Represented Academy Coaches
Marc Nicholls, Academy Director for the NC Fusion, recently returned from a two-week learning experience in France.
He was one of 21 American coaches invited to participate in a 16-month youth development course developed by the French soccer federation (FFF).
The course includes eight weeks of course work and a two-week immersion at the academy of a number of European teams.
Nicols did not go to France just to represent his Greensboro-based academy, but was chosen as US Soccer’s sole representative in the group that included an Academy director from all 19 Major League Soccer clubs (see list below), plus Greg Vanney, who was chosen by the league (MLS). Nicols was the only coach selected from a non-MLS affiliated academy
Completion of the course, which includes four two-week segments over the 16 months, will be the new Elite Formation Coaching License.
Nicholls declared “it was a great experience” upon his return to the ‘States. The first week was a full schedule on the field with FFF coaches.
That first week was held at the famed Clairefontaine national training facility, and is the same one used to train the FFF’s domestic coaches.
The second week, the candidates were dispersed among a number of professional clubs’ youth academies, including Paris St. Germain, Lyon, Real Madrid, athletic Bilbao and VfB Stuttgart..
Nicholls spent the week in Lyon where he observed their academy training, had personal access to their coaches and introduced to their training philosophy and methodology.
Nicholls isn’t sure just why he was selected to represent US Soccer in the course, but suspects it was partially because he is currently a member of the US Soccer Academy staff. He feels honored to having been selected.
According to Nicholls, France was chosen for a number of reasons, including the FFF’s high level of success in developing players out of the academy system who have advanced to professional levels with clubs inside the country, and also with French players who have received contracts to play with teams in Europe’s top tier of leagues in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
One of the goals for the U.S. Academy coaches, is for the coaches to take this experience and intergrate and/or modify their club’s youth curriculum and evaluation system for the development of players.
Like the other Academy coaches taking part in the program, Nicholls has already completed a number of coaching license courses, including FA certification in his native England. Now a U.S. citizen, Nicols has also completed USSF license courses.
When asked what he learned that was different from what he had already gained from experience and from the courses he had completed in England and in the U.S., he acknowledged some differences.
“Here we usually begin training sessions with technical training and build the session to a conclusion with greater intensity, including a game,” said Nicholls. “We learned that in the French academies they begin with the game.”
That, according to Nicholls, allows the training staff to identify areas that need to be broken out, and addressed individually or in group sessions.
Verbalization between the FFF academy coaches and players is, shall we say, a bit calmer and more restrained, than what you might find on the training fields in the U.S. and in England.
“A lot of that has to do with the difference players and where they come from,” said Nicholls, who allowed that there were sociological differences between youngsters in France their counterparts in other countries. Difference should be accommodated in training.
Also, he pointed out that while we think in terms of youth development in the U.S. having a high end at Under-16 or so, the French extend that age line into the early 20s, especially in terms of understanding the game, cognitive recognition, awareness and perception. All aspects of the mental part of the sport.
Fred Lipka, former director of the Paris Racing Academy and the LeHavre Athletic Club, serves as liaison between the FFF instuctors and MLS, US Soccer and Canadian Soccer Association.
Over the span of the 16-months, Lipka will travel to each candidate’s club and will observe the coach in training sessions with academy teams and review his evaluation with the candidate as part of the license requirements.
In upcoming two-week segments, the French coaches will come to the U.S., where the MLS academy coaches, Nicholls and Vanney will gather for further field instruction and classroom sessions.
The first two weeks, have been completed, but the experience is not over. It is only beginning.
Nicholls is also looking forward to another trip to France later in the year.