I only had one team playing last weekend. My U17 girls competed in the Presidents Cup tournament. For those not familiar with how the state tournaments work in the U.S.; the top teams in each age group compete in the State Cup for a chance to win and go on to Regionals. The winners of Regionals move on to the National Championship. A few years ago US Youth Soccer created the Presidents Cup. The tournament gives teams that are not quite competitive enough for … [Read more...]
#162 It’s Not About You
I took just one team to a tournament last weekend. We had a great schedule; we played at 8 am and noon on Saturday and Sunday and then we headed home. There were only five teams in our group so we played each of them once. Not having to stay around to play a final against a team we had already played was great! Having only one team allowed me to spend more time with the kids and parents than I'm usually able to so that also made it a fun weekend. When I … [Read more...]
#159 What My Teams do on Every Type of Restart
I'm sorry about not telling you that there wouldn't be a podcast last week. I forgot that it was Labor Day weekend and I had two teams going to a tournament. I didn't remember until after I'd already recorded and posted the last episode. The two teams I took to the tournament played very well on Saturday. Unfortunately, it started raining on Saturday evening and didn't stop all night. The fields (natural grass) were too wet to play on Sunday so they were … [Read more...]
#158 Individual and Team Possession
This is the fourth week of training for the teams in our club. I'm finally getting into the flow of the season. Each team has had a number of games and I'm starting to learn more about the players and they're starting to understand what I'm look for from them. The recreational league games started last week as well so with that, the amount of time and energy I have to devote to that area of my job will become less and less just as my coaching and Age Group … [Read more...]
#157 The First Games of the Season
I'm sorry for missing last week's podcast. Everything just piled up and I ran out of time. On top of a crazy week I also had three teams in a tournament so there was no time to get it done over the weekend as I've been planning to do. With all of that taken care of now I'm confident that I'll be able to get a new episode out to you each week from here on out. Thanks for your understanding and sticking with the show as I get through the busiest time of … [Read more...]
#155 US Soccer Roadmaps and Developing a Style of Play
If you're anything like me you when through some serious World Cup withdrawal. I'd been spoiled by being able to watch so much good soccer over the last month that I didn't know what to do with myself now that it was over. I discovered the Rugby World Cup Sevens last weekend. I would describe it as all of the best parts of the game compressed into a format that's great for those of us who are not normally rugby fans. My favorite aspect of rugby is the … [Read more...]
#151 Evaluating Players During Tryouts
Well, my 2017/18 season has finally come to an end. The team I had in State Cup lost in the Semi Final. Only one team per age group really ends the season having accomplished its goals and having won the title but looking back I'm very happy with the progress of my team and especially of the individual players. That's really what it's all about those. No college coach will ever ask any of these players how they did in State Cup or any other tournament when … [Read more...]
#150 Traveling to Tournaments
Last weekend I traveled with three teams to a Memorial Day Soccer tournament in Chicago so I didn't release a podcast. I talk about the tournament and out of town tournaments in general later in the show. Tonight I had my last practice of the year with the team I have playing Jr. State Cup this weekend. We had two training sessions this week. Yesterday we focused on shooting and finishing. Today we worked on building possession with a purpose and finishing … [Read more...]
#149 Providing Useful Feedback
I had a huge tournament weekend a week ago. Having four teams in a tournament makes for a busy weekend but it's the best way for me to give all of my teams a chance to play with the least amount of disruption to our league schedule. This was the last tournament for one of my teams while the other still have one or two events to play. For those teams that are still playing, this tournament was a preparation for bigger events to come. This year my teams … [Read more...]
#147 The Game-Based Approach to Training Sessions
We're finishing up our spring league season in the next couple of weeks. Then there are a couple of tournaments to end the season and we're back to tryout time again! This is also the time of year I set aside time to complete player evaluations for all of my teams. If you've listen to the podcast over the last three years you know that our club uses ZoomReports.com to communicate and save the evaluations for our teams. It's a great system and if you're still … [Read more...]
- Prev Page...
- 1
- …
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- …
- 10
- ...Next Page