| Breaking New Ground (July 2005) |
By Schellas Hyndman
Almost every soccer person appreciates the entertaining soccer that comes from Brazil. The six-time World Cup champions enjoy a rich history featuring such tremendous players as Pelé, Garrincha, Zico, Renaldo, Ronaldinho and many others who have worn the famous yellow shirt of Brazil.
Why does Brazilian soccer hold so many of us spellbound? There are many reasons that could be listed, but I sum them all up with one thought: I know when I’m watching the Brazilian National Team play, I am truly entertained.
Brazil’s triumph in the 1970 World Cup was my introduction to their brand of soccer. I knew of Pelé and company, but the 1970 World Cup was special. Seeing Carlos Alberto score in the final against Italy is something I never will forget – imagine, a fullback in the penalty box scoring in the World Cup final!
I was so impressed by Brazilian soccer that I took a semester off at Eastern Illinois University and traveled to Caxias do Sul, Brazil. I was fortunate to be able to participate with Juventude Futebol Clube for three months. Since those early days, I returned to Brazil in 1975 to do an Estadio (similar to student-teaching here in the States) for one and a half years of soccer coaching with the famous Sao Paulo Futebol Clube. I also have attended numerous coaching courses in Rio de Janeiro.
It was at one of these courses in the late 1980s that I met and became friends with Rene Simoes, one of the most respected coaches in Brazil. NSCAA members were treated to his special insights at the 2005 Convention in Baltimore, where he made two presentations as our special clinician.
In May, the NSCAA Coaching Academy made history. Under the leadership of Director of Coaching Education Jeff Tipping, the NSCAA held a Premier Diploma course in Curitiba, Brazil, where we were privileged to stage the course at Atletico Paranaense Futebol Clube facilities. The 36 candidates took part in a once in a lifetime experience, learning firsthand exactly what the Brazilians are doing with their youth development as well their training sessions for professional players.
Something of this quality doesn’t just happen by itself. NSCAA Past President Barry Gorman, the men’s coach at Penn State University, had the idea to do a coaching course in Brazil two years ago. Miguel De Lima, a friend of the NSCAA for more than 25 years, created the opportunity to go to Atletico Paranaense Futebol Clube through De Lima Soccer. De Lima summed it up best: “Barry did the kickoff, Miguel carried the ball up the field and Schellas finished the goal.” All in all, it was a team effort.
Once the course finished, Barry and Miguel traveled to different orphanages in Brazil to donate shirts and adidas soccer balls to the poor children of Brazil. This is just another example of the far reach of soccer and the NSCAA.
I could go on and on about this wonderful experience, but what I would like to do now is to give all our members an opportunity to hear it directly from one of our Premier Diploma candidates, John Coumbe-Lilley...
Schellas Hyndman told me that the NSCAA Premier Diploma candidates had not written about their experiences in the course and shared them with colleagues. This is my attempt to convey what this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was to the first-ever group of coaches that took the course conducted in Brazil.
The Premier Diploma is supposed to be one course but, as a colleague said to me at the airport as we departed stateside, there were three courses that we took. The first was the systems of play, secondly how to coach the 11-a-side game and thirdly how to run a professional soccer club. The participants came from North America, Europe, the West Indies and Africa, coaches at all levels with a variety of experiences. It was the American melting pot many of us have come to expect in soccer. This added value as leadership from among the candidates showed itself in different ways as the course unfolded.
Course director Hyndman and a staff that included Anson Dorrance, Barry Gorman and NSCAA Director of Coaching Education Jeff Tipping told the group that the schedule would be flexible but everything on the agenda would be covered. He told us this for good reason. Even though we were taking a course, we were in the body of a professional soccer club, listening to its heartbeat as it developed talent to perform at the highest levels of club and international soccer.
The tone of the course was set by Miguel De Lima, who had been instrumental in setting the course up, as he led the group into Atletico Paranaense stadium. The president of the club delayed a trip with the first team, who were playing away from home, to meet the group. Our visit clearly was important to Atletico. Later we met the Technical Director and the man in charge of Atletico’s youth development wing, Oscar Erichsen, who holds a Ph.D. in exercise physiology from the University of Wisconsin. He opened our week by explaining the club’s structure and how it works. All week long he was sharing, giving and being honest and open with his insights, all delivered with good humor and candor.
I thought it was a step in the right direction that an exercise physiologist was in charge of total youth development because it takes the players’ preparation to a completely new level. Erichsen mandates that all youth coaches not only have professional playing experience and coaching qualifications, they must have or be studying for a degree in physical education. Clearly success is not left to chance at this club. Can you imagine every coach at the college level having a degree in physical education and having completed an undergraduate thesis specifically to answer a question around soccer? Erichsen set high standards and this club did not compromise on its expectations for staff or players.
To be part of this developmental process, schedule flexibility was essential because we were learning something as coaches that would help us become more effective with our own players. We never knew from one day to the next just how much more we would learn and grow as coaches as a result of our course material and observations of the coaches and players from Atletico.
What happened was simply fantastic. We squeezed in every ounce of observation and interaction possible with the Atletico coaches and players and we covered all of the material. The willingness of the NSCAA staff to engage candidates in conversation all day long without frustration was great to experience. It was collegial between staff and candidates at all times. This helped the learning process because we could talk without too many barriers between us.
We had instruction from a “systems advocate” every day for four days. Dorrance almost convinced every coach in the room that playing a 3-4-3 was the best system possible. Nobody argued, although there were lots of comments questioning his position and plenty of talk along the lines of “Well, he can play 3-4-3 – he gets the best players.”
