Do you remember when most all Americans, coaches included, thought ‘rondo’ meant this: Now we’re a bit more educated, but still have a long way to go on the rondo front. Today I want to introduce another topic, that of ‘checking your shoulder‘. Many have been saying that phrase quite often but, much like the rondo, […]
Soccer Education
The 5 Key Player Development Components
Player development can be broken into 5 major components: The household/parent/family influence. The playing on your own influence. The pickup game influence. The structured club training influence. The personal training influence. Each taps into a piece of the puzzle. Some may be more important than others. There’s definitely overlap between each. And finally, in the end, there […]
A Huge Deficiency in the Suburban American Soccer Player
It’s well known one of the advantages players outside the US have is pickup ball. Across the globe, players of all ages from 7 year olds to adults benefit from the street game – that informal pickup culture the American player lacks. The barrio, as hispanic/latino cultures call it, is where strong mentalities, ball skills […]
How Brian Kleiban Creates A Winning Culture [Podcast + Video]
Hi guys, John Pranjic here; I had the rare opportunity to record a conversation with LA Galaxy academy coach, Brian Kleiban. And it’s pure gold. Listen to this 3four3 Podcast below … Brian touches on a lot of important topics in a short amount of time, including: International youth competition Why forging an identity is important […]
MLS Academies Need More, and Better, Competition
So, I’ve harped on the fact that competition in the US isn’t a good gauge of where we’re at. International competition is the barometer. As such, the past 5 years we’ve gone on international trips with a group of players to play in legitimate competitions against the best academies in the world. Full matches vs […]
The Most Undermining Phrase in American Soccer
“It’s just a game”. No, it’s not. It’s an economic market like any other. There are businesses in play, livelihoods at stake, communities to consider, and consumers that should be looked after. This is an ecosystem with real people, with real consequences, who depend on responsible governance. Clubs (independent businesses) get affected. People working with […]
LA Galaxy vs Manchester City – [U15 Full Match Video]
We love to share what matters. Going into this match, this team, our team, the LA Galaxy U14 team was undefeated with a 19-0-2 record in the US Soccer Development Academy with 101 GF and 12 GA. You rarely, if ever, see us publish or mention our domestic exploits (we could be doing it weekly), […]
Should Coaches be Siloed in Specific Age Groups? Part 2
Part 1 touched on why it makes more sense elsewhere in the world. Here in Part 2, we look at some incentives and consequences for instituting coach siloing in the American environment. An Organizational Perspective Looking at a club perspective there’s this sense that efficiencies are introduced, that it’s just simpler to have a conventional […]
Should Coaches be Siloed in Specific Age Groups? Part 1
You may have heard people talk about siloing coaches in age groups many times. It goes something like this: A club should assign coaches to an age group, not to a team. For example, John has a U13 team. When the season ends, that team moves on to a different coach that coaches U14. John […]
An “All Value, No Fluff” Soccer Education
For the impatient, you can sign up to this free education here. But it would be awesome if you read this article first. There’s no question we need better soccer education in our country. So over the past 7 years, Brian and I have taken on that challenge. Of course it’s been much longer if […]