Does your child identify with being part of a team or a club? Both? In youth soccer, players are normally assigned to teams and they stick with those teams throughout the entire year. Although part of a larger club, the players primarily only interact with the players on their team and their coach. Often, these teams operate independently of other teams within the same age group or the next age group up or down, and rarely have interaction with players outside of their developmental age band or the coaches who work with those groups. Although all players are part of the same club, a player’s experience can be isolated to just a single team or coach.
Unlike clubs in other parts of the world, where players are developed as part of an entire club vision and culture, in the United States, it is more common to find players being developed within the confines of a team or single group of players isolated from others. Does a U10 player in Barcelona’s program see himself as a player on the U10 team or on “Coach Smith’s Team?” Probably not. I am confident the culture and program encourages the player to see himself as part of the club, and as part of an entire program. The player will feel a connection, not just to the players of his age group, but all the players up to the senior team.
If your child is part of a “club”, than the player would identify with not just the players on his team, but would find a sense of family and community among the entire organization. The players get to interact on a consistent basis with other players throughout the club structure. All coaches and players would see each other as responsible for the success of the entire group, not just a single team. They understand they are part of something bigger, a bigger community, which can do more influential things through a larger pool of resources and support, and create more opportunities to help each player develop over the years.
Maybe your child is part of one of the few soccer clubs trying to create this type of environment?
Everything else in youth sports is "team" based so it is hard to get others to see the idea of "team" in a broader perspective. A child's team can be much bigger than just 10 kids. It can be a group of 30 or more of his peers, both boys and girls, and players of different ages and abilities. All can be part of making the season and experience within the club, not only exciting and fun, but developmentally the best learning environment possible for each player.
It is not just beneficial to be able to move kids around into different environments for a variety of developmental opportunities for soccer, but it is required in order to develop a very well rounded and knowledgeable player. That is the purpose and benefit of a club versus a single team. A club can provide more opportunities than a single team can, and to create an organized effort to help the player develop and grow over the years should be the goal of every soccer club. The measure of a great club is not in the number of teams it has. A great club can be measured by the number of experiences and opportunities provided to each player. The only way for a club to provide that is to work as a “club” and not as a number of teams all operating independently from each other.
The ability to move players around and not isolate them to a team has its benefits. I relate it reading groups in the classroom, and the school environment in general when talking to parents about this idea of a “club” versus “team” environment. At the beginning of a school year children are put in a reading group appropriate to their level, but the child is not kept in a particular group the entire year since a child's abilities tend to change. The hope would be the teacher would move kids into different groups, or even different programs, throughout the year, that were appropriate based on a child's growth and development. The teacher would not wait until next school year to move them.
By consistently making sure a child is in the correct group (environment), appropriately challenged and motivated, it is more likely they will not only learn to read, but will show more growth over the year and enjoy it more. Would that not be true when it comes to a child’s soccer development as well?
Also, when it comes to school, we tend to identify with being part of an entire school community versus just being in “Mr. Smith's classroom.” In school, parents and the community see a kid as part of the entire system and hope for outstanding educational experiences within the classroom, but also within the entire school and community, that will support and be part of their child’s growth. Even though a student may spend the majority of his time each year with a particular teacher or group of teachers, there are a lot of experiences outside of the classroom offered as part of their overall educational development.
With that in mind, taking the soccer model from a “team” based to a “club” based model would have the same benefits for kids’ soccer development. Instead of only being with a single coach and a single group of players, can the players have the opportunity to develop with different kids and coaches, in a variety of training and game formats, that are not only fun, but provide a much deeper and more comprehensive approach to their overall soccer development.
Moving outside the soccer specific benefits of a club model over a team model, the social benefits of having a bigger "family" to be a part of are also important to the players. Operating as a club provides more opportunities for the kids to interact and develop relationships with different types of players/kids and to make more friends. When players are isolated on teams, they get stuck in social groups where they have “a role” and normally have certain expectations to live up to. When that social group continues to change, the kids have to continue to redefine their roles based on their environment and the other kids they are playing with. This helps players become not only more confident in a variety of social situations, but gives them diverse opportunities to play different roles within these social groups. In one group, they may be a leader who takes charge, while in another social circle, they may be more supportive in nature while others take charge. It teaches the kids how to be successful in different collaborative environments and how to deal appropriately with diverse personalities.
Being part of a club means a full comprehensive plan from start to finish. The curriculum and development focus is consistent between age groups. The experiences go beyond being part of a single team, but being part of a larger community that all have a vested interest in how one another are doing. With that interest, comes an approach that allows players to be influenced and mentored by many, not just a few. With the diversity in training, experiences, coaches, teammates, friends, and within the community comes an invaluable developmental model that helps to cultivate higher level people who can perform well on any soccer field and in any environment.
Being part of a team is a great experience. Being part of a club can be life changing experience that lasts beyond a child’s playing years.
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