NSCAC NEWSLETTER: September 2018.

SEPTEMBER 2018:

In this edition of our NSCAC Newsletter, we're featuring articles from Richard Bucciarelli, our Director of Sports Science and President of Soccer Fitness Inc., and Matteo Mausucci, one of our contributing authors and Technical Director of the Juventus Academy Toronto, plus a video of the recent NSCAC Coaching Clinic put on by the Coaching Staff of the Italian National Champion Juventus U17 Boys team.

NSCAC Members can view the full articles and video in our Member's section.

Members can click on the links below to read the articles/watch the videos, and non-Members can visit www.nscac.ca to sign up today!

Predictors of International Success: Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is King

(by Richard Bucciarelli)

In international soccer, the success of each country’s national team can be measured using the FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking, which assigns points to each national team from every match they play, based on whether the match was won or drawn, the relative importance of the match, the strength of the opponent in terms of ranking position, and what conference their opponent belonged to.

When evaluating the relative success of one national team versus another, however, there are many factors which must be considered to make fair and equitable comparisons.

In a recent article published in The Economist (“By their bootstraps”, 2018), the authors identified three main factors which can be used to predict the success of national teams: population, gross domestic product or “GDP” and “participation rate” – calculated as the ratio of number of registered soccer players in a country versus the population of the country.

In that article, each of these three variables were shown to be positively correlated to a country’s success, which was assessed not by the FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking, but rather via “goal difference” – the difference between the number of goals scored and the number of goals conceded – in a calendar year.

To date, there have not been any studies examining the relationship between countries’ population, GDP, and participation rate, with international soccer success as measured by the FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking, and thus the aim of my study was to examine the correlations amongst these variables in all FIFA member countries.

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Training Players the Juventus Way

(by Matteo Masucci)

During the last few decades, the grassroots of soccer have been exposed to a multitude of changes which has resulted in great improvements for the learning and teaching process occurring between coaches and players.

Players need to be able to perform at a higher pace with full control of the ball while understanding positioning and movement during the game. Consequently, the modern coaching approach considers the ball a fundamental part of the training session with the goal of improving techniques and enhancing tactical understanding. The greatest outcome of “years of practice” is the existence of many methodologies developed throughout several regions in the world by professional football organizations.

One of the most recognized teaching philosophies is the one Juventus F.C. has developed over the past 121 years of activities and competition in both Serie A and Champions League. That philosophy became an important legacy for Juventus F.C. Academy in Vinovo which is directly under the control of a well established coaching model.

The model has developed to the point that today Juventus F.C. covers 45 countries worldwide with the International Academy project.

One of the biggest challenges from the moment Juventus decided to move outside Italy for a technical project is to check and ensure the program execution is consistent in respect to the guideline from Headquarters. To do so, J-Academy International uses approximately 50 certified Juventus coaches who are trained to coach players and to teach local coaches with the Juventus Methodology. The director of those coaches is the Area Manager (divided in world geographical area) who’s in charge of quality assurance but also to provide support in case of technical and organizational problems.

Today, I want to give a closer look at one of the latest J-Academies opened in the world which is growing quickly without giving up quality and also gaining prestige and respect in the professional soccer world.