Though the Austin FC Academy teams are about halfway through the Fall 2020 schedule, putting up admirable records and some solid results along the way, the journey’s more about how the teams are developing than what’s on the scoreboard. Academy Director Tyson Wahl is pleased with the teams’ overall progress, noting that the philosophies his coaching squad is teaching are showing up on the field.
“What's clear, and what I'm really proud of, is the environment that our coaches are creating is really positive,” Wahl noted. “I want to give them a lot of credit. Our coaching staff is working tremendously hard to mold their coaching into one club philosophy. We have a lot of different levels of expertise and backgrounds, and we're all coming together in a really good way, one that is unifying for all the teams. The way we teach, the style of play, which is going to be uniform within the club … coaches have been working really hard to do this.”
“I think we're starting to see some real progress with the teams playing better soccer and still being successful,” he added, observing that they’re exhibiting core concepts like playing out of the back and using the width of the field to create better scoring opportunities.
The U15s got a chance to showcase what they’re learning Saturday, in a 2-0 win over the U15s from RGV FC Toros, an academy tied to the Rio Grande Valley USL club.
“They're utilizing both sides of the field much better than, for sure, we did last year,” he remarked. “They’re finding ways to start the attack on one side and end it on the other. Which is really positive, and it takes a lot of patience.”
Wahl also noted that the team’s ability to pick out its most dangerous scorers and play the ball directly to them. “They can be a quick counter-attacking team, though that’s not really who we set out to be,” he observed. “I think it's very positive that those players were starting to show those abilities. But now it's about teaching them how to slow down the attack when the counter attack’s not on.”
For the U14s, the emphasis has been largely on building out of the back. It’s something the current U15s worked at last year, and Wahl’s seeing a similar effort to learn it from this squad. “it's really difficult to play out of the back effectively, and then to learn why we're playing out of the back. We're not just passing balls backward; we're actually trying to have the opponent move toward us and draw them out, so then we can break their first line of defense.”
“They’re showing a lot of improvement. It's really challenging. And I think, as you see with the 15s, once you learn how to break some of that pressure, comfortably, with courage, you're able to create a lot of chances.”
For the U13s, much of the focus has been on creating a large expansive shape on the field, to be able to use the whole field and move the ball. Wahl notes that the U13 opponents typically don’t have the size and physicality to cover as much ground or press as much as the U14 or U15 teams do. Therefore, the U13 players have a little more time and space on the ball to learn what they’ll apply in Austin FC’s style of play as they graduate to older teams. “They’re soaking it up like sponges,” Wahl enthused. “It’s been really fun to see that.”
