Author Tags: Sports


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West Vancouverite Tony Waiters, formerly coach of Canada's national soccer squad, has a fourth book, Coaching the Team (World of Soccer/Raincoast $9.95) and continues to expand his publishing domain internationally. After publishing Coaching to Win with Collins Publishers in 1984, Waiters asked himself what a large publishing house had accomplished for him that he could not have accomplished alone. Using the same critical-mindedness he employs for soccer to market his own books with some advice from soccer-playing B.C. publisher Michael Burch of Whitecap Books Waiters has envisaged "a one-stop shopping service to coaches". (He says a conventional publishing company doesn't know enough about soccer to understand where the market for his books is, or what his books are specifically about.) Following his new book about coaching for 9-to-11-year-olds ("the golden age of soccer"), he hopes to produce a series of books about special interest areas such as coaching for girls, team psychology, coaching goaltenders and heading the ball. "Learning to head the ball," says Waiters, "is like learning to cross the road. There's a proper time to teach it. There's medical evidence to show that 9-to-11-year-olds should be discouraged from heading the ball because of possible danger to the spinal area." By encouraging soccer clubs and organizations across North America to buy his books in volume, Tony Waiters has become a best-selling B.C. author and publisher with almost no sales through bookstores.

[BCBW Autumn 1989]

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Ottawa, Ontario - The Canadian Soccer Association has announced its endorsement of a grassroots player and coaching education program that has been developed by former Canadian World Cup and Olympic coach, Tony Waiters. "Total Player Development" (TPD), has been developed over a 15-year period and has been designed to make Youth Soccer a positive experience for each and every child -- from the time that they enter the sport, until they progress to a higher level.

Canadian Men's World Cup Team head coach and Technical Director, Holger Osieck, and Director of Coaching, Ray Clark, both evaluated the program and recommended its endorsement by the CSA's board of directors. Soccer Canada Properties concluded the formal agreement.

"The concept of TPD offers a great opportunity for children to be guided into the game of soccer under consideration of all aspects of development at the early stages, " said Osieck. "Also, parents will be provided with all necessary knowledge to better understand their children's game."

TPD has proved to be successful at club and grassroots levels over an eight-year period in Canada, USA, Australia and Japan. It's vertically-integrated curriculum starts at the youngest ages with the One-with-One* program and then goes into the 3 vs. 3 Micro Soccer* game, progresses to 4 vs. 4, before moving up into the 6 vs. 6 Mini Soccer (in Phase Two at 9-years of age). TPD eventually arrives at 11-a-side soccer, but the overall TPD philosophy is to delay the onset of competitive 11-a-side soccer so that the children have the opportunity to develop all the skills without the all-encompassing pressure of winning. The focus is on providing children with the opportunity to progress, "at their own pace" through small-sided games so that they can develop the necessary skills within a fun and "non-intimidating" environment.

"Perhaps, the most exciting aspect of our Total Player Development* program is the very beginning (Phase One - 4- to 7-years) where our main objective is to give the children a 'Love for the Game'" said Waiters. "At the same time, the program recognizes the critically important role of the parent in regard to their child and the future of the game. That is why the One-with-One* program has as the starting place, Mom and/or Dad teaming up with their child."

A key strength of the program is that it makes the total soccer experience more enjoyable and easier for the parents, coaches and club executives. Parents can actively participate in their child's early soccer development while the structured TPD program can assist coaches and club executives with the successful delivery of quality soccer development programs. This is especially important as Canadian soccer registrations continue to grow and coaches and club executives are faced with the challenges of delivering programs with limited resources.

For more information on TPD, parents, coaches and club executives are encouraged to contact Tony Waiters or visit the World of Soccer website.

Tel.# 604-921-8963
email: tw@worldofsoccer.com
Website: www.worldofsoccer.com