Learning from A World Class Coach
Tony DiCicco led America to victory at the Olympics and the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Why not let his proven program help your soccer player develop?
Tony DiCicco is the President, Founder, and Technical Director of SoccerPlus Goalkeeper School and SoccerPlus FieldPlayer Academy.
Before anyone can understand how special these camps are, one must know Tony DiCicco‘s background. The former Head Coach of the US Women’s National and Olympic Soccer Teams, DiCicco led America to victory at the Olympics — coming home with the first ever Gold Medal in women’s soccer, and — then in 1999 — coached his team to triumph at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. DiCicco has coached our top professional soccer players and intuitively understands how to create an environment for player development. DiCicco was also the Head Coach of the US U20 Women’s National Team that also won the U20 World Cup in Chile in 2008 with players like Alex Morgan, Sydney Leroux and Meagan Klingenberg.
A former All-American Goalkeeper himself, DiCicco was raised in New England and holds a United States Soccer Federation “A” License and the Advanced National Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
SoccerPlus was founded in 1982 by Tony DiCicco. In the 30+ years since, Tony and his staff have educated and inspired tens of thousands of dedicated student-athletes using The DiCicco Method. Their curriculum has evolved over the years to remain on the cutting edge of the modern game, but our mission of building skills, confidence and character through hard work will always be the same.
With youth soccer residential and day camps in CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, OH, NH, MA, IA, IN, MO, NY, NE, PA, VA — DiCicco SoccerPlus Camps is an amazing program which youth players from all across the country can take advantage of. Here is a link to the schedule for Summer 2015 soccer camps. From GK academies to player development events, DiCicco offers a program which is diverse. SoccerToday interviewed DiCicco on what makes his camps special.
Diane Scavuzzo: What makes SoccerPlus Camps special?
Tony DiCicco: SoccerPlus Camp is special because of a few simple reasons:
1. No other coach in America and very few in the world have ever won an Olympic Gold Medal; a World Cup Championship and a Youth World Cup Championship. I coached in 5 World Cups on both the female and male sides. The lessons learned in these environments can’t be duplicated. These are the lessons (I call them shortcuts) our curriculum teaches.
I was an international goalkeeper coach for 9 years and a Head International Coach for 6 years. That experience is part of our camp.
Currently, I am the Director of Goalkeeping for the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, which is the largest coaching organization, of any sport, in the world.
2. I am a teacher by trade so training the student-athlete to be a soccer player was only half the objective. We have always been about teaching the “total child”. Building character traits, teaching life lessons and teaching them to expose their own personal genius.
3. SoccerPlus Goalkeeper School and FieldPlayer Academy have been developing players and people for over thirty years.
My philosophy is front and center in our approach to coaching and teaching. In a nutshell, my philosophy is to challenge the athlete (real challenge) and then guide them to success. Once we accomplish this, we build self-esteem and self-confidence and there is a direct correlation between self-confidence and performance. It sounds like an easy formula but it requires total buy-in from Directors, Staff and Students and that is what we get.
Not every organization can do this. The staff have to be hand-picked. Many of our staff coaches are former students and know the philosophy and the positive interaction between staff and students.
The end result of a week with SoccerPlus is that the student-athlete has a better sense of themselves, what they CAN achieve and how to put together an action plan to achieve their dreams.
Diane Scavuzzo: Who should attend? Is there a specific level of player? How competitive is the program?
Tony DiCicco: Anyone who is passionate about the game of soccer. Our age range is 11-18 but we get some 10 year olds and we get college players over 18 as well. A student-athlete attending a SoccerPlus Goalkeeper School or FieldPlayer Academy camp week does not have to be an accomplished player, they can be a beginner. We group by age and then fine-tune by ability. Every student matters and as long as you are willing to work, the experience at a SoccerPlus camp can be life-altering.
Diane Scavuzzo: What is the coaching to player ratio?
Tony DiCicco: We advertise an 8 students to 1 staff coach ratio but often are ratios are better than that. I will not sacrifice quality and if we have exceptional staff coaches that are available for a particular week, they will work regardless of ratio. This isn’t always the best business decision but from an positive experience for the student-athlete it’s the right decision.
Diane Scavuzzo: Do players get a chance to interact with you?
Tony DiCicco: I am not at every camp but most, interaction with the student-athletes is one of my great joys. I love signing autographs, taking pictures with them, talking about my own experiences, answering questions…all the staff do. Most of all, I love to witness first-hand the transformation of each student from when they arrived at the beginning of the week and when they leave at the end of the week. At week’s end, they feel so accomplished and tired but so exhilarated. They know they can achieve because they have achieved. They have a new sense of themselves as a positive life force and they know they are part of the SoccerPlus family for life.
