(note - i also posted this on the USAPANG forum, to see what ideas are generated there as well...)
Malcolm Gladwell, in his book OUTLIERS, alludes to something called the 10,000 hour rule.
http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/outliers_excerpt1.html
Based upon his study of a wide variety of successful people across all walks of life, he has derived a rule that indicates that a person must practice/play/study/work at something for 10,000 hours, to become a master at that skill.
Here in the philippines, it seems most soccer "programs" or "camps" provide around 2 hours of training maybe twice a week, after shelling out p4k to 6k for two months worth of fees. using gladwell's rule, it means that following the existing "programs" that we have out there (at least in the metro manila area), my kid after starting at 4 years old, would become a master about the time he turns 100 years old! even if malcolm is off by a factor of 2, my kid would only master the sport when he is around 50 years old. maybe this approach is ok for parents that want their kids to just go out, get a bit of exercise, and have fun. but we should not delude ourselves as a nation... this approach will never put us on a similar standing to the top countries in the world.
Clearly, the existing "programs" out there which are available to the relatively wealthy population, have no hope of being able to develop advanced skills on their own. they all have an important role to play in stimulating interest and growth, but alone will not be enough. what more for the poorer families who may actually have more gifted athletic kids, but cannot afford the cost of a commercial program? these programs alone cannot be considered sufficient to develop skills for advanced players. they are important parts of the equation, but not enough. hopeful moms and dads who really have no benchmark with which to measure (in an absolute sense) their child's development should be aware of the limitations of these programs and not expect too much.
so what to do? subscribe your kids to multiple programs to increase the training hours? not in my household. we just can't afford it, and i believe we are relatively affluent.
clearly there needs to be a call to arms for grassroots football development here in the philippines. there has to be a number of fundamental changes here that become "game changers". stepwise improvements will not suffice, as the progress would be too slow without much impact. so, what could we do?
I am no expert, but it seems to me there must be strengthening of existing approaches, as well as additional options created for all kids here in the philippines which expands their opportunities to play, which supplements and augments the programs...
1) the general commercial programs
i would like to suggest that the commercial programs shift their focus somewhat from being purely money machines to placing additional focus upon being talent machines. this means more contact hours. how can they do this while still managing costs? most programs my kids have been to, all run the same way : 1.5 hours training, 0.5 hours play. why not provide additional time for play? provide additional sessions with no coaching, just play. separate attending kids into competing teams and stage a mini competition each time. perhaps this could be managed with fewer coaches? again i am no expert here, but clearly we cannot rely solely upon these programs the way they are run now because they are too expensive and provide too few contact hours.
2) schools
elementary and secondary schools have always been breeding ground for talent. i have seen much effort underway by deped, including corporate assistance and assistance from some of the programs like the younghusband football academy. yfa has been conducting training and broad based exposure for school educators, coaches, and others involved at the grassroots level. this is to be applauded and encouraged on a wider basis. the schools have a long way to go, but they are perhaps the most important piece in the puzzle to getting the grassroots effort vitalized.
3) facilities
at a grassroots level, kids need a space to play. this is perhaps the most difficult issue. when i was growing up, we just grabbed a ball and played. and played. and played.... tick, tick, tick, and you are moving ever along towards the 10,000 hour rule. problem is, there just aren't that many fields available in the cities. FUTKAL is to be applauded for their efforts here, propagating the game to the cities thriugh their concept of "futbol sa kalye!", helping to bring the game to inner city youth. schools, universities, and others with fields often times lock them up "after sessions" instead of keeping them open and available. this is a shame. when i was growing up in the usa, fields were not locked up, they were there for kids to use. we should do the same here.
4) Officialdom
FIFA is the global regulating body, as represented here by the PFF. Money is being made available to the PFF for all sorts of developmental efforts along many different dimensions. I don't mean to be critical, because every element and effort is important and helps to move us forward. however, as the main body with funds available, i believe that we as the public should understand their vision and programs that they are putting in place to drive all of this forward. There are lots of efforts underway with the little azkals, etc etc, but I just feel we are lacking in a coherant "big picture" view of what we are doing. Sadly this reflects upon the leadership of the PFF, and risks people concluding that the PFF is great at implementing stuff, but very weak in LEADING.
THE CALL TO ARMS
Time is passing, and it waits for no man. these are just a few scribbled thoughts, I invite you to add your own ideas to what must be done to vitalize the grassroots effort.
FINALLY, I INVITE THE PFF TO DEMONSTRATE THEIR LEADERSHIP AND LET US KNOW WHAT THEIR VISION IS. Perhaps an official website would be a good venue to make this known?
studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing
or learning to do." Pele
