Seattle United

A conversation with Seattle United’s Coaching Leadership

04/06/2010 -- After the Parent Information Summit, we’ve heard that some felt that you two shared conflicting views on the Player Pass.   Can you help us sort things out?

Jason:   Sure.    I think that I may be the more optimistic one, focusing on what the player pass can accomplish.    During a season, different players – particularly at the younger ages – will work differently and will develop differently.   It is one of our core values to have players grouped like with like.   So, one key benefit of Player Pass is to help us adjust where kids play to match their development.

Jimmy:   That works for me, too.   If I’m the pessimist, though, it comes from seeing how the Player Pass has actually been used.    Too often, clubs use it to stack one team to win games and chase trophy hardware.    We have to be about the kids and their development – when Player Pass is a tool to help make that happen, great; when it’s used to chase wins, we’ve all missed the boat.    I think that if we can find a way to be sure it’s being used for the sake of the player, then both of us will be fans.

So, will you guys be using the Player Pass in the coming season?

Jimmy:   Well, that depends.   The Player Pass was a feature of the Player Development League (PDL).    It’s not clear if the PDL will be replaced by the Regional Charter League (RCL), or if the RCL will implement Player Pass.   So, we’ll have to see.    If we have teams in a league that offer Player Pass, we’ll working on having a club approach that ensures we use it to benefit development.

Are there other benefits of Player Pass?

Jimmy:    Another benefit attached to Player Pass is greater visibility of players across the club – letting more coaches see different players beyond their own squad.    Part of the Seattle United model is the Pod Director – one coach at each gender and age group in the Citywide program is designated as a Pod Director.    The Pod Director is responsible for watching enough games and practices across their age group to be familiar with every player – and this spans both the Citywide and Regional teams at that age group.    That’s part of their job – and it’s my job to make sure that they are devoting the right amount of time to it.

Jason:   That’s right, Jimmy – and, in addition to developing an understanding of each of our players, the Pod Directors are responsible for making sure that we’re delivering our consistent age-group specific curriculum across the Pod.   It’s a win-win – and a big part of what will make Seattle United different.

What about the challenges?

Jimmy:    Well, we have to watch roster size.   We look at targeting about 16 players for a full-sided squad and 14 players for the smaller squads at U-11.    We can’t just move players up and make some rosters too big and others too small – that doesn’t give the right balance in practice or the right playing time.   So, it means for every move up, there needs to be a move down.    Sometimes that will be easy – maybe another player would actually benefit from moving down, or maybe there has been an injury – but other times it won’t.    In specific situations, it is much easier to find the right answer – general rules are hard.   But, I can assure you – we will have one general rule – movement will only be for the good of the player.   We will not have teams in our club that lose players the week before State Cup just to help stack another squad.   That just isn’t right, and it won’t be done at Seattle United.