Updates

On the 18th July 2007 the Nancy Ovens Trust gave me the opportunity to ‘scratch an itch’ that I had had for all of my professional career – to ‘coach and study Women’s Football in America’. The financial support provided, paying for my flight, meant that on the 18th July 2007 my passport was packed and I was off to the ‘Land of Opportunity’ to offer my support to the Cary Soccer Association and the ‘Soccer’ programmes they were delivering in the local community. This was my opportunity to gain an understanding of how the Association structure and deliver their training programmes and what exit routes there are for their talented athletes. It is also my intention to establish links with a number of local Colleges/Universities so that I can offer scholarship opportunities to students attending one the schemes delivered by the Soccerette Academy. Can I the model used by the American education system and implement the first ‘Scholarship Scheme’ at the University of Portsmouth?

A month on and there is not enough time in the day to reflect on my American adventure, coaching a variety of age groups, attending tournaments, going to Baseball matches, attending a US Women’s national team training, watching an International game and meeting the players to gain their perspective on the development of the Women’s game. I have prepared a weekly ‘blog’ so that you can gain an insight into the purpose of my trip and whether I met the objectives that I had set myself.

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4

Week One (18/07/07 – 25/07/07) 

Finally I had arrived to begin my fact finding mission to help me propel the Soccerette Academy and the University of Portsmouth into the higher echelons of Women’s Football, or Soccer as I would now have to call it for the next month! On arrival I was met by Brad Wellmen, the Director of Coaching for the Cary Soccer Association, who took me back to his suburban detached family house and after meeting his wife and children I settled into the place that I would call home for the duration of my trip.

After couple of days settling into the American lifestyle I began to contact the local Colleges and Universities to arrange meetings with regards to the establishment of links between the Soccerette Academy and their scholarship schemes gaining responses from Judson College, University of Portland, University of Doug Miller and University of San Diego.

My first camp started and I worked with a group of ‘Recreation’ players, Cary divide their schemes into Recreation (Training and In-house competition) and Travel (training and regional competition), aged between 8-12 years old.  My first observation is the responsiveness of the participants being both polite and attentive whilst completing every task with maximum effort, attributes that are not always apparent when coaching in the UK! However the technical knowledge and ability of the players is not on par with the equivalent age group at home. The evening session was a ‘Skills’ camp with boys and girls from the Under 12, 13 and 14 age groups. The participants understanding of the game was good and the rate of improvement was high. Looking at these players it might not be long until America becomes a dominant force in the Soccer world!

A busy first week finished with a trip to the ‘Batting Cages’ – it was time for me to embrace the local sports! After watching 12 baseballs fly past in the medium speed cage I quickly decided that it was best, for my own safety, that I tear it up in the slow cage. Four hits out of 12, Barry Bonds has got nothing on me!

Week Two (25/07/07 – 01/08/07) 

I was now fully embracing the American culture and eating doughnuts for breakfast! I played my first round of golf and shot my best score of the year – loving the super wide fairways. In order for me to gain a balanced perspective of the coaching Brad has arranged for me to coach a variety of ages and abilities and this week I was working with the ‘Mighty Kickers’ a group of ‘energetic’ four year olds. Working with these kids showed me how much America is embracing the game of ‘Soccer’ and the kids now have a genuine passion and want to progress as quickly as possible, once they’ve finished kicking balls at the coach and call him poo poo head!

From a research perspective Brad introduced me to Hughie O’Malley the Director of Medicine at U.S Soccer, whose daughter plays on the Cary programme. After welcoming me into his home, preparing a BBQ and sharing his beer, Hughie gave me an insight into the key components for injury prevention, especially within the Women’s game, click here to read my interview with Hughie O’Malley.

Hughie would prove to be an invaluable contact throughout the course of the trip.

Week Three (01/08/07 – 08/08/07)

The travel teams began their pre-seasons this week – lots coaching to be done! Working with the Under 11 and Under 14 boys on their fitness, technique and team shape. It has to be said that as a team the levels of fitness is extremely high, once again the work rate of the participants is exemplary. The week long camp was followed by a seeding tournament for the Under 14 boys, which I would attend. This model is used by the local league to seed and place teams for the upcoming season, this means that promotion and relegation at the end of season are not always assured, for me this nullified the excitement of a league campaign and I wouldn’t support this template within the local leagues at home.

