Coach Tom's update from Seoul - Day 2

UNITED Supporters,

Today Thursday September 10th was another terrific day in South Korea!

United coach Kim Un Bong and I met with Korean Football Association (aka KFA) officials Kim, Young Kyun Youth Football Association Vice President, and Ki Heung, Yoo of the Korean National League at a Seoul hotel. Both officials have been involved in Korean soccer at the national team level for 42 years. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss similarities and differences of soccer in the United States and Korea.

The Korean federation officials were unanimous that the female program in the United States is very good. US female players compete well, are technically sound and physically fit. On the men’s side both officials agree that the US National Team plays well. They emphasized that American youth clubs are training players better then before, which is mainly judged by how many men are playing abroad, and how well the women’s national teams compete at world championships. I was asked the reciprocal question and responded as follows: the Korean women are improving rapidly with recent good showings in youth world championships. The Korean male players have always been very good technically, hard working, and play a position functionally very well. I did comment that the Korean players need to be encouraged to be more creative on and off the ball. We both agreed that it would benefit Korean and American youth players to have opportunities to play abroad. At the conclusion of this great conversation Kim, Young Kyun and Ki Heung, Yoo wanted to show Kim and I the KFA offices.

The KFA offices are located in a modest eight story building in downtown Seoul. The KFA controls and monitors all facets of Korean soccer. This includes the following: youth soccer, high school soccer, college soccer, professional soccer, coach’s education, all leagues, and national teams to name a few… The office we met in was strictly dedicated to U12 Boys. There are four hundred U12 Boys teams in Korea and this office monitors and organizes all of them. Imagine having all the development for the United States in one building communicating on a daily basis… The highlight was how proud the officials were of their trophy room.

The day concluded with a trip out to a suburb thirty minutes from Seoul called Dong San. There Kim Un Bong, Ki Heung, Yoo and I watch the Industry High School women’s team train. High School and College soccer in Korea are comparable to our best youth soccer programs; the actual schools have nothing to do with soccer. The players train five days a week for two hours. Each session has three designated coaches; a head coach, assistant coach, and goalkeeper coach. The goalkeeper sessions I have seen the past two days have been excellent. The field player training session included much more physical work then yesterdays youth sessions. In fact the first hour of training was spent without the ball; speed work, stretching and some sprinting over distance. The second hour was spent on technical work (passing, volleys, heading), 1v.1, and a possession game. The high school method of training is understandable when you see your players daily. The goalkeepers were working individually the entire time.

I sign off watching the England versus Croatia World Cup qualifier played September 9th.

GO SODIUM!