Part 2: Staying in Love (Mentors)

This and the other 2 articles were recently published by Karl Dewazien, as part of his Soccer Evolution project.

The Instepper Mentoring Program is a cross-aged mentoring program where high school-aged (or college-aged) players mentor younger players. All people and organizations within a soccer community will benefit immensely when they are involved and support a mentoring program.

In Part 1: Falling in Love, I explain how mentors can help improve younger players’ FUNdamentals that will lead to greater individual and team successes. Hopefully, it will keep these younger players in the game longer. But as we adults know, falling in love is easy. Staying in love is the challenging part.

At these ages (roughly grades 9-12 … 15–18-year-olds … and college players), staying in love with soccer can be challenging. For example:

• Many competing interests (i.e., school, work, other sports, friendships/relationships, etc).
• Reality sets in. Playing college soccer or even representing your high school is no longer guaranteed.
• Injuries and burnout can take a physical and mental toll.
• It’s expensive (read “Part 3: Love Isn’t Cheap”).

If you are in high school and are still playing/loving soccer … Congratulation! Some of you may have already played 10+ years of organized soccer. You are obviously passionate about soccer. And for most of you, given the number of hours you have put into honing your craft, soccer is your most marketable skill.

If you have reached a point where you are thinking of ending your soccer love affair, don’t do it until you have been an Instepper Mentor to at least 1 younger player.

Instepper wants you to take your passion, experiences, and expertise and:

• Continue to improve on the field.
• Develop valuable skills off the field.
• Give back to the sport you love.

The Instepper Mentoring Program benefits are profound. Mentors:

• Improve as a player. There is truth in the saying, “Teaching is the best teacher”,
• Any player can be a Mentor! You don’t have to be the captain or one of the better players.
• Build confidence on and off the field.
• Develop important social/soft skills that will last you a lifetime.
• Stand out and stand apart on your college applications, resumes, and interviews.
• Earn money/credit for your services (help offset playing/registration costs).
• Give back to your school, Club, and/or local community.
• Learn the importance of and appreciation for the mentor/mentee relationship. It will come in handy for the rest or life.

If you can stay in love with soccer through high school, that love affair will likely last a lifetime. Soccer hopes you continue to play and remain a fan. And if/when you have kids, soccer hopes you pass your love for soccer onto your kids.

Part 1: Finding Love (Mentees)

This and the other 2 articles were recently published by Karl Dewazien, as part of his Soccer Evolution project.

Kudos to Karl for his SOCCERevolution project. Instepper and its Instepper Mentoring Program are proud supporters and are doing our part to reduce soccer drop-out rates. To learn how, enjoy our 3-part “Love” series.

• Part 1: Finding Love
• Part 2: Staying in Love
• Part 3: Love Isn’t Cheap

Finding Love (Mentees)

The Instepper Mentoring Program is a cross-aged mentoring program where high school-aged or college-aged players mentor younger players. The initial focus is on developing a sound and confident first-touch, the most important fundamental skill in soccer.

Puppy Love (roughly grades K-4 … ages 5-9)

This video tells you all you need to about the challenges of coaching your youth teams.

At any age, having FUN is the most important factor in reducing drop-out rates–but especially at these ages. And let’s face it, many adult coaches are too far removed to know exactly what young kids find fun. Mentors, on the other hand, many of whom are only be a few years from these players, have a much better idea of what fun is.

A youth player or team that has an opportunity to learn from or practice with Mentors will likely develop a stronger bond with the older mentor(s) than with their coaches. If there ends up being a bit of Puppy Love, where the mentee can’t wait to go to practice or to training with their mentor, would that be all bad? I think not.

Falling in Love (roughly grades 5-8 … 10–14-year-olds)

There are hundreds of reasons why players fall in love with a sport. I will focus on the “Success” reason, both at an individual and team level. Success also plays a huge role on whether a player will continue to play soccer or “drop-out”.

More players are likely to stay in soccer if they are good, get plenty of playing time, have confidence in their playing ability, and their team is competitive.

At this age, raw athleticism can still contribute mightily to a player’s or team’s on-field successes. But athleticism will only take players so far. However, developing and reinforcing strong fundamentals will lead to longer-term successes.

But developing/reinforcing fundamentals does have 2 main obstacles.

1. All organized team practices and games simply do not provide enough reps for players, no matter how good the coach. Players must find more time, either on their own or with friends, and, if nothing else, just play more!
2. Working on fundamentals can be extremely boring.

