Hi All,
   I hope that your winter training is going well.

   Items for this month:
1. VUSC annual meeting
2. MYSA/USSF coaching courses - Eagan classes announced!
3. coach education and the MYSA Winter Symposium
4. Resource: The FA Soccerstar Challenge
5. Article - Start with the Basics

1. VUSC Annual Meeting - Another reminder that the VUSC annual meeting is Sat. 2/23 10A-1P at the Apple Valley Library.  You need to have a representative from your team there.  In addition to plenty of information about VUSC, we will have a special coach education session with special guests!  We are working on additional coach education sessions.

2. D license and E certificate classes have been added for Eagan!  The D course starts 4/3 and the E course starts 4/7 (the E is all in one weekend).  In addition, there will be U6/U8 and U10/U12 MYSA Y Youth Modules in White Bear Lake in April.  You can register for these classes and find more information at http://www.mnyouthsoccer.org/coaches/clinics.cfm.  Remember that VUSC will reimburse you for these expenses.  These courses are fantastic and are highly recommended.

3. The MYSA Winter Symposium was held 2/1-2/2 in Bloomington.  For $40 you got: 9 hours of coach training, copies of the training materials, a t-shirt, and lunch... and VUSC reimbursed the $40!  The sessions were fabulous and led by top national and local talent including Charlie Cooke (one of the Chelsea all-time top-11 and founder of the Coerver USA program) and Amos McGee (Thunder Head Coach).  I was a bit dismayed to be the only Valley coach at the symposium.  As good as they are, it can be difficult to attend time-consuming licensing classes.  But there are short-duration events such as the symposium.  To improve as a club we need to be involved with coach education.  Players get better by receiving instruction and practicing.  Similarly, coaches get better by receiving instruction and practicing.  I am working on bringing more coach education to VUSC and I hope to see a better turnout in the future.

4. Resource: The FA Soccerstar Challenge
   This is a great resource for drills, practices and tests to teach basic soccer skills and compare your team to kids all over the world!  The FA Soccerstar Challenge can be found at http://www.fa-soccerstar.com/.  It provides drills, practices and timed tests on: Running with the ball, speed, turning, dribbling, heading and shooting.  It's free, and if you register you can upload info on your team's scores and compare to teams from all around the world (please do not explicit identify your players on a non-VUSC website!).

5. Article - Start with the Basics
from: http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/
It is comparatively easy to construct a team of young soccer players who can win matches. All you have to do is teach them the basics, ensure they obey your instructions to the letter and (most importantly) don't let them think for themselves. However, it is better to:
a) encourage your players to recognize and solve the challenges of the game on their own and
b) be as concerned with developing their life skills as their footballing ability.

Following such a policy will, in the short term, mean that you will lose matches that you could have won. However, in the long term you will produce a set of clever, confident players who can go out and win a game without being told what to do.

And more importantly, they will enjoy their soccer regardless of the match result.

Do I need any special attributes to be a good youth soccer coach?

Of vital importance is the coaches personality and character. Working with children requires patience, kindness and respect.

How should I go about it?

The most fundamental skill in soccer is individual mastery of the football and the creativity that comes with it. This should be a priority in training and games, especially in the early years. As this skill is mastered, the rest of the game becomes easy - both to teach and to learn. 

Practices should be built around facilitating the development of the skills necessary to move and control the ball well. As these individual skills and the creativity to make them come alive in the game are developed to a level of competence, the finer points, first of passing skill and later of team organisation can be taught. You need a plan.

read the rest of this article, and find ideas, drills, and plans at http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/coaching_youth_soccer.htm

   See you on the pitch,
   Barry