Former Canadian men's soccer team captain Jason deVos wants coaches in Windsor to put kids first instead of trophies.
The Canadian Soccer Hall of Famer says the development needs of the player should always be the top priority. To that end, deVos says a club like the Windsor Stars needs to focus on building relationships with local youth clubs.
"You need to have a pool of players to call on and by working with those clubs by doing coach mentoring, by doing coach development, putting on sessions for players you can build those relationships and potentially develop a pool of players that can play on your team for years to come," says deVos, adding Windsor's geographic location can make it hard for players to access higher levels of development. "I think what we really need to try and do is look at a way to deliver a high performance program in Windsor for the kids in this community so they don't have to go to Toronto to get that."
deVos was recently in Windsor speaking on the issue of player development.
The Stars, playing in League1 Ontario, have signed affliation agreements with Windsor FC Nationals and the Ciociaro Soccer Club.
