Reflections 15 Years In: Thoughts on Youth Player Development

Now in my 15th year of coaching, I’ve been reflecting on what I’ve seen and learned so far. Player development is complex, and I certainly don’t have all the answers.

But after 15 years, I do have convictions about what works and what doesn’t—confirmed by my experience, research, and ongoing education.

These reflections are my convictions on the game and why I coach the way I coach today. _______________________________________________________________________________

The Problem With Traditional Large-Sided Games

As parents, you’ve probably seen it — in big games, some players barely touch the ball. They chase the play, wait for involvement, and leave the field feeling frustrated. It’s not a reflection of their effort or potential—it’s just that the environment limits their chances to truly play.

Despite the evidence, many programs still prioritize full 11v11 formats at ages when players aren’t ready. In a full game, youth players may only touch the ball for a minute or two—not in an hour of play, but across the entire match.

Their direct involvement is limited, their opportunities to make meaningful decisions are rare, and their skill progression on the ball stagnates.

Of course, off-the-ball decisions and habits—positioning, timing, awareness—are vital and should be coached. But kids also deserve an environment where they get more direct involvement, more ball contacts, and more opportunities to truly grow the skills that allow them to become direct game-changers.

Time and again, I’ve seen players destabilized when a new system or formation is introduced—not because the tactics are too complex, but because their foundations are too weak. A player with a solid base in perception, decision-making, and execution can adjust to any system. A player without it gets lost in the shuffle.

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Pillar 1: Structure (Small-Sided Games)

Small-sided formats—1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, and up to 5v5 in futsal—completely change the picture. With fewer players and smaller spaces, every youth player is engaged throughout the game.

Research and experience confirm what I’ve seen time and again in training:

• More Ball Touches: Players get around 6× more touches in futsal (5v5), and up to 10× more touches in 3v3 compared to 11v11.

• Faster Decision-Making: The speed of play forces kids to scan, read, and react constantly.

• Technical + Game Understanding: Tight spaces demand creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork.

• Physical Conditioning: Continuous involvement builds stamina, agility, and game-specific fitness.

• Psychological Benefits: Smaller formats foster confidence, communication, and joy in the game.

And importantly, this is more time-efficient. In the same 60 minutes, a youth player may only get a handful of real touches in 11v11. In 3v3 or 5v5, that same hour produces exponentially more involvement, decisions, and learning opportunities. _______________________________________________________________________________

Small-Sided Games Foster What Kids Want

Research shows kids stick with sports for six main reasons: fun, skill improvement, social bonds, challenge, fitness, and confidence. Small-sided games foster each of these motivators—keeping the focus player-first while still strengthening the team.

And if you think about it, the proof is right in front of us. Why do so many kids say they want to be midfielders? Because that’s where they believe they’ll get the ball more often and have more direct involvement in the game.

At its heart, every child craves touches and decisions. Small-sided games give that experience to everyone, not just a select few in certain roles.

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Bridge: Clarifying Team vs Player Development

One clarification here: when I say player-first, it shouldn’t be misunderstood as anti-team. Some of the most important qualities of being a good player are teamwork, leadership, and the willingness to work hard and sacrifice for the collective. Without those, you can’t have true success in a team game.

In my experience, team-focused sessions have their place—they teach teamwork, leadership, and accountability. But they shouldn’t dominate the week. Most training time should focus on individual foundations, technically and tactically, so players can make their own decisions, take initiative, and grow more confident on the field.

Even when I prepare futsal teams in season for weekend games, most of our training time still revolves around 1v1s, 2v2s, and 3v3s. These smaller scenarios challenge players to read the game, react, and solve problems on their own or with one or two teammates. That’s where decision-making, timing, and creativity truly develop—and those habits then transfer seamlessly into the bigger game.

That independence is what allows them to dictate solutions, to read situations, and to influence the outcome directly. It’s the players’ game, after all—not the coach’s, not the system’s.

Better individuals build better teams.

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Not All Touches Are Equal

There’s an important nuance here. More touches are great, but not all touches are equal.

Early on, repetition builds the technical base players need to control the ball.

But technical ability alone isn’t enough. Soccer is not just a technical exercise—it’s a game of perception, decisions, and execution under pressure.

Without tying touches to decision-making—the where, the when, and the why—skills won’t translate into real game impact. This is the bridge from structure to coaching.

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A Note on Age and Progression

From my experience, small-sided formats remain the best developmental environment well into the teenage years. Even around age 14—when players hit their growth spurt and can physically cover the distances of a bigger field—small-sided play is still where they sharpen the skills that matter most: decision-making, ball mastery, and problem-solving under pressure.

In the United States, once players reach high school, exposure becomes part of the path for those aiming to play in college or professionally. Since there’s no established infrastructure for competitive small-sided play at those ages, most recruiting naturally happens through full-sided 11v11 environments.

To be fair, that’s largely how scouting works abroad as well. The difference is that in many soccer cultures, there’s a deeper belief—and a longer tradition—of developing players through small-sided and individual-focused environments before they specialize in full-sided play. Strong technical bases, decision-making, and game understanding are emphasized earlier and more consistently, creating players who enter 11v11 already equipped to read the game and influence it.

That’s one reason why so many of the world’s best players trace their roots back to futsal. In fact, in another blog I wrote in 2023 analyzing Ballon d’Or winners—the highest individual accolade a player can receive—nearly 80% of them grew up playing futsal.

That kind of environment—where players get thousands of meaningful touches and decisions before the full field—builds a base that lasts. Developmentally, the foundation doesn’t change. Regardless of the format, players need those repetitions, decisions, and challenges in tight spaces to truly thrive in the game.

