Interesting Read! Square peg round holes what is winning?

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/square-pegs-round-holes:-what-is-winning_aid38464

great read but interesting coming from the president of an association that is about NOTHING but Winning at all cost and features many of the same coaches he described. Maybe he is speaking hypothetically. The reality nothing he wrote will matter until people like him MAKE it matter.

Change is hard work, one who starts change will see the most resistance. Volunteers administrations and coaches  need to be led by National, regional, and state association such as USA soccer, USSF, and NTX. Set the standard and make others follow if this is what we truly believe.

I would tend to agree with this person post..

rkmid71
"Not according to Mia Hamm: "The person that said winning isn't everything, never won anything." I think that mentality is a convenient excuse for players that don't win -- like there's no accountability and that somehow learning how to win isn't part of development. To me, it's an intangible skill. It's mental toughness. The clutch gene. Learning what it takes to win, the attention to detail, the training / work required, the collective team mindset. Why are those psychological qualities not as important as physical and technical? If I'm looking for players for YNTs, I would look first to players on teams that win consistently at the highest levels of youth soccer. That gives you evidence of those psychological qualities which are much harder to identify and which are arguably most important. Soccer cares not about your parents, your background, your connections -- it's who gets it done on the field. Soccer, like basketball, requires only a ball and a minimally furnished playing area. Soccer is one of the most democratic games. it takes 11 players with similar skill sets to grind out a winning goal at one end while keeping the opponent's shots out of your own net. Unlike sports where size is a crucial selection factor, soccer does not demand that one be of freakish dimensions."

Yeah!  As Hamm says for Youth National teams...

NOT for U7-13, where the kids should be taught the game
and fundamental skills, that without , the competive aspect really cannot overcome at older ages.

Just look at the
USMNT, arguably extremely competive and tough yet unable to crack into Elite world group due to lack of
' superior' technical ability and Soccer IQ.   Same goes for US men at top clubs.

Son_ofa_Pitch wrote:I would tend to agree with this person post..

rkmid71
"Not according to Mia Hamm: "The person that said winning isn't everything, never won anything." I think that mentality is a convenient excuse for players that don't win -- like there's no accountability and that somehow learning how to win isn't part of development. To me, it's an intangible skill. It's mental toughness. The clutch gene. Learning what it takes to win, the attention to detail, the training / work required, the collective team mindset. Why are those psychological qualities not as important as physical and technical? If I'm looking for players for YNTs, I would look first to players on teams that win consistently at the highest levels of youth soccer. That gives you evidence of those psychological qualities which are much harder to identify and which are arguably most important. Soccer cares not about your parents, your background, your connections -- it's who gets it done on the field. Soccer, like basketball, requires only a ball and a minimally furnished playing area. Soccer is one of the most democratic games. it takes 11 players with similar skill sets to grind out a winning goal at one end while keeping the opponent's shots out of your own net. Unlike sports where size is a crucial selection factor, soccer does not demand that one be of freakish dimensions."

calcio9990 wrote:Yeah!  As Hamm says for Youth National teams...

NOT for U7-13, where the kids should be taught the game
and fundamental skills, that without , the competive aspect really cannot overcome at older ages.

Just look at the
USMNT, arguably extremely competive and tough yet unable to crack into Elite world group due to lack of
' superior' technical ability and Soccer IQ.   Same goes for US men at top clubs.

Son_ofa_Pitch wrote:I would tend to agree with this person post..

rkmid71
"Not according to Mia Hamm: "The person that said winning isn't everything, never won anything." I think that mentality is a convenient excuse for players that don't win -- like there's no accountability and that somehow learning how to win isn't part of development. To me, it's an intangible skill. It's mental toughness. The clutch gene. Learning what it takes to win, the attention to detail, the training / work required, the collective team mindset. Why are those psychological qualities not as important as physical and technical? If I'm looking for players for YNTs, I would look first to players on teams that win consistently at the highest levels of youth soccer. That gives you evidence of those psychological qualities which are much harder to identify and which are arguably most important. Soccer cares not about your parents, your background, your connections -- it's who gets it done on the field. Soccer, like basketball, requires only a ball and a minimally furnished playing area. Soccer is one of the most democratic games. it takes 11 players with similar skill sets to grind out a winning goal at one end while keeping the opponent's shots out of your own net. Unlike sports where size is a crucial selection factor, soccer does not demand that one be of freakish dimensions."

Similar to some other sports where athleticism w/o sport specific skills and game IQ creates square pegs trying to fit in round holes:
. in BBall if you have not learned how to dribble the ball and shoot the ball or figured out where to be and when to get rebounds, really does not make much difference how fast, athletic or aggressive you are, you will be of very limited use in a game
. in baseball if you have not learned how to hit a baseball or throw strikes, you can be the biggest, fastest, most aggressive athlete with the strongest arm in the world, and there is no place for you