Kyle Washington

Trying to maintain my sanity in the age of insanity.

[Kyle Washington @WTSottawa]

He was so passionate about growing quality players within a rich culture. He endured a lot of personal loss and hardship but continued bringing amazing care and energy to the pitch, after work, each day. God bless him and his family 🙏🏾

[Tom Byerトム•バイヤー @tomsan106]

I wonder how many people have actually taken the time to read the Scottish FA's 133-page white paper, Trends in Success in Elite Player Development. My guess would be: not many.

Having worked in youth development for several decades and as the creator and strongest advocate of the Football Starts at Home® approach, I find it particularly satisfying to see the Scottish FA acknowledge what many of us have been saying for years, that this is an area the football world has largely overlooked.

The report reinforces the importance of the home environment in player development, a principle that sits at the very heart of Football Starts at Home®. For too long, the focus has been placed almost exclusively on academies, coaches, and structured training programmes, while the influence of the family and home setting has often been underestimated. It is encouraging to see one of football's leading governing bodies recognising the significance of this often-neglected factor.

--------------------------------------------------------

"It seems to be unavoidable that, in order to become the best player in the work, 2-4 seems to be the 'golden window' for early engagement with the ball."

"The worlds's best players commented that the 'ball was their favorite toy' as a toddler, not that football was their favorite game (initially). Making the ball the favorite toy from the earliest age is the key trend in elite development."

"A key takeaway from this research is that this fundamental phase in elite development happened within the house, and was inspired by a family member, usually a parent, and always before the child was involved in any kind of organized activity. This shows that waiting for the child to enter organized programs is not enough, and the Scottish FA must stimulate a culture shift that encourages children to master the ball as an earlier age and stage."

"For this to occur, the Scottish FA strategy must shift away from thinking about elite development solely in terms of organized activity, towards the families of young children. It is the family, most often a parent or guardian, who decides whether a child will have this early opportunity to master the game."

"There are several theoretical reasons why these players have an advantage from early childhood. The obvious one is that by starting earlier, they will have spent more hours mastering the ball and thus retain an advantage. However, this is only part of the story. It seems to be that this 'golden window' cannot be missed for true world-class performance, regardless of how many hours are spent practicing later."

"There are likely tow potential factors for this. Firstly, because the development of the brain and nervous system is such that whatever a child is exposed to in the early years tends to have a significant impact on their development. These years are fundamental in shaping many aspects of the child's future. Growing up in contact with the ball from such a young age seemingly makes manipulating the ball with the feet feel almost "natural" to the brain."
#FootballDevelopment #YouthFootball #Football #SoccerDevelopment #YouthSoccer #Soccer

[Kyle Washington @WTSottawa]

@paulspacey U4s in my club play this game at the end of training “you get what you get and you don’t get upset“, “who wants a terrible sticker!?“ (sticker time)

We must teach that they don’t get to pick their problems, their problems pick them. They do get to choose how they respond though.

[Kyle Washington @WTSottawa]

@paulspacey @Noxx1961423 Situational awareness 🧠

[Kyle Washington @WTSottawa]

Teach CHAOS so they intimately understand how to create it.

If they can confidently create it, they not just read it, they control it.

[Julian Aguirre @CoachJulesAA]

"The future of coaching is teaching players to read the game’s chaos and make decisions in real-time, not memorizing patterns."

Matias Manna

[Julian Aguirre @CoachJulesAA]

🔵INDIVIDUAL ANALYSIS🔵

Often when analysing our players, coaches focus only on 'what they can see' or primarily the execution part of an action.

For example 'that player can't pass well'.

However, there is often more to it than this 🧵

[Kyle Washington @WTSottawa]

Bakers must bake. Singers must sing. Competitors must discover all angles/perceptions of competition; in continuous, variable and progressively challenging environments. #specificity #criticalthinking

[Julian Aguirre @CoachJulesAA]

Here’s a snippet of a recent conversation with coaches from our Coach Development Group. The topic was ‘Designing an Execution Training Session’.

In the clip below, we’re discussing Execution in Football.

