By Derek J. Kaye
Last week brought four of the top representatives and coaches from BC Soccer to Castlegar to present a workshop for local coaches and some young players. They presented a new vision that Canada Soccer and BC Soccer have for player and coach development. The concept is called Long Term Player Development (LPTD), and is evolved from the modern approaches the world international soccer body, FIFA, has adopted.
Michael Findlay, Director of Soccer Development for BC Soccer explained that Canada would be insured of world class players tomorrow through Grassroots Coaching Development, and player development.
BC Soccer plans to have free coaching workshops and services available to across all regions of the province. Through a representative or tutor from BC Soccer in every region, access will be there for everyone. Specifically, a free three-hour Grassroots Coaching Workshop will be offered to all local coaches, age specific to their teams. The workshop will focus on player development and how skills training changes with player age.
BC Soccer wants to develop a continuous structured program for soccer player development from youth player to adult coach. They want to develop players for tomorrow’s professional league and tomorrow’s World Cup teams. Soccer is the most widely participated sport in Canada. The “beautiful” game needs more exposure and prominence to reach a higher commitment in Canada.
Last Friday saw local coaches and players run through new drills under the watchful eyes of top coaches. Some of the drills started to look like choreography and the beautiful game got more beautiful.