Presented by: John Murphy

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Youth Soccer Myths

• Presented by John Murphy
• CYSA Chairman of the Board
• chairman_at_cysanorth.org

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Youth Soccer Myths

• A myth is a popular belief that has grown up
  around something
• Or
• Something that has an unverifiable existence
• George Washington the Cherry Tree

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• Problems with Myths
• Maybe strongly held emotionally based beliefs
• Often partially true with part that is true
  extrapolated to extreme and unwarranted
  conclusions
• Often involve false syllogisms

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• Discussing can be dangerous because of the
  emotionalism that may have attached
• There is nothing more horrible than the murder
  of a beautiful theory by a brutal gang of facts
• Why discuss?
• Reality will not go away and eventually will
  prevail
• Information enables people to make better
  decisions

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• We will examine two myths that are very, very
  common in youth soccer today
• First, that children should specialize early in
  one sport and have intensive training
• Second, scholarships are plentiful

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Children should Specialize Early

• How many times have you heard that child must
  start and dedicate himself or herself to soccer
  by age 8 or even age 7?
• Sounds logical more do something better get
  practice makes perfect
• BUT maybe kids are more than just short adults
• Plays on fear of being left behind

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• How Accurate an Idea?
• Children are encouraged to participate in sports
  at a level consistent with their abilities and
  interests. Pushing children beyond these limits
  is discouraged as is specialization in a single
  sport before adolescence.
• American Academy of Pediatrics, Intensive
  Training and Sport Specialization in Youth
  Athletes

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• Research supports the recommendation that child
  athletes avoid early sports specialization.
  Those who participate in a variety of sports and
  specialize only after reaching the age of puberty
  tend to be more consistent performers, have fewer
  injuries, and adhere to sports play longer than
  those who specialize early.
• American Academy of Pediatrics, Intensive
  Training and Sport Specialization in Youth
  Athletes

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• Center for Sports Parenting, Top Ten Sports
  Parenting Myths
• Myth The sooner your child specializes in just
  one sport, the better chance they have of
  advancing to higher level (e.g., college,
  professional ranks).

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• Center for Sports Parenting, Top Ten Sports
  Parenting Myths
• Response Some coaches pressure kids to play
  just one sport. As a parent, you should be wary
  of this! In addition to burnout worries, ask
  yourself, how does your child know which sport
  will be his/her best one, unless they try a bunch
  of different sports? When they are young, let
  them try a bunch of sports.

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• Hedstrom Gould, Research in Youth Sports
  Critical Issues Status, Youth Sports Talent
  Development and Sports Specialization (2004)
• Studies of highly successful athletes show three
  phases
• 1. Romance phase ages 6-13
• 2. Precision phase ages 13-15
• 3. Integration phase ages 15 and older

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• Romance phase child participates in multiple
  sports for FUN
• Precision phase focus on limited number of
  sports
• Integration phase deliberate practice in an
  effort to pursue performance excellence
• Phases are sequential without skipping any

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• Citizenship Through Sports Alliance, 2005 Youth
  Sports National Report Card
• Grade of D in area of Child Centered
  Philosophy
• Youth sports leaders, parents and coaches put the
  goal of children fun, friends, fitness,
  participation and skill development first
• Unacceptable

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• League leaders, parents and coaches understand
  the dangers of early sports specialization
• Needs Improvement
• Youth sports leaders set expectations and hold
  parents, coaches and themselves accountable for
  sportsmanship, civility and commitment to
  child-centered philosophy
• Unacceptable

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• Specialization when young does not work
• Concerns voiced in response to specialization
  include the fact that athletic performance at one
  age in childhood does not accurately predict
  performance at a later age. (Hedstrom Gould,
  supra.)
• There is very little predictive value when it
  comes to saying an 8 year-old will grow to be a
  superior athlete when theyre 18. (Center for
  Sports Parenting, supra.)

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• Studies of the practice in former Soviet Union
  showed early sport specialization did not lead
  to the performance advantages people thought, and
  in fact, there was an advantage to early sport
  diversification. (Hedstrom Gould, supra)

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• Other significant considerations
• Overuse injuries
• . . . one factor was repeatedly cited as the
  prime cause for the outbreak in overuse injuries
  among young athletes specialization in one
  sport at an early age and they year-round, almost
  manic training for it that often follows.
• New York Times, February 23, 2005, Old Before
  their time Overuse injuries afflict the young

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• Burnout
• 75 quit before age 13
• Between 1990 and 2002 number of youth in United
  States increased by more than 7 million
• Number of soccer players during same period
  decreased by approximately 1 million
• U.S. News World Report, June 7, 2004, p. 48

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Scholarships

• Good news is they really do exist!!!
• Problems
• No where near as available as what people are led
  to believe
• A lot of hype from various quarters about them
• Great Marketing Tool for some

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• Some Information Regarding
• a. The numbers
• 1. 500,000 high school soccer players
• 2. 150,000 seniors
• 3. 15,000 roster positions
• 4. 5 of roster positions receive any assistance
• b. Translates to approximately 750 scholarships

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• Applied to CYSA
• Approximately 8,900 17 and 18 year old players in
  2005
• 750 scholarships means is 8.5 of CYSA players in
  these age groups

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• But CYSA players are only part of the pool
  competing for scholarships
• CYSA has approximately 7.5 of United States
  Youth Soccer (USYS) registered players
• Estimate USYS 120,000 players in same age groups
• Approximately 6 could get scholarships
• CYSA is 7.5 of the 6
• USYS not only source of players in pool
• Very, very few are full ride

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• October 2005, San Francisco Chronicle Feature
  Article on the myth of the full ride
• Folks, you might want to take a seat in one of
  those well-used lawn chairs and listen up Your
  kid has a better shot at a perfect SAT score.

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Bay Area Division I Schools

• MEN (9.9 scholarships a team of 24-26 players
  5 places per year)
• Total 161 total
• Full 7
• Partial 107 (can be 400 - 500)
• None 47
• School Total Full Partial Walk-ons
• Cal 27 0 27 0
• St. Marys 26 0 16-18 8-10
• USF 30 2 24 4
• San Jose State 25 2 12 11
• Santa Clara 28 3 20 5
• Stanford 25 0 15-20 5-10

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Bay Area Division I Schools

• Women (12 scholarships per team)
• Total 138
• Full 9
• Partial 101 (can be 400-500)
• None 28
• School Total Full Partial Walk-ons
• Cal 31 0 30 1
• St. Marys 21 NA NA NA
• USF 27 1-3 16-18 8
• San Jose State 30 0 25 5
• Santa Clara 26 2 16 8
• Stanford 24 2 16 6

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• Academics Count
• If player does not meet schools academic
  requirements it does not matter how good of
  soccer player they are
• Problem of players shunning difficult courses to
• Satisfy demands of travel and competitive soccer
• Keep high grade point average

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• For some kids and parents, the scholarship is
  the final payoff. If you look at it as the
  payoff for the investment youve made on youth
  soccer all the trips, the hotels, the club
  fees, the equipment thats the wrong approach.
  The payoff is to have a healthy, happy,
  well-rounded child. If theres a scholarship,
  let that be the icing on the cake.
• Santa Clara Womens Coach Jerry Smith, quoted in
  San Francisco Chronicle October 30, 2005