Best Academy?

[TKBC]

Coach education is key, and requiring certification at all levels is key. But what BCSA (or CSA as a whole?) fail to comprehend (it seems) is that simply attending a course doesn't educate. Coaches pass just by showing-up. They often take little or nothing away from the course because they are there a) because they have to and b) learning nothing because they aren't tested to learn anything. There is no follow-up or oversight.

I've had Provincial B for quite a few years now. Has anyone contacted me to see how things are going? Has anyone observed me to give me feedback? Nope. Does anyone care if I am coaching the kids in a certain way? Just my club TD, with no support for him from BCSA to ensure I am coaching a certain way. The way he wants me to coach is what he believes is best - not what our footballing directors in this country believe is best.

 

[Legend]

All good points, a little off topic the last several posts as the forum question is what is the best soccer academy at the moment?

After some thought about the question and the in-depth answer many are giving I wanted to ask something that would take research to answer. I know many on there have heard about the Academies that have the marketing budget or have been on the block for several years.
Example:
TSS
WhiteCaps
Roman Tulis
Barca

I never hear other people talk about the smaller boutique Academies which from word on the street are quite good. For example MB-SOS in Richmond, Libor Volf Academy in Vancouver, Premiere Soccer Academy in Coquitlam, and Faly Academy in North Vancouver

Anyone have insight on these?

 

[easoccer]

Any in Surrey?

 

[WV1977]

The only one I can comment on is Faly French Academy. Is was started by a few ex-pros from the Africa with French roots. They practice out of N Van and West Van. I would rate the school overall as about average. They to focus on technical skills. They do have teams that play in Spring leagues at the U7 level and above which is good as most academies don't. They also take travel teams to France regularly but that's usually reserved for the stronger players at the U11 level and above

As for boutique academies I would also recommend you look into Ekrem in BBY and Saibo Tadic out of N Van I believe but not sure

Other that that there are several very strong coaches out there that do specialized training for strikers and mids etc but they tend to only work with older kids 13 and up and are often busy getting selected kids ready for university, residency programs or European ID camps

 

[Legend]

Not too sure about Surrey. It seems to be a mess in that area lol

 

[Legend]

I didn't know Ekrem still operates. Interesting

 

[WV1977]

Yes Ekrem

He's out out BBY and has mixed ages playing at the same time

I would stay away from Barca for a year or two and see how it develops. Hearing too many mixed reviews although they seem to have worked out some of the kinks from a difficult year one

 

[Soccer-dad-NV]

The only one I can comment on is Faly French Academy. Is was started by a few ex-pros from the Africa with French roots. They practice out of N Van and West Van. I would rate the school overall as about average. They to focus on technical skills. They do have teams that play in Spring leagues at the U7 level and above which is good as most academies don't. They also take travel teams to France regularly but that's usually reserved for the stronger players at the U11 level and above

As for boutique academies I would also recommend you look into Ekrem in BBY and Saibo Tadic out of N Van I believe but not sure

Other that that there are several very strong coaches out there that do specialized training for strikers and mids etc but they tend to only work with older kids 13 and up and are often busy getting selected kids ready for university, residency programs or European ID camps

I enrolled my son in the Faly Academy at the end of U11 when he played Silver. I put him in the semi-private class. I was skeptacle as it was in a gym. The wall was divided in the gym with 6 kids on each side training with a coach. My son was in the 2nd tier group with some boys the same age and younger.

My son was trained twice a week and played Saturdays already. I had already enrolled him in the club development academy once a week as well before I realised he wasn't being pushed to beyond his comfort zone at those trainings.
I knew he could achieve a level higher with his talent. He just needed to be pushed. I also coached him at that time and he was started to tune me out.

The Faly coaches pushed and stopped to explain the reasons for doing something a certain way immediatly. Something you don't see often enough with volunteer parent coaches for various reasons. Most of which being that they did not play professional football in France like these coaches did I would surmise. The kids really respect the coaches. They are all trained to greet the coaches with handshakes and make eye contact from day one. It's very rewarding as a parent to see 9-14 year olds great adults this way. This was once a week for 10 weeks. My son made the U12 Gold 2 team at club evauations and we then decided to enroll him in the Faly team Spring league at the last minute as my son was enjoying his soccer. He played on the U12 B team with other Silver and some house players. As it turns out the 7 of the 8 North Van boys that moved up to BCSPL this season all play or played Faly. Some for multiple years. When I saw some of the best kids in my sons age group going to Faly and getting better and better I only had to point my kid in the right direction. Its funny to look back and he could not make the Faly A team but now moved up to metro (the top club team) It's a shame the private academys and Clubs can't work/compete together more. Everyone can plainly see the benefits of competition. Its the Beaurocracy that seems to get in the way. It's easy to argue for and against both equally I guess but....
I don't really know what the answer is but I do know that people like to have choices and alternatives if they feel like something isn't working for them.

 

[Legend]

Noticed a few have videos out:

MB School of Soccer | Facebook
&
www.premieresocceracademy.ca
The start of their website is an intro video, not bad...

 

[TKBC]

The Faly coaches pushed and stopped to explain the reasons for doing something a certain way immediatly. Something you don't see often enough with volunteer parent coaches for various reasons.

