I have one more thing to add:
 
soccer was a sport that could be played by everybody; rich and poor.
Because background did not matter it created solidarity between people.
Solidarity made soccer become part of a nation’s culture and therefore becoming a tradition.
 
This solidarity still plays a big role in soccer.
Look at the atmosphere around games betwoon f.e Holland and Germany.
The history (second world war) between both countries causes rivalry.
However, within a country this creates solidarity.
If you are Dutch, even when you don’t like soccer you don’t want Germany to win.

Let me know what you think.
 
Talk soon, Marieke

Soccer is not a professional sports Americans care about very much.  It does not rank in the top 20 sports (as pictured) and it actually comes in below equestrian jumping and tractor pulls. 

This is a mystery. 

After all, soccer has four passionate fan bases in the US:

1) immigrants arrived from soccer mad countries (South America, Africa, Europe, um, like, the whole world)

2) women under the age of 55 (thanks to the triumphs of Mia Hamm and company at the World Cup events in the late 1990s)

3) kids now participating in school and neighborhood programs that have embraced soccer because it is 3.1 inexpensive, 3.2 co-educational (if required), and 3.3 easy to play badly.   Are there a lot of these kids?  I believe there’s a reason we call their mothers “soccer moms.” 

4) kids who have graduated from said programs.  Kids have been passing through these programs in big numbers for at least 20 years.  This means that the first cohort is now in its mid twenties and in possession of the disposal income to support a local club and a national league.

This is what a marketer would call an “installed base.”  Millions of people have followed or played the game.  If only 20% become fans, it should be more or less easy to sustain a professional league play.  But this has been really hard to do.  Soccer has struggled.

But things are looking up. 

According to an article in BusinessWeek, the money is now in place with investors pouring $1 billion dollars into the league in the last two years.  Red Bull putting down $100 million to buy a New York franchise.  New stadiums are being created.  Ticket sales are up 20% this year with attendance approaching 20,000 a game. 

This is good news for fans of dynamism because soccer is a dynamic game in a way that football and baseball are distinctly not.  George Will once said of the former that it combined two of the worst aspects of American life: violence and committee meetings.  Baseball would be improved by either one.  Soccer is all about pattern recognition on the fly.  Says the striker, “if this is true, and this is true, and this is true, then this pass is called for.  No!  He moved.”  One of the real pleasures of the game is watching patterns form and reform on the field as these two little universes reconfigure themselves in a spectacular display of “sense and respond” as Steve Haeckel would call it. 

But there is room for product development.  Specifically, something has to be done about the physics of the game.  There is too much time and too much space.  A 90 minute game is too long and so is the field.  Both tax players so heavily that dynamism is actually suppressed.  I am not suggesting dramatic reductions.  Otherwise, soccer would become merely basketball played with one’s feet.  But I think 60 minutes and a smaller field would bring the game alive nicely. 

Will this happen.  Absolutely not.  Soccer fans are religious zealots.  There will be no reformation.  I think this means that while soccer will climb from its present obscurity, it will never be ready for prime-time, and the present marketing opportunity will be wasted.  Too bad. 

References

For more on the ranking of sports, go here. 

For more on Steve Haeckel and his ideas, go here.

Holmes, Stanley.  2006.  A breakout year for soccer?  BusinessWeek.  May 1, 2006, p. 86.

 I have not been in Holland for 9 weeks, I am starting to feel the transition of coming back home. June has always been the calm before the storm as our summer clinic keep me hopping all summer long.  Too funny, I have my Ipod on random play, and guess what started playing….”Sweet Home Alabama”  by Lynyrd Skynrd. No Joke… my hair just went on edge…

Personal I am at crossroad, as one usually stresses out in these times I have never felt more content, grounded and relax. What will be will be.

As this may very well by my last blog before arriving home in Canada, I have thought about the title “The Man Behind the Name” for a while, writing on this title at the end of my trip feels appropriate. But first I have to thank a few people. Marco, I am forever grateful, as I could go on and on what this trip has done for me on many levels, I will leave my future actions to speak for how I feel. There has also been a huge supporting cast;

Marieke: For letting stay with you for 2.5 months, you made me like it was my home, I am going to miss our nightly chats.