You can’t argue with success, and having Dorrance on the staff kept everyone on their toes. Excellence is his creed and you had to deliver a good point to engage in discussion with him about the system. Dorrance gave us his position and there was no doubt about what the 3-4-3 meant to him. The challenge to the candidates was to decide what it meant to us. Of course, the answer to most questions in soccer, as the majority of critically-minded coaches knows, is that “it depends.”
Our second advocate was Hyndman, who did his best to convey the 4-4-2 system in the classroom. He demonstrated the system best by showing the coaches its strengths and weaknesses on the field. He prompted the coaches to figure ways of using the system differently. Like every staff member, he answered each question with respect and empathy for coaches trying to solve problems that would help their team in the future.
Later that day we focused on learning team pressing. It was one of the sessions that touched on all aspects of the game – the technical, tactical, physical and mental – at one time. Whether the topic was new to me or not did not matter, because it presented a part of the game and was explained and demonstrated thoroughly. I think that was a strength of the course – whether you knew the coaching points or not, you were validated that you were already working along the right lines or you could add tools and techniques to your coaching repertoire to make your players better.
Tipping gave us our first assignment: analyze the Copa De Liberatordes between Atletico and Medellin of Colombia. This tied in nicely with our third advocate.
Erichsen and two Atletico coaches guided us through the technical, tactical and physical demands of playing the 3-5-2. Our third advocates demonstrated how Atletico has vertically integrated this system in its club, from U-13 to the professional team. We had the whole system broken down, defense, transition and attack; the focus of play was possession to penetrate and to play at high speed for as long as possible. Of course some of the coaches were skeptical about playing the 3-5-2 for various reasons, but everyone was looking forward to the game and the analysis.
That night we arrived at Atletico’s new grounds sporting our NSCAA shirts. We broke into groups and had VIP tickets to sit above the visiting team’s end for the first half. The game was bright and had a bit of edge to it, with Atletico getting slightly the better chances in the first half. A 0-0 score showed as we enjoyed halftime food and beverages. The second half helped prove our analysis. The Colombians had played a 4-4-2 and “sat in” with eight or nine players behind the ball looking for counters down the middle, where Atletico had shown vulnerability. Before we came to the game, Erichsen told us which Medellin players to observe, and we keenly trained our eyes on them
The beginning of Medellin’s successful exploitation of Atletico’s 3-5-2 came in the 65th minute. Sharp combination play in front of goal led to Medellin scoring. Atletico lost a target man to injury and with him their hopes for a comeback. The Colombians exploited the shape of the midfield and defensive back three mercilessly and finished the match 4-0 winners. All the goals had come from combination play from halfway to goal or direct passing from midfield. All the goals were scored from in front of goal.
It was a disaster for Atletico, but made great conversation for us as we completed our match analysis task. The observation of the game left a number of coaches with the impression that Atletico’s coach should be fired for the team’s performance. He was released the next day.
By Wednesday our group in Brazil had gelled quite nicely. There was no discord and everyone seemed to be adapting to the collegiality of the course. Gorman was our final systems advocate, demonstrating and developing the 4-3-3. What was most appealing about this was the way it was structured as a topic. Gorman taught it whole-part-whole. It was not so much what was demonstrated but how it was demonstrated. We were treated to simple organization that was effective, efficient and productive, fostering learning for the players in a way that was clear and easy for them to understand what was being asked of them.
We also watched the reserves play the U-20 team and saw a pro strike the ball from fully 35 yards, bend it around a four-man wall and finish it in the top right corner past the flying keeper. It summed up the quality of play we had seen all week.
Wednesday evening we were given our coaching assessment topics. Earlier in the week we had two demonstrations of how to coach by two candidates and two staff members – now it was our time. All of the coaches were anxious to know their topics and put on a great session when called upon. Many of the coaches were nervous because they had to perform in front of their peers. However, those nerves were calmed by beers at a brewery we went to that night for a social, where we mingled and talked soccer while Santos played on a giant screen in the background. Perfect!
Thursday was the first day of our assessments, but Erichsen first educated us on the periodized model of preparation and performance that Atletico has for its youth teams. We were shown the physical and technical tests frequently used to assess players. It demonstrated how far the game has come in our generation – the science of soccer is becoming integral to performance.
Our assessments got underway and, as usual, some coaches played less and some more, but everyone contributed in some way or other. Some coaching sessions were better than others and some were just plain bad. That’s what you’d expect – anything different would be a surprise. The main thing was that everyone gave it a go and tried to do their best. Following our first day of assessments the oral tests were given, a curious mixture of reflective and problem-solving questions. This was fun and perhaps too many coaches were too worried that their answers were wrong instead of thinking that most questions can be answered with “it depends,” followed by a justification of the position.
Friday, our last day in Brazil and the final day of on-field assessment, saw everyone participate. We had given our best effort. When it was over, we let out a huge cheer and our final group photo was taken inside the goal under the Brazilian sun. As Tipping closed the proceedings, we were treated to a memory to cherish: a session with Harry Keough, a member of 1950 U.S. World Cup team that beat England 1-0 in Brazil who told us that he preferred the company of soccer people than most others. An NSCAA Hall of Famer who led Saint Louis University to five NCAA Division I titles, Harry is a living legend and it was our pleasure to have him with us.
It’s no understatement to say that our hosts at Atletico Paranaense were outstanding in hospitality, generosity, openness and candor. Oscar Erichson always was on hand to answer questions.
At the end of the course, Gorman said that no matter what anyone said in the future, we had been a part of soccer history. He was right; we had been the first group of coaches from the NSCAA to be educated in Brazil. I hope we won’t be the last. |
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