Embracing a Foreign Concept
Northern Virginia Teams Taking Up South American Style of Play

By Paul Tenorio
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 12, 2008; E01

Westfield All-Met center midfielder A.J. Sheta has scored in all but one game this season, but when asked to describe his favorite goal, one stood out.

"It was my goal against Oakton," Sheta said. "I think every member of the team touched the ball."

The play started near the Bulldogs' goal, where the ball was played on the ground across the field by the defensive backs, switching the point of attack. The ball moved up teammate Kyle Guthrie's sideline with one-touch passes and eventually was played inside where a foul was committed by the Cougars. Sheta scored off the free kick. The goal was special, Sheta said, because of the intricate play that set up the score.

"It was good soccer to watch," Sheta said. "It's not just because the goal was scored. It was because of the effort, all of the one-touch passing."

The sequence that led to Sheta's goal is an example of a new trend in high school soccer in Northern Virginia -- where teams that once relied on a direct, long-ball style now play a possession-oriented game. And for players such as Sheta who have grown up playing "possession soccer" on their club teams, the change is welcome.

"My freshman year the average team would just kick the ball around," Sheta said. "Now the teams are starting to play soccer the way it should be played."

The aim of possession soccer is to string together a number of passes in order to dictate the tempo of the game and eventually catch the opposing team off balance by creating holes in the defense. But the style depends on skilled players who can control the ball and play under constant defensive pressure.

Previously, Northern Virginia high schools were dominated by the long-ball style, where there are far fewer passes and players under pressure can play a 40- or 50-yard ball in the air to a player downfield. The system, also called "direct," helps to disguise a team's weaknesses, and is considered less demanding for the players. It is also considered less attractive, and when playing against an organized defense, far less effective.

When Westfield Coach Tom Torres played at West Potomac from 1987 to 1991, the idea of possession soccer in high school seemed foreign.

"I played on a state cup championship team, but my high school team was absolute crap," Torres said. "Nobody, Jefferson maybe, tried to pass the ball a little bit but nobody was really about the game. And there were players that wanted to and could, but . . . I don't think I ever heard my coach once say 'We're just going to knock it around a little bit.' You didn't see it.' "

The long-ball style dominated from Torres's playing days to as recently as five years ago. When asked to recall Virginia high school teams that have played possession soccer in the past 10 years, even the most seasoned coaches struggle to find examples.

"Robinson's always tried to knock it around," Stone Bridge Coach Randy May said. "Lake Braddock . . . [Coach] Joe Soos is a real possession-oriented guy."

"Ken Krieger's Hylton teams," Herndon Coach Sean Lanigan offered.

With high school programs often bringing together players of different ages, skill levels and backgrounds, and with inexperienced coaches at the helm, playing possession was thought to be too difficult in the past, several coaches said. But with more experienced coaches taking over programs, and a talent pool increasing in size and in ability, that is changing.

Knock It Around

Lanigan's Herndon team -- ranked third in the area -- is one of the many schools relying more on the controlled style of play, along with teams like Robinson, Stone Bridge, Westfield and Yorktown, all of whom are ranked in The Post's top 10 rankings and considered state title contenders.

Torres said programs have seen an increase in the number of players with a club soccer background that have played at high levels, and that even the lower-level club teams are better educating their players. The larger pool of talent, he said, creates the core of a team that can play comfortably in a more complex system.

"If you're fortunate enough to have players that have ability and play at a high level in their club structure, they're going to bring that club element into their high school team," Torres said. "All the high schools that have a good nucleus of players, they're all trying to [play possession]. With some schools and some teams, possession is not going to happen just because it's not. Another third is going to try to do it sometimes, and if they're down a goal they're going to throw that away. And then there's another third that want to control the tempo and keep the ball and knock it around."

The possession style is considered distinctly South American, with the Brazilian teams known for their highly technical play. And for teams like Yorktown with a large Latin American base, the influence is strong. But Clyde Watson, an assistant coach for the W-League's Washington Freedom who has coached youth soccer in the metropolitan area for nearly 25 years, said the style is a sign of an increasing national trend, and the Latin American influences aren't the only ones that are swaying teams' play.

"We have to recognize that the U.S. is probably the world's greatest melting pot," Watson said. "We have all kind of influences: European, South American, Latin American. What happens is out of all these various preferences there's a developing national trend and this developing national trend is to be able to knock the ball around, possess it a little bit more."

The trend has transferred to the high school fields because the possession brand of soccer works, coaches said, pointing to the success of Krieger's state championships at Hylton as an example.

"You see most of the teams that try to possess it have a chance to get to the regional tournament and do well," Torres said. "And those that don't might not fare that well."

As possession soccer has become more natural to teams, its effectiveness on the field has negated any tendencies to play a "kick-it-and-run" style.

"We've actually had a couple 10-minute spells where we go direct," said Herndon center midfielder Christian McLaughlin, who will play for the University of Virginia in the fall. "People get nervous and we start hitting it up to [forward] Sean [Murnane] and it doesn't work because he's outnumbered. He'll get it and turn and have four defenders on him and he can't do anything with that. When we play direct, we're relying on one or two versus four, and as good as Sean is, when he's playing four defenders by himself it just doesn't work."

For players such as McLaughlin and Sheta, the change to possession soccer has also softened the perception that playing for a high school team can stunt a player's development. In the past, some club programs have barred their players from playing on high school teams in order to prevent bad habits from developing.

"Playing in high school is an important part of a kid's life," Lanigan said. "Playing in front of your friends, peers, wearing your schools' jersey. You don't get that in club. It gets you a lot of benefits you don't get in club and it has to be able to coexist."

Better Coaching

Nearly all of the possession-oriented teams have coaches who work or worked at the club, college or professional level.

Robinson Coach Jac Cicala won four state championships at Lake Braddock, coached George Mason's women's program for 12 years and was named National Coach of the Year in 1993. Lanigan has coached at the club level for 19 years, guiding several Virginia Youth Soccer Association State Cup championship teams. And other coaches, including Torres and Krieger, have experience coaching at other levels.

That type of experience, Lanigan said, makes the coaches more comfortable directing a possession-based team and also gives the kids a coach who has the tactical knowledge to guide them.

"Guys who coach club and coach high school have a huge influence on the kids they coach," Lanigan said. "They have an idea of formations, they have an idea of how the ball should be moved on the floor in the game. The club coaches who are here, their teams stand out versus some of these coaches who haven't been around a while."

The experience also translates to the players. McLaughlin said Lanigan's experience coaching club gives the team confidence in what he is teaching.

"It's definitely important because we believe in him," McLaughlin said. "We trust in what he's saying and basically what he's saying works. So if he's trying to tell us that playing possession and passing it around is going to be the best style to play then alright."

Matching up the experienced coaches with talented teams -- Westfield has 16 players on its roster that play club and Herndon has several Division I players -- created the perfect blend for the introduction of higher level play into the high school game.

"Coaches are starting to recognize, 'Hey I have kids that are more effective if we play a certain way,' " Watson said. "Therefore I've got to utilize those talents. I don't think the style is set by players; it's set by coaches."