British Soccer Coaches Work With Area Youth

As the Beach Cities' American Youth Soccer Organization Region 18 celebrates its 40th year in the community next weekend, on Sept. 25 and 26, some very special guests will be joining the party.

Six professional British coaches are spending 10 weeks serving as trainers and mentors to the league's young players in Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach.

Hailing from the United Kingdom, the visiting coaches — Jack Soutar, Lorna Bennett, Deborah Reddy, Amanda Ross, Dave Kendall and Paul Nicholson — arrived in town on Monday, Sept. 13, and depart in November.

The coaches range in ages 21 to 25, specialize in youth coaching, and are certified and qualified strength-based instructors. 

"The more opportunities that the kids can get to experience some professional coaching is certainly going to be a benefit to their game as they go on into high school, college and even professionally," said Dean Ward, North American Soccer Camps regional director of coaching, about the impact the visiting coaches could have on Manhattan's youth soccer teams.

AYSO Region 18 partnered with North American Soccer Camps to bring the coaches to the South Bay as part of a relatively new coaching program. Even though AYSO was created in 1964, this coaching program dates back only five years. 

When the program was first created, the visiting instructors had no hotels or other accommodations near the camp practice fields.  Then local parents and other camp affiliates stepped in to house the coaches during their stay. 

The hosting program was an instant hit with the players, coaches and players' families. As the coaches returned this month, local families again opened their homes to the soccer gurus. 

"The program has everyone involved," Ward said. "Everyone's touching a soccer ball, everyone's learning new skills, which are all important aspects of keeping people involved in soccer."

Through this program, the visiting coaches will help add new dimensions to the players' games with a special focus on individual skills, as the American style of soccer and English style vastly differ, Ward said.

"A kick and run mentality … is the American soccer style of getting the ball as far forward as quickly as possible and running after it," he said. "The European style is a little bit more indirect in terms of kicking possession, more technical, with more focus on individual techniques such as dribbling skills and individual passing skills."

Ward added that the coaches will be making a tremendous difference for the youngest players on the field.

"The main thing for the younger ones is the enjoyment of the game," he said. "having fun out on the field and always being involved and never standing around watching other people play."

The goal of the youth league is to train the younger players so that they eventually develop into stronger athletes. Through the program, they learn basic skills that they can build on.

The number of registered players for Region 18's fall season has been much larger than in years past. With all of the sign ups, the British coaches stand to make a great impact on the steady influx of new players. Nationally, AYSO boasts more than 50,000 teams and some 650,000 youth players.