SoccerDad gives an update on his team’s movement to the next level of play and how their season is going. it’s been a roller coaster ride!
Entries Tagged ‘player-development’
Sitting Back or Taking Risks?
Sometimes as a coach, you realize you can only push your team so far and they have to push themselves to really improve as players. The question is, are the risks worth it to try and get them pushing themselves. How can you get them to do that? Here’s the story of a team taking some risks to improve. Will it work? Only time will tell.
Random Advice for Rec Soccer Coaches
After observing a number of common mistakes and misconceptions on our recreational soccer teams, we decided to put together some tips and advice for our Rec coaches to try and improve the development of players (and coaches) in our league.
Collegiate Soccer and Professional Development
SoccerLens has an in depth look at how stringent NCAA rules are holding back the development of top soccer players in the US and what can be done to fix it. The response of the NCAA at the end is not encouraging.
H/T This Is American Soccer
A New Soccer System
A common complaint about the club oriented system in the US is that the cost excludes many players who might otherwise play and succeed. What if a program were created via the public school system to spur participation in ’street soccer’?
School Yard Soccer
Kids in the US may not play pickup soccer in parks or streets due to safety concerns of the parents, but they certainly can, and do, play at school.
A Youth Soccer Video Experiment
YouTube and other online video services have exploded in popularity in recent years and the number of available videos on any topic reaches into the tens of thousands if not millions. Yet search mechanisms are still fairly rudimentary. With all that content out there, video is becoming a vital tool for youth soccer coaches to show their players new moves and techniques. The trick is finding good videos. So we’re going to start an experiment here at On The Pitch to see if we can come up with a useful collection of youth soccer videos on YouTube
FA: No Competitive Leagues for U8’s
In an ironic twist, the UK’s national football association has just banned competitive leagues for U8 players, something US Soccer has been pushing for a while. Scores and standings cannot be kept or published. Over at Two Footed Tackle, they cheer the decision:
The benefits of scrapping competitive football for under-8s are plentiful, as are the [...]
Player Evaluations – Worth The Effort?
Our league recently put together a player evaluation form for our select players to try and give parents some additional feedback about how their players were doing. It’s designed to provide a comprehensive look at how a player is progressing and what they need to focus on. Yet the reaction from our coaches so far [...]
A Rare Thing Indeed
Imagine a soccer academy that offers a full residential development program and doesn’t charge a thing. Sound like fantasy? For most people it is, but Brad Friedel is looking to change that one player at a time.
Those Moments As A Coach…
It is a common question made to youth soccer coaches, both from experienced coaches as well as people unfamiliar with youth soccer. Why Do You Coach? For me there are a number of reasons, but I think I can say without hesitation that there is one reason above all others: When the players on the team ‘get it’. Not individually, but as a team.
Creating Motivation
A while back I alluded to the challenges we had faced with our U11 girls in terms of getting them motivated in practice, but hadn’t had a chance to expand on that until now.
Our U11 team is a great group of girls, but it’s also on a steep learning curve. Very diverse personalities, varying levels [...]
Keeping It Simple, But Not Too Simple
Over at Youth Sports, Joyce has a post up about the importance of keeping things simple in youth soccer:
During the holidays, my daughter’s soccer team played a series of “friendlies” in a three-hour span at the new Adirondack Sports Complex in Queensbury, a dome which boasts a large fieÂld perfect for indoor soccer. During one [...]
Let ‘Em Play – And Compete!
For those of you involved in travel soccer in North Carolina, there are two very important proposals coming up for a vote at the next NCYSA Challenge Council meeting (June 9th, 2007). One of them proposes the elimination of the NCYSA Challenge Cup for U10, U11, and U12 and replacing it with a festival, similar [...]
The Impact of Bob Bradley
I haven’t written anything about Bab Bradley being named the ‘real deal’ coach of the USMNT yet because there wasn’t a whole lot to say. I’m not sure having him dangle for a few friendlies was accomplishing much. He was a good coach before he got hired and I don’t think anyone would say he [...]