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Beyond Experience: Why Teaching Matters

I believe strongly that experience must be paired with teaching to build the foundations players truly need.

If scaling to bigger formats is the goal, then foundations must come first. But for me, these small-sided scenarios aren’t just preparation for the game—they are the game.

• 1v1s: the ability to beat or stop an opponent.

• 2v1s: knowing when to combine or go alone.

• 2v2s: managing pressure, support, and balance.

• 3v2s and 3v3s: learning overloads, rotations, and collective problem-solving.

  
  

These aren’t side activities—they’re soccer in its purest form. Without understanding them, players are asked to compete in larger formats without ever truly knowing how to play.

That kind of understanding is something I’ve been studying deeply in my current advanced coaching course, which focuses on individual tactics for specific positions. It’s fascinating how many small details—like distances, angles, and timing—can influence a play. These subtle nuances shape whether a player’s technical skills can even come into play.

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The Three Layers of Every Action

Every action in soccer has three layers:

1. Perception – What information is being taken in?

2. Decision – Based on that read, what choice is being made?

3. Execution – How is that decision carried out technically?

Too often, coaching skips straight to execution—the “how” of the skill—without spending enough time on perception and decision.

But in real games, execution only matters if the first two layers are sound. A perfectly clean pass made to the wrong option is still the wrong play.

That’s why small-sided games are so powerful: they multiply the number of repetitions across all three layers. Players are constantly scanning, deciding, and executing under pressure.

And that’s why coaching can’t just be about technique—it has to guide the full process.

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Pillar 2: Coaching (Beyond Facilitation)

Small-sided games create opportunity. Coaching ensures that opportunity becomes progress.

For me, this is what I aim to do every day in my own coaching. And the more I learn each year—through both experience and continued education—the clearer it becomes: the coaching points are vital.

It’s not just what is taught, but how it’s delivered:

• The way a message lands.

• The way feedback is framed.

• The way a correction is timed and executed.

• The way a solution is shown and reinforced.

Anybody can design a session full of 1v1s, 2v2s, or 3v3s. What truly separates outcomes isn’t the setup—it’s the coaching points. Two coaches could run the same activity, yet their players would develop very differently depending on what’s emphasized and corrected.

That’s why I try to approach every session with humility—knowing that my words, timing, and focus matter. And also knowing that if I chase too many things at once, I dilute the learning.

As the saying goes: the coach who chases five rabbits catches none.

That’s why in my periodization, I build week by week, layering specific focuses so players can absorb, repeat, and grow progressively.

When coaching is team-first, the details are often about system and results. When coaching is player-first, the details are about confidence, decisions, and growth. That difference changes everything about how kids experience the game.

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Pillar 3: Culture (Psychological Safety)

Culture defines how kids experience learning. In my view, success isn’t defined by wins or losses—it’s redefined in the process.

Losing isn’t failing. Failing is not trying, not playing with courage.

When players understand that, they begin to see challenges differently. Focus + courage is where improvement happens.

This is the type of environment where mistakes become fuel for growth, and where players are freed to try things that might not work the first time, but eventually expand their game.

I’m convinced that without this kind of culture—an environment where kids feel safe to try, make mistakes, and learn—structure and coaching alone will always fall short.

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Conclusion: Why I Coach the Way I Do Today

Over the last 15 years, I’ve seen what happens when structure, coaching, and culture are separated. Players plateau. Teams struggle. Parents grow frustrated.

But I’ve also seen what happens when they come together.

Players thrive. They touch the ball, make decisions, and grow—not just as athletes but as confident, creative problem-solvers.

That’s why I’ve become convinced that structure, coaching, and culture together form the missing piece in American youth soccer. And it’s why I coach the way I do today.

That belief guides how I design environments, coach behaviors, and build culture.

• Create environments where every player is involved and learning through the game.

• Guide with coaching that develops perception, decision-making, and execution—not just technique.

• Build a culture that values courage, growth, and learning through mistakes.

At the heart of all this, the goal is simple: to nurture players who are independent, creative, and capable of recognizing, deciding, and executing solutions to unlock the game.

Taken together, structure, coaching, and culture are about one thing: nurturing players with the foundations, adaptability, and courage they need to truly influence the game.

For me, it’s about developing people first, players second. Because when kids feel seen, supported, and trusted, they grow in ways that go far beyond the field.

Players deserve more. They deserve the chance to develop their own tools to influence the game, to dictate play from their role, and to grow as people through the sport.

Structure creates the opportunity. Coaching shapes it into progress. Culture makes it sustainable. Together, they move players from 2 percent involvement to 100 percent engagement—and from indirect development to direct, player-first growth.

That’s why I coach the way I do—because I believe every player deserves to grow with confidence, to make their own decisions, and to feel their impact in every session. When that happens, they don’t just become better players—they fall in love with the game for life.

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References

• Youth Soccer: Benefits of Small-Sided Games in Player Development, SEFA Soccer, 2025

• Small Sided Games Increase Athlete Participation, BYU Exercise Sciences, 2024

• Katis & Kellis (2009). Effects of Small-Sided Games on Physical Conditioning and Performance, PMC3763282

• Agility Development in Youth Soccer: The Efficacy of Fixed-Role Small-Sided Games, Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 2025

• Effect of Skill-Based Training vs. Small-Sided Games on Physical Fitness, PMC7433329

• Unlocking Player Development: The Benefits of Small-Sided Soccer Games, 2Addictive, 2024

• Physical Benefits of Small-Sided Recreational Games, ScienceDirect, 2023

• The Enjoyment of Small-Sided Games: A Narrative Review, 2025

• Effects of Recreational Small-Sided Games in Team Sports, 2023