The highest level can actually be the wrong next level for a young player. Quick reflection from something I read this week. Fortuna Düsseldorf’s U19 coach made the point that relegation to Germany’s third division might actually make it easier for academy players to break into the first team, simply because the jump from youth football is smaller. We so often assume that better development means getting players into the highest possible environment. But if the gap is so big that the player can barely participate meaningfully, is it actually the best next step? Sometimes the more useful environment is the one where the player can actually engage, struggle, adapt, make mistakes and learn. The highest level isn’t always the best next level. Sometimes the best developmental step is the one the player can genuinely grow inside. Read the full interview here: dfb.de/news/fortuna-trainer-…

Full episode here. youtu.be/RyvoZiW91S0?is=OW9V…

What say you?

I think one of the biggest problems in coaching right now is that we’ve created a completely false choice. Either you’re the coach who is constantly stopping the session, giving players answers and telling them exactly what to do, or you’re the coach who steps back, says “the game is the teacher,” and lets everything happen. I don’t think either of those is really useful. In the first session of How To Unlock Player Potential this week, I showed a really simple training activity, two attacking players trying to solve two consecutive 2v1 situations and get into an end zone. I had a very clear idea in my head of how I thought they would solve it, but I didn’t give them that solution, I gave them the problem, the objective and the opposition, then watched what happened. One player solved it almost exactly as I had imagined, it was basically textbook, he committed the defender, used his teammate, received again and progressed. A few seconds later another player solved the exact same problem completely differently, instead of using his teammate in the way I expected, he used the teammate’s movement to disguise his own action, faked the pass and dribbled through himself. Then another player struggled, his first solution didn’t work, but when he experienced almost the same situation again, he changed what he did and found a different answer. This is the kind of thing I want coaches to become really good at seeing. Because if I had shown them the “correct” solution before the activity started, I probably would have got cleaner repetitions, the session might even have looked more organized, but I also would have lost all of that information about what the players were actually capable of seeing, deciding and inventing for themselves. But, my job wasn’t to disappear either. The coaching comes in understanding the problem well enough to design the experience, watching how the players respond, recognizing when they genuinely need help, then giving them as much guidance as necessary without immediately taking the problem away from them. I said something during the session that probably summarizes the whole approach better than I had planned: Explicitly coach as little as possible, as much as necessary, implicitly coach as much as possible, as much as necessary. The environment can do a huge amount of coaching for you, the opposition can create the problem, the space can direct attention, the objective can give the actions purpose, and then your words become far more useful because you and the player are actually reflecting on something they have just experienced together. I use the metaphor of standing next to a river, if I’m trying to explain the river to you while you’ve never seen it, I’m going to need a lot of words, but if we’re standing beside it together, looking at the same thing, I can simply direct your attention towards something you hadn’t noticed yet. The better the experience we create, the better the reflection can become, and the more useful our coaching becomes. And underneath all of this is something even more fundamental, before I design anything, before I decide what feedback to give, before I choose an activity, I need to be able to describe the actual football problem. What are the players trying to achieve, and what is stopping them from achieving it? If I can’t answer those two questions clearly, I’m probably not ready to coach the solution yet. This is a huge part of what How To Unlock Player Potential is about, not giving coaches another collection of exercises, but helping you become better at seeing the game, designing the experience your players actually need, and knowing when to step in and when to let the football do more of the work. If that sounds like the kind of coach you’re trying to become, you can join us here: itsjustasport.com/how-to-unl…

I have apparently developed another controversial coaching opinion. If you join the cross country team, the cross country meets are mandatory. I know. Pretty extreme stuff. And if there is a club soccer game scheduled at the same time, we are still going to expect you to be at the XC meet. Apparently this requires explanation now. What surprises me more is the outrage this generates. "You mean they HAVE to go?" Yes. That's how being on a team works. We practice so we can compete. The meets aren't optional bonus content you unlock if nothing better shows up on the family calendar. I didn't realize "athletes are expected to attend competitions" had become one of my hottest coaching takes. But here we are.

You can complain about pay to play all you want, but when I offer free weekly sessions all summer, 6-8 kids show up. Then, when I run a 3 day camp, cap it at 20 players, and charge $200 / player... I end up with a waitlist.

It's live. The Diamond Code pathway is now one purchase. The U9 U10 7v7 Development System and the new U11 U12 9v9 Development System, together. If you coach anywhere from U9 to U12, this is the whole road. 7v7 builds the player. Brave on the ball, scanning, deciding. 9v9 takes that player and teaches them the game. Real positions, real structure, breaking lines, defending as a unit. Same method start to finish. Games, not drills. Problems, not lectures. Every week has a job, a habit, and a cue, with the session cards already built. You print, you coach. This is the system I run as a Director of Coaching, built against how the best academies in the world develop players and tested on real fields with real rosters. Eight full seasons of curriculum, in one piece. You know your roster. First practice is coming. Walk in with the season already built. diamondcodesoccer.gumroad.co…

It's live. The Diamond Code pathway is now one purchase. The U9 U10 7v7 Development System and the new U11 U12 9v9 Development System, together. If you coach anywhere from U9 to U12, this is the whole road. 7v7 builds the player. Brave on the ball, scanning, deciding. 9v9 takes that player and teaches them the game. Real positions, real structure, breaking lines, defending as a unit. Same method start to finish. Games, not drills. Problems, not lectures. Every week has a job, a habit, and a cue, with the session cards already built. You print, you coach. This is the system I run as a Director of Coaching, built against how the best academies in the world develop players and tested on real fields with real rosters. Eight full seasons of curriculum, in one piece. You know your roster. First practice is coming. Walk in with the season already built. diamondcodesoccer.gumroad.co…

#31 - Your Kid Doesn’t Need to Travel That Far for Soccer Why are your kids traveling hours to play youth soccer games? Why are they flying to other states? Chapters 00:00 Introduction and overview of youth soccer travel issues 02:04 The proliferation of youth soccer leagues and talent dilution 03:47 The unnecessary nature of travel for most youth players 04:58 Myth of needing to travel for top competition 06:53 The constructed ecosystem of youth soccer and its flaws 08:59 The importance of local leagues and competition 12:59 The social and developmental impact of travel 16:45 The influence of social media and status in youth soccer 19:09 The need for collective action to reform youth soccer 20:57 Summary and call to action for local competition