Mike Phelan Coaching at USYS National Showcase in Florida

MP Coaching took part in the US Youth Soccer’s Olympic Development Program’s boy’s interregional event at ChampionsGate in Orlando, Florida over the weekend working with top youth and college coaches and talented young players from across the United States.

Mike and his team were brought in to support the work of the coaching staff gathered at the impressive sports facilities at the Omni ChampionsGate bringing their Premier League experience and perspective to hands-on, demonstration sessions with the talented group of players.

The focus of Mike and the coaching team, Paul McGuinness and David Horrocks was delivering on individual detail for elite performance.

McGuinness oversaw a session on the fine details that make Premier league footballers and provided insight of what it takes to be the best of the best and win the ‘game within the game’. The session was well appreciated by the coaches present.

Gordon Miller, Technical Director of Virginia Youth Soccer said: “The detail that Paul brings out with the kids and coaches is what is needed with our players. He does a good job of communicating what he wants, he paints a picture. He does a really good job and it was very enjoyable”.

Mike Phelan then took this into the team environment regarding what this may look like in more dynamic and pressured situations when the score of a real soccer game is at stake.

A Q and A then followed with the youth athletes themselves where the players were able to discover what lessons Mike and Paul gained from coaching with and against some of the worlds greatest players such as Ronaldo, Vidic, Rooney and Messi.

The contribution was concluded on Sunday evening with a presentation from David Horrocks (downloadable here) detailing the wider career opportunities available across the multi discipline team environments in modern day elite soccer and other sports.

It was a first class event overseen by Aaron Heffernen, USYS’s Senior Manager ODP, and his team and was a credit to the ever growing and developing landscape of youth soccer in the USA.

“Every year, we try to do something for our oldest group of players to give them something, a different look, whether it's a college or a professional coach and we also try to do something in coaching education with our coaches,” said Heffernen.

“So having Mike Phelan and his coaching staff here is right up our alley in terms of what we're looking for with the coaching education side of things.

And then we're also going to give our kids a different look, a flavor of the different style they have,” he said.

As always Mike and his team spent plenty of time in conversation with coaches away from the formal setting, learning from the coaches’ experiences and challenges while opening up their banks of knowledge and providing examples of best practice to their colleagues.

The event was the latest in a series of MP Coaching commitments in the USA where the company is developing strategic partnerships, particularly in youth soccer.

If you want to know more or are interested in your club, league or organisation working with MP Coaching then don’t hesitate to contact Matt@mikephelancoaching.com or WhatsApp on +44 7779777735