OK after I watched this video the educator in me took over and it strikes me that our decision makers, of every capacity, would benefit from viewing the clip; be those leaders at the national, state or local level. I am sure that in one fashion or another we all will be involved in the development of the American game. So here’s the food for thought…
I want to show you a TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson.
I am enjoying this one – it helps that Sir Robinson is such an engaging speaker. I think it is one that we should share not only with our coaches, but our administrators too. Is not youth soccer in America at a point of needing revolution thus allowing us to evolve?
From what is taught in the National Youth License coaching course he touches on the Flow State Model and on the deleterious effect of drills. In paraphrasing one of his comments I see how player development is an organic process. We cannot fully predict the outcome. You can only create the conditions under which players can flourish.
So in watching the clip closely I feel that if one can think about the education of players, coaches, referees, administrators and parents in the youth soccer context as Sir Robinson speaks about academic education then one can see the parallels to the daily environment of youth soccer.
The take away message from Sir Robinson’s talk is that we have to recognize that human flourishing is not a mechanical process, it's an organic process. And you cannot predict the outcome of human development; all you can do, like a farmer, is create the conditions under which they will begin to flourish. I believe that is the approach we should take in our efforts to impact the continuing development of participants in youth soccer.