Created 1 years 28 days ago
by
Percy
The way that Hollandia players are placed on teams, and their pathway through the club over the years follows a developmental model that fits with Long Term Athlete Development, an initiative that was introduced by Canadian Sport For Life a few years ago. Canada Soccer's customized version of this is known as Wellness to World Cup.
Many have the opinion that once a player has played at the Premier level, they should continue to be placed at that level every season thereafter. The truth is that this method of selection would not necessarily be in the player's best interest.
Because of our small soccer population, we have age groups that span two years. Between the ages of 11 and 16, each year can represent a huge difference in different developmental factors.
For example, a player who is moved directly from Under 12 Premier to Under 14 Premier will have to face a majority of older players who will typically be more advanced in chronological age, but also in developmental age.
Putting a young player under this type of stress can be exceedingly harmful to his /her confidence, and can also lead to long term injury, Frankly, it is irresponsible.
At Hollandia, in line with Wellness to World Cup, we examine where players are in the developmental stage, and whether they are early or late developers, before deciding where to place them.
It is a mistake also to think that early developers, or physically bigger players should automatically play at a higher level. Soccer is a very technical game and many early developers are victims of this belief, because they are moved to the next level, before they have had the chance to cement the basic skills that they should acquire before they are ready to move on.
In many instances in Canadian soccer, junior teams in an age group are stripped of all the better players in order to ensure a winning season for senior players. This is not only harmful to individual players who may not be ready for the move, but it sacrifices the junior players and teams in order to ensure success for the second year players.
Hollandia has a process for the movement and placement of players as they move through the club. Adopted two years ago on male teams, the process has been very successful and has now been adopted on the female side. Check the results of the U14 and u16 premier boy's teams, and the U14 Division 2 Boy's Team for proof.
In this model, each age group is divided into two Developmental Phases. The idea is that each player has the opportunity to complete his/her education in each developmental phase before progressing along the Hollandia Player Path.
SYSI rules have been changed to allow us to permit early developers as often as we llike to play on premier teams without compromising theeir soccer education or risking injury. First year players who are physically mature can play with second year players when the time is right, without stripping the junior teams of talent.