So so critical. Make everything game-related. Some players won't quite comprehend why they are doing a certain bit of training. It's important coaches stop and show the players how it's related. Often this becomes clear through progressions in training.

 

[TKBC]

The premier academy intro video was interesting - looks good.

 

[Xyfbx]

There are some great replies to this thread. Our son has now started at the NFP club and he is a dominant player. I attribute this to his other sports experience and those two weeks of professional camps during the summer. We tried and tried but we could not find private training to match his schedule for this year.

I think it is great that people volunteer and get involved at their local clubs. The problem lies in the inconsistency of coaching between teams in the same club and each successive year. Also a private coach gets the most out of the allotted time. There is no standing around, it is go, go, go.

After thinking about where I grew up and hearing of peoples experiences from away, I think there should be a restructuring of the community center system in the Lower Mainland. Larger community centers should be re-structured as Community and Sports Clubs. Baseball, soccer, basketball etc should be played out of them. Each would have professional staff allocations for coaching as well as roaming staff between centers. Each center would run house and rep teams. Leagues would form, real city/regional championships could be held. An ideal could be created.

It would require some big changes to established club programs. For example maybe Cliff Avenue United and Kensington Complex could form one Sports center. Another center would be at Confederation Community Center with some of the remnants of Cliff. Basically a city the size of Burnaby would end up with 6 clubs based around existing community centers. They would play each other.
Top teams would play other centers in the lower mainland, the very top teams would play regionally and in big tournaments. Build out prestigious tournaments like hockey has done and attract teams from all over the country and internationally.

 

[gambeta]

There are some great replies to this thread. Our son has now started at the NFP club and he is a dominant player. I attribute this to his other sports experience and those two weeks of professional camps during the summer. We tried and tried but we could not find private training to match his schedule for this year.

I think it is great that people volunteer and get involved at their local clubs. The problem lies in the inconsistency of coaching between teams in the same club and each successive year. Also a private coach gets the most out of the allotted time. There is no standing around, it is go, go, go.

After thinking about where I grew up and hearing of peoples experiences from away, I think there should be a restructuring of the community center system in the Lower Mainland. Larger community centers should be re-structured as Community and Sports Clubs. Baseball, soccer, basketball etc should be played out of them. Each would have professional staff allocations for coaching as well as roaming staff between centers. Each center would run house and rep teams. Leagues would form, real city/regional championships could be held. An ideal could be created.

It would require some big changes to established club programs. For example maybe Cliff Avenue United and Kensington Complex could form one Sports center. Another center would be at Confederation Community Center with some of the remnants of Cliff. Basically a city the size of Burnaby would end up with 6 clubs based around existing community centers. They would play each other.
Top teams would play other centers in the lower mainland, the very top teams would play regionally and in big tournaments. Build out prestigious tournaments like hockey has done and attract teams from all over the country and internationally.

 

[gambeta]

By all these comments, it seems that the only soccer that exists is in Europe

 

[Admin]

Until you can provide pictures or video showing otherwise... the statement is pretty much true.

 

[Legend]

The premier academy intro video was interesting - looks good.

I've been hearing that this Academy has been doing some fantastic things with youth in the tri-city area for two years now. Some parents I have ran into lately have said the TD's approach is completely holistic and driven to make players well rounded technically. Some mentioned that his past soccer experiences have been so vast that he is quite tuned into what needs to be done in all aspects and at what age. I'd thought I'd post about it since it's the 4th or 5th time I've heard really good things about this Academy.

 

[TKBC]

I've been hearing that this Academy has been doing some fantastic things with youth in the tri-city area for two years now. Some parents I have ran into lately have said the TD's approach is completely holistic and driven to make players well rounded technically. Some mentioned that his past soccer experiences have been so vast that he is quite tuned into what needs to be done in all aspects and at what age. I'd thought I'd post about it since it's the 4th or 5th time I've heard really good things about this Academy.

I'd love to hear more about how is approach is different.

 

[Legend]

From the conversation I had a few weeks ago, I can remember they mentioned of the extra time the Academy puts into the development of each athlete is different to each individual and will depend on their short and long term goals that they boys will communicate. The Academy's curriculum comes from South America and Europe where its focus is the technical with the ball. Than the decision making or they called it soccer iq?

The other thing I remember that stuck in my head was the academy is constantly changing the environment or approach to their coaching styles to maximize the learning. Some examples that were given was the physical environment itself, such as: outdoor grass field to futsal. A change in the coach for a short period of time to provide a different perspective, or just the approach in the style of coaching.

I also heard that the TD sits down with each set of parents separately in a meeting to discuss their son/daughter before he takes on him or her as a client. He genuinely cares, blah blah blah. Just sounded like a better, personal interaction with how the kids will develope due to the fact each kid is different in how they learn and at what pace they learn at. All have different potentials and different goals and the academy goes off this way of thinking.

From my sports science background, it made complete sense and does follow what European clubs do.

 

[WHITECAPS]

TSS with their indoor facilities were a very good academy a few years ago and helped a lot of players improve their game.

 

[Redarmy]

My take on failure of academy club teams. The academy coaches run a station not the group so no individual focus. The for profit academy has a dedicated coach for the group to monitor each player.