Summer Coaching Education Series Again a Success
With 554 attendees at 16 different courses over a three-month period, NorCal Premier Soccer’s Summer Coaching Education Series was again a massive success.
Starting in May with a session from Falkirk assistant manager Gordon Young and concluding in August with lessons from three-time defending NCAA champion Jeremy Gunn of Stanford, NorCal’s coaches were treated to some of the best instructional opportunities from clinicians from both near and far.
“We tried to create a wide range of different courses to meet the needs of the different coaches,” said NorCal Premier Soccer Coaching Education Coordinator David Robertson. “The attendance of the coaches was remarkable, especially considering how busy the summer was.”
In addition to the aforementioned clinicians, the list of those who came to various locations around the state included: John Devine (former Ireland international), Javier Lopez (former Director of Real Madrid Mexico), Frans Hoek (former Manchester United, Barcelona, and Ajax goalkeepers coach), Jos Van Veelen (KNVB grassroots), Gerritt Panhuis (Frans Hoek Methodology Coach), Todd Beane (TOVO Academy Founder), and Mary Kok-Willemsen (Holland University Football).
“As a frequent clinician, I have seen a massive change in Norcal’s budget and resource commitment to what is a key area for individual continuous personal development of coaches,” Young said. “Coaches must embrace this opportunity to improve their knowledge in an ever changing industry in order to provide current and specific techniques geared for player progress.”
Added Beane: “Northern California is known worldwide for innovation. If we can embrace innovation on the pitch, there is no limit to what these NorCal players can accomplish. I was honored to share some thoughts as to how we may maximize our players’ potential. Thank you to NorCal for providing me that opportunity.”
“Our staff really enjoyed the course with NorCal,” Gunn said. “The interactions were vibrant and thoughtful, with open communication between everyone involved. Hopefully everyone who participated enjoyed the course as much as we did. While we do not believe there is a right or wrong way of coaching a team, we hope that we shared as much as we could about how our student-athletes have pushed themselves to be as successful as they can be.”
Unlike previous years, where much of the education had been centrally-located, this year NorCal spread out the courses all across the state from Danville to Fresno to Sacramento. Each course was aimed to reach a different level of coaching, from the grassroots level to the college and professional game.
And none of this would have been possible without the cooperation and help from area clubs that provided facilities, coaches, and/or players to help out with all the instruction.
Those who helped out, whom NorCal would like to thank, include Modesto Ajax, Bay Area Barcelona, West Coast Soccer, Mustang, Davis Legacy, Peninsula Soccer Club, Santa Rosa United, CenCal Cosmos, San Juan Soccer Club, San Jose Surf, Las Positas College, and Stanford.
By providing most of the courses free of charge, NorCal is hoping to continually improve the level of coaching all throughout the state in an ongoing process that will never cease.
“As coaches we’re always trying to evolve and look at best practices used, not only here but across the world,” Robertson said. “If coaches can get something from these courses, they’re going to get better which will make the players better.
“Better coaches makes better players.”
