By Paul Nicholson
January 7 – Delegates heading to the world’s largest coaching event – the NSCAA Convention – in Baltimore next week, will be able to experience the US Club Soccer organisation’s latest hook-up with LaLiga as they demonstrate the technical resource that has been added as part of the Players First initiative.
The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Convention 2016 attracts 4,000-plus coaches and more than 10,000 attendees.
The event will act as a launch platform for the LaLiga hook-up as US Club Soccer deepens the communication of the Players First resource to clubs and coaches.
“Spain is in the top three countries in the world in the way they develop players and they have influenced the way the world plays the game. It is logical to learn from an organisation like LaLiga,” said Kevin Payne, CEO of US Club Soccer.
“We will be introducing their methodology, the same programme they use to train coaches at LaLiga academies.”
At the NSCAA Convention US Club Soccer will showcase three sessions by LaLiga officials, an autograph opportunity and a booth highlighted by Players First.
“There are three different levels (to the LaLiga programme),” said Payne. “This year we are launching level one and two, while the third level will be for coaches who are very serious about their craft. That work will be done in Spain.” Coaches participating will attend 25 hours of training session over 2/3 days as well as complete some on-line work.
US Club Soccer launched Players First in August at Nike World Headquarters, where it signed its deal with LaLiga. The initiative is designed to provide US Club Soccer members with various resources “to enhance the daily youth soccer training environment for better development of all players.” This ranges from various tools for coaches to individual player programmes.
“We provide a suite of services to our clubs,” said Payne. The next additions to the programme will be a partnership with the Positive Coaching Alliance (a programme for parents), an on-line medical training programme, and a series of seminars on injury prevention.
US Club Soccer members are clubs and individuals who it offers youth and adult registration, league and cup-based competition platforms at the recreational and competitive levels, as well as a variety of other programmes, including the Olympic Development Program-sanctioned id² Program and Player Development Programs.
Payne is of the firm belief that if the US is to develop world-beating players – he says that for their infrastructure the country has yet to develop one such player on the world stage – then this work has to start by training its coaches to be world beaters.
The NSCAA Convention will be held in Baltimore January 13-17 https://www.nscaa.com/convention
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