Champions: Host and current World Champions: USA- Argentina- Australia- Canada- Denmark- England- France- Ireland- Japan- Uruguay The World Cup will take place from 5 to 9 of July 2017 At the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida.
What are you doing around the state? What does your team look like? Got a crazy picture for us? Want everyone to see what it’s like playing at your club? Well, now’s your chance! Click the submit button and send us your pics.
VICKI POUNDS OYSA BOARD MEMBER: 1997 - 2017 With a heavy heart, the OYSA Board of Directors wishes a warm farewell to longtime board member, Vicki Pounds. Vicki stepped down from her position as an At-Large Board Member at the 2017 AGM of the OYSA. To grasp the impact and influence Vicki has had on Oregon youth soccer over the past decades, I asked her to answer a few questions about her involvement in state and local soccer in Oregon. Her responses are italicized below: How long have you been involved with Oregon youth soccer? I started being involved with youth soccer with my son who started to play in 1988. In 1991, I volunteered to coach my daughter’s team because no one else would do it. From there it spread. I attended our club meetings, volunteered to coordinate coaching clinics (I needed a lot of coaching help) and became club treasurer. Over the years, I coached three rec teams. I even became a referee and refereed local rec games. What club(s) have you been involved with and what capacity? My home club is Canby United Soccer Association and have not been active in it for 10 years. When I was involved, I wore many hats: Treasurer, Clinic scheduler, President, WYSA league representative, field coordinator for our Canby Fall Classic recreational tournament, then tournament director, then tournament scheduler for that tournament. I learned how to set up a web page for our club and operated that for many years. Our club sent our officers to the USYSA National conventions attended multiple conventions. Our WYSA league were one of the first leagues in our area to play small sided soccer for our rec teams. Along with CUSA, I am involved with Canby Kids, our town sports organization for the outdoor sports. We work with the school district to maintain fields and work with all our sports to share field in an equitable fashion. I am still involved with Canby Kids as the Secretary/Treasurer. How long have you been involved with OYSA? I started attending OYSA board meetings when clubs were invited to be part of their meetings in the late 1990s. That morphed into being the Willamette representative, then District Director and recently, Member at Large. I have taken a couple of breaks during that time only to return upon request. What's your favorite memory involved with your OYSA involvement? One that sticks out is one August when all soccer chaos was beating me down. I looked over in my neighbor’s yard and there was my U9 boy neighbor, in his “real” team uniform, clutching his water bottle, in soccer bliss waiting for the time to get to go to his first soccer practice. All the frustration of the day went away because I had a visual of why we do this volunteer thing. Did you ever play soccer? After coaching one year and in my forties, realizing that I had lots to learn, I started to play soccer. That opportunity came about when my youth team wanted to play indoor soccer and so we went to Salem indoor to play. There I found a women’s group we called “Thursday Morning Soccer” that was comprised mostly of thirty-forty-ish aged soccer moms who wanted to learn how to play the game. We played in an indoor women’s league and after a couple of years, actually started to score goals and a couple of more years started to win some games. Over a 15 plus year period I played indoor and outdoor and even played in several tournaments. Playing the game with these ladies has been one of my greatest experiences. What's your vision for youth soccer in Oregon? I want to see us continue to serve our recreational and competitive players and clubs who run their programs. What we do to help raise future citizens through the game of soccer is a rewarding endeavor. Any final words for the Oregon youth soccer community? Remember this is about the kids as they learn life skills and learn how to be athletes (at all levels). We have a huge responsibility to be good leaders and make good decisions that promote values for our youth. ——————— As you can see, Vicki has been and continues to be a beacon of leadership within the Oregon soccer community. Her experience and efforts have not gone unnoticed by all those who have worked with her. Notably, I valued Vicki’s constant communication and thoughtful responses during the several years we worked together on the Board. I’m sure the rest of the Board echoes my appreciation for all of the energy and time Vicki has spent to improve the culture and growth of Oregon youth soccer. We wish her the best as she continues to enjoy her other passions such as square dancing and gardening. We all look forward to our paths crossing in the future. Vicki, thank you for all that you have done and continue to do for the good of the game. With warm regards and great respect, James Henry South Metro Board Member of OYSA
US Youth Soccer TOPSoccer (The Outreach Program for Soccer) is a community-based training and team placement program for young athletes with disabilities, organized by youth soccer association volunteers. The program is designed to bring the opportunity of learning and playing soccer to any boy or girl, who has a mental or physical disability. Our goal is to enable the thousands of young athletes with disabilities to become valued and successful members of the US Youth Soccer family. How do you participate? Check out the list below of areas where clubs already have a TOPSoccer program running or contact your club about starting one. We can help you, too, to set up and run a program within your club, and ALL FEES ARE WAIVED for the TOPSoccer program by the Oregon
EXISTING PROGRAMS Click on any name to email the director of that program.
Albany
Beaverton
Clackamas
Eugene
Gresham
Medford
Milton Freewater
St Helens
State Chair (OYSA)
Youth Soccer Association.
SELECT GROUP OF REFS TRAVEL TO SEATTLE FOR TESTING
Every spring the top-level referees in the country convene to undergo an annual fitness test and video instruction. This spring was no different. A select group of referees from Oregon traveled north to Seattle to take part in this annual event. The stakes are high as those who pass the fitness test are eligible to be assigned NPSL, NWSL and USL matches throughout the country. Formerly known as the ‘Pro Clinic’, this event marks the beginning of a long journey for many individuals. The group from Oregon has trained day after day in order to pass the rigorous test. It is comprised of a series of short sprints, long sprints and jogs which make up the 10-lap test. April 1st, Oregon will have a similar event designed for those officiating US Soccer Development Academy matches here in Oregon. This event will feature the same test but not as stringent passing requirements. While those up and coming referees strive to be selected to Seattle, those attending here in Oregon have just as much to prove. The Oregon Referee Committee along with OYSA has selected those individuals who show promise, drive and commitment as a referee. Being selected is an honor, but is also hard work. Congratulations to all selected!