From Barcelona Cup to Southern California – Reflections on Youth Soccer
We – as youth coaches – are here to be teachers, not to collect trophies.
Rachid El Bekraoui recently returned from taking his SouthWest SC team of talented youth soccer players to compete in the Barcelona Cup. A soccer coach since 1989, El Bekraoui is also a tournament director and an avid fan of broadening the horizons of youth soccer players through international youth soccer competition. El Bekraoui believes that a big problem in American youth soccer is the lack of promotion and relegation with no incentives to focus on player development over winning — especially as parents flock to teams that win and development takes time.
Here is Rachid El Bekraoui‘s perspective on what needs to change in American youth soccer for our country to become more successful playing the world’s most passionate sports game.
Diane Scavuzzo: Why did you take your SouthWest SC team of 2000 Boys to Barcelona, Spain?
Rachid El Bekraoui: We were invited to the Barcelona Cup in Spain and took the 2000 Boys from Arizona and Southern California to compete in this international youth soccer tournament. We finished 5th with 4 wins, 1 loss and 1 tie.
Diane Scavuzzo: How many teams participated in your bracket?
Rachid El Bekraoui: There were a total of fourteen teams in the bracket and we played against players from Belgium, Finland, Slovenia and Saudi Arabia …The experience was great for the players.
I had players who had never flown on a plane before. The boys were able to meet players from all around the world and learn about the different cultures – soccer absolutely brings players together through their shared passion for the game. After the team dinners, there were small fields outside the cafeteria and the kids all played together for the love of the game. At dinner, our players really couldn’t speak to the players from the other countries but on the soccer field, the language barrier disappears.
Diane Scavuzzo: The Barcelona Cup is a big youth soccer tournament, did you notice different styles of soccer?
Rachid El Bekraoui: The difference was that all the European teams are extremely disciplined and organized. Their style of play is more aggressive than ours and highly skilled – the teams keep their shape throughout the game and usually building up the momentum from the back.
Diane Scavuzzo: How did your American youth soccer players stack up to the international competition?
Rachid El Bekraoui: American youth soccer players are very skillful. Now they need to spend more time on the soccer field practicing.
Tactically, the youth soccer players from Europe possess a higher awareness than our players, but the kids who live abroad practice everyday. Our kids go to training two times a week. If we practiced everyday, youth soccer in America would be at the same level as Europe.
These players in Europe only focus on one sport, which is a huge advantage. My players came home wanting to practice everyday but it is not always practical. The commitment of American parents is lower. Youth soccer players in Europe have the responsibility and commitment to train everyday. They take the train or a bus to practice and do not always rely upon their parents to get them to practice.
Diane Scavuzzo: What needs to change in American youth soccer?
Rachid El Bekraoui: We are here to be teachers, not to collect trophies.
The nature of the beast is that if you do not win, you cannot recruit so you can’t just focus on player development. There is always this fight; you have to win to keep your job. In Europe, you have to develop players to keep your job.
In Europe, promotion and relegation is part of the soccer culture. It is extremely important and the role of the youth soccer coach is to develop the player and pave the road for them to go to the next level.
In America, it hurts your team to promote players but basically this is my goal.
Diane Scavuzzo: What is wrong with youth soccer in America?
Rachid El Bekraoui: There are too many youth soccer clubs – everyone believes in development when their kids are beginning. Development takes time. Parents often move their kids to a ‘super-star’ team because they want their kids to be on a winning team. Some American parents are not very loyal to the clubs in Southern California. Everyone believes winning is more important than development until the team stops winning and then the parents complain about development.
The directors of youth soccer clubs do not have the freedom – they have to be a politician and the business of soccer becomes an issue and hurts the development of players.
Diane Scavuzzo: Why do you coach soccer?
Rachid El Bekraoui: I coach soccer because I love it. I like to see the development in the kids. The change – helping the players achieve their goal. I started in 1989 at the United States International University as the Head Coach of the Men’s Program and then Brian Quinn asked me to help him with one team at the Poway Vaqueros and I was coaching a girls team and the rest is history.