This is where Mentors can play a huge role in players’ fundamental development. Mentors …

• Make working on fundamentals FUN.
• Motivate players to improve on their own and encourage accountability.
• Reinforce proper mechanics.
• Assign FUN homework/homeplay activities.
• Empathize with the challenges young players go through (having recently gone through similar challenges themselves).
• Instill the love/appreciation for working on any type FUNdamentals (i.e., other sports, academics, careers, etc).

Better FUNdamentals will lead to better players which will lead to more successes for players and for their team. This will hopefully reduce the dropout rates.

I Pledge to “Stop Hitting Kids in the Head”

Let me explain.

I was born January 25, 1966. So was Jay Wilkerson, a former Fresno State Bulldog football player and member of the U.S. National Rugby “Eagles” team, who passed away in May 2022. He also happened to be the former husband of my fiancé, Carrie Beckstrom.

Also born on this day was Bruce Murray, a former U.S. National Team soccer player and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. He was featured and spoke at the Concussion Legacy Foundation (CLF) annual fundraising dinner on November 3, 2022.

Carrie and I were watching this event online because Jay was being recognized ‘In Memoriam’ by CLF. When Jay died, Carrie donated his brain to the Foundation. Their findings confirmed what we suspected–Jay passed away from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).

When Carrie learned of my birthday, she took that as a sign and gave me a ‘few more’ chances to prove myself. After learning of Bruce’s birthday, I’ll take that as a sign, as well. As the Founder of Instepper, I pledge to use my platform to bring attention to the negative effects of heading, particularly at the youth level. I will also encourage Instepper Mentors to do the same.

To be fair, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) has done a lot in recent years to address the harmful effects of heading. In 2015, USSF banned players U11 from heading balls during practice and games (scroll down). This was a great first step! But more can and should be done.

A common misconception is that the negative side effects of concussions, head trauma, and CTE mostly affect star athletes at the end of their careers. As the “Stop Hitting Kids in the Head” page points out, concussions and repetitive head impacts to young athletes can have deadly consequences.

Whatever sport you are involved in, join me in doing our part to “Stop Hitting Kids in the Head!”

Eyes in the Back of your Head

Karl Dewazien (www.fundamentalsoccer.com) recently asked his “Kontributors and followers what are some of the best attributes for youth coaches. My response to his inquiry was, “Coaches must be goofy and memorable.” One of my favorites lessons that embodies these traits is teaching the importance of having eyes in the back of your head (this is a shorter version of the earlier “4 Eyes are Better than 2” post).

At your next practice, ask one of your players to stand behind you and hold up 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 fingers. Make sure all the other players and coaches sitting in front you can see how many fingers are being held up. Have fun with it. Clear the hair away from your ‘back’ eyes, try to see the number of fingers in the player’s shadow. Be goofy. Make the lesson memorable.

Also make sure that you are in kahoots with an assistant coach or team parent so that they can tip you off. For example, a scratch of the scalp = 1, nose = 2, chin = 3, shoulder = 4, stomach = 5.
After your players have figured out your trick or you are forced to give up your secret, emphasize the importance of the developing those eyes in the back of your head by:

• Playing with your head up.
• Having your head constantly on a swivel so the entire field and all players can be seen.
• Most importantly, communicating with one another, just like you did with your accomplice.

Your players will remember your goofy interactions with them for many, many years. As for your pre and halftime speeches, or lectures during practice, not so much.

January is National Mentor Month

In honor of National Mentor Month, I’d like to introduce Instepper, an innovative and fun mentoring program that use teenage players to mentor younger players to develop and reinforce the most important fundamental skill in soccer—the first-touch (FT) using the inside-of-the-foot (IOTF).

Why Mentoring?

It works! Mentoring has been around since antiquity as is evidenced by the character Mentor in the ancient Greek epic, The Odyssey. Today, mentoring programs can be found in companies and academia throughout the world. The benefits that both the mentee and mentor derive from such a partnership are well documented. Instepper brings these mentoring benefits to soccer.

Why Teenage Players?

• Many teenage soccer players have accumulated 1,000-4,000+ hours of soccer experience (practice, games, and unstructured play) in their careers. They possess more than enough knowledge and expertise to become excellent Instepper mentors.
• Mentoring will give teenage players unique and ample opportunities to develop important soft skills that they can take with them to college, the workforce, and use throughout life.
• Younger mentees will from a strong bond/friendship with their mentors. This will make it easier for mentors to mentor, reinforce, and motivate younger players to improve their FT with the IOTF.

