The youth technical director for one of Holland’s top professional clubs believes the sky is the limit for the South Okanagan Youth Soccer Association.
Marco Van Lochem visited Penticton for a week in early-January and was both surprised and impressed with the King’s Park soccer facilities and the calibre of the local players he worked with at SOYSA’s Youth Academy.
“It’s still very much in the growing stage,” said Van Lochem, who has been the youth technical director of Excelsior Rotterdam for some 13 years. “It’s a sleeping giant if the youth continue to develop. A lot of soccer clubs in this country can follow what Penticton is doing.”
Van Lochem instructed 200 players ages 9-18 at the winter academy program at the Adidas Sportsplex indoor facility at King’s Park.
“Every group I worked with, I saw a lot of talented kids,” said Van Lochem, who helped develop Dutch stars such as Robin van Persie and Royston Drenthe at Excelsior. “A few of them could play at the highest level of the youth system in Holland. I underestimated the talent and the passion for soccer in this area.” With Ezra Cremers joining SOYSA as its executive director and head coach, SOYSA and Excelsior have been building a foundation for an affiliation that stands to benefit local players and coaches, as well as those in the Excelsior youth program.
“As a young coach, Marco is my mentor,” said Cremers. “If I don’t have the answers, I can get help from him on Skype, email or one the phone. It’s a tremendous resource for our entire program.”
Van Lochem said it would be a tremendous boost for young local players to come to train and play with and against some of the best players in the world.
“What they could learn in two weeks in Holland would be massive in terms of their development,” said Van Lochem. “There are 60 million people in Holland and one million of them play soccer. Soccer has been played there for 150 years, so the sport is probably 30 or 40 years behind the culture in Holland.”
He said the sport has never been more popular world-wide, and particularly in Europe.
“All the stadiums are full, especially when you compare it to 20 years ago,” said Van Lochem. “England is on the top of the world at this moment and Germany is also very good.”
While immensely impressed with the pristine pitches and indoor facility at King’s Park, Van Lochem said the next important step would be to build two or three artificial grass fields.
“We only use the artificial fields and the level of our players continues to grow and grow,” said Van Lochem. “You can practice on them almost year-round, hold more tournaments and really expedite the development of the players.”
Van Lochem said it would be beneficial for Cremers to visit Holland to see how the youth academies are run and network with the coaching staff and other club officials. He said it would also be a positive for coaches from Excelsior to visit Penticton.
“You are never too old to learn new things,” said Van Lochem.
Van Lochem, who also spent time with youth players in Vernon and Salmon Arm during his January trip, said he enjoyed his visit to the Okanagan tremendously.
“It is a very beautiful part of the country,” said Van Lochem, who got to go skiing at Apex Mountain Resort and watch a Penticton Vees junior-A hockey game.
Cremers said the affiliation with Excelsior could progress to the point where Dutch players could come to Penticton for a holiday and play for the SOYSA Penticton Pinnacles team in the Pacific Coast Soccer League under-21 division.
“I think we’ve only scratched the surface with our working relationship,” said Cremers. “The domino chips are starting to fall very quickly. We’re way, way ahead of where I thought we’d be or could be when I came here in September. It’s a real exciting time for soccer in the South Okanagan.”
