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...]
#258 Effective Futsal Defending
After a very hectic fall season it was great to have break over the Thanksgiving week. As with everything in 2020, the holiday week was very different from the way it usually is. My extended family usually spends a lot of time together over this period but that wasn't possible this year so I had a lot of time to work on a number of projects. High on the list of 'Things to Do" was completing player evaluations for three of my teams. I do individual meetings … [Read more...]
#257 Activities in Small Spaces
The boys divisions of the final tournament of the fall were held last weekend so I didn't have any games on my calendar. For me the weekend was packed with home projects that have been neglected during the busy fall season. The one soccer activity I did have was the process of putting together my teams for the futsal season. Each of my four teams has entered two teams into the Futsal league. The rosters of each team range from 11 to 17. For each game I plan … [Read more...]
#219 Coaching Conversation with Mario Zúñiga
Last weekend we had the U.S. Youth Futsal Central Regional Championship. It was a long weekend with all four of my teams participating. Two of the teams were actually playing up an age group while the other two played with teams their own age. The teams played up because they won't have been challenged in their own age group. I think that playing up in Futsal is even more difficult that playing up outdoor. This is due, in part, to the fact that the referees … [Read more...]
#216-Everything that Goes into My Winter Futsal Season
Last weekend was set to be a normal winter Futsal weekend. I had seven games on Saturday and I was all set for another five on Sunday. Overnight a storm came in and by 9 am it was obvious that it wouldn't be a good idea for anyone to be traveling if they didn't have to be. The league made the decision to cancel all games for the day. So what does a soccer coach do when all of his games are canceled? Write player evaluations! I have four teams this year with … [Read more...]
#176 Tournaments – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
We had the US Youth Futsal Regionals here last weekend. I'm going to talk about my teams' experiences and tournaments in general in the main part of the show so I'll save that for later. We had another major winter storm here earlier this week. My teams train on Tuesdays indoor and my oldest team trains outdoor on Wednesday but we lost all of our training sessions this week. I thought our winter break was great but now a couple of my teams haven't played … [Read more...]
#174 Coming Back to Training After a Break
It was great to get back to training this week. The break was fun but I've missed my teams and working with the kids. There was an interesting comment on last week's podcast. John said, "The US has not and will never produce a world class talent because of lack of culture, the fear of over training (even though the kids are having fun and doing what they love), the need to dabble in other sports Because “it benefits athletic development” , and the coddling … [Read more...]
#172 Functional Shooting Activities
Last weekend I had just one game with each of my teams. Really not much to tell. The kids played well and are continuing to make steady progress in the areas we've focused on. Looking through my session plans I realized that I haven't done a shooting session in a while. Striking a Futsal ball is very unforgiving. If your technique is flawed in any way it's hard to generate any power. I decided this week was a good time to do a session that revolved around ball … [Read more...]
#171 Training the Key Elements of Attacking
My teams had their first Futsal games last weekend. I love the change in to a different form of soccer during the winter. What's the old saying, "A change is as good as a rest."? We'll I had a rest over Thanksgiving and now a change to Futsal from outdoor soccer. I'm very happy with the way my teams started the season. I'm fortunate this year because almost all of my players have played Futsal in the past so it's really been easy for me to build on top of what … [Read more...]
#170 Training Defensive Compactness
I really enjoyed my Thanksgiving holiday break this year. It was a great opportunity to recharge my batteries and get ready for the start of the winter Futsal season. The extra time I had gave me the opportunity to observed SPORTING KC Academy Sessions. The quality of the players is obviously very high but what struck me most was the attention to detail from the coaching staff and the high expectations they held the players to. It's easy to set up the … [Read more...]