Joy of the People

Joy of the People has a clear picture of player development. Here are our guiding principles:

PHILOSOPHY

• Person. The Person comes first, sportsmanship, character
• Player. Next come the player and all the amazing things they can do with the ball
• Team. Finally it all comes together in a unified team.

DEVELOPMENT PRIORITY

• Competition (games) are important
• Practice (training) is more important than games
• Play (free play) is more important than practice

TRAINING METHODOLOGY

• Change the Ball, Change the Surface
• Age appropriate Free Play / Deliberate Practice balance
• Technique is more important than physical (speed, strength).   Everything is done with a ball.
• Fun is the intersection of ability and challenge
• One step at a time: 1 v 0, 1 v 1, 2 v 1

PLAY PRINCIPLES

• Expansion, interaction, equalization--the best free play has these
• Diversity of age, skill, gender, culture, ethnicity
• The use of Best Practice, small sided, Futsal, ect.

COMPETITION GOALS

• The best sportsmanship. The best in fair play. The least fouls, ect.
• The first in skills. The most exciting, intuitive skills displayed.
• More goals than the other team, BUT, not at the expense of the first two objectives.

Jurgen Klinsmann on US soccer.

My mentor in Brazil would always say that kids should play barefoot, "save the shoes for the game," he would say, "correct technique is not possible otherwise."

It’s amazing what kids teach us. We were playing in the gym when it was announced it was free play time.  Almost immediately the kids just rid themselves of their shoes to run around on the wood floor barefoot. It's as if the shoes were holding them back. The kids wanted to touch and feel the ball.  They wanted the ball to rocket off their foot.

At JOTP kids play barefoot all the time, and what's interesting, I have  never had to ask them. And what I see is ultra light touches with the ball, a nuanced use of all parts of the foot especially the toes to control and maneuver the ball, the development of an all around better feel.

Kids want a great first touch, they want to feel the ball, as coaches we have to be careful to give them the best chance to learn.  Training barefoot does that. So they rid themselves of their shoes.  But they also did it because they could, they were in charge, it was free play time. Time for fun, time for learning, time to get serious with bare feet. Kids know best.

Dibbling barefoot takes on a different look as kids keep the ball closer, aware of what compromising positions might be asked if the ball travels too fare in front.  Using the toes JOTP kids brush, scoop and flick the ball lightly and quickly keeps it closed and safe, rolling and reversing the ball takes on new meaning.  It’s so different and better.

Shooting too is more responsive. The trevella (three toe) shot, for example,  is easier to learn barefoot where the kids can feel what that sort of connection and ensuing ball rotation gives them.  In one of the more popular games at the center, goalie wars, the kids rear back and send explosive swerving shots at each other.  This kind of foot control and learning is simply not accessable with traditional soccer cleats.

Tackling is safer and more technical, the goal being to take the ball without the clash of bodies.  With shoes and shin guards kids fly in crazily not really worried about getting hurt.

These are just a few examples, but more importantly, like all development in soccer, the simpler the better.  Closer to home, simple play with friends and of course, you don't need $400 shoes to be a better soccer player, in fact you don't need shoes at all.

TK

We hear it all the time:  practice is more important than games.  But is there more?  there is...cause if practice is more important than games, then...

 play is more important than practice.

 Remember that.

"Play is the highest form of research." 

--Albert Einstein

While competitive games are good, here in this country they are used as a training device.  A marker of development, a methodology.  But look at a kid during a high stakes competitive game like state cup.  There are no smiles, only anxiety.

But Play is that zone, where the world drops away, you lose track of time.  You have accepted the challenge before you, not too much--that causes anxiety, not too little, that's boring.  But all your skills will be called on and real learning is about to take place.

Zidane takes a pass then does a little skip.  While those around him are fighting, competing, he is playing. He has the technical skill to pull out what is needed.  The challenge is about right.  The game IS improving Zidane because he PLAYS at it--not competes, fights or works hard--those are important qualities that have their place. But don't make it too complicated; to make a difference in a game it must be a game, and the only way to handle a game is through play.

If it's important to you do it everyday, if it's not, don't do it at all"

--Dan Gable

So play, play every day.  Experiment. It's important.  Work at it, but don't make it work, compete but know what real winning is.  Oh, and have fun.  That's what happens everyday at JOTP.

JOTP uses the “Play to Win,” Developmental model

1. Redefine winning as best effort, fair play, skill mastery and love of the game

2. Learn to play, play to learn. Learning to play with others, learn from others and lead are skills that can be cultivated over time. Always seek the intersection of ability vs. challenge.

3. Balance. An evenhanded approach to competition/training/play.  JOTP believes in balance of competition to training to simple play.  

4. Priorities. Person, Player, Team.  JOTP believes the person comes first, as the game is built from the inside out.  The player comes next, and finally comes the team development and results. Always the person comes first.

With the cup starting tomorrow a lot of kids will be experiencing their first world cup.  For all of us there is just one first world cup. If we want to build the next generation of kids who play for life, we should preserve and cultivate that joy and discovery, it will serve them and us well as they dream and grow strong with the belief that anything is possible.

My first world cup came, like many of my generation later in life. Back in 1978 I was just starting college and  we had to watch on close circuit TV at the bijou theater downtown Chicago.  The picture, fading in and out added to the mystique, it was as if we were watching soccer on the moon. 

