With one of my teams last weekend I decided not to coach while the ball was in play. The team had played a tournament the previous weekend and they had heard enough from me :-). I wanted them to take total ownership of the game and make their own decisions whenever the ball was in play. I also didn't want to break their focus on the game so I stayed out of their way. This is something I've done in the past but not with this team so it seemed like a great … [Read more...]
#118 Avoiding Common Coaching Mistakes
This weekend I'm taking my girls teams to Iowa for a tournament. This year I split up my teams and took the boys to one tournament and the girls to another. This gives me more time with the players and families away from the field. These are the only two out of town trips I'll do with my teams this fall. We have so many good teams come into town that we don't really need to travel but the players enjoy these types of trips and as I said last week, there are … [Read more...]
#116 Drills Don’t Make Players Better
Our club has started a program called, 'RecConnect' to provide a resource for recreational coaches. Five of our club's premier coaches have 'adopted' a 2nd grade boys or girls division. We send out weekly tips and suggestions, make ourselves available to answer questions and attend the games on the weekend. This helps create a stronger link between the rec and premier side of our club and shares the experience of the premier coaches with parents who may not … [Read more...]
#114 Do You Have the Courage to be Patient
I was watching the US Open Cup game last night with Sporting KC vs San Jose. The game went to PK’s and it got me thinking about the differences between youth and adult PKs. The goalkeepers are usually much smaller in relation to the goal so the things that will work for young players will not be effective for professions. I tell my youth players to keep the ball on the ground and aim for one side of the goalkeeper or the other. They don't need to put it in … [Read more...]
#112 Youth National Championships
We started back to training this week. It seems earlier than usual but that's just how the calendar came together. There are still a lot of families on summer vacations so attendance has been spotty. That affects what I try to cover because I don't want to have to repeat myself once I have everyone back. I also want to give the players a chance to adapt to training again rather than throwing them straight into the deep end on day one. I'll talk more in next … [Read more...]
#108 Set the Tone for Your Season
With tryouts behind me I've had a nice break from coaching. It's given me more time to attend and watch some professional games. Unfortunately, the international leagues have finished but the Confederations Cup has had some good games. I was watching the Mexico v New Zealand game when an incident happened in the box that made me ask the question, "Who's responsibility is it to stop the game?" This follows up on my thoughts on dubious penalty kicks and how we … [Read more...]
#105 Tryouts as a Tool for Development
I took last week off from the podcast to take some teams to Chicago for a Memorial Day weekend tournament. It was a great weekend and a fun way to wrap up the year for the teams. We played on grass fields which really slowed the game down compared to what we're used to when playing on our home turf fields. It was a different challenge for the players which they adapted to well. I love playing on grass but it's so seldom that you get to play on grass … [Read more...]
#099 Playing Up
In the last month my teams haven’t played every weekend due to spring break and a number of local tournaments that took up field capacity. One team hasn't played in three weeks. This has given us time to do some concentrated training. We've been able to work on improving some areas of our play without worrying about having a game on the weekend. I've this has helped us developmentally but at this point the players are getting a bit antsy. They're looking … [Read more...]
#097 Diving and It’s Effects on Youth Soccer
I actually spent more time refereeing last weekend than coaching. I’ve always enjoyed refereeing. Especially when I get to work with new referees. I can see why so many young referees quit. It takes a level confidence that most kids just don’t have naturally. Experience and success breeds confidence but we don’t give them a chance to develop confidence so we lose young referees who could be very good in the future. I talked about this way back in episode 7 A … [Read more...]
#093 Practice like a Girl, Compete like a Boy
This week is the two years anniversary of the podcast! It's hard to believe I've produced 93 different episodes in that time. I really appreciate everyone that listens to the show each week. If this is the first episode you've hear, WELCOME! If you've been here from the start then THANKS! This week my teams started the spring season with an outdoor tournament. The weather was a bit rough but it was great to get back outdoors playing the full-sided game … [Read more...]
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