Team assignments & levels of play

A typical league game day has us playing several games against another Atlanta-area Academy program. We divide our player pool into several teams (coaches create the rosters), and each team plays one game. Team rosters usually change from week to week. Teams may be created based on playing level and / or age, or balanced / mixed so each NASA team is of the same level. (Each game day has agreements between us and our opponent about specific team match-ups.)

The Academy "player pool" system:  Everyone gets a game (barring schedule conflicts), and plenty of playing time. It's not like some leagues where there are starters, subs and bench warmers. If a player is in the early developmental stage, she'll still get a game! If a player is dominating games, she'll still get a game, just a more challenging game.

Playing levels:  Our experience over 12 years with the Academy system tells us that most players just want to play and be challenged, and they don't worry about specific levels of play. Parents sometimes ask what goes into determining how their daughters are placed on teams. When our schedule has games covering multiple levels of play, we take into account four soccer-specific categories, along with two wild-card factors:

• Technical:  Ball control: dribbling, running with the ball, receiving, passing and shooting

• Tactical:  Positional sense (along with the ability to play multiple positions), game sense ("reading" the game), understanding team play, decision making, speed of decision making

• Physical:  Quickness, agility, balance

• Mental:  Self-motivation, confidence, competitive spirit, works well with others, consistently applies coaching points

• Schedule conflicts:  On occasion, a player may only be available to play at a certain time. If it makes soccer sense to honor specific schedule requests, we will. (These decisions involve two teams of players, not just one individual player. Maybe the 9 AM game is a match-up of 2nd-year U10s. A 1st year U8 / U9 player wouldn't have a good experience in this match. Or vice versa: a 2nd-year U10 wouldn't be challenged in a game between new U8 / U9 players, and would tilt the field.)

• Roster size:  We try to keep rosters at 8 or 9 players for 6-aside games. In most years, we don't have exact groups of 8 or 9 players who are clearly at the same levels, so we move players around to fill roster spots. This means a player may occasionally play a level up or down from her normal level.

At the lower levels of play, players usually have more time on the ball. Why? Opponents may not be as aggressive, may still be learning positional sense, and teams may not transition quickly from attack to defense and vice versa. Players with a good work rate but average ball skills can still be successful in lower level games. Players who rate high on the majority of the soccer factors listed above will dominate lower level games.

At the higher levels, opponents are quick and aggressive, teams keep their shape and transition quickly. Players with a good work rate but average ball skills will struggle -- if the player's first touch doesn't have a clear purpose, the opponent could win the ball right away. Players who rate high on the majority of the soccer factors listed above may not dominate higher level games, but they'll make a positive impact. Players who have lower ratings on the soccer factors listed above will be frustrated in higher level games.

How can I tell which team is which level?  Unless you're very familiar with our full player pool, you can't! We don't have pre-set team names, and we assign team names randomly, not based on level of play. (We don't see value in publicly labeling players at this age.)

How important is playing level?  If your daughter has to play well to succeed, she's at the right level. If she's consistently dominating games, we'll schedule her for higher level games. If she's struggling to make an impact, we'll schedule her for lower level games. As mentioned earlier, we don't label our teams to indicate their levels, and we don't tell players they are in higher, middle or lower level games. If a player asks about this, coaches steer the conversation toward the player's strengths and weaknesses, rather than focus on that weekend's game level. We think it's of more value to a player to know what she's doing well and what she needs to improve, rather than where her next game falls on the level of play scale.

How does a player work her way into higher level games?  A player needs to master the ball, play with her head up, show good positional sense at multiple positions, make good decisions quickly and execute them properly, work hard during practices and games, be a positive influence on teammates, and apply coaching advice.

• Is ball control a key factor?  It's a huge factor! If a player struggles to control the ball, she'll struggle to have a meaningful impact in higher level games. We work on ball control during every training session and pre-game warm-up. Players can speed up their improvement by practicing at home. We have a library of play at home activities that can help players improve their ball control.

• Is speed a key factor?  Raw speed is a bonus. The key speed factor is speed of play, which is a combination of reaction speed and decision making speed. A player who can read a game situation and quickly make the right decision (dribble, pass, shoot, shield, delay, pressure, cover and so forth), and then properly execute the decision will be successful at higher levels even if she isn't blessed with raw speed. A fast player who has decent ball control, but doesn't read the game well, or doesn't make good, quick decisions will struggle at higher levels, even if she's the fastest player on the field. We work on speed of play through small-sided games during practice sessions. Players can also improve speed of play through backyard games that involve an opponent and a goal, even as simple as 1v1.

• How often do coaches re-evaluate players:  Every training session and game. In some cases, we see a leap in a single session or game. In most cases, we see a gradual rate of improvement.

• A hidden factor:  We have a pool of players. As one player starts to improve, other players are also improving. Player 1 may be making good progress on speed of play, and solid progress on ball control. Player 2 is making the same progress on speed of play, but faster progress on ball control. In this case, player 2 is more likely to get assigned to a higher level game than player 1, even though player 1 is improving noticeably!

• The age factor:  We're working with girls aged 7-10. Time is on their side -- if a player is struggling with something, but has the will to improve, she has plenty of time to improve.

• As time goes by:  At the U10 age, we play 6-aside, which means rosters of 8-9 players. When girls graduate into U11, it's 8-aside soccer, with rosters of 10-12 players. U11 and U12 is still Academy, with a player pool and not pre-set rosters. U13 starts full 11-aside soccer, with pre-set rosters in the 14-18 player range. At NASA, we're interested in all Academy players' progress -- not just the current highest level players -- which helps us field multiple high-level teams at the U13 and older age groups.

My daughter likes / wants to play higher level games:  It's up to her to earn the opportunity and run with it. One of our coaches uses the concept of drivers and passengers. Drivers influence games. Passengers participate in games. If your daughter is consistently a driver in her games, she'll get the opportunity to play in higher level games.

Early in the development cycle, an inexperienced player may play a frantic, pinball style of soccer regardless of the level of her teammates. If she's in a higher level game, she plays the same as she would in a lower-level game. This player will benefit from playing lower level games since she'll have more time on the ball and get more chances to make decisions. She'll look lost in higher level games because her play lacks control and purpose.

As a player starts to develop, she'll begin to recognize controlled, purposeful play by more experienced teammates, even though she may not yet be able to play this way herself. She's at the stage where she's influenced by stronger teammates. She may start to have some success in higher level games due to the influence of stronger teammates. But she may not yet be ready to influence less experienced teammates. If placed in a lower level game, she may revert to lower level play. Some refer to this as playing up to the level of your teammates, or playing down to the level of your teammates. 

The next leap for this player is to learn to influence less experienced teammates and lower level games. How? Mental strength comes into play. Lead by example: play with control and purpose, even if teammates aren't doing so themselves. Talk more: use your voice and experience to help teammates understand what's happening and how they should react. Be positive: celebrate teammates' successful plays and good decisions (teammates will be motivated to earn more of your daughter's praise!), or have a "quiet word" to encourage a teammate who is struggling (she'll work harder to earn your daughter's praise).

A player who plays at a higher level than her teammates and can also lift her teammates' play shows leadership and mental strength and will stand out. (She's being a driver, not a passenger.) Coaches will notice this and recognize that the player has earned the opportunity to play higher level games.

Is it OK if I don't care about levels of play?  Totally! The Academy years are about individual player development, not team development. If your daughter is being challenged, improving and having fun, and you like the overall direction of our program, you can ignore the whole "levels of play" subject.