Terry Michler, Head Coach of the CBC Cadets, also heads up the DutchTouch Camp program which brings Jan Pruijn, who was affiliated with the AJAX Amsterdam International Youth Academy, to St Louis for a series of youth and team camps each summer. They took a group to visit and train in Holland for the second straight year recently. This is his recap of the trip. For more information visit the website.

Holland Spring Trip ’09 Recap

The 2009 CBC Dutch Touch trip to Holland was a smashing success! The trip provided all of us with many memories and experiences that will remain with us for a long time to come. We met some great people, saw some incredible sights, experienced the Dutch way of living, and were certainly engulfed in the Dutch way of playing soccer. It was a fast paced, well-planned trip that had every day full of activities that kept every one busy and tired, but also very enriched.

We hit the ground running, as they say. The first 2 days in country were spent in Amsterdam and Eindhoven, two of the larger cities in the country. The day in Amsterdam started at the Ajax complex with a Stadium tour, Museum visit, Fanshop spending and watching a training session of the professional players. It was quite a start to the trip!! Following the time at Ajax, we went to downtown Amsterdam for a canal cruise, sightseeing and spending. Our time in downtown was cut short as we headed back to the east to Doetinchem for a professional game of DeGraafschap vs Heerenveen. It was a great atmosphere in the stadium as the home team (DeGraafschap) was in regulation danger and Heerenveen was sitting 4th in the table. A big upset on the night as the home team, lifted by the roar of the home crowd, pulled off a big win. We returned back to Hotel around midnight to wrap up an exciting first day of the trip.

The second day took us in the direction of Eindhoven, but first a stop in Someren for a mini indoor tournament on smaller than normal indoor pitches. We played for 2 hours and then headed into Eindhoven for the professional game PSV Eindhoven vs Vitesse Arnhem. The Philips Stadion in Eindhoven is a host site for Euro Cup and Champions League games, as it has been recently renovated and is state of the art. The game was relatively flat and ended 0-0, quite unlike the game the night before. After 2 days, we had a good taste of Dutch soccer and saw a considerable amount of the country. We were off and running!

The third day, Sunday, we had a reunion with the “dutchies” who have come to St.Louis the previous 2 summers. We also met with the guest families and then we all went for our first training session with 3 Dutch coaches taking charge. Following the session, we returned back to the Hotel and a visit to the War Museum ’40 -’44, a very historical presentation which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. Sunday also marked the first day of rain – and then it rained everyday for the rest of trip. It was a cold and windy rain at that, but it was never enough to change our plans. As the locals pedaled their bikes through the rain, so we continued our program as planned, without any interruptions. Sunday concluded with a nice dinner in a restaurant in the local village. Another great day.

When Monday rolled around it was training in the morning, trip of some sort in the afternoon, and play a game in the evening for the rest of the week through Thursday. Our trips included a visit and tour of the NEC Nijmegen stadium and training facility, shopping in downtown Nijmegen, laserquest, a visit to a local soccer shop, a historical tour of Arnhem and The Bridge Too Far. Harry and Theo, our Dutch coaches, shared many stories of the days of the war as they and their families experienced those times first hand. It really brought to life the places that we saw and made it all the more personal. A big highlight was Wednesday, when we spent the entire day in Germany. The day started with a visit to Dusseldorf for shopping and sightseeing and then to Gelsenkirschen, the home of FC Schalke 04, of the German Bundesliga. At Schalke, we toured the brand new 80,000 capacity Veltins Arena, home of Schalke 04. It was very impressive, to say the least. We were also fortunate to watch part of the first team training session and visit the Fanshop and collect more souvenirs. At the end of the day, we played a game vs Schalke youth team. In all the games we played, they were played against teams of dutchies who had been to St. Louis during the previous 2 summers. At times, the dutchies would join with us to help make up the numbers. It was a real experience playing the dutch as their style of play is fast ball circulation and fast defensive pressure. There was very little time on the ball and a clean first touch was absolutely necessary if you wanted to have a chance to make a play. We improved with each game as we adjusted to the speed of play and the use of the body. The best way to learn is to experience it first-hand and we did that in each game that we played. Each of the youth complexes were absolutely first class. They take great care in providing quality training facilities and they all seemed to be very similar in their makeup.

The last few days of the trip the players spent with guest families and got an up close look at how the Dutch really live. From Thursday night through Sunday morning, the US players were paired up and stayed in the Dutch homes and for most everyone, this proved to be a highlight of the trip. The guest families were extremely friendly and made our kids feel very much welcomed. It was an experience that will result in many lasting friendships and correspondence will continue back and forth for some time to come.

