It seems that I'm always talking about the crazy weather we're having this spring. Last week was our third weekend with snow this spring. I ended up only have one game because of thunderstorms on Friday and bitter cold and snow on Sunday. I helped referee some tournament games on Saturday night. The snow was blowing in sideways! The goalkeeper couldn't take a goal kick because the ball wouldn't sit still long enough to play it out. They had to have a … [Read more...]
#144 Starting Practice with a Small-Sided Game
I was fortunate to have an opportunity to tour the new US Soccer National Training Center. It's an amazing facility that was built as a partnership between US Soccer, Sporting Kansas City and Children's Mercy Hospital. The three entities all have their separate areas build to suit their specific needs but they also share areas of the facility that they all benefit from. I give you an overview of the tour on the podcast but I'd highly recommend that you … [Read more...]
#143 The Stages of Goalkeeper Development
I only had a couple of games last weekend. One of them was with a team that is playing up an age group. Not only that but they're playing in the top division against teams a year older. It's been a great way to expose some weaknesses that we need to work on but it's also been a real challenge to continue to play our way against players that are bigger, faster, stronger AND good soccer players. On the podcast I talk about the difficult balance of trying to … [Read more...]
#142 Balancing Skill Development with Game Understanding
I took a break from the podcast last week but it wasn't to go on a vacation or take some time off as much as it was to get ready for our Spring Recreational Coaches Meeting. The week was spent pulling together paperwork and uniforms in preparation for the spring season that starts this week. I also did presented a session to the coaches to give them some ideas that they could use in training. The session was on training players to change direction with the … [Read more...]
#141 How to Become more Involved in Coaching
This week is our spring break in this area so we're missing a lot of players. This has created opportunities for players to guest play with the teams above them and experience a higher level of competition. As a coach I've enjoyed watching how players respond to this opportunity. All of the players that guest played with my teams did great and showed their ability to rise to the occasion. Small numbers in training has meant that coaches are combining … [Read more...]
#140 Dealing with a Poor Performance
In the opening of this week's podcast I describe an incident from one of my games last weekend. It's a story that's better heard than read. This week’s question comes from Evan. He’s asking about formations. Evan says, “This high school girls soccer season has just begun where I live, and I coach a local JV team. As the JV coach, I view my job as one with two parts, soccer development and confidence building. Normally, I have the girls play a … [Read more...]
#134 The Choice between Rec and Premier
Now that my teams have been playing Futsal for a few months we've gone over and over the basic Futsal tactics that have helped my teams to understand the shape and structure needed to play Futsal effectively. That's not to say that they can always execute effectively. We could keep working on our shape and movement but I think if we do we will reach a point of dimension return. The tactical sessions, even though they include a lot of technical components, … [Read more...]
#127 Building Technical Training Progressions
Well, last weekend was the end of the outdoor season for the last of my teams. Just in time too because the weather has really made a turn to the colder side in the midwest. All of our training sessions from now on will be focused on the techniques and tactics of Futsal. It's almost like starting over with my teams since the skills of Futsal are so very different from many of the skills the players use outdoor. Some see this as a negative but I think they're … [Read more...]
#126 How to Remove Diving from Soccer
My teams are making the transition to indoor Futsal training this week. Some of them still have an outdoor tournament this weekend but our club always moving inside on the first of November. I enjoy the change of pace and the focus on different skills and tactics. Some coaches focus on training Futsal in isolation but I look at how the game as an opportunity to better prepare my teams and players for a return to the outdoor game in the spring. This winter … [Read more...]
#122 Silent Saturdays Aren’t the Answer
I can't believe I'm sitting here today NOT looking forward to the World Cup this summer. Having the US miss the World Cup for the first time in my adult life is a very hard pill to swallow. This is a youth soccer podcast so I usually don't focus on national team or professional results and news but this is something that will deeply affect youth soccer in this country, OR AT LEAST IT SHOULD! I'd already planned to discuss another topic this week so I … [Read more...]
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