I hope that coaches and players are having a great fall season whether you are in travel, community or if your players are playing for their school team. It's a great time of year to get out and see some soccer!
Barry
1. Coaching Education
Fall E Certificate and D License courses have just been announced
at http://www.mnyouthsoccer.org/
There will be E classes at
2. MYSA Winter Symposium dates announced. The 2009 MYSA Winter Symposium
will be on Fri and Sat, 2/6-7 in the
3. Future VUSC coach training. I am working on some fall/winter coach
training sessions including a possible Nov. coffee talk. Please watch for
more info. Don't forget that watching higher level soccer on TV or live
is also great training. There's plenty of HS and college varsity soccer
going on.
4. Future National training. MYSA is working on hosting a National Y
license course in 2009 and a National C in 2010.
5. Aug tryouts and team selections. I want to thank everyone for their
cooperation during the tryouts and team selection process. We have a
coaching application from a coach of each summer '09 team. If you haven't
yet filled out your application, please do so at http://spreadsheets.google.
6. Article of the Month
From the FineSoccer Keeper Newsletter, www.finesoccer.com
Appearances
Recently I worked with a keeper at a camp (it's not the first time I have worked with her) and I started tracking her shots faced during games. At this particular camp, keepers weren't assigned to specific teams, instead, they rotated each game so keepers played with, and against, different players each game.
While this keeper is extremely talented, she struggles with one aspect of her game and that is communication. Especially when playing with new teams, she doesn't communicate well on the field.
While tracking her shots faced, it was interesting because even though she didn't communicate well verbally, she was facing very few shots. When another keeper would play with the same team, against the same team, they would face more shots. Normally, this would be the result of effective communication however, in this keeper’s case, that wasn't the case.
The more I watched, the more I realized it was because of the way she carried herself. She walked on the field confidently, dressed the part of the keeper and carried herself in a way that discouraged shots from the opponents. She warmed up in a very serious manner, made sure that balls were caught cleanly and simply gave the appearance of being a top goalkeeper (and in her case, except for the communication part, she is a top keeper). When an opponent would get a possible shooting opportunity against her, you could see that they were thinking twice about whether they were going to score on her. By creating this doubt in their minds, she was facing fewer shots and had an easier time of it. In some ways, it's the ultimate self fulfilling prophecy as if you act the part and look the part of a keeper, you face less shots than if you act like someone without a clue. The better you look, the more effective you become.
Keep in mind, this wasn't a case of just wearing the right clothing or saying the right things, it also meant warming up properly and making the early saves to create the mind set that you are a top keeper. Some people act the part, look the part and talk the part but when it comes time to make the first save, they can't make the save. If you are the total package, life becomes much easier.
Any questions, comments or suggestions should be sent to Lawrence@finesoccer.com or they can be posted on the FineSoccer Forum
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Have a great day!