ECNL Coaching Symposium Draws Record Turnout, Focuses on Leadership and Player Development
Las Vegas, NV – – The ECNL hosted its ninth annual ECNL Coaching Symposium, powered by US Club Soccer, last week in Las Vegas, attracting over 1000 soccer leaders from across the country. The event centered on aligning on the league’s future vision, hearing from a diverse group of speakers, and fostering growth within the sport.
The two-day symposium featured presentations from Neil Bath (Former Academy Director, Chelsea FC), Ceri Bowley (Chief Soccer Officer, NC Courage), Amie Bracken (ECNL Director of Brand Services), Thomas Christiansen (Panama Men’s National Team Head Coach), Andrea Cortez (ECNL Director of Creative Services), Russel Earnshaw (Former Premiership Rugby Player; Coach Educator), Brent Gleeson (CEO Exceler8; Former Navy SEAL), Doug Lemov (ECNL Coaching Methodology Advisor), Stephen Torpey (Academy Director at Manchester United), and Drew Watson (ECNL Medical Advisor). Topics ranged from technical and tactical development to leadership, personal growth, and club organization.
Alongside the speaker sessions, ECNL leadership held its Annual General Meeting (AGM), discussing the current state of the league and outlining its future direction, as presented by ECNL President Christian Lavers.
Leadership Skills Take Center Stage
A particularly impactful presentation came from Brent Gleeson, a former Navy SEAL, whose talk, ALL IN: How High-performance Teams Lean In and Level Up, resonated deeply with attendees. Chris Hurst, Director of Coaching at Rio Rapids, noted the presentation’s broad applicability despite Gleeson’s non-soccer background.
“Even though he has nothing to do with soccer, it’s relatable. If you looked around everyone was hanging on every word. That’s real world stuff. How do you get that all in all of the time from your players? That’s essentially what you are trying to do when you’re coaching is get buy-in from your players, parents, and coaches to create a culture.” – Chris Hurst, Rio Rapids Director of Coaching
The emphasis on leadership extended beyond Gleeson’s presentation. Pedro Millan, Boys Director at PacNW SC, highlighted the importance of the leadership skills imparted during the symposium.
“The most important thing I’m getting out of this is leadership skills. How do we deal with people? It’s not just the soccer part. The soccer part is the most fun part, but understanding how to lead people is a very tough job.” – Pedro Millan, PacNW SC Boys Director
Millan also praised the speakers’ ability to connect with the audience and provide actionable insights.
“I think the speakers are very good at communicating, regardless of the content, they just attract you. When they attract you then you’re trying to link what they are saying to what you do.” – Pedro Millan, PacNW SC Boys Director
Keir Hannity, Director of Louisiana Fire, echoed Millan’s sentiments, noting the wide range of topics covered and the value of the leadership-focused sessions. With Louisiana Fire in its first season in the ECNL, Hannity plans to increase staff attendance next year, recognizing the valuable experience offered.
“We’ve really enjoyed the different array of speakers. There’s been a lot of different topics, not just on the field, but also leadership skills, the management of a team, club, and personnel has been really good to see.” – Keir Hannity, Louisiana Fire Director
“Going into next year we’re definitely going to look at bringing more of our staff. It would be great for them to be here to not only network and meet other coaches in the ECNL environment, but it would be really important for them to listen to these speakers.” – Keir Hannity, Louisiana Fire Director
Key Insights from Symposium Speakers
Throughout the event, speakers shared a variety of insights. Ceri Bowley emphasized the importance of creating environments where young players can develop a lifelong love for the game, stating:
“World class environments for young players to fall in love with the game and hopefully stay in love with the game. Producing the future of society, not only the game of soccer.” – Ceri Bowley, ECNL Technical Advisor
Other notable quotes included:
- Amie Bracken:
Your club is your brand. Now, think of your brand as a person. Your brand isn’t what people say about you, it’s what they say about you when you’re not in the room.
- Thomas Christiansen:
I’m very proud. It has been a big sacrifice to achieve this goal to qualify for the World Cup. Now we want to have a good World Cup and show Panama to the world.
- Andrea Cortez:
If you don’t love and respect your brand, no one else will.
- Russel Earnshaw:
Coaching is a really challenging job and sometimes you can’t experiment. Hopefully this has given everyone a chance to get together, share some ideas, and do even better work for the players.
- Brent Gleeson:
Accountability is known to be the number one most important cultural pillar of any high performing team or organization.
- Doug Lemov:
Perception is important to decision making. We do what we do because of what we see, so we should try to shape what players perceive.
- Stephen Torpey:
Hire people you can trust. Culture lives when no one is watching.
- Drew Watson:
If you can reduce injury risk a meaningful amount and increase player availability to train and develop, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that you can move the needle on soccer development across the country and raise the level of youth soccer in America.