My Parents: For always believing in me, I will make you proud.

ES Staff: Steph, Chrissy, Deb, you can hold a fort down better then any 3 amigos I know. I am very proud of you.

My sister Nathanda: Between me and you, your actions speaks louder then words, I am lucky.

And everyone else who has made my journey not only in the past 3 months but over the years, you all have been important.

There is one more person I have to thank and everyone should know about….

The Man Behind the Name

The man behind the name is a person who deserves the attention and appreciation of all. He is a man who is never in the spot light and if he has I can bet on a game of 31 he would shy away from it. Now some may argue and have a valid point, that there are other people more appropriate for the title of the Man Behind the Name; however, I will argue, there is no man who does more dirty work and who ties more small loose ends then this man. This man does so many little things, in turn, making a huge difference. He is the man behind Excelsior.

Anyone who just visits Excelsior once or twice would never realize how important he is.  I personally have been able to witness the hundreds of little things he does on a daily basis. Now one may argue, this person could be replaced, based on what his job description is, but I would argue those people are not in the best interest of what Excelsior means to so many.  

This man at first may seem a very simple person, but if watched, he is very observant and smart.  His character is one of a big brother who will take care of you, a man who will worry about you rather then himself.  He makes people feel at home and part of something, he is easily approachable.

He loves to help! And knows how to do it right! He cares….

Excelsior could move on without this man but it will never be the same. What he brings to the club no money can buy; passion, character and most importantly a good joke to make you laugh. A place of belonging for so many, all thanks to the man behind the name…. John van Tilburg.

Don’t you ever wonder why things happen when you they do? Or haven’t you heard the cliché, “That was ironic?” We hear it all the time, even in songs, we all remember Alanis Morisette’s one CD wonder with her hit, “Isn’t it Ironic, Don’t you think?.” True or not, we all have moments we will never forget….

For example, Last year I was struggling if I should follow my passion in becoming a soccer trainer or head into real estate as I know I would be very successful in that line of work. I bumped into a man as I was heading out of  Staples on a warm sunny day to do my weekly business run; he asked me “Ezra what going on, How are you?” Usually, I just say the line, “O busy as usual” Again another cliché “How are you”, is just a superficial way of being polite; we both know most do not really care. I had not seen this man for a long time, but I respected his opinion, for some reason I quickly told him my dilemma.  Then all of a sudden I caught myself rambling, he said he had to go, ( I would have been bored too to hear myself ramble) as we walked our separate ways, I went on with my day. Except from about 20 yards away, he turned and yelled at me, “Ezra! Lifestyle, remember lifestyle!” I started to yell back but he had already turned away and out of sight. Lifestyle, remember lifestyle I kept repeating to myself. It then hit me with a ton of bricks, so simple yet so difficult, happiness or money? It became very clear, I would dedicate the best hours of my day (9-5 Monday to Friday) to following my passion of becoming the best soccer trainer I could…

In saying that,

I went to a coaching clinic in Tillburg, where I saw coaches from Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV put on sample practices sessions. I took lots of video, and learned many new drills. However; what hit me the most, was lunch…..

Over the last cpl of weeks, I had been brainstorming what path to take in my career as a soccer trainer. I think about all areas of soccer while ensuring I am happy in my personal life. I weigh out all the pros and cons and move forward with confidence from there.  At times, I am on the brink of being shy and not believing in my thoughts to being confident and excited about moving forward. That last statement could also be portrayed as needing an “ironic” moment to occur to reiterate my shy thoughts as sometimes I dream too big…. As I know I want to be a soccer trainer; I felt I was not sure where my clear thesis lies, until I had lunch that day!

During lunch I had bread, Dutch people love there bread! As I was finishing up we had some time to kill before out next presentation so we walked around and looked at various soccer exhibits. Marco van Lochem introduced me to a man name Dwight, we ended up talking for few minutes.

