The story behind our soccer development program
The ReThinkSoccer Positive Player Development Curriculum was developed out of a need to help children develop their soccer skills.
Kalamazoo Kingdom Soccer Club was created in 2004. The mission of the Club has been to develop players in a positive environment. We began searching for a soccer player developmental program so that our coaches could maintain consistency with training and development. The certification offered by US Soccer allowed our coaches to carry a coaching card but was not sufficient as a player development tool. We turned our focus on looking at foreign Academies that have had success developing players from young age groups. I was able to meet and speak to Rene Meulensteen from Manchester United.
In February 2013, we organized a ten-day trip to Manchester United to get an inside look at their academy and first team training. My contact, and host, was the Manchester United Academy and First Team Coach Rene Meulensteen. Rene gave us access to go on the field, inside the classroom, and have quality time with the Manchester United Academy coaches. What we learned that there is a technical skill based roadmap to develop young players into the best they can be.
We Americanized the information into the ReThinkSoccer Positive Player Development Program.
Over the course of a few weeks, the ReThinkSoccer Development Program can increase the technical ability of older players with the repetitious skill drills and positive coaching. Our club has seen the most profound impact on the eight to twelve age group. The younger the player begins the skill drills, the more exceptional the player becomes. ReThinkSoccer has five very specific gross motor movements with the ball that form the foundation of every player’s technical ability. Once that solid foundation is set, more advanced ideas and concepts can be added. Individual creativity and fun are strongly encouraged within the focused framework of ReThinkSoccer, while allowing mistakes without fear of failure. These skill drills are the cornerstone of the ReThinkSoccer Development Program.
Players that have a strong base in the pillars of the program at a young age will instinctively move on to more difficult concepts within the development model. With this system, a ten year old with four years of training in ReThinkSoccer will be ahead of a novice thirteen year old just entering the program. For this reason, the ReThinkSoccer curriculum also labels the “Ages and Stages” curriculum as “Basic Curriculum” and “Advanced Curriculum.”
Our coaching staff has noticed an unexpected benefit with the players that have been engaged in the ReThinkSoccer curriculum over time. The players are making remarkably better decisions on the ball and have an increased soccer IQ as a result. As a player becomes more proficient in the five gross motor movements, the player realizes that there is more than one option in every soccer situation. Without interruption from the coach, the players begin to choose and execute the correct option in training and game settings.
The ReThinkSoccer curriculum is a soccer development program that is simple to initiate within a club. The beginning starts with basic training for coaches along with the Learning Management System (LMS) online learning and testing. Once the first two steps are completed, each coach is given access to the ReThinkSoccer website with session plans that include linked videos and activities. The concepts and structure are simple and when the coach and club stick to the program the results are amazing.
