How Does U.S. Soccer’s Youth Soccer Scouting Work?
April Kater, Head Development Coach with U.S. Soccer with primary responsibilities focusing on the Girls’ National Training Centers, organizing and managing the Scouting Network and coaching the U14 Girls National Team.
Kater checked in with Carrie Taylor to share insight to the National Training Centers (NTC) and what goes on at the Youth National Team programs. Kater is a Hermann Award winner and former college coach and now works closely with Jill Ellis and is responsible for developing and maintaining a national database of elite youth players to serve all of U.S. Soccer’s girls’ Youth National Teams.
Carrie Taylor: Everyone wants to know — how do you identify players for U.S Youth National teams?
April Kater: The NTC’s are free, one-time a month soccer clinics for the most competitive players in a specific market.
When you have this level of talent together for a session, it naturally creates a competitive level that cannot be replicated in other environments.
If a player can impact in a NTC environment, they are noted and tracked by the NTC staff. When a player consistently stands out and proves they are of an elite level, they are then recommended to the YNT coach to evaluate and track.
Carrie Taylor: How many NTC’s are there around the US? How are players invited to these centers?
April Kater: Currently there are 23 active National Training Centers across the country. Players can be recommended by their club, as well as ODP or scouted by our staff and then invited.
Players are processed by their birth year. Once a player is involved in the Training Center, they can be cycled out if deemed not competitive enough by our staff.
There is no guarantee that a player who is recommended will receive an invite. The idea is to train the very best players in a particular market, so the staff has to be selective in order to keep the numbers realistic and manageable for quality sessions, and, of course, to keep the training groups competitive.
Carrie Taylor: You recently had an U14 national camp in Carson, CA? How did it go? What was the goal of the Training Camp? Did you finalize any rosters?
April Kater: Yes, the November 1-8th U14 Girls National Team (GNT) camp was the 3rd in the Program and was held in Carson CA.
The camp consisted of primarily 2000 birth year players along with a handful of 01’s and one 02’ player.
The camp was a big success, as it built on the principles of play in the attack and defense that had been introduced and layered into the first two camps. In addition, the U15 GNT held camp at the same time, which provided the opportunity for that staff to evaluate our U14 players. The U14’s played the U15’s in two matches — which was a fantastic experience for all of the players and staff.
Carrie Taylor: What, if any, events will the u14s be attending in the next year?
April Kater: Typically, an annual cycle consists of 3 camps for the U14 age group, and this year domestic competition took place at two of the camps. A similar process will be followed in the future with the addition of foreign competition along with the possibility of another training camp.
Carrie Taylor: How do the U14s figure into the future of the US Women’s National Team? Is there communication and a philosophy of play from the top down?
April Kater: As the Girl’s and Women’s YNT’s have evolved, there has been a big commitment to communicating philosophies, system of play, principles of the game, as well as training exercises, etc.. This will continue to evolve each year. It is very important to have a level of consistency between the age groups as it will make the YNT program more successful. Sharing the same philosophy, as you said from top-down, also allows a player transitioning from one team to the next a smoother, more successful transition. Being exposed to specific methodologies in the earlier years is beneficial.
Our country is very large, and this is a big advantage in terms of depth and talent, but also creates a challenge when identifying players. If key players are identified and trained early with U.S. Soccer YNT’s, ultimately it should make our WNT more successful.
Carrie Taylor: What type of players are you looking for?
April Kater: Ideally, we are looking for skillful and thoughtful players who have an athletic component that compliments these other attributes. If a player has a strong level in all 3 of these areas, and they love to compete, eventually you could have the makings of a world-class player.
Carrie Taylor: What are the general deficiencies of youth players that our clubs are turning out?
April Kater: We need more youth soccer players (regardless of position) who are comfortable on the ball and are two-footed players.
It is easy to train the skills that come naturally or the skills where success is confirmed early. But the players who are asked to train both feet consistently with a high level of repetition and attention to detail are developing at a faster rate.
Enforcing a strong skill set is key before the age of 16, then as the physical attributes and a lot more tactical training comes into play, a player will evolve into more of a complete player.
Carrie Taylor: What can Youth Soccer Club coaches do in order to produce better players?
April Kater: I believe the clubs that have a specific development plan that evolves with the player’s level and age will consistently produce talented players.
This gives a transparent outline to the staff investing time and energy and each coach knows what their goals are when training their players. It also gives any interested family/player an idea of what to expect when joining a club.
