The Five Major Ps of Far Post – Far Post has spent considerable time over the past few years
meeting with top youth academies in Europe trying to learn and adopt best practices. Far Post
Director, Todd Kingsbury, has spent time with the three big clubs in Holland (Ajax, PSV Eindhoven
and Feyenoord) and with the top youth academies in England, namely Everton and Liverpool.
From all of these experiences, we have discovered that all clubs focus on the five major “Ps” of a
successful club. When assessing how we are doing as a club, here is our FIVE Ps:
Philosophy – Our philosophy has been unchanging since its very beginning. We will continue
to focus our attention on our core values as a club – Far Post Soccer Club is dedicated to the
ideals of INTEGRITY and QUALITY while instilling FUN and TEAMWORK at all levels of the
game and in the organization – Our philosophy and values are what makes us who we are.
People – staff, players, parents – We have great people in our club and all are VERMONT
STRONG. When people from outside the club work with us, they are always so complimentary
of what good people we have associated with the club. For us, the club becomes an extension of
our family. We want YOU to be a part of that family; to feel that you are a part of a positive,
healthy and successful collection of people of all ages who share overarching commonality –
our love for the game and a commitment to grow both as players and as people. AND, we feel
we have the top coaching staff in the entire state.
Program – We have a successful program that is oftentimes misunderstood. We have clear
goals and objectives for every age group, but we have not done a good enough job clearly
defining and publicizing this. Far Post is working on defining our goals and objectives for all of
our other age groups AND adapting our training and competitive outlets to meet these
demands. We have outlined some of the ways that we plan on adapting what we do below, but
it simply entails demanding more from players in training, motivating them more to be the
best that they can be, expanding the training experience for the kids, educating them more
deeply and taking advantage of all learning opportunities.
Pathway – how to get players to where they want to go – Here is an area that we are working
hard to improve. For youth academies in Europe, the pathway is obvious – the pathway for any
kid in the youth academy eventually leads to the first team, meaning their professional team.
At all of these clubs, their goal is to develop ONE player per year for their top team. If Everton
can produce one player to play in the EPL, that is a successful year. For us, what is our goal and
pathway? Our approach has always been focused on the individual and their personal goals.
For some, it is all about gaining the skills to make their high school team. For others, their goal
is to play in college. Then there are few that simply want to make soccer a life-long activity.
Our pathway is evolving. But, where we are changing is that our goals, objectives and pathway
must lead players towards the highest level, and not the lowest. We feel that soccer is a
fantastic sport that people can spend a life-time playing. We also see all of our players as the
‘next soccer generation’ – our players now will be the soccer coaches, parents, referees and
club directors of the future. But, our pathway for players is focused on developing players for
the highest level possible as they progress through the Far Post system, which by our
definition means preparing them for college level soccer.
Place – Do we have the facility to get players to where they need to be? – This is where we are
falling short the most. Honestly, all clubs in Vermont are falling short – and seriously short. In
fact, unless you are with the New England Revolution or the Philadelphia Union academies, all
clubs are significantly behind what players need. Far Post does have a vision of where we want
to be in the future, but it is going to take time. In the meantime, our goals for the near future
will be to continue supplement our indoor training schedule with earlier season outdoor turf
training sessions. Our players need to get outside on full fields earlier to help them transition
better for the outdoor season. Also, once the outdoor season officially starts, we will continue
to search out the best facilities available for our teams and players. BUT, with everything, our
ultimate goal is to eventually have our own indoor/outdoor facility that has the space and
schedule that suits our needs, and one in which we have complete control over.