The WWPSA Travel Program is introducing a Youth Travel Development Academy in 2008 to deliver high-quality technical training in a small-sided game environment for our youngest players. This plan will require a long-term player development philosophy which is player-centered and will consider game results as secondary to individual player development. The program will promote appreciation of the game of soccer and will consider player retention as a primary goal.

In order to be age eligible, your child must be born between August 1, 2000 to July 31, 2002 (U7 & U8).  Players born between August 1, 1999 and July 31, 2000 (U9) are offered a choice to participate in the U9 Travel Team Tryouts or to join the Academy.  Below are more details about the program. Stay tuned to our website for more details about how to register.

Soccer Development

(a)   Small-Sided Games: 

In recent years, a strong case has been made by many leaders of the greater soccer community, including the United States Youth Soccer Association, that small-sided soccer is the best developmental environment for our youngest players. Briefly, the case for small-sided soccer is as follows:

• Fewer players on the field means players get more touches on the ball and more involvement for players off the ball
• More touches means more skill development
• More touches and more skills leads to more enjoyment 
• More enjoyment means greater player retention 
• Immediate recovery means development of defensive qualities 
• Games include many more goal-scoring opportunities 
• Constant transitional play 
• Fosters greater creativity 
• Age-appropriate problem solving (younger players process less abstract information) leading to elementary tactical awareness
• Develops problem-solving and decision-making through repeated exposure 
• Repeated exposure leads to more success, which in turn leads to confidence and fun 
• Smaller field is size / work-rate appropriate 
• Players develop focus (nowhere to hide) 
• More time with the ball and more touches on the ball create repetition, which is the key to technical development.

(b)   Repetition is the Key to Technical Development

Many youth soccer clubs have moved toward a technical development training program for younger players based on repetition of technical skills. This is commonly achieved through:

• Professional group training sessions structured around technical learning “stations” 
• 4v4 (plus GK) small-sided training environment

Repetition does not equate to boring activities. Repetition is centered around the repeated practice and gradual mastering of specific technical skill sets through creative challenges that are delivered at every practice session. Each session will look and feel different but the skill sets being mastered will be the same.

(c)   Age-Appropriate Games

Much research has been completed and discussed on the ability of 6-, 7- and 8-year olds to effectively learn and play an 8v8 game on the largest field many of them have ever played when their social and physical skills are still raw and developing rapidly. Many of these players have never played with more than 5 players on the field at a time and and still developing the concepts of spacing and shape, so the prevailing wisdom is that providing these players with another year of focused development can have a highly positive impact on their long-term development and enjoyment of soccer. This same research points to additional time spent playing small-sided games having a positive effect on those players’ abilities to work together once their ready to play soccer on an 8v8 scale, usually around the U-10 level.

We at WWPSA believe that offering a Youth Travel Development Academy will have long-term benefits not only for our players but also for our Club as well as we develop an entire generation of better players who will stick with the game through a higher level of enjoyment and long-term success. As a result, formal Travel Soccer teams within WWPSA will now begin forming at the U-9 level starting in 2008-09.

Still have questions? Please feel free to e-mail our Director of Travel soccer for more details. Thanks for your support!