Indiana Soccer has taken player evaluations to a new level.
The Olympic Development Program has turned its evaluations into a year-long process.
According to Todd Sheely, the Director of Indiana ODP/IDP, the organization starts evaluating the youngest soccer players – those in elementary and middle school — in August or September. They are then evaluated for almost an entire year, all the way through July. At that point, each player will receive an evaluation through the player evaluation app, TeamGenius.
For the high school players, their evaluation period begins after the high school soccer season ends, around October.
The players are evaluated on a standard 6-point rubric and the Key Qualities of a Great Soccer Player. According to U.S. Soccer, these include:
- Game awareness and decision making
- Initiative
- Focus
- Technical skills
- Physical ability
- Responsibility
Players are then evaluated in these same areas throughout the year. The organization uses a separate rubric for goalkeepers, who are evaluated by a goalkeeper’s coach.
After the initial evaluations, each player’s evaluation is left open in the TeamGenius application. This gives coaches the ability to add notes throughout the year so when they do a final evaluation, the feedback is based on notes in front of them instead of fading memories when trying to do 70 to 100 player evaluations at the end of the season.
Adam Klemen, an ODP coach at Indiana Soccer, has used the evaluation process outlined by Sheely. In a recent interview with the director, Klemen shared his insights on the organization’s evaluation process and criteria.
How Coaches Use the Rubric and Scoring Criteria
Klemen thinks the scoring criteria are a beneficial way to evaluate players.
“It addresses both the ability as a player as well as the characteristics they have as a person,” Klemen said”
He said because so much of soccer is about the response, it’s important to look at an athlete’s initiative, focus, and responsibility. He added that he also looks at the group’s attitude and the effort of the players.
“I (try) to grow them technically and tactically in terms of what’s the decision making they have on the ball to put them in situations that hopefully allow them to grow and put them in an environment where they can fail safely and learn from their mistakes,” Klemen said.
He also finds that having the standard criteria makes it easier to score and compare players.
“If you’re going to compare Player A to Player B, they should be evaluated on the same metric scale,” Klemen said.
He added that he likes that he can share the scale and the criteria with the players to show them what they are being evaluated on, how they compare to other players, and what they need to work on.
Benefits of Evaluating Players Throughout the Year
Klemen enjoys having the ability to evaluate players throughout the year, instead of just at the end. He likes being able to add comments monthly, or after a training session or an event, while the information is still fresh in his mind.
He also likes that it makes the evaluation more specific to particular examples, and less of a generic overview.
“It’s not waiting until May 1 and (trying to remember) ‘Wow, how was Player A back in November? How were they back at the December training session?” Klemen said.
He added that these evaluations can also be useful to the players.
“Being able to jot some notes in there that (the players) can refer back to, something they might not have remembered that they did back in a September training session, or at a team event in January. … Those provide some specificity to the time we spent together,” Klemen said.
He hopes these year-long evaluations will also help athletes see their growth based on the scores and the comments.
Easily Adding Evaluation Notes During Training Sessions
Indiana Soccer uses the TeamGenius application, allowing soccer coaches to quickly and easily add notes on players. Coaches can do this via talk-to-text functionality, or they can go into the app on their laptop or mobile device and add the information.
“I like to, in between sessions, try to get my laptop or my iPad out and type my notes in there and keep a running log of things that have taken place,” said Klemen, who added that other coaches prefer the talk-to-text option, but he’s more “old-school.”
Klemen likes the convenience of being able to add these notes while it’s fresh in his head. He also enjoys being able to jump from player to player quickly in the app and easily save his comments.
At the end of the year, the evaluations Klemen and other coaches create over the months are distributed to the players from the TeamGenius app. This not only reflects how they performed for Indiana Soccer, but it also provides a blueprint for what they can work on, and what skills they can take back to their high school or club team.
About TeamGenius
TeamGenius is a club soccer player evaluation app built for club directors and coaches. Ditch the paper and spreadsheets to easily capture player evaluations, track, analyze, and share results with players all on one digital platform.
Learn more at teamgenius.com
About Indiana Soccer
Indiana Soccer is a member of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), United States Youth Soccer (USYS), Unites States Adult Soccer Association (USASA), and United States Futsal Association (USFF). It is a not-for-profit Indiana corporation, allowing tax-deductible donations and contributions to the fullest extent of the law. Indiana has a current membership base of over 60,000 youth players, 3,000 adult players, 8,000 active coaches, 3,800 referees, and thousands of volunteers through its network of over 140 local member clubs across the state of Indiana.
Indiana Soccer is organized to provide nonprofit, public, educational soccer development and competition. Its leadership is comprised of an Executive Committee and a volunteer Board of Directors who represent all parts of the state. The organization currently has a professional staff of 8 full-time employees working out of the State Office in Westfield, Indiana.
Learn more at soccerindiana.org
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