Coerver® Coaching History

In the late 1970s, Dutch European Championship winning coach Wiel Coerver® led a revolution in soccer coaching. He was dissatisfied with the lack of individual skills and emphasis on defensive play in the professional game; an emphasis that many thought, was stifling the more exciting, attacking style of play necessary to score goals and attract fans.

Up to that point, little attention had been given to individual skill development, because no one knew quite how to teach these skills. It was also, then, widely assumed that the great players of the game were innately gifted far beyond the capabilities of the average player. Coerver's early focus was on teaching ball mastery and 1 v 1 skills by encouraging players to emulate the "moves" of soccer's all-time greats, such as Sir Stanley Matthews, Cryuff, Beckenbauer and Pele.

Coerver Founders

In 1984, inspired by Wiel Coerver's Philosophy, Alfred Galustian and Charlie Cooke founded what is now known around the world as Coerver® Coaching.

Since then, Coerver® Coaching has become a Global Soccer Education Network with operations in 25 Countries. Over one million players and thousands of Coaches have attended Coerver Programs all over the World since 1984. Over 300 Coerver Students have gone onto professional Soccer careers, one current example being, Terry Antonis, a "Coerver kid" since age 6, who at 16 made his debut for Sydney United.

Today, the "Pyramind of Player Development," develops players from the basics of "Ball Mastery" to a tactically driven 'Group Attack" while including elements such as 'Receiving and Passing', '1 v 1 Moves', 'Speed' and 'Finishing'. The central theme of all Coerver® Coaching concentrates on the improvement of both individual skills and small team group play. The game of soccer is divided into a series of movements and plays involving a small number of players (1 v 1, 2 v 2, 3 v 3 etc.) in different parts of the field. It is when they are linked together, or broken up defensively, that these small group plays make up a game of soccer.

Coerver® Coaching is now widely recognized as the World's leading Skills Teaching Program, especially suited to young players between 5 and 16 years old, with a worldwide network of Player Camps and Coaches Schools featuring educational DVD's, books, seminars and clinics to support the Coaches and Teachers who work with these age groups

In 2010 Coerver® Coaching patnered with two prestigious groups that further enhanced the Coerver reputation as being the leaders in Skills Coaching. Coerver® Coaching was selected by adidas® to provide the Global Content for FIFA's corporate social responsibility program, "Football for Hope". In the same year Alfred Galustian was appointed by the Barclays Premier League, arguably the World's best professional league, as its Technical Skills Advisor

Mission of Coerver® Coaching

Coerver® Coaching's mission is to provide the world's best youth soccer educational services and products at its Player Camps, Schools and Coaches' Clinics and to make the benefits of Coerver® Coaching available as widely as possible through its network of Coerver® Coaching licensees.

Our goals are to:

• Develop skilled, confident and creative players
• Make the game fun to practice and play
• Teach good sportsmanship and respect for all
• Value winning but not more than character and performance
• Utilize the latest methods & technologies
• Create a professional environment within which young players can develop
• Provide a safe & educational experience that meets F.A. best practice
• criteria for all participants at every event