Complexity “When dialing up or down the complexity of a task to suit the needs of a performer we want to reduce without impoverishing. This means that we want to reduce the complexity while preserving key representative sources of info.” (P. O’Callaghan) #TOVO #clearcoaching

If you do not understand that this is a WORLD Cup and not a “World” Series, this video of the Scots may clarify the difference. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💙⚽️ #TOVO #thebeautifulgame

Intelligent Football Been working in this one question for 30 years: How do we best promote learning and joy as educators/coaches? #TOVO #intelligentfootball

Childhood is not the preparation for adulthood. It is itself a life. ▪️Let’s not rob our youth footballers of their youth. #TOVO #intelligentfootball

Style First ✏️ ▪️Embrace a Style of Play before any system of play. #TOVO #Intelligentfootball

Focus on Talent ✏️ ▪️If you develop an intelligent, skillful footballer of character, she can play in any system. If you develop a player for the system, she will be limited when the system changes. #TOVO

Have you fallen into a seductive trap? Most coaches start with drills, sessions & tactics and that is a trap. Consider this instead: ▪️1st - Learn how players learn. ▪️2nd - Learn how to apply that to your age format. ▪️3rd - Learn how to build a complete program. #TOVO #clearcoaching

Repeat Finding Solutions ✏️ ✔️ Players finding solutions similar to those they encounter in a game are players on a proper development path. ❌ Players repeating menial actions are those lost when the game poses questions they cannot answer. #TOVO #intelligentfootball

TOVO Tuesday Article ✏️ Once Upon a Play 
Once upon a time you played.  

You did not train kick the can.  You did not practice hide and seek. You did not drill hopscotch or prepare for fingerpainting. You ran, you hid, you hopped and made a mess. All in the name of frivolity and fantasy.  

Once upon a time you played. 

You did not need motivation to move. Mindfulness was minding your own business. There was nothing at home but white bread and a thin bed. You were out for the day and home before dark.  

You did not need a playdate to play. You knocked on doors. You gathered the available turning a street into a stadium. “Car, car – C-A-R” was the only delay in delirium. No phones, no fear of missing out. No text, just context.   

And suddenly that bell. The truck was sauntering down Montrose Terrace in Allendale. You sprinted home to grab change from the cracks in the sagging sofa. Forty-five cents a fortune. Push-up cone or ice cream sandwich?  The tough choice of champions.  

And in that process learning emerged. You learned that mowing a lawn was worth the sweet taste of sugar cones. That a morning paper route was worth afternoons of rope swings and bee stings. You learned that poison ivy itches, but that sea water solves rashes and restlessness.  You learned that nightcrawlers are the best bait for bass. And the best bass were hungry at dawn off Earnie’s rocks or Teddy’s dock.   

You learned that your first fight won was a loss because victory hurts when you hurt someone. You learned that baseballs bruise and big dogs bite when you do not pay attention. You learned that play was a privilege, not a down payment for an Ivy application. You learned to stack wood, paint a shed and to shed tears when Muffin dies. You learned that down syndrome kid is just a kinder version of you.

Once upon a time you played.  

You learned about leaners and ringers and the hidden rules of horseshoes. You learned that Grampa was a leftie and Nanny was a tom-boy with grey hair and a stubborn soul.  

Once upon a time you played free from scrutiny and far from adults. You kept score and then washed the slate clean on the bike ride home.  

I am not sure what I offer as a coach if not a safe place to play. And that just may be enough to give to the children of today what I cherish from yesterday.  

Once upon a time I played, too. #TOVO

Wisdom ✏️ “We must seek joy and inspiration as much in training as in competition.” - Johan Cruyff #TOVO #intelligentfootball

The @USYNT U17 got spanked by Brasil last night and that is a good thing. (4-0) Nothing like a reality check to find out which players moan and which want to do something about it. Sometimes losing serves a purpose that winning does not. 👍 @ussoccer #TOVO

Desirable Difficulties Beane Babble Take on the uncomfortable until you become comfortable. Only action leads to aptitude. #TOVO #ClearCoaching

Traditional Training The status quo training many of us grew up with does not maximize the potential of the children in our charge. So, we will not repeat it. We will not employ activities or drills that fail to maximize learning because we have set out to do just that. We will choose nutrient activities that honor the learning process and help our players drive from baseline to better. The rest we will throw in the trash. Traditional training no longer serves an inspiring purpose. So, we will replace it with better training. #TOVO #intelligentfootball

Repetition Note Perhaps you have already noticed a trick to our trade. We repeat ourselves. This is on purpose based upon what we know about how humans learn and how they forget. We repeat to stave off the forgetting curve and we repeat to interleave exposure to concepts to recall them. Your players will not need new material. They will need to revisit the most important material over and over again as they train to be able to both understand and apply concepts. #TOVO #intelligentfootball

Position Play is about offering the ball carrier “two or three playmaking possibilities.” (Cruyff) Managing oneselves to manage space to manage the ball is critical to intelligent football. We just teach football differently and dynamically. #TOVO #ClearCoaching

Play the game. Don’t drill the game. No 7 year old should go to soccer practice to stand in line. What are we doing people? #TOVO #ClearCoaching

Core Questions for Coaches ▪️Is this the player I want to develop? ▪️Is this the game I believe football is? ▪️What experiences do I want to provide?” #TOVO #intelligentfootball

True Story I arrived to lead the academy of a prominent pro club in South Africa. Day one observing a genuinely proud coach showing his most dynamic u18 training. ▪️1 v GK with field player starting from the center circle. One at a time dribbling half the field alone. After training, the coach asked what I thought and I delayed my response until I had seen a week’s worth of training. ❓Questions I asked him two questions after seeing similar drills all week. 1. How many times does your CB take on the opposing GK from a midfield solo dribble? 2. Why do you feel it was a dynamic drill if 19 players were waiting in line for one player GK to compete? ✔️Answers: 1. Never 2. It seems dynamic because you are focused on the only dynamic part (2 of 21) I can tell this story knowing that I could ask a thousand youth coaches the same questions about relevance and engagement. Relevance is about competitive contextual training. Engagement is about competitive and contextual training. ✏️ One Solution One solution to almost all the questions we should ask of ourselves as coaches. Are our exercises competitive and contextual to promote relevance and engagement? To secure transfer of learning? #TOVO #intelligentfootball

Stay on task.. There are only two challenges in an invasion game: ▪️Find & exploit space. ▪️Deny the exploitation of space. Our entire training session asks players to do this in every exercise. (Not 1/3 of practice, not 1/2) Consider it. #TOVO #intelligentfootball

If we taught soccer in the 🇺🇸 as a game of finding and exploiting space from the youngest ages, our players would be exponentially better. #TOVO #intelligentfootball