

Posted by

Ian Clarke ,

May 2, 2014 Email

Ian Clarke



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Perhaps one of the biggest struggles in building a cohesive Canadian national team begins with the most simple question: what is a Canadian soccer player? How many would identify the Canadian footballer often has more to do with the country’s reputation in hockey than it does on the pitch. One of the struggles of our national program over the past decades has been laying out a distinct youth development model, coast to coast, that identifies who we are, what we want to be and how we’re going to get there. There is no question for almost ten years, internally, development has made leaps and bounds. However, there are still a percentage of our youth players who have spent their formative years abroad, along with ones domestically attached to professional teams with their own approach and agendas. The result when it comes to Canada is a jigsaw puzzle of national team players brought up with the football philosophies of the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and North America. See Part 1: A Canadian solution for a Canadian problem In some ways it can still be argued Canada is lacking structure when it comes to taking our young players and ensuring they follow a distinct roadmap taking them from point A to B to create the calibre needed to qualify for a World Cup. That structure was identified by Sigma FC’s Bobby Smyrniotis, as he saw what was being done in other countries and what was missing based on his experiences growing up as a Canadian soccer player. His definition, of having a universal philosophy, including a style and vision, of how you train and how to develop players from a young age all the way up to a first team, is the foundation for how Sigma FC approaches their youth development. Seven years ago they had just two age groups and were facing the challenges of being accepted locally as an option for youngsters. Today they have earned respect both at home and in the United States through players graduating out of their academy going to the best college programs, ranked among the top freshmen competing in the NCAA, and entering the MLS via first round SuperDraft selections. Sigma FC’s approach to youth development might not be that unique from a global perspective, but here in Canada some of their methods and paths to elite development stand apart, and in ways are more in line with the development paths seen with our neighbours to the south. It begins with, as noted, definitions of approach and philosophy and laying down a roadmap of development so every player that comes through the academy is able to achieve the success they have set out for. Part 2: Everything starts and finishes from what we do on the field

In the first part of this series, the backstory of Sigma FC was laid out, describing the initial motivations and experiences in their early years. If we fast-forward to the present, along with their first full graduating class, meaning taking a group of U11’s all the way through their development system to U18, there have been over 60 Sigma players throughout the NCAA. Most notable, and what propelled Sigma FC to even more recognition, was consecutive years of having the likes of Kyle Bekker being selected third and Emery Welshman 16th overall in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft, followed by Cyle Larin being named as the top freshman in the NCAA, and had he accepted an MLS Generation Adidas contract, likely the first overall pick in 2014. The important question with regards to developing players here in Canada is: What are the main ingredients that have seen this level of achievement from Sigma FC’s academy graduates?

