SoccerToday Youth Soccer Coach Interview Series
Youth Soccer News: Bob Bigney, is currently the Associate Technical Director for New Mexico Youth Soccer Association and a National Youth Coaching Course Instructor. Bigney has achieved a US Soccer A License; NSCAA Premier & Director of Coaching Diploma and US Soccer Youth License.
Bigney has been devoted to soccer for many years, as a Director of Education for Oregon Youth Soccer Association, Technical Director for Arlington Soccer Association, Director of Coaching for Beach FC Soccer Club (VA) and as a College Soccer Coach for 12 years.
As part of SoccerToday’s ongoing series on Top Youth Coaches, here is our interview with New Mexico Youth Soccer Association’s Bob Bigney.
Diane Scavuzzo: What is your coaching philosophy?
Bob Bigney: I want to help develop children who love to play the game of soccer. I want them to enjoy playing and always wanting to play soccer. Looking forward to team practices, wanting to get friends together to play pick-up soccer and playing on their own.
I want to use soccer to implant all the positive life lessons that youth sports should be developing in children – such as teamwork, active lifestyle, cooperation, work ethic, dealing with adversity, etc among others.
I believe playing sports and being a part of a team should help develop better citizens for the future.
Diane Scavuzzo: How has soccer changed since you became involved?
Bob Bigney: From an administrative viewpoint – youth soccer has become much more organized; It is more regimented and costly with more adult-involvement — and, it is much higher profile than year ago. This higher profile provides many more opportunities for youth soccer players.
From a technical viewpoint – the youth soccer game has become much faster and players are more skillful. The game is more coach-driven with a greater emphasis on winning games than years ago and it is more position-oriented — and more scientifically based.
Some of these changes are positive – others, not so much.
Diane Scavuzzo: What do you think U.S. Soccer needs to do to help soccer be more successful in the USA?
Bob Bigney: Recognize the broad spectrum of soccer participants in the USA. U.S. Soccer needs to provide services, resources and programming to meet the needs of all levels of those involved in soccer.
I believe that impacting the grassroots participants will develop a greater number of coaches and players with a higher level of competency and love of the game. This, in time, will provide a larger number of elite players and coaches for high-level soccer involvement.
To focus resources solely on the very small percentage of elite players and their coaches excludes too many others that are involved in soccer.
Developing players for the men’s and women’s national teams and developing elite level coaches – these are tremendously important tasks; but they should not be the exclusive focus of US Soccer.
On that note, specifically in regard to coach development, I would love to see U.S. Soccer partner with the NSCAA to deliver coaching education courses.
I think it could be a win-win for everybody. Let the NSCAA focus on grassroots coach development through their diploma courses – and, through a cooperative effort with the Federation’s coaching department, help promote and prepare coaches for US Soccer courses. The U.S. Soccer licensing program, while providing excellent information, does not adequately meet the needs of a vast number of coaches in the USA. The NSCAA would fill in the gaps and provide continuing education to coaches in need.
Diane Scavuzzo: What makes a youth coach successful?
Bob Bigney: Caring about the children in his/her charge makes a coach successful.
Looking at the long-term picture and realizing that coaches are developing children, not just soccer players is critically important.
If a coach looks at the players as people first, the coach is more likely to be concerned about their overall development and provide an experience from which they benefit; regardless of their advancement up the soccer ranks.
Diane Scavuzzo: What is the biggest problem in youth soccer today?
Bob Bigney: Over Coaching and Misdirected Coaching! We have too many well-intended coaches who are narrowly focused on immediate success of winning those weekend games and do not allow children to
1) Fall in love with the game,
2) Have opportunities to solve their own problems, and
3) Receive the positive benefits that can be obtained from participation in youth sports.
My over-coaching soccer timeline:
- As soccer gained popularity in the USA, kids loved it because of the freedom it provided – soccer offered the freedom to move and the freedom to think – then coaches came along, imposed the American tradition of coach-centered sports, and lessened the enjoyment for many kids.
- So, because it was more informal and provided some independence, indoor soccer became popular! Until coaching emerged and spoiled that too for the players.
- Then 3v3 type events became all the rage – until over-coaching came in and took the fun out of it for the kids.
- So beach soccer became a fun-filled opportunity to play pick-up soccer – and now the amount of coaching at beach soccer events is removing the reason it was fun.
Why is soccer so popular for kids? I always encourage people to remember those answers and don’t take those aspects out of the soccer experience that kids receive.
Diane Scavuzzo: What has coaching taught you?
Bob Bigney: As youth soccer coach and an elementary school teacher, I am constantly reminded of the remarkable correlations between coaching and teaching. The fairly recent changes in classroom teaching methodology go hand-in-hand with modern methods of coaching soccer to children.
Coaching and teaching has also taught me that kids are very different from adults – and very different from one another.
Kids learn in many different ways and at different rates. In my coaching, I now try to be more understanding, more patient and more creative in the ways that I offer information to my players.
Long-term development instead of short-term accomplishments.
Diane Scavuzzo: What do you want to achieve in the next 12 months?
Bob Bigney: Professional goals include conducting programs designed for inexperienced coaches. I’d be happy if I can teach 100 youth soccer coaches how to provide a challenging, enjoyable and developmentally appropriate soccer environment for their players. If each of those coaches then positively impacts just 10 youth soccer players, it would result in 1000 children falling in love with the game of soccer, improving their skills and continuing to play the game.
Diane Scavuzzo: New U.S. Soccer Mandates – How do you think small-sided games will benefit development?
Bob Bigney: I think these new U.S. Soccer Mandates will benefit the game of soccer wonderfully!
Thank you U.S. Soccer for finally mandating small-sided games for youth soccer.
These age-appropriate game formats will have more players involved in the game, require faster decision-making and provide many more touches on the ball. And everybody doing the same thing will certainly help.
Diane Scavuzzo: What do you think U.S. Soccer needs to do to help soccer coaches?
Bob Bigney: If U.S. Soccer is going to mandate processes and playing rules – they need to think through all aspects of implementation and communicate ALL the details of such mandates.
On issues such as no heading of the Concussion Initiatives and the 7 vs. 7 Build Out Line, there have been many areas that have been left undefined and not addressed. This is currently causing confusion and resentment. Hopefully, U.S. Soccer, or their youth member groups, will communicate all the rules and details needed to fully implement these ideas.
