Lessons from the Vancouver Olympics.....for Soccer in Canada

The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver has highlighted what is possible by Canadian athletes at the world level. Critics are pointing out that "Own the Podium" has not realized it's main objective of finishing first overall in the medal count. They are missing the point!

"Own the podium” is about providing elite Canadian athletes with the necessary funding and support to successfully compete with the world's best. The medal count and performances by our athletes has confirmed that we can compete successfully against the world's best...and triumph! In addition, our athletes at these games will inspire another generation of young Canadian's to strive for excellence.

Jon Armstrong is a prime example of what is possible when someone has passion, perseverance and shows great tenacity...they can succeed at the highest levels! I personally enjoyed Jon's comment that it is up to everyone to go out and seek their passion out ....it will not come to you if you sit still and wait for it. Joannie Rochette is another great example to our young children on how to overcome tragedy and show tremendous grace and poise to realize our dreams.

So what can soccer in Canada learn from these games? We can certainly learn that to reach it to the very top or succeed in anything in life you need the great support of family and friends and you need to work tremendously hard, day in day out....to pursue excellence! They say that it takes 10,000 training hours to become world class at any sport. In soccer in Canada we continue to place greater emphasis on playing games versus training and mastering our skills with the ball.

Do the math. If you start playing soccer at age 5 and wish to be playing at an elite level by age 25, you need to be training (not playing) 500 hours/year. That requires 10 hours of training/week. In other sports, young Canadians train long hours in other sports such as hockey, skating, gymnastics and athletics yet we have yet to embrace this philosophy in soccer. Now is the time to do this!

In terms of overall structure we need to make the following changes immediately:

1) Set "own the podium" type goals for future Canadian Olympic and World Cup soccer teams and provide players and coaches with the necessary tools and resources to achieve this. We MUST be qualifying for World Cup competition as a minimum.

2) Have separate governance over grassroots and elite programs. Our community soccer clubs do a great job in encouraging participation but elite programs have very different goals and requirements. District associations have too much power in our current structure and should not be governing or have any input into elite level programs.

3) Maximize our resources and stop competing against overselves. Our soccer landscape is littered with groups competing against each other. There should be room for private academies within our current structure, they have playing and coaching resources that must be embraced rather than shunned. In fact, we should be encouraging our young coaches and investing in them. The more qualified coaches working full-time in soccer the better our players will become.

4) Measure all our players using a national testing system. This testing system should be implemented at all levels, including schools and should measure individual ball skills. Players should then be placed in programs with players of similar abilities and clear pathways should be in place to move to higher levels, similar to our hockey system. Emphasize the skill levels attained by these players versus how many meaningless trophies they have accumulated. League standings or results should not be kept or posted at the youth levels, again, in line with other leading soccer nations.

5) Reduce the number of games played by our young players. They should be training 3 or 4 times for every game played, in line with other leading soccer nations. At present, the majority of our young players play 3 or 4 games for every training session.
There is a saying that if you keep doing the same things...you will achieve the same results! In soccer, we keep doing the same things...."Own the Podium" is a step in a new direction....and every evening for the last few weeks we are able to enjoy the results.

Let's take the necessary steps now for our young soccer players...and enable them to compete also at the highest levels!I am inspired by the 100 young players that I work with each week who show up willing to try new things and learn. They are not afraid to make mistakes and attempt skills that at the beginning are difficult to master. Every one of them shows great perseverance and tenacity and in my mind are true champions of the game… we must do it for them so that they have all the opportunities at their disposal to achieve their dreams!