Last weekend I had three of my teams in a tournament. It was a cold and windy weekend in Kansas. All of the teams played well and make some good progress over the course of the weekend. There were a couple of really good stories that came out of the weekend. I share one about my U11's and one about my U12's but you'll have to listen to those on the podcast. It was a good week of training for all of my teams. I share one particular session that I did with my … [Read more...]
#270 Possession Play for 7v7
#269 Interview for the Athlete Maestro Podcast
Our spring break is spread over two weekends so two weeks ago I had only two games two weeks ago and none last weekend. It was good timing though because I’ve been putting the final preparation for our recreational league. That means counting jerseys and doing the schedule. The schedule took about 10 hours spread out over the three day weekend. All of that is done now so just have the coaches meetings to finish before the start of the league next week. We … [Read more...]
#268 Q & A with My Daughter Alex
All of my teams played at least one game last weekend. It's great to get back to outdoor soccer on a regular basis now. After a couple of weeks of training the kids are back in the flow again as well. Our weekly training now consists of a Technical Training Day and a Team Training Day. I'm still using elements of Play - Practice - Play but also working in some isolated technical training during the middle of the session. The Team Training Days are sometimes are … [Read more...]
#267 Two Training Sessions to Prepare for the First Game
It's great to get back outside for the start of the spring league season. My first game of the spring wasn't even with my own team. I covered for another coach who had a conflict. It's always difficult to step in as the coach of a team you haven't worked with before. They don't know me and I don't know them. But sometimes coaches with multiple teams have conflicts and we try to help each other out as best we can. The team didn't really play well during the … [Read more...]
#266 Coaching Conversation with Travis Yoakum
With no games last weekend I had time to complete the individual player and parent meetings for my high school girls team. They're all freshman and sophomores getting ready to start high school tryouts. We discussed their feelings about the year, expectations for high school, interest in college soccer and plans for next year. It's such a great group and I've really enjoyed working with them. Fortunately, I have two or three more years with them since we … [Read more...]
#265 What My Teams Learned from Futsal this Year
We finished up our Futsal season last weekend with the US Youth Futsal Regional Tournament. It was a patch-work event because teams dropped out last minute due to a winter storm coming through. Then some left early because they were afraid they wouldn't be able to get home on Sunday. We should have been playing Futsal Nationals but that was pushed back due to Covid. It was a bit of an anticlimax that's the kind of year it's been. All but one day of practices … [Read more...]
#264 Creating Game-Like Activities
I find myself apologizing for missing an episode again last week. My hectic schedule got away from me again last week and I just didn't have the time I needed to put the episode together. I had to use that time to review D License assignments and provide feedback. Our recreational league is also in the busy 'Organizational Phase'. That means I'm preparing rosters, chasing birth certificates and making sure that coaches have completed their background checks. … [Read more...]
#263 The Impact of Formations on Individual and Team Development
I'm sorry that I wasn't able to post an episode last week. It was a crazy week and with everything going on I just didn't have the time to finish the episode and get it posted. I lead two virtual meetings for the D License course that I'm an instructor for. The rec season organizational period is in full swing. I had futsal games and training sessions to run and last weekend I took my 2009's to Dallas. I'll try to get back on track and be sure to post an … [Read more...]
#262 Recognizing and Executing 2 v 1 Situations
It was an easy weekend of Futsal for me last week. I only had seven games (seems like more when I say it like that). Three on Saturday and four on Sunday. At this point in the season my players have hit their stride with Futsal; they all understand what we're trying to do and are working their hardest make it happen on the field. This is the time where I start changing things up a bit to challenge them in a different way. We change back and forth between a … [Read more...]
#261 The Role of the Assistant Coach
It was nice to have a break over the holidays. Although it was a strange time since we couldn't see our extended family in person. We kept it to just my wife and children. That's not the way we wanted it to be but it was the most responsible decision under the circumstances. It was a very "2020" holiday season; where Zoom meetings replaced family get-togethers. The extra time did give me a chance to catch up on administration of the recreational program. As … [Read more...]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 28
- ...Next Page