“It all comes down to what we do on the field, and that is what makes an academy professional,” answers Technical Director Bobby Smyrniotis, “Everything outside of the game could be dysfunctional; as we cannot control politics, leagues, national (youth) teams and all the moving parts of the system, but the second you cross that line onto the field, you better know what you are doing. You have to ensure your house is in order." “One component of that I believe we have done well is our coaching staff has been consistent from the beginning. We’ve had the same quality guys working through a very specific philosophy in how we train that we don’t switch from. For example, our Technical Coordinator, David Zonneveld has been with us since day one and is a very important individual within our organization, providing a consistent message to our players and the remaining technical team. We have our pillars of training that never changes and the players love it, because with the consistency they can see they are getting better. Winning is important, but how we go about it and ensuring everything we’ve worked on in training is followed-through is paramount. And in the end, our trophy is simple: how many players we produce at the end of the year. That is our ultimate goal, how to systematically develop players to play beyond youth football. That is how an academy is measured.” Before any of that happens though, one needs to determine what good player development is comprised of. Sigma FC lays out four items needed, the first being a strong development plan, especially from a coaching perspective. The second is infrastructure, meaning proper fields to train on. In Southern Ontario, that is most often turf, which comes with the negatives of being physically demanding, but it has some positives in that in younger age groups have a consistent surface to get technical skills down. The third component is having a player willing to learn, willing to get better and understands being humble to keep working hard. And the fourth is competition. “Not in games, in training.” Explains Bobby, “We train four times a week and we play one game a week. It’s more important there is competition in training and as our guys get older, these sessions become much more competitive than what we have in games.” “My philosophy is training must be 100%, the game is 60%. Just like in school, students should study so hard and thoroughly to prepare, that when they get into the exam they can sit back and say ‘I’ve got this’. We use this analogy of school with soccer. In Canada, in many environments, we do the opposite. You see training at 60% - and to continue with that analogy, we are casual all week studying, and when we get to the exam we’re nervous, we’re sweating and we don’t have the answers, and instead we just launch the ball upfield - we answer the question wrong.” One of the keys to building this training environment, is of course, the player. It’s not always about the youngster finding the right environment to turn them into a pro, it is also about the academy finding the right player who can see a bigger picture and have long-term goals that fits into a development philosophy that doesn’t measure success by trophies and championships. “For starters, one of the most important things is you have to know the players and the landscape, but along with that you have to know from the technical side, what talent identification is,” describes Managing Director Costa Smyrniotis, “knowing what the ceiling for a specific player can be and how high players can move up the developmental ladder.” “When we bring in a kid between 11 and 13, we don’t expect them to be a superstar - no player is at that age. I’ve seen plenty of kids at 13 who are very good, but can’t cut it at 18. We’ve seen kids who at 17 were thought to be sure things, but weren’t good after. At Sigma FC we had a player with the U17s in Mexico and the message to him when he returned was: Don’t let this moment define who you are. You sat in a room with 22 players, most of you won’t be playing soccer in two years. Be proud of the moment, but understand there is a tremendous amount of work ahead to remain in the game and to become a professional” Costa continues, “Circling back, the question is how do you identify talent and what do you look for in that player? We don’t necessarily look for something right now, but we are looking for long-term potential in that player - where his ceiling could be. For example, when we first saw Cyle Larin as an 11-year old, he looked great because people would hit balls over the top and with his speed and size would get behind defenders and score on breakaways. You have to be able to see beyond this, to see the potential, however, if you don’t teach him how to play football, he’s your typical Canadian player who if he continues along this path, from a world footballing perspective, won’t have a chance.” In Canada, especially with the emergence of three teams competing in the top tier league of MLS, as well as a two in the NASL, club academies have taken the spotlight as development paths. This has been an immense positive in our country’s landscape over the last decade. The route of going through a club system into the first team, much like in Europe, for many appears to be the best route of producing Canadian players, and is still an option there is needed more of. However, with Sigma not having an MLS or NASL team at the top of their pyramid (but now have one of the inaugural Ontario League 1 teams), they have had to lay out a plan that made the most of, and took advantage of the North American soccer landscape. Costa Smyrniontis recognized that there was a problem in Canadian youth development, and believed when you have a local problem, you should find a local solution. Part of what this means is that North America is a unique soccer landscape and what works in Europe in terms of a development model, won’t always be successful here. Sigma saw what was at their disposal in Canada and the United States and has incorporated it as an important part of their player development. “We don’t have a first team with professional status on top of us, but we still run our academy as though it is part of a pro club,” outlines Bobby, “I came from the game in Europe as a youth coach at Olympiacos and then years consulting with Ajax, and when I moved back to Canada the first thing I thought we were going to do is send players over to Europe given the limited professional opportunities in our country. But the reality is it’s not that easy, and started to look at the North American college structure a bit closer.” “There are so many pro teams in Europe and South America, along with a list of different pro tiers. If you graduate from an academy and the first team doesn’t sign you, there will be someone else to pick you up. The distances are closer, teams are closer and recognition of players is so much easier. At the same time though, that is the one and only solution there,” Costa continues to explain, “Here we have NCAA as well and it provides another option. It is an option to continue playing, to provide more identification opportunities, to allow for late bloomers. There is also the social positive in providing an education and a chance