In that few minutes, I found out Dwight had played soccer in Edmonton in the 80’s, after checking some archives I believe it was the Edmonton Drillers.  We threw around names such as Dale Mitchell (National Coach of Canada), Bruce Wilson to name a couple.  Dwight gave me some advice that struck a chord, it was like putting in that last piece in a 1000 piece puzzle, the picture became clear.

I did not know who Dwight was until after, he is currently the Asst. Coach of PSV, and former coach Grampus Eight (Japan), El Jazihara (United Emirates) and FC Groningen.

And NO, I will not tell you what he told me. J

 I am feeling more enlightened then ever, my thesis is clear, my desire strong…..the rest is best unsaid, as actions speak louder then words, I guess we all,  myself included, will have to wait and find out….

               The Dourges tournament had 10 teams from 8 different countries; England, Sweden, Romania, France, Croatia, Denmark, and Russia to name a few.  It was very interesting to see the different styles based on where they came from. I can see how Canada has been heavily influenced by English football. There was 2 pools of 5, game’s were 40 minutes in length.

             Excelsior’s first game was against Denmark, Excelsior has a chance to score the first goal. They ended up losing the first game. Games are so quick and in most cases the team who scores the first goal usually wins. Having shorter games keeps the tempo of the game high and enjoyable to watch.                                    Excelsior’s second was ended up having the same result as the first game, another loss. Excelsior just did not really seem like they wanted to play, it was interesting to witness. They were the most technical, the field was not that good at all, but the desire to beat the other team was just not present. The other teams were more powerful with a style that was not as technical, but they had a desire to win.                            I suddenly started questioning why? what, how? I do not understand,,, except during the trip I was reading a book called “Brilliant Orange” the neurotic genius of dutch football by David Winner.  When I finished I hit an epiphany, I went back to all the pages I put an “ear”on to look back and read again.  I found a really interesting paragraph and it goes like this…. 

We are small and we lack power, but we think the whole world will adopt us as a model of enlightenment.  We have such a strong sense of moral superiority that it’s not so important to us if we win or lose.  It’s like the self-legitimation of a small country which says it’s no scandal to lose against superior military force when outnumbered. When we lose, it’s always because of “brutal force”.  We never think we lose of the elegance or creativity of another team.  No, it’s because they used brutal force, which is simply not relevant to us because we are playing a different, better, higher game, which the referee also happens not to understand.  We won’t lower ourselves to your level, but if it makes you happy to destroy our elegance, then go ahead![1]

 To elaborate more, I suggest reading the book; moreover, another great book to read is: “How soccer explains the world”  Auther: Franklin Foer             Coach Marco van Lochem was not pleased at all. You have the most skilled team in the tournament yet they are not performing like one.  Marco had a meeting with the team, I was present and I wish I could have told you what he said, but it was all in Dutch; however, Marco did tell me after the meeting the captain talked to the team, they concluded that the next day they would get 6 points in two games….                                An old neighbor I used to have who witnessed when Canada helped liberate Holland used to always tell me “A Dutchmen is very nice, but do not make him mad”                                 This was very true on the second day of the tournament, the first game was against a young Russian squad, victory came at ease. The second game was against a team that if they beat Excelsior they would win the pool and head into the final.  Hmmm another loss playing against one of the toughest teams in the tournament? One would think so but let’s not forget the Dutch are pissed….                         Now, I have read books and heard so much of the Dutch style of play “Total Voetball” but I had never really seen it in person in such a dominating force until that afternoon. Excelsior came out flying, ping, ping, ping; passing right to the feet. Excelsior player’s made triangles around every opposing player, they played as if the opposing team were just standing their looking dazed and confused. Excelsior was moving all around the pitch, position-switching looked fluid and chaotic and gave the opposing defenders a blizzard of movement and hostility to deal with.[2] Excelsior only won the game 1-0 but the other team barely even touched the ball.  I clearly remember looking at the opposing coach, his look was perplexed, as if he had no idea what to tell his players, he shrugged his shoulder, as if waving a the white flag of defeat… a moment, a game I will always remember….                            I have now witnessed the wrath of the Dutch Total Voetball, just beautiful.  Imagine if Excelsior played like this every game, they would have easily won the tournament, but they can say they were the most technical team in the tournament, as well, I would like to add that they had 6 players who were U17.                          In the end though, they did not come close to winning the tournament, maybe they just need a shot of Canadian Grit?  Imagine combining Canadian Grit with Dutch technical soccer?  Lethal. 