[Kyle Washington @WTSottawa]

🙏🏾👍🏾💯 Been saying this for years! Outliers gave support to performance-mindset individuals in, development-tasked positions, to ignore the pursuit for the smoothest development curves. Instead, it justified blind spending and fear-mongering w early-specialization. #playisplay

[Jorg van der Breggen @JvanderB78]

“10,000Hour Rule” popularized by Outliers, misinterprets Ericsson’s research.While practice matters, it’s not a strict requirement f elite performance.This myth has led to harmful early specialization in youth sports,neglecting benefits of diverse activities f overall development

[Bradley Thomas @BGThomas20]

@Webslinga40 @Senators

[Declan Hill @declan_hill]

My goodness! I read the other extraordinary authors and books on this list (and a good many that are not here) of the best soccer books of all time.
I am honored and speechless the #TheFix is there.

[Todd Beane @_ToddBeane]

Confession

▪️We do not build training sessions on a technical action. (i.e. passing)

Spoiler Alert 💥
Our players stilll become very skillful in every sense of that word. Perception skills. Decision skills. Execution skills.

#TOVO

[Don Williams @Don_K_Williams]

Can we please 🛑 STOP judging ⚽️ players at such a young age?
Many coaches around the globe 🌏 have notice how players between the ages of 14-20 can grow by leaps & bounds in all 4 areas of the game

What I wonder is how many 5-13 year olds were made to feel that they should just quit

How many “could have been” top pros have we discouraged?

When I watch youth trainings & matches in the 🇺🇸 (and I watch hundreds), I seriously wonder at times how many players could have been top level pros, that were turned off from ⚽️ because of rejection instead of helping them fix whatever is wrong or because they were late bloomers.

[Todd Beane @_ToddBeane]

There are no shortages of justifications to lower expectations for our young athletes. You will hear them everywhere.

The question is whether you choose to find excuses or to find solutions.

Choose faith in our kids.

#TOVO

[Todd Beane @_ToddBeane]

My Observations 🇺🇸 🧵

Here are a few thoughts after having trained kids and listened to coaches from coast to coast.

▪️Passivity
Kids need to be held accountable for their energy and intensity.

▪️Parents.
So many coaches being burdened by a few overly aggressive parents.

▪️Drills
Even today we promote limiting rather than holistic development.

▪️Leadership
Too many DOC’s get drained by administration details rather than being able to focus on coaching and curriculum.

▪️Expectations
Kids thrive under high demands and elevated expectations. Our kids will devour challenges if they engage the brain and body. Amazing response from 8 year-olds to semi-pro players.

▪️Excuses
The most common excuse is to say, “My kids can’t because their level is too low.” Nonsense. I worked with rec and high level players this trip and all are capable of much more than we think.

▪️ Coaches
We have so many kind, caring and passionate coaches serving children admirably. They deserve our respect and gratitude.

▪️Change
We can make a massive difference. With positive energy and a purposeful & proven curriculum, we can achieve even more.

🙏 Thanks to all coaches at ALL levels for your commitment. It matters and you are amazing mentors. Gracias.

#TOVO

[Kyle Washington @WTSottawa]

33,600 - 1
38,896 - 0

European footballing giants

[Todd Beane @_ToddBeane]

DOC woes. 🤕

Most DOC’s seem to spend 2/3 of their time on administration. That’s really a Director of Admin.

▪️A better curriculum and better coaching improves the athlete experience & development.

✔️ Coaching coaches matters.

#TOVO

[Joel Cressman @JoelCressman]

For the past year, I’ve been researching the world’s most creative athletes.

Creative players are unicorns. And are becoming more rare.

Here are 9 principles on how creative elite athletes are made:

[Faces Magazine @facesottawa]

🇬🇷 Trip to Greece or
$4000 Cash Contest 💫 RT + Follow @facesottawa & @prestonhardware for your chance to win a Trip for 2 to Greece (🛩️ return flights, 4-night stay in 4🌟 hotel + $1000 spending) OR $4000 cash prize💰 #ottawa

[Todd Beane @_ToddBeane]

Coach Notes ✏️

Observe. Observe. Observe.

Look for trends, not incidents.

#TOVO

[David Garcia @IJaSport]

"I think every practice you deliver as a coach should permit; freedom of expression, anticipation, cooperation and improvisation." - Pep Lijnders

When you over-control and micro-manage everything as a coach, extinguish the unexpected.

Plan to allow for emergence 🪄

[Austin Jochum @AustinJochum]

Daily Movement Challenges

Build Playgrounds Of Movement Exploration

Create Addicts Of Skill Acquisition