Within the youth development phase (U13-U14), we continue to expose players to a variety of training environments focused on developing new skills while introducing new concepts relating to our club’s principles of play.  

Here are some of our common training methods – 

  • The Rondo – A rondo activity involves a group of players maintaining possession in a small area while having a ‘numerical superiority’’ (more players than the opponent). This activity challenges players technically and cognitively. 

Every time the ball moves, players must recognize the position and flow of the defenders. (At a professional player level, that’s a ball movement roughly every half of a second!) This guides players’ decision-making and is an excellent training tool for perception and reacting to the cues that the game gives us.

  • Positional games – Similar to a rondo, one team has numerical superiority with the key differences being that there is a directional flow and players are positioned within a unit that is realistic to the game. This promotes transfer from training activities to the game as the shapes and spaces are relative to how the players would set up on matchday.  Adding a direction to training helps to increase realism while still allowing and encouraging 360-degree play where appropriate
  • Situational training – As indicated by the name, a specific situation or phase of a game is used to train the options within that game moment. Rather than using pattern play for this, we might ‘manufacture’ a picture as a start point to then let the game develop.  
    • For example – as we build out, we play our center back, into a centermid, then out to a fullback. The pattern is used to begin the activity before the game goes live as the ball travels out in the final sequence). From here, we encourage the defending team to make their own decisions to ensure realism. This helps players develop in reading the cues of the game and how best to react to them, rather than looking for pre-prescribed, coach-set patterns.   
  • Conditioned games – Continuing to use small-sided games, in the U13-U14 years, we emphasize putting constraints on the rules, player actions or environment. These constraints (targets, challenges and conditions) are a common way for us to provide focus upon a training topic, while playing a game. 

For example – if our training focus is switching play, we might add a target into the game that a goal scored after a switch of play is worth more than a goal scored from the strong side.  

Holistic Development 

We aim to develop the whole person, rather than just the sports specific skills of the players. In the Foundation Phase, players are introduced to cultural expectations which begin to challenge players socially and organizationally. In the Youth Development Phase, we increase our efforts within holistic development, gradually providing players with more and more responsibility.  

  • Reflective practice – Throughout the Youth Development Phase, players are given access to video footage of their games. This gives players the opportunity and encouragement to watch the games back and reflect on the play.

For example: when watching the game, identifying a “Stop, Start, Stay.” Should they choose to go through their games and identify trends/actions that they could stop doing, start doing, or continue (stay) doing, they can share with the coaching staff for feedback on each.

Players are reminded that they have the most control over their development and we challenge them to go above and beyond to reach their development goals. Coaches are always looking to help and motivate the players within the team setting individually, yet when we begin to see players taking the initiative to invest in their development, and share their viewpoints and ideas, the staff is even more eager to also go above and beyond to engage with those players. This is a fundamental life lesson we hope will carry on through life as players go outside the Youth Development Phase. 

  • Preparation – Players are expected to take care of their own preparation for both training and games. Players assist with set up at training and are given autonomy over their warm up. On a matchday captains choose warm up activities and lead them with only assistance from the coach if requested. These moments are used as teaching tools, encouraging the players to reflect on their own commitment to preparing for a game in the way that they warmed up without having a coach watching over them and pushing their concentration levels.
  • Confidence building – Players are given tools to use to help build their confidence both before and after activity. For example, after a training session or game, players are encouraged to to spend a few minutes journaling – noting down moments in which they 1) gave maximum effort to an action; 2) achieved a small success or 3) made progress towards their goals.  The idea behind this journaling is to build a ‘confidence bank’ to dip into whenever needed.  

 

Regional competition

Building on the regional training and competitions that were introduced at the U11 and U12 years, the Youth Development Phase shifts to including semi-regular training and competition. 

Regional training is when players from all sites come together to train. Groups are tiered according to whole age groups rather than site based teams. From those trainings, regional teams are selected on a periodic basis to compete in the national/regional league level. 

Roster pools (22-24 players) are selected for 2 ID periods in the year. All players within the top pools will rotate through competitions during that game season. 

These seasonal ID periods subject players to greater growth opportunities of success or adversity. When not selected, you have the opportunity to chase down the player ahead of you while those selected have time to grow further to solidify their place in the team, while knowing their spot is not guaranteed for the full year. 

We aim to teach the players to approach setbacks with a growth mindset – that failure is an opportunity to develop resilience and to channel our heightened emotions as motivation to push harder in an effort to earn selection next time around 

Each ID period we focus our selection on attendance, attitude, and ability. Players must continually demonstrate the highest levels possible to be considered for the top pools. 

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Steel City is a player-centric club, meaning that all of the decisions we make are to benefit each individual player and their development. Over time, this will develop great players, teammates, and teams. 

We aim to empower our players to take responsibility for their training and their development by creating an environment that has the right balance of fun and discipline, with the understanding that we must cultivate a love for the game above all else.

We are believers that there’s no “right” way to play the game. There are loads of different styles of play, all of which can be effective if coached properly. However, having a set style of play allows us to keep the focus on the long term development of our players. This consistency throughout the program enables our coaching staff to layer on new ideas each year, and throughout each phase, relative to the players’ age and learning ability. Our goal is for all of our players to reach whatever they want their highest level to be. 

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