[1] Brillant Orange, David Winner pg 203

[2] Brillant Orange, David Winner Pg 36

The Art of Scouting

I have been rather quiet on the blog front over the past few weeks as I have been able to have a little vacation, visting Paris, France for 3 days, 2 days roaming the streets of Amsterdam also where I witnessed my first Ajax game. Those stories I will not post, one will have to call me and meet me for a beverage. Back to point; soccer education.

May is time when leagues are wrapping up and tournaments are happening every weekend at every age and level. I witnessed one tournament at the U-17 level, professional clubs and good amateur clubs were in attendance. Each game only lasted 25 minutes, each game had a fast pace, and every team played against 5 teams. It was like playing chess but with a speed clock and after every stop of the clock you were playing a different opponent. Different yet effective, it kept the game pace quick, also gave the trainers opportunities to try different players in different positions and most importantly gave the trainers more time educating their players off the field. What I find most interesting at these tournaments is the “art of scouting.”

In a country the size of Vancouver Island but the population of 16 million, everywhere one goes one sees faces, it very easy to fit into the blur of Dutch society.  The soccer community is very big yet very small, it is like anywhere else, if you’re in the circle your in, if you are out, you are really out. I can say Marco van Lochem is in Dutch youth soccer circle. Where ever we go, Marco stops and talks, sometimes cracks a joke, sometimes gets free coffee, sometimes talks in closed off boardroom to discuss “soccer business.” One would think that each scout would be wearing their clubs colors with pride yet that is not the case at all.

My definition of a “soccer scout” is a person who is watching others teams play in hope to find a player that could one day join their team to make them better. Everyone who is a scout dresses in there street cloths, looking like an ordinary person, I do not know the complete answer to why, but if parents are the same in Holland as they are Canada, I can sure guess…

Every game we watch, every tournament I go to, Marco points out to me, “he is the youth coach U13 FC Trente, or “that is the youth technical director of Utrecht” to me they all looked like dads or opas watching there son play soccer. One time I saw a dad talking on his cell phone, it was not a dad at all, it was a sports agent looking for players, an agent I will be having a meeting with to pick his brain. Keep you posted.

Being on the “outside” of the scouting circle and getting a glimpse of the “inside” fascinates me. I have been able to witness a little about how scouting works here in Holland and realized how important scouting really is.

Scouting is the most important aspects of professional football at a youth level other then actual training. Scouting gives the trainer something to work with. The competition to find a hidden gem is tremendous.

For a smaller club, one usually can not look at the best player as in most cases that player will go to one of the bigger clubs like Ajax, PSV, or Feyenoord.  One most look for a hidden gem, maybe one that was overlooked because that player had a growth spurt or just plays on a really bad team. Excelsior for example has 6 scouts watching local games every weekend all over Rotterdam, to see if they can improve there youth system. 

I have many thoughts on how British Columbia scouts for their BC teams and National teams, as I do not know the full entire process I will not make any bold statements on issues that I do not know the entire true; however, I do know  there are some great players out there that need and should be recognized for their talent and hard work.

 I pose this rhetorical question: 

How many times have you heard of a great player not picked for the BC or National team due to lack of scouting or lack funding by the player?

We as a collective group in Canada must nurture these talented players and do whatever it takes to keep them playing the game they love at the highest level. Due to the enormous size of our country, scouting becomes even more important. We all know Canada has some great talent; it is time to nurture these players and expose them through the art of scouting….

