Tom Sermanni, a 58-year-old Scotsman who has coached Australia's women for 11 years, was named U.S. women’s national team coach
on Tuesday.
On Wednesday he addressed the media and touched on what role he may play with
the USA youth national teams, and fielded questions about youth coaching and youth development.
Asked about his impressions of the U.S. youth soccer landscape, Sermanni said:
“Because of the vastness of the country and
the number of programs and club teams that are here, just getting a handle on all the things that
happen, getting together a consistent development plan is very difficult and very challenging. The
upside in America is that you have a great variety and vast numbers to work with.”
As for youth coaching, Sermanni said:
“I think technical development is the key.
Technical development of youth players has to take priority over
physical development. That doesn’t mean physical development gets
completely ignored, but when I speak to younger players and
coaches, that’s one of my key phrases.
“Coaches usually say to younger players they have to train harder. What I believe is younger players need to practice better,
practice as well as they can and practice on improving how they play.
“By that, what I mean is how well they can dribble, how well they can pass, how good the touch is, how good
their understanding of the game is. Rather than look at the training practices from a physical aspect,
I think in youth development, looking at your training practices from a technical aspect and
improving how you can actually play the game is most critical and will continue to go that way.
“In the next generation of players, I think physical differences
between teams will
eventually be null and void and therefore the technical differences and
the ability to play and understand the game will become much more
critical focus.”
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