The crowd, 99 % Italians voicing exhilarating "Bravos,"  as their defense shut down the enterprising Dutch, the winner was to advance to the final against either Brazil or Argentina.  Back then the personalities inspired us as we practiced the left foot then quick right foot pass of Platitini, or the storming runs of Neeskins, mimicking the  famous goals, for us it was like the world was open to us.

Since 1978 soccer has taken the USA by storm.   A professional national league, an organized competitive youth system the likes of which have never been seen in the world--but for me one thing has not changed,soccer is that it's still about the players, even more so the people behind the players.  In 78 it was Platini, Neeskins, Cabrini, Passarella, very short shorts and  long sleeves. Tomorrow it's Messi, van Persie, Luis Fabiano and who else?  Who they are, how they dream, strive and sacrifice, this is what ignites fans and kids and the world. TV directors understand this, watch as halftime cut-a-ways focus on the team's personalities as they march off the field, shot after shot of close ups of each of the stars of both teams, their faces filling the screen.  What are they thinking/  what's the story?  Who will be the hero?  It's the personalities, the people that are important. 

So, for the first world cup,  my message is let it inspire and ignite the dream. Follow the hero, follow the player that picks himself up after falling down. Understand that the person behind the player,  cultivate the person, the effort, the sacrifice and humility and allow each kid to believe, to strive to achieve, to love the game for life. 

With high levels of drop out and burn out as well as a poor record of elite payer development, it is widely regarded that something is missing in US soccer. More and better-organized programs have sprung up with good intentions of retaining and developing kids, academies around the US have ramped up travel and competition thinking that more and higher levels of challenges are the answer.

Look at soccer in the US. Now imagine a pyramid with competition being the highest level of soccer and team practices being the second level, generally this is the limit to kid's experience today: games and practice.

But there is a third layer, generally missing at all levels from elite to the organized rec, yet it is  likely the most important in building creative skills, lifelong love and in the end the key to high performance: free play and individual skills mastery (deliberate practice). This foundation, is what kids enjoy and need most, it is the learning and socializing on the neighborhood parks in free play. It’s also perfecting that free throw all by yourself until you get it right. If you play sports, this time spent is the best of your lives. Time and time again great players site these foundational hours as their favorite, and the key to their creative development. We call this the "Foundation of Joy."

We believe this foundation should be the first priority and solidly constructed through hours of healthy, unstructured play. Without this foundation of joy, kids miss out on the most important hours of skill development, creative skills, enjoyment and learning. Yet in the US this foundation is given almost no attention.

At JOTP we focus on this foundational level of development. That's it. Kids are encouraged to participate in free play each week; drop em off and forget about them until dinner time. We create safe, inviting, exciting and imaginative environments, with spaces and core values to respect the game and each other. And it's always free, no charge,  monitored setting. Our goal is to set aside 1000 hours a year to allow kids to experiment and grow. 

Free play alone does not develop players, recent studies on expertise point to deliberate practice, a vastly different thing then you are likely to find at your typical soccer club. It's sometimes fun, sometimes hard work, all the time challenging and improving performance.

Here we understand that work and fun are NOT mutually exclusive. Good work should always be engaging, challenging, sometimes difficult, rewarding. Kids learn this early in small amounts.

We carefully balance and benchmark kids teaching the right things at the right time in the correct doses, For instance U10's spend much greater time at free play as they build social and technical strengths, they participate in very little DP, while a U18 may have the balance of their training focused in Deliberate Practice and performance improvement.

Recent studies in youth hockey have shown that those who participated in the most free play (pond hockey), as kids were able to handle the increasing amounts of Deliberate Practice, as they became young adults. These players were least likely to burnout, more likely to continue playing and enjoy the game for life. The Foundation of Joy begins with free play and ends with deliberate practice.

FREE PLAY AT JOTP
* Always free
* Monitored, safe
* Core Values: building self respect, respect for others, and the game.
* No coaching or instruction
* Genders, ages (even adults and old timers), experience and levels always mixing
* Different surfaces: Grass, clay (dirt), Street, Futsal, Inflatable (coming in June).  Plans also include the building of a Beach soccer court and mini (3 v 3) courts.

DELIBERATE PRACTICE at JOTP
Just a few of our growing skill mastery department (5 years from now everyone will train like this)

* -Electronic training/testing equipment to give the player immediate feedback on physical and technical skills. Our Just Jump and Run system is what is used in NFL combines. It is a fun and accurate way to track key areas of improvement.

* -Tennis Ball Machine. The problem, how do we get better at ball striking when were stuck indoors? How do we maximize repetitions of ball control? How do we make it fun, exciting and beneficial? With the ingenious use of tennis ball machine we not only solved the problem, we set a new standard. Want to have a blast hitting 90 repetitions a minute? If a player can control a tennis ball softy, or hit it dead solid perfect, a soccer ball poses little difficulty. We are producing the next generation of Ball strikers, finishers and ball control magicians. The results are amazing! You have never seen anything like this...but you will 5 years from now. Until then it's only here.

* -Creative skill Development. This is our signature. We have been developing creative soccer virtuosos for many years. Soccer at the highest levels is an Artistic sport. We teach it that way.

Sign up for one of our programs today and start building the Foundation of Joy.