Marco picked me up at 10:45am, we drove to the stadium to meet 2 full bus loads of fans. The majority of fans seemed to be middle class weekend warriors, probably worked 8-5, monday to friday, in which following their local team was the main past time on the weekend. Loyalty, was the first thought that came to mind, the stadium was 3 hours away, most fans had some sort of Excelsior clothing on, for most, it was the scarf, not just to keep you warm but a symbol that can be stretched from arm to arm showing to the rest of the world who you support. 

The bus ride there was full of optimism, laughing and singing, playing cards, watching movies, eating and drinking.  3 hours seemed like an hour. What was most interesting, a police officer escorted us on and off the highway to ensure our safety. When we arrived to the stadium we did not even have to stay in a traffic jam, the motorbike police officer stopped and moved traffic clearnig the way to the visitor entrance of the stadium.

Visiting fans have there own entrance, when we got off the bus, I noticed two undercover police officers, standing, pretending to chit chat, but really were looking for any danger that we may cause or dangers against us, all protocol. We entered the gate, I felt like I was going to jail, I was patted down from head to toe, as was the rest.  I then climbed the stairs to a fully caged tunnel.  

As I walked closer to the light at the end of the tunnel, I felt like I was Maximus from the movie “Gladiator” just before a fight, the drums thumbing, and the mob chanting, ready for the battle to begin.

Ok, so the battle was not as fierce as the lead up, Heerenveen scored in the first 10 minutes on a goal in which the defenders were sleeping, they took most of the play; however, it was still 1-0, until the last minute of the first half, Heerenveen scored again. 

Our chanting became a dull roar, swearing in dutch was evident based on the amount of saliva that was protruding out many of the disgusted Excelsior fans. Nerves were high, I counted that one man rolled over 6 cigarettes and smoked them all in a 90 minute span. 

The second half started to in misery as Excelsior scored on their own net, at the same time the score board showed the last place team Venlo was ahead 2-0, which if they won would seal Excelsiors fate… relegation.

As the 80^th minute came, Excelsior’s destiny was to be relegated, with the lowest payroll in the league and two of their top players with season ending injuries, it was not meant to be. I sat in my seat as did Marco, pouting and pissed; I hate losing no matter what it is.

 But then all of a sudden, 

Quietly the chant “oh laa o laa” (followed by a pause except for one or two people echoing oh la oh la)  “Oh laa Oh laa”. “Oh Laa Oh La”….. “Ex-cel-sior Rot-ter-dam, Ex-cel-sior Rot-ter-dam, Ex-cel-sior Rot-ter-dam”, it started with a few, then turned to a group, it then got louder and louder, everyone in our section was standing and singing as loud as they could.

It was like the Dr Seuss movie “The Grinch that stole Christmas” when it was Christmas morning and the Grinch had stolen everything and the little Who people started singing together.

Usually a chant only lasts a minute or so, not this one, it only grew stronger, my hair went on edge, just as it is again now, re-living the moment as I type. The chant lasted for over 10 minutes, the raw emotion was in the air, to the point, the Heereveen fans were not going to interject and over power this chant…Unbelievable!

Pride, Loyalty, Integrity! Truly a moment I will never forget!

              EX-CEL-SIOR  ROT-TER-DAM  EX-CEL-SIOR  ROT-TER-DAM EX-CEL-SIOR  ROT-TER-DAM

Personal Thoughts: 

 It is already April 18, days are turning into weeks and soon I will be leaving on a jet plane back to the land called home before I know it.

Today, friday I have been able to reflect.  I have been very lucky for the people who have helped me on my trip.

Marieke, (family, where I am staying) has been very accomdating, letting me into her world, stay at her place, she is a great person to talk to and bounce off ideas. We are off to Paris next week to be tourists and take a weekend off from the pitch.

Marco, has been unbelievable, he is taking good care of me on all angles. At times I feel bad for the how well he is treating me, I am taking it all in and looking forward to taking care of him in the future. I am looking forward to bring him and his family to Canada for soccer but more importantly to show how thankful I am for what he done for me in Holland.  He does not know but he is changing my life. I think we can all learn for this….we make a bigger impact on people then we may think, imagine if we all helped someone to this extent, it not only comes back, but spreads like wildfire, inspiring.

