“You just call out my name, and you know where ever I am I'll come running to see you again. Winter, spring, summer, or fall, all you have to do is call and I'll be there, yeah, yeah, you've got a friend.”

Those lyrics from the second stanza of James Taylor’s "You’ve Got a Friend" aptly describe how George Perry feels about the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

When the NSCAA needed an interim director of education and coaching development (2011-12), Perry was there. Truth is, when the NSCAA needs anything at all, George Perry is always there.  

And, it will be no different when the NSCAA opens its inaugural 2013 Summer Symposium in Orlando, August 1-3, at the Orlando World Center.  Perry, the Association's current Vice President for Education and 2014 President, will lead and assist NSCAA State Director in Texas Neil Hull, in the following sessions geared around the Level 2 diploma at the Symposium:

Perry, who served as the men’s soccer coach at Monmouth College (Ill.) from 2006-12, was recently named the Commissioner of the Indiana Soccer League. Perry has chaired numerous NSCAA committees, developed curriculums, and even implemented strategic plans. 

“Over the years, I have learned that there are many ways to arrive at the right solutions,” Perry said. “It is always important to hear what everyone has to say and ultimately, and hopefully with the support from others, come to conclusions that will help the growth of soccer and the development of the players. That’s what the NSCAA is all about. Working with the NSCAA I have learned that cooperative work makes for better work”

As he always is, Perry was more than willing to answer a few questions about what he plans to accomplish at this year’s Summer Symposium.

Why is the Summer Symposium a good idea?

It’s not a good idea, it’s a great idea and I am so pleased we have added it to the NSCAA schedule. I believe that the Summer Symposium is going to help us provide an opportunity for a number of our members who are not free because of their schedules in the winter for the January Convention to come, participate and learn. I know this event is at the perfect time for a lot of coaches. And, as we all know, the NSCAA has always been about recognizing top players and coaches for their work on the field and in the classroom.  This Symposium allows players and coaches to attend and be recognized properly for their outstanding contributions.   

Why are you and all NSCAA staff coaches always talking about sharing?

That’s what the NSCAA is built on. It’s about sharing with our membership and learning from our membership as well. Those of us who have been involved and stayed involved with the NSCAA for so long love to continue to share and learn. Just as important, we hope it will continue to allow new coaches to become engaged. It’s a wonderful two-way street. The NSCAA staff coaches learn as much, if not more from the new coaches, and the feeling is mutual. The humility that comes from the great majority of the people that I come in contact through the NSCAA is incredible. From gold medal winners, to U6 and U8 coaches, it’s just something that never ends. The excitement that you have in a conversation with an individual at an NSCAA event is always one of the best parts of the association. 

You kick off your programs at the Summer Symposium with a classroom session. What can coaches expect?

The Level 2 diploma is targeted toward one of the most important ages, the U6, U8 and U10 players. What we do is try to work with them on how to organize how they coach these players, understanding the group that they are working with. This first session spends a lot of quality time analyzing the cognitive approach of what players at this age truly understand about the game. We try and show the coaches why players at this age play and even why they stop playing. We focus on the organization of training sessions, eliminating players standing around, waiting in lines. That doesn’t work very well for college players, so you can imagine how that works for young players. We want coaches to understand how to interact with the players and what they can learn from the players. And, we set the table for the rest of the Level 2 diploma by talking about how we organize games. Everything about coaching at this level should be teaching through games.   

Breakdown the three field sessions you will be running with Neil Hull.

Dribbling is the first one and this is critical. Every player has a ball and every player wants to play with the ball. We need to give them activities that encourage playing with the ball. Dribbling and playing with the ball is what attracts them to the game–the soccer ball is what gets them there. They want the ball and they don’t want to give it up. It’s like a child with a favorite blanket, when you try and take it away, they pull it back. And, at this age, we want the players to have that kind of possessiveness, even selfishness, so to speak. It is so critical at this age. If you never played soccer and tried to start as an adult, dribbling would be the hardest part to learn. In fact, there’s a good chance you could never be a good dribbler. That’s why it has to be a focus from the start

Striking the ball, which includes shooting, passing and receiving, is the next session. I like to look at this session as a "building activities" section. Remember, we put all of that focus on dribbling and even being selfish that we try and teach them passing first when they actually dribble the ball too far out in front and one of their teammates gets to the ball first. We might even say to our players, “what a great pass, that’s the way to pass the ball,” as a way to generate and involve positive reinforcement. This session will also focus on getting the coaches involved in the games, even involving some of the parents who are watching their kids. It’s a multi-faceted approach to making the game grow and helping the players develop at a critical age.   

Our last session focuses on small-sided games. Our message here is geared around simple math. We want the players – all of them – to get as many touches as possible. The simple math says that if you are playing 11 v. 11 or 8 v. 8, the players are not going to get as many touches as games with 4 v. 4 or 3 v. 3.  That’s the simple math. I like the 4 v. 4 games because of the diamond you can create with four players off of every single restart. This process of spacing into a diamond starts to become natural as you play enough small-sided games. The players just naturally get themselves in the diamond shape. These games help teach offensive and defensive shape, they help with transition, building out of the back, getting off one pass before the other team attacks … they create a lot of learning options.   

Why is this age group so important?

The NSCAA is about improving our soccer coaches at all levels. For a long time we had it backwards in this country. Our highest levels of coaches are at the highest, usually oldest, level coaching positions. That means we might miss the foundation of the game, the foundation that we build the future of the game. The NSCAA makes sure that we try to provide coaches with the best environment possible for their development and the development of their players. That’s what makes our organization so special.

For more information about the Summer Symposium and to register, visit NSCAA.com/Symposium.

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