 
Tom meets Kristine Lilley of the US National Team

I also supported Brad with some one-to-one sessions for Cary players. This underlined the parents commitment, both developmentally and financially, to the game. The focused time meant the rate of development for the participant was much higher and this is a model I will look to implement through the Soccerette Academy.

It was during my third week that I had my ‘Trip Highlight’. Hughie arranged for me to go pitch side and analyse the U.S women’s national team training. After watching the session, and ‘borrowing’ lots of ideas, I was able to meet the players and discuss the development of Women’s soccer and the barriers involved. I was amazed to learn that the National team stay together on a full-time basis in a format similar to a professional club side. This is due to the fact there is presently no professional league structure I the U.S, however I feel that the fact they are the number one team in the world proves this format works at an Elite level yet can be detrimental for the long term future of the Women’s game in America. After also finding out that those players who have children are allocated full-time nannies and they travel round with them, all provided by U.S Soccer, I was able to meet Christine Lilley a legend in the Women’s game who has played over 300 games for the National team. Hughie also arranged for me to meet and interview the Assistant Coach Phil Wheddon.

Week Four and a bit (08/08/07 – 17/08/07)

My final days in America were to be my busiest. I started by attending the seeding tournament for the Under 14 boys, watching them win five of their six fixtures, we must of done something right at the pre-season camp! I was then invited by Hughie to attend the Women’s national team fixture against New Zealand at Soldier Field, the home of the Chicago Bears. I was able to see first hand how good the U.S Women’s team actually is, they demolished New Zealand 6-1 scoring a range of technically superb goals – diving headers, top corner bullets, an 11 pass goal and a volley amongst them. I also got to meet Brandy Chastine, another legend in the game, who scored the winning goal in the World Cup final.

Back to the coaching and it was the turn of the girls for team camps this week. I worked alongside Brad with the Under 13’s and High School teams. This was of particular interest to me as I wanted to benchmark the standard against that at home. It became apparent to me that working with Brad, an ex-professional player with Southend and U.E.F.A ‘B’ coach, had allowed them to develop technically and tactically. This coupled with their natural athleticism meant that they played at a fast pace that was tactically astute, this is best reflected in the fact that they both play in the highest leagues in the state. I can’t help but feel that their understanding of the game is restricted by the lack of opportunity to watch the professional game, American Football, Basketball and Baseball dominate the airwaves. Yet whilst I was in the states a ‘soccer revelation’ appeared in the form of David Beckham. Having witnessed it first hand I can say that the frenzy surrounding him in the U.S is phenomenal, the number of games being televised has risen dramatically, including every L.A Galaxy, Beckham’s team, game being shown live. Surely this will now have an impact on those playing soccer, they can study the professional game and truly began to understand how the coaching points they are being taught are implemented at the highest level.

I also had follow up interviews with all four Universities and have now established a relationship with each Head Coach respectively, relationships which I am confident will lead to scholarship opportunities for a number of Soccerette Academy members.

As quickly as it had begun my pilgrimage was over. Working alongside an excellent coach such as Brad had given me a valuable insight into different coaching techniques and the rapid development of the game of Soccer (Football – I know!) in the U.S. Throughout my trip I was welcomed by everyone by all and the Hospitality shown, especially by the Wellmen family, was exemplary and the fact that I had to buy a second suitcase to fit in all of the extra clothes and equipment in that I had been given, by a variety of people, just goes to endorse this. I must take a moment to thank my friend Andy Hodder who initiated my interest and put me in contact with Brad. Also I must thank Hughie O’Malley who opened so many doors for me and gave his time freely.

To summarise, this trip has exceeded every expectation I had. I now have a sound knowledge of the American soccer structure supported by a number of coaching ideas, insights from Elite Players, Coaching Staff, Medical Directors and Junior players as well as contacts with four major educational establishments. To top it all off I have a new wardrobe! I have truly achieved my aspirations and I have no doubt that, within the next 10-15 years, the hard work that is currently being undertaken will be represented in the U.S lifting the World Cup!