It's wildly inappropriate to put U15s up against adults - where else would we feel it appropriate to have adults play sports against a child? We having a spelling bee with 14 year old Timmy vs a truck driver from Sando? What about wrestling between Justin in fourth form and 32 year-old Gary from San Juan?
They won't learn anything useful - this type of thinking is what killed youth development in England for so long. The only kids able to compete are physically more developed, which leads to a bias towards fast, strong players, to the great detriment of technically proficient players. How are they going to compete on corners? Free Kicks?
Just to put this into perspective, I'm an U14's coach - we play 30 minute halves, for a total of 60 minutes, on a smaller pitch. This is what is developmentally appropriate. Throwing kids onto a full-sized pitch for 90 minutes will not benefit their development.
Are the kids you coach national level athletes, some of who may realistically play in a FIFA youth world cup?
It is irresponsible to throw children into an adult sporting environment with no thought given to their care and development. Having won several national championships as an athlete, and later as coach to both adults and youth, I have first hand experience with this.
These kids are at a transitional stage. At national level we have to start introducing youth to the rigors of the adult game at this very age group. IMO the most challenging aspect of this transition is not physical; its a shift in mindset that needs to be managed with a maximum of care and consideration for the athletes. But it must be done.
15 year old keepers? Maybe, 15 year old outfield players? Exceptional to the extreme. 15 year olds have another foot to grow and a lot more muscle to pile on. They are often going through or just hit puberty, with fragile egos and conflicting emotions.
The most challenging aspect is definitely the physical - technicality doesn't matter when someone can (fairly) muscle you off the ball with ease. The mindset can be achieved with small changes in year groups, specifically managed. Youth leagues generally forbids moving someone more than 2 year groups up, for example.
Perhaps this particular league was not suited to their needs. Regardless, we are well behind the CONCACAF curve in introducing young players into more serious environments. The last U-15s were reportedly together for almost two years. Yet they were as sub-par on a relative basis as past teams that did not have the benefit of staying together. What could be at the root of this performance issue?
Saying we have a tendency to 'baby' our young men and women may have been a bit harsh. To rephrase....Has the football fraternity in Trinidad and Tobago been more comfortable sustaining an amateur sporting culture, and as a corollary showed reluctance to introduce some elements of a more professional culture for our youth?
IMO the physical challenge of playing up can be surmountable by most young athletes. Many opposing CA coaches commend our physicality. Yet T&T youngsters are invariably the first to be winded on the pitch. They often concede heavily during the final moments of games. Over and over again we hear respected national coaches single out the fact that their Central American peers are exposed to more demanding playing environments at an earlier age, as that 'edge' separating those squads from ours.
I'm clearly no football pundit, but this 'edge' seems based on mindset strengths acquired by earlier exposure to serious environments where they learn to adapt to greater physical and and mental performance benchmarks. Compare those environments to the persistence of the SSFL as a primary benchmark of Trinidad and Tobago players.
Lets be honest. That the SSFL is a STILL an important performance benchmark is very much a reflection of outdated views toward the game/social conventions. Due to our social attitudes, have we been reluctant to embrace professional football as a career path for youth? Are we effectively delaying their entry into the professional ranks to a certain extent? How detrimental has this been to their development? Part of an effective platform to move forward football should include building on structures that promote professionalism, and give youth greater choice, and responsibility, for their own development.
We also have to be cognizant of deep-seated attitudes that over-emphasize theoretical development at the expense of playing competitive games. This 'Practice champ' national team training over the last 2 years at U-15 has been an utter failure.
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