Hi All,
The weather's been slightly warmer weather and I can see
grass! It makes me think about outdoor practices! We are still at
least 2 months away from that but there are still plenty of things we can be
doing both with our teams and for our own training.
Barry
1. winter training
2. VUSC Annual Meeting - Sat. Feb 21
3. team stats - do you use them?
4. MYSA/USSF coach training
5. New E certificate and D licensed coaches
6. MYSA Winter Symposium
7. Soccer homework - do you give soccer homework?
8. website of the month - bettersoccercoaching.com
9. article of the month - Coaches
Must Teach Young Players to Think and Act Creatively
1. winter training
I hope you are taking advantage of the fantastic winter training
with Marc Sutton. The teams are getting some good precision dribbling,
1v1, 2v1, 2v2 and shooting practice. Plus the coaches are getting a bunch
of good progressive drills to work on in practice.
2. VUSC Annual Meeting
The VUSC Annual Meeting is coming up on Saturday Feb. 21, 11A-2P
in the
3. team stats
Do you keep team stats? If so, what stats do you keep?
Who records stats during games? How do you use the stats? Please
let me know so I can compile the answers and share with the group. Here
are the lineup grids with space to collect stats and other stats forms I've
used in prior years: http://www.bjb.org/soccer/
4. MYSA/USSF coach training
New E and D classes have been announced including classes in
5. New E certificate and D licensed coaches - if you took your E, D or any
coach certificate or license class since 8/1/08, please let me know.
Thanks!
6. MYSA Winter Symposium
I hope some of you took advantage of the training offered at the
MYSA! There were at least 8 different field session
given.
7. Soccer homework
Last time I asked if any of you give soccer homework to your
teams. I haven't heard from anyone. Do you?
8. website of the month - http://www.
great ideas and a free newsletter
with some creative drills and modifications.
9. article of the month - Coaches
Must Teach Young Players to Think and Act Creatively
This article is contributed by Peter Bohush.
Bohush is director of coaching for the Bay State
Power soccer club in
Coaches Must Teach Young Players to Think and Act Creatively
Anyone who ever played golf knows that the surest way to
ruin your swing is to start analyzing it. There are too many choices to make
which can result in error, and these little errors tend to compound themselves
right through the club face as the ball flies every way but straight.
While golf tends to obsess on the technical aspects of the
swing, soccer players are often subjected to critical analysis on the tactical
elements of the game–what they do with or without the ball individually and as
a team.
What one coach preaches as gospel another may proclaim as
heresy–and both may be right or wrong or a little of both.
There are very few absolutes in soccer: never voluntarily
give up possession of the ball, always protect the goal, always wear shin
guards and never swear at the ref. Just about everything else is subjective.
I heard one coach recently tell his players, "Never,
ever one-touch the ball!" By issuing this as an order to the young team,
the coach created a restriction on his players from utilizing some valid and
necessary ball movement. Sometimes there is immediate pressure on the receiver
and she must one-touch the ball to safety.
In another situation, a player may see an opportunity to
one-touch the ball to a teammate who is moving into a goal-scoring position.
Delaying the pass by receiving the ball and taking a few steps before passing
it could cause this window of opportunity to close. And of course, who can deny
a player from one-touching a ball right into the goal?
The coach may have wanted to change some players' tendencies
to "boot" the ball away without controlling its direction and often
losing possession in the process. That's a problem the coach must solve in
training. Issuing an edict to "never one-touch the ball" is not the right
approach.
Nor is the right approach a lecture on passing and
receiving. The game moves too quickly for young players to analyze it and play
it at the same time. The player will not be able to reference a past lecture in
the heat of the game.
Children learn by seeing and doing, and by trial and error.
If a player can learn to trust her own ball skills, she can determine in game
situations how long to hold on to the ball and when she needs to pass it, or if
she's at an advanced level, when it would benefit the attack or defense to
release the ball to someone else even if she is not under immediate pressure.
Youth players should be taught a small number of game
strategies, appropriate for their ages and abilities, such as: move the ball
away from the goal to an outside player; attack down the wings and cross toward
the goal in the forward third; follow your pass to support the receiver; shield
the ball if you don't have a good passing or dribbling opportunity, etc.
These are not rigid rules but guidelines. When a player runs
out of creativity to deal with a moment in the game, she can pull out one of
these tactical strategies to get through the crisis. She should also be
encouraged and praised for finding her own creative solutions, even if they
aren't always successful.
For every tactical guideline from the coach there are times
in a game when the opposite may be a better choice. If a player or team becomes
predictable they can be defeated.
The coach above would be better off to tell his players,
"I want you to receive the ball first, then dribble or pass, MOST of the
time, because we need to strengthen our ability to maintain control and
possession of the ball. But if you think you NEED to one-touch it based on the
situation you're faced with, you have my permission."
Instead of limiting the players as before, the coach would
now have empowered her players by providing them the comfort of a framework
within which to play, along with the personal authority to step outside that
framework and try something different.
If you want players to give their best, you must allow them
to give their all by removing the barriers to their creative thinking and play
on the field.