Part 1 in a Five-Part Series

Claudio Reyna is the new Technical Director for US Soccer. He addressed coaches at the recent USSF Development Academy Spring Showcase in Sarasota, Florida. TopDrawerSoccer.com was there and is presenting a rundown of Reyna’s comments both to the coaches and in an exclusive interview with Managing Editor Robert Ziegler.

How to Get There
New USSF Technical Director Claudio Reyna was introduced to the group of about 200 USSF Development Academy coaches and set the tone for his presentation on the state of the game in this country by saying, “We have come a long way, but we have a long way to go.”

He also added that it is impossible to know how many years it will take to “get there.”

Getting there in this case, as defined by Reyna himself, means to be a major producer of international-caliber talent. He showed a chart indicating the producing country for the players on the top 5 teams of the major 4 European professional leagues (Spain, Italy, Germany, England). While a number of countries other than the hosts had numbers in double digits, the United States had exactly one, Oguchi Onyewu, a national team defender who missed all of his 1st season with AC Milan with a knee injury.

Reyna said this is the way the world gauges the ability to produce talent and this is how we need to measure, not by the World Cups (full national team, U20, U17 or otherwise).

“I hope the World Cup team gets far, but we cannot use that as a measurement,” he said.

Changes and Status Quo
He showed another interesting chart comparing the U.S. soccer scene in 1994 to today. In 1994, Reyna was 20 and the youngest player with the full national team (he didn’t play in the 1994 World Cup due to injury). He had just signed as a professional with German club Bayer Leverkeusen but by his own admission was not ready for life as a professional, saying he was a decent technical player but well short of required standards physically, psychologically and tactically.

Fast forwarding 16 years, Reyna cites Bradenton Residency for the U17 MNT, a dramatic increase in youth national team programs by the USSF, the advent of Major League Soccer and now the USSF Development Academy, which is just completing its 3rd season.

He noted that for all this progress, the items listed are directed at what USSF designates zones 2 (ages 13-18) and 3 (18 and above), while mostly leaving zone 1 (6-12) alone. “You don’t teach 2 plus 2 after they learn multiplication tables,” Reyna said, adding that while other leading countries have some of their best coaches dedicated to the youngest ages, the U.S. leaves this group mainly for volunteer parents. Our players need a better introduction to the game from coaches and parents, otherwise they will always be playing catchup to their international counterparts.

Setting the Standard
So Reyna is currently building an intensive national youth curriculum, covering 7 learning areas, to detail what young players need to be taught and how. The primary areas are Tactics, Technique, Fitness and Psychology, with supplemental areas including Set Pieces, Goalkeeping and Nutrition. The curriculum is broken down into age-appropriate zones.

Reyna has been studying methods used in a number of places around the world. He says the guidelines will be set in an American context, but will also address some of our shortcomings in building a soccer culture, noting for example that too many American kids do not enjoy training because of their preference to be entertained.

The curriculum is just one part of Reyna’s mission, and he mentioned coaching methodology, including training, planning, providing feedback, team selection and match management as areas that will need to be addressed as part of overall coaching education.

Part 2: More Specific Items from the Technical Director