The ages and stages of development are the progression a player makes in their
step-by-step
learning journey, starting at a very young age and progressing through
different phases
of their development.
And at each age and stage it's important for coaches to know the
characteristics of the
player they're working with.
When considering the age and stage of a player you're working with, it's
important to remember
that things change over time, and that every player is unique, no player is
equal, they
all develop at different rates.
And so for example, when looking at the physical growth and maturation of a
player at a certain
age, you could have some players that may have developed earlier, which appear
bigger and
faster and stronger and more powerful, and even a player that's the same age
could be
less mature.
And what we would call a later developer who is still waiting for a growth sp
urt or could
be shorter or smaller, and it's really important to individualize the coaching
and support for
players across all the phases of growth and development.
Players can use the information contained in the ages and stages as a starting
point.
We often say, "How do we best support the player that's in front of us?"
And this starts with understanding all of the characteristics of their age and
stage
as you prepare practices or as you interact with them and as you support them.
This could include things like speaking their language, understanding the
complexity of
tasks that you may have in your practice sessions.
And at the root of this is, "How do you make sure they can stay engaged and
have fun throughout
every session?"
And again, this starts with understanding where a player is in their age and
stage of
development.
Yeah, so we could have two individual players at the same club at the same age,
but both
will be at vastly different stages of their own development, depending on their
social
or emotional development, depending on their physical development.
So as a coach, it's always critical for us to look at what the individual
player needs
and where is that player at within that development.
Each player will have their own journey to go on.
Each player will develop at their own rate, but do we have an understanding of
what that
is and what the player needs from us as a coach?
Ages and stages of development
U.S. Soccer’s Tony Lepore and Tracey Kevins underline the importance of understanding where your players are in their stage of development.
