Staff Highlights-Region I Boys ODP

Region I Boys ODP
Highlights of Coaches and Players

When you have the coaching background of Manny Schellscheidt, it would be easy to think of yourself as the centerpiece of a program, but when it comes to Region I ODP, that’s the farthest thing from this coach’s mind.

"Soccer coaching itself is hopefully becoming more and more player-centered than coach-centered. In typical American sports, everyone looks to the coach to have all the answers. He’s supposed to have the master plan and everyone else gets told what to do," Schellscheidt explained. "I don’t think in soccer that works so well. Coaches should be more in a supporting role. The information the players will learn from comes from the game, not the coaches. If it goes around the bend from the game to me and the player, that takes too long. The coach’s task is to help the lesson go more in a direct line."

Manny is the U14 National Team coach and head coach at Seton Hall University, along with being the Region I ODP Head Coach. He has coached national, regional and professional teams, and played professionally in Germany, the place of his birth. He’s played on 2 U.S. Open Cup winners in America, written numerous articles on the game and coached All-Americans and national team players.

But you wouldn’t have known any of that in watching him last July at the Region I ODP camp at Rider University. Surrounded by a host of 92s as he was conducting the camp’s skills competition, you could see the veteran coach was completely comfortable exchanging banter with the kids and enjoying the learning environment he had helped create. Manny being Manny means players having the means to grow and learn themselves, taking center stage while he stays in a supporting role.

After various regional and national team events over the years, Manny speaks of the enjoyment he takes in seeing young players understand lessons from the game and become better players as a result. Manny was instrumental in the creation of regional teams for this year’s 92s, enabling more players who are somewhat behind on the physical maturity curve to still enjoy and benefit from the opportunity to play at a high level.

For Schellscheidt, it’s all about the players – and he is pleased to say this is the emphasis in Region I ODP.

"I’m comfortable that we have a solid staff. These are guys who understand the game but also are the right guys for this job," he said. "There could be a guy who is smart enough to go coach for Real Madrid but I wouldn’t necessarily have him coach the 14 year olds if you know what I’m saying.

"There are too many coaches out there who are full of themselves, who want to dump all their wisdom on kids, when the kids just want to have a chance to compete," he continued. "Instead some of these coaches just want to tell them everything, and when that happens, the players will just become second-rate copies, not creative, intelligent soccer players."

Manny is clear on his vision for Region I ODP and what it should be.

"It’s a place and a time where opportunities are created, where talented kids can challenge each other," he said. "The emphasis will shift over the years. When you are a junior or senior in high school then playing for results will become more important. The ultimate task of the whole program is producing players who can win the World Cup, where winning or losing means everything. But overall the program really has its value in development, in providing domestic as well as international opportunities for the players to be sized up and for us and them to see where we are."

"Where we are" is a pretty good place when you look at the results for Region I ODP teams both domestically and internationally.

"By and large the teams do a pretty good job and usually come away with good results," he said. "The people who run (international) tournaments usually ask us to come back, and that’s a good sign because these big international tournaments are not just looking for any paying customers, but they are concerned with the quality of teams. To be invited we have to be a respectable opponent, and this keeps happening."

While such results can be a helpful guide, Manny is adamant that the lessons learned by young players is the ultimate test of the Region I ODP program’s success, and insists that understanding this is key for a coach to fulfill his mission.

"With coaches today we need fewer ego trips and more real concern and patience with the players themselves," he said. "I’m here to support and to provide ideas. If we can help the players come into their own then we’re making originals rather than copies. That gets us farther down the road toward developing them, while the other way (instructing their every step and kick) will in the end stifle their creativity. If there’s anything coaches in the country could do better it’s to be more patient and not so overbearing on the kids. We should always understand it’s all about the players in the end."

Manny explains that is far more complex than just letting the players go. The coach will still be intricately involved, but in a way where the Region I ODP players truly learn and understand, rather than just be able to repeat data.

"From that standpoint I would often be found guilty by some parents of not coaching enough, because I’m quiet and not jumping around during a match. They would say ‘He’s not doing anything, why are we paying this guy?’ But I think the true art of coaching is to manipulate the activity and create a need that they need to respond to, then let them deal with it. Everyone knows exercises and drills, but can you set up all kinds of little problems for them to solve, and then let them do it? You really can coach well without yelling and screaming and stepping in and stopping play every 2 seconds."

So Manny being Manny means young men growing in their appreciation for, understanding of and ability at the game of soccer. And Region I ODP is the beneficiary.