A special thanks to Jan Pruijn, the Dutch master who makes everything happen. Jan has contacts everywhere and he put together an outstanding itinerary for us. Jan came in from his job at Ajax Cape Town in South Africa to be with us during the week and we certainly appreciate that. Our accommodations were great, the food was good and plentiful, the experiences were life-enriching and the people that we met along the way were very helpful and friendly. Harry Jansen and Theo Derks, our coaches and travel mates, provided us with many moments of laugher and insight, not to mention their soccer expertise. We had a total Dutch experience and we are very grateful to all the people who went out of their way to make us feel welcomed. Thanks to all the guest families and the others who managed to make time for us and to make our time there very enjoyable and memorable.

The 2 biggest points from a soccer perspective that struck us was the intensity in the training sessions and the amount and quality of the youth training facilities.

We watched training through the youth ranks and up to the first team professionals and the intensity of play on the field was incredible. You don’t see that level of intensity in most training sessions in the US – every ball, every play, every tackle, every goal was fought for and meant something. No one was willing to give anything to the next player – everyone fought lights out on every play. The sessions seldom last more than 90 minutes and with the mental and physical intensity levels as high as they are, it is understandable. The demand on the players was high and their performance matched the demands. Quality was demanded by the coaches and competition was fierce throughout the entire session. Rewards and consequences were constant and keeping score was vital. The outcome mattered as did the manner in which it was achieved. The players use their body to gain an advantage, ball speed in passing is HIGH, receiving touch is clean and all the action is directed to goal – the playing areas are usually smaller than larger and the time on the ball is met with hard physical challenges. The closing down speed was lightning fast and players had very little time on the ball – close support and changing the point of attack were paramount to any chance of success. Keepers were used in most of the sessions and shots were taken with the intent to score. It was the intensity of a real match put into a training session. There was no complaining about hard contact, as that was the norm throughout the session. Players would argue over ball in and out of play and miscellaneous things, but they were playing to win and any advantage they could get, would help. Mostly, the coaches just let the ‘boys be boys’ and let the sorting out to them. You had to think and play fast and clean under the pressure of time, space and opponent. When you consider that this is the norm and the way they are brought up in the game, it is easy to understand how they become so proficient as they progress in the game.

In the professional environments, the youth and the pros share the facilities and they all dress for training in the same kit. There is a certain aura about the presence of being in that type of environment that just naturally gets your competitive juices flowing and you want to be your best. There is a standard that must be met and daily performance dictates who stays and who leaves. The coaching is very high level as they must take coaching education courses in order to coach at the various levels. The entire soccer education process is stressed in every way possible. The Dutch are known for their meticulous attention to detail and when it comes to their football, nothing is left to chance.

The soccer facilities were everywhere and they were all first class – even in the small villages, not just the professional centers. There was a certain feeling you got that said this is important. If you provide the proper environment – training facility, coaching, organizational plan, equipment – the end product has a much better chance to be realized. There is a certain amount of government funding for the facilities, but it is the local clubs that maintain the standard. The layout of each facility was pretty similar — all had a major game field, plenty of training fields, changing rooms, medical room, canteen (concession room), turf and grass fields and plenty of goals of all sizes. There was nothing lacking and everything necessary for successful development. The players, especially the young ones, must feel the significance of being a part of something special. As they train, they have one eye on the prize and one eye on the task at hand. After experiencing first-hand the situation in Holland, it strengthens the point that environment, the proper environment, is a major contributing factor to the successful development of a player.

In closing, my best advice is to experience this for yourself. I can tell you with words what I saw and how it is, but that pales in comparison with being there in person. If you a club director, or any higher level ranking person within the club, it would be worthwhile to experience soccer in a land where soccer is king and attention to detail and player development is paramount. The beauty of Dutch soccer is in simplicity – players grow up understanding how to play and apply their skills appropriately. The game is the same everywhere, it’s just the little nuances that make it different. In Holland, quality coaching is very important. There is a firm belief that the foundation is the key factor to the future – without a solid youth development program, the game cannot exist. In a country as small as Holland, in order to be able to compete with the world’s best, they must continually review and evaluate their methods and continue to invest in their youth. The name of the Youth training center at Ajax is the Futuro – rightfully so !!

One last point – if you get the chance to visit Holland on a soccer journey, please ask questions. The Dutch are very open about the game and they are very willing to share their information to help improve the game everywhere. When I was there in 1979 as part of a KNVB/NSCAA 10 day Coaching Symposium, they told us then that their philosophy was to share what they have to improve the game elsewhere. They also said that this then makes them have to continue to develop and explore new ways to better themselves. The journey to total development does not end, it just continues. When you stop learning, you fall behind. When you stand still, you fall behind. It is only when you try to advance that you go forward.

The dates for the 2010 Spring trip to Holland are March 24 – April 4.
Visit www.cbcdutchtouch.com for more information.