What sparks greatness

Learning from the world’s greatest soccer nation & applying their approach to lacrosse.

The current youth sports landscape leads many to believe greatness is determined by which club you join, but in reality, the world's best players in almost every sport became great using a simple formula. While the the world’s best do end up in elite clubs because of their greatness, the club isn’t what sparked greatness in them. Here is the formula that did...

OBSESSION + FREE PLAY + SKILL REFINEMENT

Soccer in Brazil presents a clear example. For decades, the country has dominated the sport and consistently produced a staggering number of the world’s best and most creative players. Why? There are plenty of other soccer-crazed countries (obsession) and good coaches (for skill refinement). Why has Brazil been at or near the top for over six decades?

The answer lies in the middle part of the formula… free play. Since the 1950’s, futsal has been obsessively played in the streets of Brazil. Futsal is a small-sided version of soccer, typically played on a basketball or tennis court, that results in more touches, better ball control, and more creative play… because you often need to get out of a corner or tight space.

Similar paths to greatness are seen in the sandlots of the Dominican Republic (baseball), on the streets of American cities (basketball), and on the frozen ponds across Canada (hockey).  They all start with a love of the game (obsession), play tons of pickup games (free play), then coaches adapt their talent to a team game (skill refinement).

Native Americans apply the formula to lacrosse…

Lacrosse is built into Native American culture... they're given sticks at birth, constantly play pickup games, then refine their skills when they start playing box and field lacrosse with coaches.

The result... despite a 2,000 to 1 ratio of active players, the USA and Haudenosaunee (the Native American national team) play about even in international competition, as two of the top teams in the world.

Following their lead, our player development map is based on the greatness formula:

  1. Create a culture that fuels obsession by making it easy to fall in love with the game.

  2. Share free play games meant to be played with friends in the yard and spark creativity.

  3. Teach skill refinement to help players mesh their style of play with the team game.