PLAYER DEVELOPMENT AND TEAM TRAINING

The Right Technique:  Looking up and Seeing the Opportunities Ahead!

The DCYFC training philosophy is based on a progression of activities that emulate soccer movements.  It uses a progressive system of rondos, small-side position-play and training matches.  

This system integrates all the technical skill development, physical conditioning, tactical understanding and mental awareness in a wholistic fashion.  

The system combines technical ball skill development including dribbling, control and receiving with passing, moving and positioning, shooting and decision-making.  

It's logical, progressive and interactive.  Because the training exercises are built on a progression, it allows our coaches to apply these exercises to mimic the game.
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Maximum touches on the ball and small spaces provide the foundation to develop technical skills while creating the game understanding necessary to become a complete and elite player.  

Small spaces allow you to play the game inside the bigger game.  Watch a professional match.  It's about the game inside the game.  It's about players and their movement on a chess board.  It's creating the right shapes to maintain possession, properly defend and how and when to attack.  It also focuses on transition when a team loses the ball and you gain control (which happens a lot in youth soccer!).  This is precisely what the DCYFC system seeks to accomplish.

At the same time of building the core technical player skills, DCYFC teaches and demonstrates how geometric shapes on the field including triangles, boxes, pentagons, hexagons, pentagons, octagons, nonagons and the ultimate 10 player decagon are used to maintain possession, keep team shape and create total futbol.

Ask any world class soccer player and they will tell you that small fields allowed them to develop their technical skills, first touch and game understanding.  It is still incredible to us that 13 and even 14 year olds are playing competitive league matches on 100 x 50 yard fields.  It is a disaster for teaching how the game should and needs to be played.  

​You learn from playing the game. So we avoid lines, rote drills and standing around.  The game is about fun and not using a rigid formula.  It destroys the enjoyment.  Free play forces a player to think, make decisions and coaches will be there to develop player talents and maximize their potential.  

You are not going to find a program in the Washington DC area with a more fun, better player development system or at a more affordable price.  Other clubs in the area are charging a minimum of $2,500 to $3,600/player per year.  And this is the base price.  Factor in 2 uniforms, practice jerseys, winter indoor training, additional incidental costs and other assessments and you are forking over some considerable dinero for older and less advanced training systems.

We don't get caught up in the "Race to Nowhere" with clubs telling you about college prospects at the age of 13/14.  This will take care of itself.  The coaches are there to teach the game and develop their ball control skills, movement and positioning but it's up to the individual to derive their passion and ambition.  
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The following is excerpted from : HTTP://WWW.NYTIMES.COM/2014/06/11/OPINION/SPORTS-SHOULD-BE-CHILDS-PLAY.HTML?EMC=ETA1&_R=0

The sports science data support a "sampling period" through at least age 12.  Mike Joyner, a Mayo Clinic physician and human performance expert, would add vernal physical literacy-building to the the sports menu.  Perhaps using padded gymnastics gyms for parkour, which is essentially running, climbing or vaulting on any obstacle one can find.   

In addition to athletic diversity, kids' sports should be kid-size. 

In Brazil, the host of the 2014 World Cup, kids are weaned on "futsal," a lightly structured and miniaturized form of soccer.  Futsal is played on tiny patches of grass or concrete or on indoor courts and typically by teams of five players.  

Players touch the ball up to five times as frequently as they do in traditional soccer, and the tighter playing area forces children to develop foot and decision-making skills under pressure.  

A futsalization of youth sports generally would serve engagement, skill development and health.  

Below is a short clip describing how and why the best Brazilian professional soccer players in the world including Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Romario and others played small-side games in their youth.  

HTTP://YOUTU.BE/ZARESOM8KLU

DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM TRAINING

DCYFC is interested in attracting motivated and committed players who want to improve their skills and game understanding.  If this is not the motivation then we suggest you continue to play on a Saturday recreation team. 

We expect our Development players to be focused and willing to train hard.  These are the only criteria.  There is no tryout process to join the Academy.

Training is conducted for 1 1/4 hours in NW DC.  DCYFC has several field locations  Training will consist of dribbling, passing, shooting, first touches, control, possession, small-side games and understanding/creating space.  

Weekday training sessions will be a combination of skill development, physical conditioning and conducting training exercises that facilitate and reflect movements and motions needed to play soccer.

You are always welcome to attend a weekday or Sunday session to try us out.   

He knows where the defender is -- did a stepover with his right and takes the ball in the opposite direction with the outside of left foot.  NICE!

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Advanced Players

If you believe your daughter/son is capable to play at a more advanced level, we would welcome the player to tryout for a 2010 boys or girls team.  The competitive league which DCYFC enrolls in allows players to play two years up.

DCYFC consists of both "Select' teams and a "Development Academy" to promote skill development and game understanding.  Our goal is to create skillful soccer players capable of playing at a higher level.

We are unaware of any European or South American Development Academy that conducts one or two days of training for 100 players and chooses them for a "select" team.  All of the great academies around the world scout players, watch them on the street, in the park, in pick-up games, at camps, in recreation games and in other situations and then invite them to come and train at the Academy.

We have watched enough players in the Washington area to recognize desire, motivation and talent.  We'll improve upon those qualities and give you a chance to demonstrate your commitment.

Positions

Parents come to us and say "My son/daughter is a good defender, or has a big kick."  While we appreciate the supportive nature of it, it doesn't fulfill the core elements of a soccer player.  Our training method is to focus on ball control, dribbling and passing ability and shooting with proper technique.  If you gain these skills then it will not matter if it is a defender, midfield or attacking position.  

Each position requires you to learn a different set of skills.  The skills you learn at each position will improve your overall soccer knowledge and lead you to play comfortably in all positions.