Early Childhood Football Development: Considered Foundational But Always Ignored By PSSI

The action of the young employees assisted by PTPN V SSB during the Riau zone U-15 Soeratin Cup competition. (Photo: Antara/HO-PTPNV/22)

JAKARTA – A strong league will produce a strong national team. This theory has often been uttered by soccer figures and observers. However, as long as PSSI was founded in 1930, or at least since PSSI was registered as a member of FIFA in 1952, its implementation never materialized.

The management of the Indonesian football league, according to national football observer Kesit Budi Handoyo, is still chaotic. Walk without a solid foundation. Almost never prioritizing early childhood development, even though it exists, it's just a slogan without being accompanied by a clear mechanism.

So it is natural that the results obtained are not optimal. According to Kesit to VOI, Sunday (15/1), "Football development at an early age does not only provide an opportunity to build an SSB (Football School), but the terms and conditions must also be clear, including the terms of establishment, hiring of coaches, and others. ”

Indeed, since 1999, when the Agum Gumelar era and the PSSI Youth Coach were held by Ronny Patinasarani, the existence of SSB began to proliferate. Unfortunately, this is not well managed.

The basics of playing soccer properly must be practiced from an early age. (Antara/Ampelsa)

There is no PSSI management who has the competence to take care of early childhood football development. As a result, even though it has increased in quantity, SSB has not been maximized in terms of quality.

According to national football observer Supartono JW, the Philosophy of Indonesian Football (Filanesia) Curriculum as outlined in the Indonesian Football Development Curriculum book, according to national football observer Supartono JW, is also not worthy of being a guide.

"How is student success measured at SSB, what are the measurement standards, how are the tests, what are the grades on report cards, and so on. This question is difficult to answer because there are no clear measurements," he told VOI, Monday (16/1).

Even the coach of the Indonesian National Team, Shin Tae-yong, is still complaining about the problem of passing. In more detail, as stated by Nova Arianto, Shin Tae-yong's assistant. Nova had provided several notes that needed to be improved in early childhood development, namely communication, movement, scanning, quality of passing, quality of control, passing move, and mentality.

“This is what we feel is lacking in the current national team from U-19 to seniors. To fix this we have to start from an early age football because before they learn tactics, it's good for them to be equipped with good techniques and individual skills," wrote Nova on his Instagram account in July 2022.

Educational Mistakes

This means, said Supartono, there was a mistake in laying the initial foundation for early childhood soccer education. The average trainer is only armed with a D license, which only takes one week of education or a minimum total of 30 hours of learning. In Early Childhood Education (PAUD) alone, teachers are required to have at least a bachelor's degree or at least a diploma 4 because early childhood has different characteristics from children who are in their teens.

"So what happened was that the trainers only taught, but did not educate," said the founder of SSB Sukmajaya, Depok.

In fact, soccer education for an early age is not just an introduction to technique and physics, it is also related to the development of intelligence and personality. That's why, if you want to produce smart players, you need a coach who also has intelligence in teaching and educating.

For example, from the passing material. Apart from teaching how to pass according to the correct technique, the coach can also insert character education. A correct pass does not endanger oneself, does not inconvenience the receiving partner, is not interrupted by the opponent, does not affect the tempo of the game, and is not individualistic and selfish.

Puts collective interests and goals, tactics, intrigue and team politics at heart. According to Supartono, "Even though it's just passing, there are many aspects and indicators that influence it so that finally the pass is called correct and of good quality. So, it also works on the intelligence and personality of the child."

Look at the pattern of early childhood soccer development at the International Football Academy Soccer Inter Action (SIA). At the age of 5-6 years, training is limited to playing by combining shooting, ball handling, and passing sessions. Activities are carried out in a simple and easy to understand manner. Children at this age still love to play. So, as much as possible they should be happy to enjoy the game together with their teammates.

Teenager soccer training patterns at the International Football Academy Soccer Inter Action. (Soccer Inter Action)

Physical fitness training is only carried out after the child is in his teens. SIA conducts several training sessions with sprint to increase speed. Or a game that prioritizes reflexes. It was only when he was a teenager or entering puberty that the football academy based in Valencia, Spain began to focus on training physical qualities. Endurance, strength, speed and flexibility.

There are four basic points. The first is coordination. This is the ability to perform several movements sequentially and efficiently. Both balance, means the stability of the body's actions. Third, agility, the ability to do exercises quickly and finally. Finally, rhythm, the ability to make regular and continuous movements according to a set pattern.

As written on the SIA official website, “Kids can love or hate soccer depending on how they practice it. So, the coach must maintain the mood. The future of a boy or girl in football depends on how well they work."

That is why, given the role of SSB as a place for early childhood development, it is very vital as the initial foundation for Indonesian football. Supartono suggested that PSSI should update the national soccer curriculum according to the terms and conditions for the curriculum development process.

“Hopefully this will soon become a thought. Grassroots football is the foundation of Indonesian football but continues to be a stepchild. Ignored by PSSI. There is no official PSSI competition on behalf of SSB. There is the Soeratin Cup and the Elite Pro Academy, on behalf of the club. The players just have to stick with SSB and private competitions," Supartono said.

Need Guts

BUMN Minister Erick Thohir, after submitting official registration documents as a candidate for PSSI General Chair on January 15, stated that he would make major changes to PSSI's body if elected. He understands that there are a number of fundamental problems in Indonesian football to date, including early childhood development that is not going well

"There have been many theories and concepts in improving Indonesian football. Actually what we have to do is we dare. Be brave for clean football as well as high-achieving football. This is the most important thing,” said Erick.

"We have to make sure that in the future there will be no dirty hands in Indonesian football," he added.

BUMN Minister Erick Thohir officially registered as a candidate for General Chair of PSSI on January 15 2023. (Twitter/@erickthohir)

However, said Supartono, since being registered as a member of FIFA, PSSI is the 'property' of the voter. The government alone cannot intervene.

"If Erick says he has guts and dares to clean up dirty hands at PSSI, whose tradition has taken root in PSSI, will Erick be able to tame the PSSI voters?" he said.

"Regardless of the results later, what is certain is that improving competition to early childhood development must be a priority if we don't want to be left behind," Supartono emphasized.