Why the First-Touch?

Every single play in soccer begins with a player receiving and controlling the ball. EVERY. SINGLE. PLAY. Players MUST have a confident FT in order to reach their full playing potential. This can only be achieved using the proper technique and lots of hard work.

Why the Inside-of-the-Foot?

This one is simple; it’s what professionals use.

• Two-third of all first-touches are with the IOTF.
• Three-quarters of all passes are with the IOTF.
• Two-third of all goals scored with the feet are scored with the IOTF

Why Instepper?

The Instepper mission is to:

1. Help young players reach their full playing potential by developing a sound and confident FT with the IOTF.
2. Develop tomorrow’s leaders by giving mentors the opportunity to capitalize on their ‘expertise’ to grow and thrive both on and off the field.

The Instepper curriculum and program is innovative, flexible, stress-free, easy to implement, and most importantly–FUN! Visit www.instepper.com to learn more about Instepper and the many benefits it affords mentees, mentors, parents, coaches, teams, schools, and clubs.

Get in step with Instepper today!

DIY Tether Soccer Ball

The text accompanying my recent Facebook video post says it best.

I hope this post finds everyone faring well during these unprecedented times. My heart goes out to all families, especially those with kids stuck at home. Hopefully this DIY video I made helps break up the monotony and boredom and gives parents a small respite. If you like the video, please share it with your friends and family. Stay healthy!

The text accompanying the follow-up video is pretty self-explanatory.

How awesome would it be if we got every kid in the U.S. and around the world using this device during these challenging times? I have so much adhesive Velcro at home that I am happy to mail to players or parents if you cover shipping and promise you distribute it to teammates or club members.

Won’t you join me? Like and Share my DIY Tether Soccer Ball Facebook page and let’s get the whole world tethering!

 

World Cup History: Bora Bora Bora … What Could Have Been?

My favorite World Cup moment just so happens to be my most disappointing moment as well. I’m purposely not doing any research or corroboration of this article to see just how accurate my recollection is after 16 years.

Let me set the stage:

• Date: July 4, 1994.
• Place: Sold out Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, CA.
• Weather: Sunny, high 80s at game time.
• Game: U.S. vs. Brazil; 2nd round of the 1994 World Cup.
• Seats: My group was sitting right behind the north goal about halfway up.

All I could think to myself that day was what if the U.S. actually beat Brazil. Sure it was a tall order but the feeling was that given the date and conditions, it could happen.

Then things got interesting. Near the end of the first half, Brazil’s Leonardo intentionally elbowed Tab Ramos in the head, earning an immediate red card. The halftime score was still 0-0! Sure the U.S. had been completely outplayed but now being a man up, an upset definitely seemed possible. I could not believe my good fortune. I was going to be witness to one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history. Incredible!

What happened next (or shall I say what did not happen next) resulted in my greatest World Cup disappointment.

Instead of taking advantage of this good fortune, Bora Mulitinovic, the U.S. head coach, was content to continue playing a defense-oriented game and hope for either a counter-attack or for the game to go to penalty kicks. Eventually, this strategy failed when Bebeto scored with about 15 minutes to go in the game (at our end of the field). By this time, the U.S. was incapable of attacking and the game ended in a disappointing 1-0 loss.

It did not help that Ramos, arguably America’s best player, broke his jaw from Leonardo’s elbow and was not able to play. Had he, the U.S. may have been able to control the game more than it did. Unfortunately, and perhaps because it was daytime, Bora did not see that all the planets were perfectly aligned as well. Had he, and had he changed his strategy and just ‘Gone For Broke’, who knows what would have happened.

All I can say is, “Bora, Bora, Bora!?”

World Cup ‘Towers’ Worth Watching: Fernando and José Torres

Had you asked me two years ago who my favorite player was, it would have been Fernando Torres of Liverpool and Spain. Similar to Italy’s Luca Toni in height, size, and a nose for the goal, every time Fernando touched the ball inside the opponent’s penalty area, he seemed to give himself a chance to score.

Injuries slowed him down this season and with it, Liverpool’s season. The good news (bad news for opponents) is that it looks like he is recovered and rested and will be ready to play for Spain in South Africa. How affective he will be is anyone’s guess. But if he is near 100%, it may be the year of “El Niño.”

