By Mike Woitalla
Perhaps no man has had as great an influence on as many American coaches as Manfred “Manny” Schellscheidt, who retired in2011 at age 70.
Back in 1970, he became the first person to earn a U.S. Soccer Federation “A” coaching license. He coached at every level of the U.S. men’s national teamprogram — but last year his 13-year tenure as head of the U-14 boys National Identification Program came to an end. He also retired, after 24 seasons, as Seton Hall University head coach.
A few years ago, Bruce Arena said, ”I think everybody who runs across Manfred learns something. He provokes a lot of thought on how players think and the role coaches play. He isvery good at trying to keep things simple and not making a meal of things. He doesn’t make a big deal about the influence coaches have on players. He believes in making sure players are in a goodsoccer environment and that they learn from the game.”
I had first “encountered” Schellscheidt in 1973 — I realized a couple decades later — when I was a 9-year-old soccerfan in Texas Stadium and Schellscheidt played for the Philadelphia Atoms, who upset me greatly as they beat the Dallas Tornado, led by “superstar” Kyle Rote Jr., 2-0.
When many years later I mentioned that NASL championship to Schellscheidt, he related an anecdote that demonstrates the kind of youth coach he was. Schellscheidt had planned a Europe tripwith the youth team he was coaching before becoming a player/assistant coach of the expansion Philly team that, with an uncommon number of American players, made a surprising run to the playoffs.
It turned out the youth trip would conflict with the NASL semifinal – and Atoms head coach Al Miller couldn’t believe his ears when Schellscheidt said he wouldkeep his promise to the boys and miss the game against Toronto. The Atoms beat Toronto, 3-0, so Schellscheidt still celebrated one of the many triumphs of a career in American soccer that began whenhe emigrated from Germany at age 23.
Schellscheidt was visiting his aunt in New Jersey in 1964 and was recruited to play for Elizabeth SC of the German-American League. Elizabeth SCprovided him with a tool-maker’s job and sponsorship for immigration.
”I arrived in the country on a Monday, went to practice at Farcher’s Grove on a Wednesday, and they gave me aplayer’s pass in time for the Saturday game,” says Schellscheidt, 64. ”Only in America!”
He continued working the tool-and-die factory until in 1988 taking the Seton Hall helm — hisfirst full-time coaching job. But he had already coached the U.S. national team, was an assistant of the U-20 U.S. team, and he was the Olympic coach until the eve of the 1984 Games when theFederation disbanded his team of amateurs and replaced them with pros. Schellscheidt coached the U.S. team at two Pan American Games. He coached the U-17s in the early 1990s.
As a player,besides the NASL title, he won two U.S. Open Cups with Elizabeth SC. He was player/coach of the 1974 ASL champion Rhode Island Oceaneers and coached the 1977 ASL-winning New Jersey Americans.
Throughout his career, Schellscheidt served the U.S. youth game. He was a Region I ODP coach for 25 years and its head coach in 1997-2007. He coached the Union Lancers of New Jersey to twostraight McGuire Cup U-19 national championship titles in 1987-88. His Lancers’ assistant coach was Bob Bradley.
A refrain from the coaches Schellscheidt influenced is that he showed themthat soccer’s an art, not a science. He never let one forget that it’s a players’ game – and that the key to youth coaching is respecting the players’ right to enjoy thesport and explore it on their own terms:
“Kids like to explore – learn and discover on their own terms. … To explore, to toy around with, to experiment.”
For me, every conversation with Schellscheidt ended with my affection for the sport rejuvenated. Thanks for that, Manny! … I’m looking forward to our first chat of the newyear.
* * *
Manny Schellscheidt on Soccer:
“The game isthe best teacher. The coach is really a substitute voice. We want the players to hear the silent voice, the game. The game is actually talking to you.”
“Judge players by theirtalents, not their faults.”
“Soccer without ideas is boring. Players with skill and imagination are fun to watch.”
“We don’t lose by making afew mistakes, we lose for the things we never did.”
“No kid ever steps on the field and says, ‘Today I’m going to lose.’ They’re naturally competitive. We should be concernedabout the players’ performance, not the final score.”
“There are always shortcuts that you can find to win the next game. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be winning five, sixyears from now.”
“The great players lead with their minds. How do I make space and time? How do I take it away?”
On coaching youth with small-sided games: “Itneeds to be small enough so positions don’t matter. That’s the best solution. If coaches would have the patience to graduate their kids from really small numbers, one step at a time, that would be themost natural and the most potent education the players could possibly get. They would learn to deal with time and space, and how to move around and have some shape. The problem is we go to the biggernumbers too early.”
On screaming orders from the sidelines and shackling players to areas of the field: “It destroys the children’s natural instinct of being part of thegame.”
On the difference between team development and player development: “There’s such a difference. … You can divvy up the field, make players rehearse whatthey’re supposed to do in their small areas, and as far as team development it works fine because they can find a quick way to get results. It’s a short cut to success, but the kids don’t become goodplayers.”
“The language of the game is body language. It’s universal.”
On technique … “I don’t believe skill was, or ever will be, the result ofcoaches. It is a result of a love affair between the child and the ball.”
“All the questions will come from the game and so will the answers.”
(Mike Woitalla, the executive editor of Soccer America, coaches youth soccer for East Bay United SC in Oakland, Calif. He is the co-author, with Tim Mulqueen, of
Mike: Loved Manny On Soccer. Will share his truisms with our local soccer community’s coaches/leaders. Tim Schum – See you in KC.
Great article, great man…My favorite part was the simplicity of his words at the end: “All the questions will come from the game and so will the answers.”
It is a good article, and everything stated is true, it is however unfortunate that it never is as simple as we want or wish it to be, and that is the real injustice for the kids. And at its core, the problem stems from the bureaucracy created by parents, clubs, leagues, etc. When you have people involved in making decisions for the soccer players that do not have any direct interaction with the players, or any experience either playing or coaching, and these days education should almost for sure be mandated the way back ground checks are. but this is just one persons opinion.
The first time I met Manny was at the engagement dinner for his son Karl. We sat down and started talking, and Manny told me a story about not doing needless tricks on the field, and trying to do things that “look like soccer.” The story goes like this:A man was given a piece of wood, and he carved a duck out of it. Others who were watching him carve the duck said, “how did you do that?” And the man said, “I looked at the piece of wood, and I took away the things that didn’t look like a duck.”
Manfred and my father were friends,so I have known Manfred for a very long time. He is a great gentleman and a teacher of the game.To me;the key to understanding Manfred is contained in this one statement,”he continued working the tool-and-die factory until in 1988 taking the Seton Hall helm — his first full-time coaching job”,this after he had already achieved so many soccer milestones.I think he is the same man today.It is his humbleness and his willingness to talk to anyone who will listen and above all it is his love of teaching the game that makes him the man he is.We need more like him. Manny, please don’t stop teaching us.I hope US Soccer can find a place for you that will help you show the way for all the rest of us.
I’ve watched several of Manfred’s teams over the years and they always played entertaining soccer… and usually won in the process. I well remember that New Jersey Americans side playing in the shadow of the mighty COSMOS… but they were a formidable side themselves and well worth watching… and I remember seeing some of the matches that Manny had “his” OLYMPIC side play before being replaced by Alkis Panagoulias at the last moment, I’ve often wondered if people realized just how strong a job he had managed to do in a good hundred matches up to that time… and how political the decision was to replace him like that. I’ve known so many players and coaches who have been touched in one way or another by this man and I think that few truly realize how important his “non coaching” approach has been to our game here in the States… I truly wish him well and hope the folks who run things at the USSF don’t forget to honor him soon.