Greensboro United Soccer Association

Player Development Philosophy

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GUSA aims to be known as a top program for youth soccer development. Our goal is to help each of our athletes reach the level of competition that they are seeking to achieve.
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GUSA’s philosophy involves creating and implementing age-appropriate training curriculum at all levels to ensure the best development of all of our players. Our focus is on player development vs. wins and losses. We aim to provide a standardized and structured support plan to our players, coaches and parents to implement this player-centric programming at every level of the game. We strive to be successful, and are committed to youth development, teaching life lessons, and community building, to help develop great kids who are great soccer players. GUSA seeks to provide experienced, professional, and caring coaches to teach and develop soccer players. The training environment is very important at GUSA and we strive to help our players develop a passion for the game and a mindset whereby they understand that the best players want to practice, train, and compete.
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Player Development Path

STAGE 1 - FUNDAMENTALS (AGES 4-7): The main areas of focus: movement education, starting the process of learning to master the ball, and developing a love for the game.  Movement skills and technical development remain top of the agenda at this stage. At these ages, young players are eager, active and like to be on the go. These young players are starting to act more independently, but they still need parental approval, understanding, praise and encouragement. Pushing too hard or expecting too much can result in the child becoming tense and nervous.

Areas Of Focus:
- Fundamental Motor Skills
- Agility, Balance, and Coordination
- Introduction to mastering the soccer ball.
- Individual Technical AbilIty.

STAGE 2 - LEARNING TO TRAIN (AGES 8-10): The main areas of focus: mastering the ball, learning how to train properly, and creating a foundation for team work. This is a crucial time for developing advanced competency in basic techniques and this platform allows for the introduction of more advanced skills. Some basic tactical appreciation can also be introduced. Aerobic power should be introduced progressively after growth rate decelerates. It is also very important that children are encouraged to take part in unstructured play. The main activities are developing ball control while learning how to solve problems individually and with their teammates. Players learn several new activities that create a foundation for their training environment as they progress over the years. Different variations of passing & dribbling can build into higher level variations that help to develop technical abilities & combinational play.  

STAGE 3- TRAINING TO TRAIN (AGES 10-12): The main areas of focus: continuation of mastering the ball and learning principles of play. Players transition into a Training to Train Phase now that a foundation has been set from previous years of playing. The tactical Principles of Attacking & Defending are introduced. Several of these principles are very complicated and at this stage of development the focus is creating a foundation based on these principles. Players must start to take individual responsibility for their development.  They must be working on their own outside of team training to reach their full potential as players.

    -Principles of Attacking: Penetration, providing support, movement off the ball, width & depth, and improvisation/creativity.
    -Principles of Defending: pressure & cover, delaying, balance/team shape, compactness, control & restraint (not diving in)
 
STAGE 4 - TRAINING TO COMPETE (AGES 13-15): The main areas of focus here is developing tactical concepts of the game while continuing to develop technical abilities. Training sessions will be similar from the previous stage with the areas of focus becoming more complex. We will continue to work on the development of fundamental and advanced individual skills. But players should receive more in-depth tactical instructions, particularly in understanding playing positions. Players should continue to experience different positions on the field, but may begin to settle into a primary position.
   
STAGE 5 - TRAINING TO WIN (AGES U-16 & OLDER): The final phase of player preparation aims to maximize player performance in all aspects of the game. A player's capacities are becoming fully established while training to peak for major competitions. Training is characterized by high intensity and relatively high volume with frequent periods of rest. Team tactics should form a significant part of practice sessions. Position training is important, and players should be prepared for a primary position. Physical conditioning is also important for all players and training should be tailored to the physical demands of their position on the field.