for a good future in other fields related, or not, to soccer. In other countries players who have run out of opportunities in the game, may not have the opportunity to finish the education they let fall behind to pursue a pro career. We need to utilize all the paths to the pros available to provide players a better chance at a good career. There is no one right way, but taking the best attributes of all can be very beneficial.” “For us, we have top players who don’t have passports, so they can’t get overseas,” adds Bobby, “I got to play in the US college system and see that because of American football and basketball, the infrastructure in the top schools is better than most professional clubs in the world. We cannot discount that. At the top schools you play under pressure, in front of fans and with media attention. You fly across the country for matches, have specialized staff to take care of player needs- you move and act like a pro team. MLS clubs’ coaches and scouts attend matches and keep close tabs on players. All this prepares a player very well for the next level of the game. Do the top players need to stay in University for four years? Absolutely not, and that is a trend we’re already seeing with guys going in for one or two years then moving on.” This trend is one that has been occurring for many years, partly seen through the MLS Generation Adidas program. However, the growing pattern has been MLS academies developing Home Grown Players and sending their best talent out to top NCAA schools. In 2013 we saw the Seattle Sounders, and US Men’s National Team, benefit from DeAndre Yedlin spending time at Akron, while this past year the Chicago Fire brought back Harrison Shipp who had spent three years at Notre Dame. “Given the extremely limited professional opportunities in our country,” adds Costa, “the NCAA is a good way to put yourself out there in the North American soccer market, especially within a top program and conference. I’ll use Kyle Bekker as an example. He played at Boston College, in the highly regarded ACC conference- a good soccer playing conference and one with a strong tradition of graduating many players and coaches into the MLS and US national teams. With all MLS teams taking in ACC games throughout the college season, and with the respect Kyle had in college soccer, this helped put him on the map in the US and specifically with MLS teams who knew him well. If he had only stayed a part of a Canadian academy, signed a contract, moved up, he’d be a know commodity in Canada, but not in North America. We’ve seen many young players in Canada and the US who’ve done youth deals or home grown deals and once their first contract is over, so is their career.” “What happens is,” Costa explains, “we know about them here in Canada, but believe me, in the US and within US-based MLS clubs they don’t. You won’t find MLS teams scouting local talent or leagues here. They have enough to worry about in their own backyard let alone across the entire US. They focus on guys within their academy, top college guys and US youth national team players. For Canadians, having a good youth academy education, especially one providing good exposure in the game and coupling it with one, two, or more years in the NCAA system, people get to know who you are, you build your name and become a known commodity. This is very important for a Canadian player who often has to jump through the hoops of being a foreign player in MLS. We need to keep all options open for players. For the few who can go pro directly, great, but with only so many spots available in our country, for those not making the jump directly we need to support them utilizing all options and paths available.” Over the last few years, Sigma FC has benefited from sending their top players into the NCAA. With Canada having limited opportunities at professional clubs, even though options were available for some of their graduates to go overseas, they recognized the terms and conditions weren’t right for the player. Putting the likes of Cyle Larin, Chris Nanco, Richmond Laryea, Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Alex Halis and Kwame Awuah in top NCAA programs has given these players the needed exposure to elevate their profiles in North America, and at the same time allows them to progress in the best programs against the best competition, where anywhere from one to four years can see them make the jump the professional game. The vision of Sigma’s development path is a year-round, comprehensive one. Even after finishing their development cycle from U11 to U18, what has further complimented many who have gone on to compete in the NCAA is returning to Sigma during the off-season or school breaks. Playing within Sigma’s senior set up allows not just for managing minutes, loads, injuries and providing support, but it is also a period where scouts are visiting for identification, National Team camps are attended, and training opportunities with MLS clubs are available. Recognizing that each player has their own path, whether it be straight to Europe, one year in the NCAA, four years in the NCAA and into MLS, or even four years of college and into the workforce, ensuring that as many options as possible are available so the player achieves success, is important for their own, as well a Canada’s. “For the majority of our players, college is where they are going to go,” says Costa, “they’re going to play four years and they will get a good degree. That’s it. For our top guys that we can’t put in Europe right away, they’ll go to a top program to make sure they are at the top for one or two years and then they’ll move on from there.” Those who don’t, Costa adds, are just as valuable, maybe even moreso to our domestic game. The players who finish their playing career after college are the ones who still have the opportunity to come back to Sigma FC and add to the environment and culture. They have gone through the system, know the structure, and come back. Those players can become future coaches, future administrators, team doctors, marketing experts, potentially evolving into ambassadors for the younger players in the academy. These types of individuals are essential to the Canadian soccer landscape. Bobby finishes with, “If I look at a club like Ajax, from a structure aspect, Ajax’s biggest success is that everything comes from within. Everything is built from the culture and to be a part of Ajax you have to know Ajax. To coach youth Ajax, you have to be part of that culture because it’s very distinct. Not just style of play, but personality, you have to be Amsterdam.” As Canada pushes forward, growing and trying to mature in world football, finding that definition – what is Canada and what does it mean to be a Canadian soccer player, while still being sought from a national perspective, is being defined at the grassroots and having success to bring optimism our best players are still to come. In part three of the series, we will look at where Sigma FC has come from in the past seven years and the goals they are setting for the future of their academy. As well, looking at their thoughts on the Canadian soccer landscape with regards to player development along with input from other influential coaches in Canada.