But this year’s World Cup may also be the year of “El Gringo!” American José Francisco Torres who plays for Pachuca in the Mexican professional league (that’s how he got his nickname) may also be poised to do great things in South Africa. Unlike Spain’s Torres, José Torres is a midfielder and a very good one at that. A midfielder is a team’s quarterback and normally dictates the action on the field.

I have not seen José Torres play much but what I saw in the U.S. game against Turkey was impressive.

• He has great ball control. His dribbling in tight quarters is superb.
• He receives the ball so well. The ball settles so softly onto his feet.
• He is always running to the open space and asking for the ball. This is the telltale signs of a natural midfielder.
• Though it appears he favors his left foot, he is equally adept with both feet.
• His head is always up. He is constantly surveying the field, looking for his teammates, knows where the nearest opponents are, and you can tell he is always thinking two or three moves ahead.

This year’s World Cup is going to be exciting. Hopefully both Torres’ do well. If “El Gringo” does well, look for the U.S. to be very successful.

U.S. Men’s International Soccer Has Come a Long Way

My first World Cup memory was in 1974 when my family lived in West Germany (West Germany not only hosted but also won the 1974 World Cup). To this day, I recall that Zaire and Haiti were two teams in that World Cup.

To nobody’s surprise, both teams lost big. Zaire, which is today called Congo, lost 2-0 to Scotland, 9-0 to Yugoslavia, and 3-0 to Brazil. (I did not realize until now that Zaire was the first African country ever to participate in a World Cup.) Haiti lost 3-1 to Italy, 7-0 to Poland, and 4-1 to Argentina. At least Haiti scored two goals!

Only much later did I learn that Haiti was part of CONCACAF and was the only country from the North or Central American region to qualify for the 1974 World Cup. Not bad for a small island country that had to compete against the U.S. and Mexico to qualify.

The U.S. had competed in past World Cups and actually came in third place in the 1930 World Cup. However, back then there was not the rigorous qualifying process that exists today and many teams were invited simply if they could afford the trip (the 1930 World Cup was held in Uruguay). However, it was not until Paul Caligiuri’s miracle goal against Trinidad & Tobago that qualified the U.S. for the 1990 World Cup that the U.S. started to establish itself as a regular on the World Cup scene.

The United States’ best World Cup performance was in 2002 when it beat Portugal and Poland and tied host South Korea in the group stage. Then they beat Mexico 2-0 in the second round but lost 1-0 to eventual runner-up Germany in the quarterfinal match.

The biggest disappointment was in 2006 when five minutes into their first game against the Czech Republic, the U.S. gave up the first of three goals, essentially ending their World Cup before it ever started. They did, however, manage a 1-1 tie against eventual-champions Italy in a game they really should have won. It was also the only game the Italians failed to win that year.

Who knows what 2010 will have in store for the U.S. team? The chances are good that they will advance out of Group C despite having to play England in its first match. If they don’t advance, 2010 will be considered a huge disappointment. Should they advance, the best potential second-round opponent–Germany–will be without their captain, Michael Ballack. If last year’s Confederation Cup is any indication, when the U.S. beat Spain and lost in the finals to Brazil 3-2 after being up 2-0 at halftime, the U.S. will do very good.

Good luck. U-S-A! U-S-A!

World Cup Flags

I’m not sure if this article falls under ‘Improving Soccer in the United States’. However, it definitely falls under ‘Improving Geography in the United States’. The way I see it, any type of improvement is a good thing.

With that said, what is going on with the Serbian, Slovakian, and Slovenian flags? They all look the same. When I first started collecting flag images for the 32 countries in this year’s World Cup for my World Cup East Bay 2010 event, I wasted a good deal of time because I kept thinking I had used some flags twice. But when I deleted one of the ‘duplicates’, I only had 31 flags. Finally I figured out that these countries’ flags do look very similar. See for yourself.

Serbia

Slovakia

Slovenia

Good thing Russia did not make this year’s World Cup. That really would have made things confusing.

Russia

Then there is Australia and New Zealand. Can you tell the difference?

Australia

New Zealand

Check out how similar the flags are for the two African countries of Cameroon and Ghana.

Cameroon

Ghana

The Dutch (Netherlands) and Paraguayan flags are also very similar.

Netherlands

Paraguay

Though they did not make this year’s World Cup, I want to thank Nepal for their flag. Its design will never be mistaken for another country.

Nepal