Another new topic - Best development coaches

All right, there was a comment made about excellent coaches. "Creating players that win through development is the hallmark a "great" coach. In select soccer good coaches, are a-dime-a-dozen. Great coaches, that offer both development and wins number in the handful." So who do you recommend as a great development coach and why?

InaB,

Happy you are back and love the way you are livening up the forum.  It is a refreshing change from all the postings for players and teams.

Interesting question as different coaches may be good developmental coaches at different ages/phases in a players career.  It is tough to find one who is good at developing and winning, at the regional or national level, throughout the full journey.

Hi Lefty, thanks a lot. It is good to be back. Good thoughts on coaches. Maybe I should ask, which coaches do you think are good for which age groups. Or, better yet, which clubs have the best coaches for the widest range of age groups?

I'll start with the names.

The coach who has at least one skin on the wall for taking a team, with a core group of players' from cradle to college scholarships with regional and national titles along the way is:

Adrian Solca

Clearly his personality is not a fit for all players as will be the case with most all names we come up with.

I will throw in Chris Pulpaneck, as he took both his 98s and his 00s starting at U9 to where they are now (00s went to Nationals last year and 98s lost in semifinals of Regionals last year) and both won State Cup a few times along the way... And apparently done well enough to win Select Coach of the Year from North Texas Soccer

Great thoughts, lets keep going!

Solca

Vashmuka wrote:Charles Grado.

Does this guy coach for andromeda?

FriscoSoccer05 wrote:I will throw in Chris Pulpaneck, as he took both his 98s and his 00s starting at U9 to where they are now (00s went to Nationals last year and 98s lost in semifinals of Regionals last year) and both won State Cup a few times along the way...  And apparently done well enough to win Select Coach of the Year from North Texas Soccer

+1

A few of my favorites DM , PULP, SOLCA, Bussey

lostntexas wrote:A few of my favorites DM , PULP, SOLCA, Bussey

All good choices depending on the style of soccer you want your DD to play.

Zizou wrote:

lostntexas wrote:A few of my favorites DM , PULP, SOLCA, Bussey

All good choices depending on the style of soccer you want your DD to play.

What are each coach's(of DM Pulp Solca and Bussey) style of play?

My top four - in no particular order - who can really develop highly skillful players and attractive, attacking soccer are
SO (AYSES)
LW (LP)
AS (Solar)
CB (Mustangs)
Many others that can put together winning teams but IMO these four always produce teams that play a noticeably different way. Bright future for these kids.    

Solca

I'll throw some support out there for Bussey as well. My DD has played on the 99 team from U10 to U15. I've watched the big clubs gobble up a lot of the talent that has come through the 99 Mustang team during those years and have seen Bussey give opportunities to many D2, D3 and lower leagues players as well. Recruiting is certainly more difficult when you don't have a big name club behind you. A consistent theme throughout the years is that the team almost always finishes the Spring better than the Fall which I think is a testament to the fact that Bussey develops players.

boilerjoe_96 wrote:

Zizou wrote:

lostntexas wrote:A few of my favorites DM , PULP, SOLCA, Bussey

All good choices depending on the style of soccer you want your DD to play.

What are each coach's(of DM Pulp Solca and Bussey) style of play?

DM, Bussy play a very direct, high pressure, physical style. Pulp, Solca exactly the opposite.

Gilbert Richardson (Sting West) & Quen Willis (Texas Spirit) have been developing players for years in Dallas. Their teams have always played pretty footy!

I've always been impressed with Gabe Adames at DTS. His teams are always competitive and they really seem to have a good idea of what they are trying to do. Technically they are always sound.

I'd say there are probably 5 or 6 whose names get tossed out there quite a bit (LW, CP, DM, AS, & GA are the ones that come to mind immediately). However I think there are some others that probably get missed because they don't recruit quite as much as some of the others or have as many teams.

I personally like Kat Webb when it comes to developing great fundamentals and very technically sound players. I've never heard anyone who's gone to individual training sessions with her that didn't have a great time and come out of there better than when they went in.

I'd also throw in Keri Baker at LP in the mix, doesn't coach too many teams but her teams (watched more of her 93s or 94's, can't remember the years but they've graduated and moved on now) seem to have a good understanding of what they are doing. I've recently started watching the 05's and like what she's doing.

There are countless more out there that probably are great coaches but never really get the collection of talent that the "top" coaches get. There's a great old saying that you can't win the Kentucky Derby with a mule, and unfortunately some of the best coaches aren't the best recruiters so they never end up with collection of great athletes to develop.

With all that being said, I don't really think craddle to graduation is always the best thing for a players development no matter who the coach might be. I've always been a proponent for switching things up every couple of years because far too often coaches, players, and parents settle in to a level of comfort where growth and even competition is stymied, not because the coach isn't great, he/she is just human and we all become complacent. However that's a topic for another day.

Guest wrote:My top four - in no particular order - who can really develop highly skillful players and attractive, attacking soccer are
SO (AYSES)
LW (LP)
AS (Solar)
CB (Mustangs)
Many others that can put together winning teams but IMO these four always produce teams that play a noticeably different way. Bright future for these kids.    

i am not familiar with SO (is AYSES still around?) but I would agree with the other three from what I have seen over the past 3-4 years.

GrandTXSoccer wrote:

I personally like Kat Webb when it comes to developing great fundamentals and very technically sound players. I've never heard anyone who's gone to individual training sessions with her that didn't have a great time and come out of there better than when they went in.

Are you kidding me?  Have you ever attended one of her practices?  In person?!?

If you go, be prepared for her to call your daughter "fruit loop".  I have heard her humiliate and embarass multiple girls.  I heard her ask a 9-year-old girl if she "rode the short bus".  When someone said her mom takes her to school, she asked if the mom "drove a short bus."  I have heard her scream at a player in a game that if she didn't work harder "I am going to kill you."  I have heard her coach her players to grab and pull jerseys or shove a player in the back because "if the ref doesn't call it, it is not a foul".

She regularly coaches practice from a chair or sitting on the turf.

This woman is (or should be) an embarassment to other coaches, her team, and the club she coaches for.

Oh no! Not "fruit loop"! Seriously if you're going to be insulted by that you may want to take your kid outta soccer, it's gonna get worse.

Master Bates wrote:Oh no! Not "fruit loop"! Seriously if you're going to be insulted by that you may want to take your kid outta soccer, it's gonna get worse.

First, if you think that is appropriate for 9-year-old girls on a VERY developmental team, I feel sorry for you.

In addition, I listed multiple items - none of the others you cared to address.

None of them would bother me and please no need to feel sorry for me, keep wrapping your kid in cotton wool.

Master Bates wrote:None of them would bother me and please no need to feel sorry for me, keep wrapping your kid in cotton wool.

I guess if you think that yelling "I will kill you" to a nine year old girl is appropriate behavior by a coach, it is more a statement about you.

And if the above, as well as having the coach regularly sit on the turf to conduct practices wouldn't bother you, I can only imagine the abuse you would allow your daughter to go through for your soccer success.


Cotton wool (cotton is from a plant, wool from a sheep) not necessary.

God Bless you.

Here's one. F.D.!