As I mentioned last week I took some of my teams to a Labor Day tournament over the weekend. Taking three teams made for a busy weekend but the teams played well and I enjoyed spending time with them away from home. My younger teams played in traditional tournaments brackets with the top two teams playing in the final. My high school age team just played three teams of similar ability with no final. I think this is a great way to format the tournament for … [Read more...]
#026 Developing Players in Full Sided Games
An email came out from US Youth Soccer on Monday, August 24. It was to announce changes that most people had heard something about already. The first is that they are mandating small-sided soccer for players below the age of 12. They are also standardizing the formats for each age group. The U8’s will play 4 v 4 without goalkeepers, U9-U10's will play 7 v 7 and U11 and U12 teams will play 9 v 9. This is a change from the 6 v 6 and 8 v 8 formats that many of … [Read more...]
#025 Systems of Play for U11 and U12
Last weekend was our first tournament weekend. There is always a lot of discussion about whether playing multiple games over a weekend is good for players. I think it depends on the age and level of the players. For high school age and above I think more harm than good comes from playing more than a game a day and no more than three days in a row. These are players that are playing close to if not full 90 minute games and often with limited … [Read more...]
#024 Formations for Small-Sided Soccer
The questions and suggestions keep coming in each week and one that I received today gave me an idea. Michael K said, ‘I am really enjoying your podcasts and am finding them very informative and educational. Would it be possible to include sessions that focus on set plays and restarts? This is a topic that I have on my list but it’s one that I’ve avoided because it’s not one of my strengths. I have a couple of corners and free kicks that I use with my teams … [Read more...]
#019 PreSeason Skill and Conditioning
The summer months are an important time because they give our players a chance to rest and recharge at the end of a long season before they prepare for the next one. You can’t constantly train at a high level without breaking down and risking injury and burnout. But it’s important for players, especially as they mature, to prepare for the challenges of returning to training. Goals of Preseason Conditioning Get the players fit enough to start training … [Read more...]
#018 Creating a Technical Training Plan
We've had a number of coaches ask if we could create printable show notes. Earlier this week I started working on doing that. I've put together a template using the first episode and posted that to the site. Now that I’ve worked out the technical side I'll start adding them to each episode. I’ll also go back and add them to the previous episodes. So far I've completed five episodes going back to Episode 12 on the Transitional Possession Game. I'll get the … [Read more...]
#017 Formations and Adjustments
A few weeks ago I mentioned what a crazy time of year this is. The last tournaments of the year lead into State Cup and President’s Cup competitions. That’s immediately followed by tryouts. Now’s the time to look back and review. Last week I gave you an overview of our tryout process. This week I look at how I arrived at a formation and style of play for one of my teams as well as how it evolved and changed over the course of the year as well as how it might … [Read more...]
#016 How to Run Tryouts for More Than 2,000 Players
Each June we hold tryouts for our soccer club. Players can be moved up or down and new players join to replace those that choose to leave. It can be a disorganized nightmare or it can be a well orchestrated process where players are assigned to teams that will be the best place for their further development. I was going to discuss more about tactical analysis this week but last weekend we had tryouts for our soccer club. This is a process that no one really … [Read more...]
#007 A Coach’s Role in Developing Young Referees
We've had a busy week here at WORLD CLASS COACHING. At the beginning of each month we release a new edition of our WORLD CLASS COACHING magazine. It includes training sessions, tactical analysis games professional games and condition activities that include a ball. You can click here for more information on the WORLD CLASS COACHING MAGAZINE and Member Drills Database. We're also constantly adding to our Video Library. This is in addition to working … [Read more...]
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