VCU news

By Tom Gresham

A group of young soccer players raced through a drill on a blinding July day at Striker Park, darting past each other, sending deft passes to teammates, launching largely unrewarded strikes at the goal. On the sidelines, a group of observers watched in a slim patch of shade, noting not only the mechanics of the drill but the actions of the coaches who kept it running smoothly.

Afterward one of the coaches from the Richmond Strikers’ organization visited the group to explain through a translator what he and his fellow coaches hoped to communicate through the drill about both soccer tactics and the value of teamwork and working together. When he was finished, the audience clapped in appreciation.

The observers were members of a delegation of Chinese youth soccer coaches and officials in the city this month for two weeks of instruction and cultural exchange, learning the newest soccer training methods while increasing their awareness of American society and culture. VCU’s Center for Sport Leadership organized the visit in collaboration with the Richmond Strikers Soccer Club, a large local youth soccer organization, and the United States Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs provided funding through a $250,000 grant, which also will allow an American contingent to travel to China next summer.

Carrie LeCrom, Ph.D., assistant director of instruction and academic affairs for the Center for Sport Leadership, said the visit proved fruitful from both a cultural and athletic perspective.

“The reason the State Department awards these grants is to increase cultural understanding between countries, and I would say that was the biggest part of this program,” LeCrom said. “We learned a lot about each other.”

The Chinese group included 12 people, including nine youth coaches, three administrators with the Shanghai Football Association and one coach/administrator. The focus of the visit was girls’ soccer, though it occasionally encompassed youth soccer as a whole. Girls’ soccer, in particular, served as a natural point of common ground, LeCrom said, because of the history between the countries’ national women’s teams, including the famous 1999 World Cup final at the Rose Bowl – a game the U.S. won in dramatic fashion on Brandi Chastain’s penalty kick.

While the American team has continued to thrive, remaining one of the elite sides in the world, the China team has faltered. Not coincidentally, the U.S. youth soccer system is robust, while the Chinese system is comparatively undernourished.

Sui Guoyang, vice president and general secretary of the Shanghai Football Association, said the strength of American enthusiasm for youth soccer – and youth sports, in general – impressed him. He said his organization has a difficult time summoning the same kind of spirit in the sport at home, but he hopes this visit will help coaches and supporters make new inroads with kids and their parents.

“We’re going to use this opportunity to help the young people in Shanghai recognize the importance of soccer,” Sui said.

Sui said the soccer training sessions, which were handled by the Strikers, were eye-opening, revealing drills, tactics and strategic approaches that often were brand new.

“We have seen very effective teaching methods that will help our members here, especially the youth coaches that are with us,” Sui said. “It has been a great exposure to some new training that will be very beneficial when we get back home.”

In addition to technical skills, LeCrom said the program for the visit included an emphasis on the life lessons that soccer can offer and how coaches can integrate those lessons into their instruction. The Center for Sport Leadership managed that portion of the program, often in a classroom setting. LeCrom said conveying the broader benefits of soccer for young people is one way that Chinese soccer officials might be able to generate renewed interest in the sport at home.

A highlight of the visit came during the Chinese contingent’s final full day in Richmond on July 22. For the practice session at Striker Park, two VCU coaches with U.S. national team experience – Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak, VCU’s co-women’s soccer coach, and Siri Mullinix, the women’s team’s goalie coach – visited the field to help with drills and to speak with the visitors. The Chinese group also featured two former women’s national team players – Sun Wen, who was FIFA’s co-women’s Player of the 20th Century, and Shui Qingxia, a veteran of the Olympics and the World Cup. The four players reminisced, clearly enjoying the opportunity to catch up with former foes.

Roberts Sayahdak and Sun appeared especially tight. The two had competed against each other countless times in tense international play, including in the 1999 World Cup game, but at Striker Park it was all grins as they told stories from the old days and exchanged news about what their former teammates were doing.

Roberts Sahaydak said she and Sun enjoyed seeing each other, bonded both by the mutual respect they share from their playing days and by their unshakeable appreciation for soccer.

“It’s been a while for both of us since we played, but we’re still so passionate about the game,” Roberts Sahaydak said. “We both want to stay involved with it.”

LeCrom said the exchange will continue next July when six representatives from VCU and the Strikers visit Shanghai.