By JED LOCKETT
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD —
Riding the coattails of the World Cup, Steve Barrett used the six-week celebration of soccer as a teaching tool. He had a large group around him ready to receive the lessons.
This week, Concord University hosted a residential soccer camp for middle- and high-school age kids. It began on Sunday afternoon and concluded on Thursday. A total of 52 male and female players attended the event, around 30 of which stayed overnight on the Concord campus.
Those 52 players received tutoring not only on the skills of the sport, but the tactics used to win the game’s most coveted prize.
“We talked about the World Cup and about Spain,” Barrett said. “We showed them some information on why I thought they won the World Cup based on statistical analysis of what Spain did in Euro 2008 and then the 2010 World Cup was possession.
“We then went out and ... took those principles, the importance of maintaining possession of the ball and not giving it away.”
Spain is now the top team in the FIFA World Rankings because they were able to keep the ball away from their opponents, wear them down and score when they needed to. As one commentator referred to it during the tournament, it was, “Death by passing.”
“That’s a good way to put it,” Barrett said. “They won all four games in the knockout stages 1-0 and they weren’t beautiful, weren’t as such a thing of beauty but ... it works and it’s obvious that it works and I wanted to share that with (the campers).
“They’re really patient. They’re not anxious to get the ball forward. They’re content to maintain possession. And that was something that we’ve gone out with, possession in the morning and the evening and reiterated that for them, keep it simple and maintain possession.”
Barrett emphasized that these players can play like the Spanish World Cup team — without having to play at their level.
“They’re not Spanish players that play for Spain, but then again I told them, ‘You may not be as good as the Spanish, but then you’re not playing against Germany and Holland. You’re playing at the level that you are and if you take that philosophy, that it’s more important to maintain possession than it is to play some other way, knocking the ball forward or being impatient,’” Barrett said.
The World Cup had a big influence on Barrett’s two camps this summer.
“I had two weeks of camp,” Barrett said. “The first week was a kindergarten through 6th grade and then 6th grade through high school. I asked the question of both camps, ‘Did you watch the World Cup?’
“Every hand went up and they were knowledgeable. They were talking about some of the players and some of the teams that played and what happened which was good.”
Now the question becomes if the interest in the World Cup will translate into more kids watching English Premier League and Spanish La Liga games on ESPN.
“I still think we’ve got a ways to go on that,” Barrett said. “Some of the older kids that we had, I think they are doing that. They are more educated than I think they’ve ever been in the U.S. and it is because of the (English and Spanish leagues) on ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel. And MLS is picking up as well.”
Barrett noted that many of the players at the camps were aware of the top professional leagues in Europe.
“I can talk to the kids about the English Premier League and they’ll know all the players,” Barrett said. “They know what’s going on, they’re watching that.
“They’re looking even further now at the tactical situations that are going on in these games and they’re watching them. The more soccer they can see and the more they understand it, the more they look to emulate it.”
In addition to knowledge and desire, the campers contributed their individual talents to the camp. According to Barrett, that skill level was considerable.
“The talent level was pretty good,” he said. “We had about 30 kids that came from Beckley and Charleston, from Parkersburg. That’s something I want to be able to do a bit more, bring them onto campus, work with them, get to see them play, talk with them. The more I can do of that the more it’s going to help our program.”
Barrett is aware that he may recruit some of these players in the future. But right now, he just wants to spend his time developing their love of the game.
“It’s good exposure for the program and for me it’s an opportunity for me to work with young kids and show them the DVDs of games and to talk about them ...,” Barrett said. “I bring my players in and we try to get the best coaches to help them.”
— Contact Jed Lockett
at jlockett@bdtonline.com
