Here is another article I came across on Ajax Youth Academy - makes interesting reading.

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Terry Michler, CBC Cadets and CBC Dutch Touch CampsTerry Michler, Head Coach of the CBC Cadets boys program in St Louis (current large school state champions) and the CBC Dutch Touch International Soccer Program recently returned from his annual Spring Trip to Holland (March 24 thru April 3). The trip offers an opportunity for a small group of youth players to experience international soccer and culture. As part of the trips, Coach Michler regularly invests in his on-going education. Here are his notes from that trip.
On our most recent trip to Holland (March, 2010), Jan Pruijn arranged a meeting for us with Patrick Ladru, currently the Assistant Director of the Ajax Youth Academy at the Ajax Youth Training Center (Toekomst) in Amsterdam. The meeting lasted 45 minutes and was a very informative session. Following the sit-down session, we followed Patrick out to the training pitch and watched as he conducted a training session for the Ajax U 10s.
Terry Michler, Soccer Coach at CBC High School and Director of the CBC Dutch Touch International Program, Mike Freitag, Technical Director of the Colorado Soccer Association and former coach at Indiana University, and Tom Fairshon, assistant coach at CBC, asked Patrick questions about player development at Ajax and throughout Holland. Patrick provided very detailed answers and we were all very thankful and appreciative of his time, expertise and willingness to share.
Patrick has been a coach at Ajax for 19 years and has been in the Ajax videos, dating back to the Dreaming of Ajax video in the early 1990’s. He is also in the current series, Heroes of the Future.
How do you choose players for selection in the youngest age group for the first time experience at Ajax? How many players do you have in the youngest age group?
Ajax will have players recommended from different sources. Ajax will bring in 20 of the youngest players for a trial. From the 20, they will pick the best 5 players, based on who they rated as the best overall, in all capacities. They will then bring in another 20 trialist and repeat the same procedure. All in all, they will repeat this process 4 times. Then they will bring in the second group of 20 for a final selection. From that group of 20 they will pick 10 players, to include 1 keeper. This will become their F level team (U 9). Ajax currently has only 1 team in the F level.
How many players are in the Ajax Youth Academy at the various levels? What are the various levels of the Youth Academy at Ajax?
From the youngest to the oldest Youth teams:
F level U 9 9 players, 1 keeperE 3 U 10 9 players, 1 keeperE 2 U 10/11 8 player U 10, 3 players U 11, 1 keeperE 1 U 11 14 players, 1 keeperD 2 U 12 15 players. 2 keepersD 1 U 13 15 players, 2 keepers
Patrick did not go into the older ages and levels, but Ajax continues with the following Junior teams:
C 2 U 14C 1 U 15B 2 U 16B 1 U 17A 2 U 18A 1 U 19
The next step is the Senior teams: reserve team (Jong Ajax) and the First Team. Ajax currently has some 60 players on professional contracts.
What do you and Ajax see as a natural developmental progression of activities (competitions) to gain the necessary soccer insight and proper playing experience?
Currently, the Dutch federation endorses 4v4, 7v7 and 11v11.
Patrick gave us his plan of competitive progression.
U 8 4 v 4 30 x 20m field 3 x 1m goal
U 9 6 v 6 (5 + keeper) 40 X 30m 4 X 2m
U 10 8 v 8 50 x 40m 5 x 2m
U 11 9 v 9 60 x 50m 6 x 2m
U 12 11 v 11 full field full size
Why do you think that this is best?
It should always be about what is best for the children. You must take into account the variance in growth development – physical and mental. Growth is never a steady incline, but rather more like steps, with small and gradual progressions. The various levels of competition represent the various developmental stages.
What is Ajax doing to improve soccer in Holland beyond Ajax? What do you do in the same area?
Ajax has just launched a new on-line academy for youth coaches (www.ajaxonlineacademy.nl). The website will be available in English in May of 2010. Ajax recognizes the need to help coaches of youth in general. From Ajax’s point of view, it is also an investment in a better soccer product. The youngest team at Ajax is U 9 – up to that point the players play and develop outside of the Ajax system. From the ages of 5-9, the young players must develop with their local amateur clubs. Ajax now has a solution to improve the product of youth soccer in the Netherlands.
Patrick conducts many coaching education activities for the amateur youth coaches to better help them develop the young players in Holland. When asked if Ajax is getting the same number of top young players as in the past, his response was that yes they are, but maybe not as many.
What exactly does the on-line academy offer the youth coaches?
The Program consists of 7 topic areas – each topic is presented through diagrams, animation, videos and a written explanation. Each activity is presented with the proper set up, objectives, rotations and progressions. The programs are age-appropriate and provide the coaches with all they need to carry out an appropriate training session, in the Ajax way.
The 7 topic areas are:
Pass / ReceiveTechnical TrainingPositional PlayHeadingFinishing on GoalPositional Game Play (functional training)Games – many variations
Player Evaluation
Ajax is constantly evaluating their players and also looking to improve their teams. At different times during the year, usually around school holidays, Ajax will bring in selected players for a trial. They are looking to see if the trialist is better than the last few players on the current teams. Ajax decides on each player if they will be returned or released for the following year. The evaluation process is daily.
Video analysis plays a big part in the evaluation process. Three times a year Ajax will video a tactical session and rate the player’s performance. The first video taping occurs in the first days of the season, the second in January, and the third in May. In addition to training sessions and games, Ajax will tape a particular activity per age group to measure progress and development.
U 9 3 v 1U 10 4 v 2U 11 5 v 3U 12 6 v 4U 13 7 v 5At the end of the season, the coach will pass along all of his player information (reports and videos) to the next coach who will take over the team the following year. The players move to the next level, the coaches stay at the same level – this allows for greater consistency in the evaluation process. So the U 9 coach will send along all the information to the U 10 coach who then will be very informed of his players before they even take to the pitch.
At Ajax, it is very important that the records on player development are accurately taken and maintained. It is the coach’s responsibility to maintain accurate records and to pass them along at the end of the season. Continuity is a big part of the entire operation. Everyone must be working in the same direction.