Soccer News 

Yesturday, we watched the U15 Dutch National team play the U15 National Swiss team. Overall it was very interesting as this is the same age I had been coaching for the last 6 months. Being able to compare the top players in this age group will help my analysis back home. I am starting to get a great idea of what the top players know and at what age, knowing what professional clubs are teaching their youth gives myself a great standard that must be followed in Canada if we want to improve.

If we can teach Canadian player’s the exact same as what professional clubs are teaching their youth, don’t you think we could compete with the top soccer nations of the world?

Will it be harder? Yes! Do we have less? Yes! Do we have Canadian heart? Yes!

Lets do this!

Done.

This weekend was another great weekend packed with voetball. 

On sunday I went to Rotterdam’s Sparta’s Stadium to watch them play 5th place Heerenveen. Heerenveen came out strong in the first half by scoring 2 goals. The second half was great, Sparta scored 4 unanswered goals, the crowd was going wild as Sparta is not having the best season, placing 13th thus far.

However, one has to take into account, voetball here is like baseball in America in regards to payroll. Sparta’s payroll apprx. 11 million while Herenveen is appr 23 million. Excelsiors has the lowest at 4 million. Ajax is apprx 60 million. One can realize why certain teams are always on the top of the table. Is this fair? It is open for  good debate. Hense the reason the NHL went to such a long lock out and now they have a salary cap, which this year really shows when the teams are on the same financial level, there is better competition!

Rotterdam Excelsior tied, they have one game left against Heerenveen, hense the reason why we went to the the Heerenveen game. Voetball is hard to analysis on tv as you do not get to see the whole field. Marco Van Lochem(Excelsior Technical Youth Director) was taking notes throughout the whole game to hopefully give Excelsior an edge for next weeks games. Can Excelsior stay in the Premier division? It is going to be interesting!!

Interesting Article:

Dutch Voetball Hooligan’s were at there best over the weekend at a game in Groningen, Ajax vs FC Groningen.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/soccer/04/13/bc.soc.amsterdam.fires.ap/index.html

Talk soon and stay tuned!

 Week 2 has been everything that I wanted it to be. I have a established a routine, everyday I bike to the club, train personally, work on my coaching book, learn dutch, and watch Excelsior practices.

        Yesterday I met with Arend Regeer, Regional Coach of District A. He had a nice power point presentation on how KNVB works. KNVB is the governing body of all the amatuer clubs. This is like the Canadian National Assoc. overlooking all the provincial assoc. It was interesting to note, that all areas of The Netherlands are getting the same information, in regards, to what needs to be taught ie. formation, skills etc, so when the play on a regional team or National team, all the players are on the same page.

KNVB does not govern the professioal team, so there is always debate between the two; however, they are becoming more parallel in their idealogies. I am in a great position because I am able to get the view of the Technical Director of a Professional Club (Marco van Lochem, Rotterdam Excelsior), the view of a KNVB representative Arend Regeer, and next week I am meeting with my second uncle who is the president of an Amateur Club,I will keep you posted.

On a lighter note,

I watched a U9 game, Excelsior vs Feyenoord. There is a huge rival in the youth age groups because they are both from Rotterdam, more importanly, Excelsior is never suppose to win as Feyenoord is a much bigger club with much deeper pockets.

The game was very intense, I was in awe, 9 years olds looking and playing soccer like adults. It was amazing to watch, better voetball then I see most adults in Canada play. The game it self was interesting to watch, Feyenoord played a mostly passing game while Excelsior played a more individual game. Excelsior won the game 2-1, on a great deke and blistering shot into the top corner, Unreal! Did I mention 9 year olds!?!? It was rewarding to know what I am teaching back home is correct, technique, technique, technique. Also, all the players played in position, they understand the game and how it should be played. When the game was over, Excelior players were chanting for 10 minutes!!

On an even lighter note, 

I was also in awe of the mullets in Holland, OMG, I have a picture I will try and post asap.

Talk soon,