Allow me to introduce one of the many scourges in US soccer. What I like to call the “Freshman Syndrome”.
A lot of high school and college coaches suffer from this idea that simply because you are a freshman, you should smell the fresh-cut grass from the bench, or not at all! Sure, in general a freshman has had less experience and time to develop, but there are many that are better soccer players. Unfortunately, they may not be recognized due to their coach’s syndrome.
This can manifest itself in many ways:
- They don’t even make the team (player is relegated to Junior Varsity, cut from or redshirt on college team, dropped to the reserves or the bench on a pro team).
- They only get playing time in a game that is not considered important.
- When a game is “on the line”, coaches resort to their seniors.
- No consideration for awards.
- Penalty kicks, free kicks, corners, etc … all go to the upperclassmen regardless of quality.
- You are the ball boy and water boy.
What’s the Problem?
The first, and what I believe to be the root, is that these coaches don’t see the full extent of a player’s quality and how he can lift a team’s performance. Instead, they once again focus on size and speed where it’s likely these freshman or rookies are a bit behind their colleagues.
Yes, I’m sure statistically there are few elite freshman that come around with the necessary quality to make an immediate impact. But just because this is historically the case, these coaches should not turn a blind eye and predestine them without a proper evaluation (if they’re even capable of accurate assessment). This is actually what happens!
In other cases, some coaches may just flat out be chicken shits. Maybe they have identified a freshman as having the potential to make an impact, but …
“How would it look to the upperclassmen if one of them is displaced or their overall playing time and responsibilities are diminished?”
This could introduce a rift in the team, especially if the coach has not been running a merit-based ship! Also, consider that the players themselves likely have the syndrome – they are not immune. As a result, the coach’s judgement may be called into question. Who wants that?
Finally, there may be a cultural component for this syndrome. The working class in this country, as opposed to the executive, entrepreneur, or expert in a field, likely works in a seniority based or politically charged environment – promotions and benefits come to those who are senior or well connected. Merit-based environments are rare.
This issue transcends coaching of course. Last year I was attending a Cal State Fullerton game where one of our former club players was on the field as a freshman. He was playing, to the coach’s credit (though he is not entirely cured), because his quality was absolutely undeniable. Were he not to have played, the coach would have proven to been a Supreme Donkey – maybe King of all Donkeys and been immediately institutionalized. In any case, the player lined up to take a free-kick and a person nearby in the stands said
“Why are they letting a freshman take it?”
I wanted to kill myself!
Coaches
You may have a jewel on your hands, or at least someone better than what you already have. Please try to maintain your objectivity. You are hurting your team and our future stars!
Parents and Players
Those of you who are looking into college soccer … try to do your homework on coaches and look at their track records as far as freshmen are concerned. It may or may not be indicative of the “freshman syndrome”, but having the information is better than going in completely blind.
Everyone
This is curable! Keep an open mind and continue to educate yourself. And by all means due not perpetuate this idea – it is highly contagious!
What are your thoughts? Have you seen this syndrome up close? Do you think I’m completely crazy (if so, either I’m wrong or you may be infected … hahaha)?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t know if college soccer is different than college football but there are plenty of true freshmen starting in college football over their older counterparts and in nationally renowned teams, not just lower end ones. For example, Matt Barkley at USC, Tim Tebow at Florida, Jimmy Clausen at Notre Dame, and the list goes on and on.
College football (and basketball for that matter) seems almost entirely based on merit and I would hope college soccer would be too. As for High school, who the $#%$^ knows what those coaches’ motivations are. I have heard many stories from parents of players about the “injustices” they claim high school coaches have bestowed on their kids and their families. My son isn’t quite there yet so I will find out how much of it is true or not soon.
I don’t understand how a competitive coach can think about anything but merit in making his/her decisions for the good of the team. Anything other than merit is bizzare to me. But that’s just my two cents!! What do I know?
Rafael,
While writing this piece, I actually did diverge into the other sports where I know that plenty of true freshman are starters and have a huge role on the team. But I stopped myself because the article was going to be too long and I know I’m not an expert in those sports.
My conclusion / explanation for this apparent discrepancy is that when it comes to football, basketball, or baseball, this country knows what it’s doing! The coaches, fans, players, and the media at large are very well versed in the sport. This is not the case with soccer.
Case in point: Look at the hype that was behind Lebron James while in high school … they certainly knew what they were talking about. By contrast, remember the hype around Freddy Adu (he was going to be the next Pele). What happened there? Freddy isn’t even a mediocre player. He rarely gets playing time on his teams. We just don’t know what a quality soccer player is!
In addition, these other sports have huge monetary investments in play. This places tremendous pressure on the coaches to perform – otherwise they are fired. With this incentive, there is no doubt that the coaches do their homework and don’t care whether this or that guy is a freshman. If he’s better, he plays, end of story.
Soccer coaches have no incentive whatsoever. Did you know that a college coach won’t get fired for lowly team performance? Why? Because soccer has no monetary value to the school. These coaches are only fired if the academics of their athletes are below some threshold.
You make a lot of good points. The only weird thing is that I haven’t seen many, if any, coaches that don’t want to win. What I don’t understand is how is it that college soccer coaches are able to put their preference of winning aside for some unsubstantiated (to them) bias of seniority when ALL around them in all the remaining sports of the school it’s only about winning no matter at what level and at what cost.
On another note, how about public high school soccer, since money is not an issue there, wouldn’t coaches want to have winning programs? What is their motivation in picking certain players over others? Is it true that some kids are discriminated against because they haven’t played club soccer to the point that they don’t even get looked at? I keep hearing that but as a former coach, I can’t believe that to be true. What coach would not even look at a player for a minute? It doesn’t take long to figure out if a player has it or not regardless of what he has done in the past. Don’t you think so? Do you have any words of wisdom from your experience around high school soccer?
True. I also don’t know of a coach who doesn’t want to win.
But of course everyone’s formula on what it takes to have a winning team is different. And that’s where true quality coaching stands out compared to the mediocre or clueless ones. The formula consists of many variables ranging from proper training to what players are on the field (where the syndrome may rear it’s ugly head). Their decisions / formulas are limited by their understanding.
So no, I don’t think it’s based on deliberate discrimination, but rather a lack of understanding of the game and player quality. In general, the idea of discrimination for this or that reason is created and spread primarily by parents (who might be misinformed by their kids), as an excuse as to why little Johnny or Susie does not play.
Words of wisdom? If you’re serious about soccer, the emphasis should not be High School. The level of play is abysmal. The coaching … you might have an English teacher, baseball or football coach at the helm (it’s extremely rare to get a high level club coach). College recruiting does not exist (don’t let anybody fool you).
In our experience, when players come back from highschool, we find them as having taken a HUGE step backwards in their development!
Obviously another US soccer problem, but this is the world we live in. So just play for the experience, have some fun with your friends, get a letterman jacket, etc.