Article from the NY Times from months back that I liked. Maybe of interest to some. It details the goings on at the Ajax youth academy:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Soccer-t.html

This is taken from the PP online sie that is linked in the previous blog. It's about SAQ training which I feel is of growing importance to football and other sports:



SAQ (an acronym for ‘speed, agility and quickness’) is the title of a system patented by a company called ‘SAQ International’, which works in the UK with top football teams like West Ham United and the Rugby Football Union, and internationally with the likes of the Miami Dolphins American Football team and the New South Wales Waratahs rugby team in Australia.
Jason (‘the Whiz’) Robinson has two of the fleetest feet seen on a rugby player and, although blessed with innate ability to dance rings around his opponents, he has also honed his agility through the use of such SAQ drills as the ‘foot ladder’. This type of rope ladder, a key component of SAQ training, is placed flat on the playing surface in order to develop foot speed and improved foot-ground contact.

There are numerous permutations of ways for athletes to step and run through the ladder, which can challenge the fast twitch fibres of even the fleetest athletes. ‘One foot in, one foot out’ (left, right, left into each rung) is not too difficult; ‘two in, two out’ (two feet one after the other into each gap) is more challenging; but backwards and sideways combinations definitely need to engage the brain as well as the feet. It’s a bit like learning to waltz against the high-speed rhythm of Garage music!

These drills, like many of the speed-enhancing techniques mentioned in this article, are designed to optimise neuromuscular patterning and condition. Like any other physical attribute, speed can be trained and improved through repetition and overload. SAQ techniques never lose sight of this overall goal and the playing requirements of various sports. Depending on their emphasis, the drills are designed either to develop absolute speed and agility or to develop these attributes under the conditions of fatigue that players experience during a match.

Drills with a sport-specific emphasis often shape up looking like an obstacle course, involving short swerves through cones, hopscotch, zig-zag runs, long swerves, two- footed jumps over low hurdles, backwards running and turns through 360 degrees. Players are often required to perform even more sport-specific tasks during the course of these workouts; for example, a rugby player might have to receive and pass the ball while running through the foot ladder.

Some links

some useful links of sites I use:

SAQ - http://www.saqinternational.com/

Peak Performance - http://www.pponline.co.uk/

Footy4Kids - http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/

Soccer Expert - http://www.soccerxpert.com/

- through the set of ladders, then side stepping through the cones, then a shot

- move backwards to the final cone and take 2 more shots

Simple Drill:

Distributer throws the ball for finisher to control (with head, chest, thigh etc), get ball down, dribble the ball in and beat the goalkeeper.

Introducing Dribbling

A lot of the coaching I do is "Mini Kickers" - thats teaching pre-school children the very basics. Teaching dribbling with the ball to them can be very difficult but can be done with a lot of patience. Main issue I find is that if you place a ball in front of a 3 year old their first instinct is to kick it away. Heres some of the things I do:

- Firstly try and keep them static. Tell them you can use different parts of your foot. Get the group to try and do this on the spot. Slowly progress it into walking pace kicking the ball between their feet. I find telling them to do "baby kicks" works best in getting them to keep it close to their feet. Gradually pick up the pace.

- Start/Stop. To keep their attention, demonstrate the "Captains Pose." I've seen this done 2 ways - one is standing tall with hands on hips like a football captain supposedly should, the other is giving a hand to head salute like a ship captain supposedly should - ultimately in both they have one foot on top of the ball. This is what they should be doing when the coach shouts the stop command. Another benefit is that they are encouraged to keep the ball close to their feet and under control as they dont want to be last to do their captains pose. The kids all compete to see who's captains pose is the best.

- Traffic lights game. Basically same as before. When coach shows the red light (usually a red marker) they have to stop dribbling and put their foot on the ball, green marker means go and yellow means tapping the ball between feet on the spot.

- Follow the Leader. Everyone has a ball and stand in straight line. They all dribble, following same direction as leader. Change leader every 20-30 seconds.

Just a few ideas, hopefully their useful.