The past couple of weeks have seen me inundated with soccer related job offers. I sorted through these and decided which to accept. In one instance I sent an email to regretfully decline a possible position just as the other party was making an offer official. Timing. In two other instances offers came in after I had accepted positions. I am comfortable with the positions I have accepted, but was a bit miffed at being called out on not being loyal in one particular case.
Loyalty is a two way street. I believe passion is a key consideration in loyalty. To an extent that I am unsure if loyalty exists without passion for whatever or whomever it is you are being loyal to. But loyalty is not simply given, it is earned and must be constantly nurtured. Loyalty is a relationship and all parties to it must continuously work on the relationship to maintain its health. I feel as though I have done my part in remaining loyal to the people and organization, but that loyalty has not been reciprocated even to an extent where some made it known I was no longer needed or welcomed. That's fine. Only now some others in the organization are beginning to appreciate the time, effort, dedication and passion I donated to the cause. Would I be willing to re-invest to once again build something? The short answer is I have moved on and in LeBron speak am taking my talents elsewhere.
Exciting times for me!
I will be serving as an assistant coach at a Division I (large) school that plays in a league with some perennial powers. I like to compete against the best and will have the opportunity to do so. I will also be serving as DOC for a local soccer club as they transition from playing recreational soccer to playing in a competitive league. My plate will be full this fall, but I am anxious to begin both adventures.
To tide me over until then I have camps through the end of July. I love conducting team camps. The progress a team can make over the course of a week can be so very rewarding. I have conducted camps for some of these teams for many years now. To think I have in some small way contributed to the building success these programs are enjoying is satisfying to me. Yet in the end it is all about the relationships I have formed with coaches and student / athletes while conducting these camps. As I build relationships through team camps I find myself becoming loyal to the people in those programs. I consider myself a Spartan, a Tiger, an Indian, a Wildcat, a Viking and so on. I return to the schools whenever I can to watch the teams play during the regular and post seasons. I share whatever resources I have with the coaches and players throughout the year. As a result, I often am recommended by these people to others and my business grows ... or as has been the case this summer, the job offers come.
Loyalty to a team goal and the efforts made toward achieving said goal needs to be nurtured before during and yes, even after, a season. Tradition is built upon a foundation that includes loyalty among its cornerstones. Trust is a product of relationships built around loyalty. Trust is the glue of life, the most essential ingredient in effective communication. Trust is the foundational principle that holds all relationships together. It might be considered that Loyalty and Trust are twin pillars in the establishment of healthy productive relationships. They are certainly difference makers capable of moving a team from good to great. When in disrepair or poor quality they are also deal breakers that will mire a program in mediocrity and even despair.
Both Loyalty and Trust are built over time through commitment and effort to the relationship. Tradition, strong traditions are seen where Loyalty and Trust have thrived for a long time. Yet what can take years to build can be destroyed in the blink of an eye. Broken trust or misplaced loyalty are among the most destructive forces known to team culture and life in general. Neither are easily rebuilt once shaken to their core foundations. In this sense Loyalty and Trust are earned by the respective parties in a relationship. If they are not perpetually growing, then they are surely dying. In the end, successful soccer is not about technique, tactics, physical or mental abilities - just like anything else in life soccer is about the quality of relationships we build with one another.
Sunday
Monday
Hope Solo: Innocent until proven guilty?
Hope Solo is arguably the best goalkeeper in women's soccer. It is not a stretch to say the USWNT hopes of a World Cup championship rest in no small part in her hands. Off the pitch, Solo continues to make news and not always in a positive light. Alcohol often seems to be a contributing factor. It seems reasonable to suspect she may have a drinking problem. And she's evidently not the most truthful person either.
Hope Solo not yet cleared of Domestic Abuse charges.
Although our legal system proclaims one innocent until proven guilty when it comes to sports figures the consequences for decision making that lead to legal troubles more often than not result in an athlete being suspended or even dismissed pending the legal proceedings playing out. Hope Solo has never been publicly suspended concerning this incident. She was kept out of the public limelight. Solo was suspended for 30 days earlier this year after her husband crashed a USWNT van while driving drunk with Solo in the passenger seat,
The current legal proceedings will conveniently not take place until after the World Cup is completed. US Soccer seems willing to allow Solo to play in the World Cup and take its chances on how the legal proceedings will play out afterwards.
I cannot complain if only for the fact we are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Even when this reasoning flies in the face of the conventional wisdom in dealing with athletes who run afoul of the law these days. However, I am not comfortable with putting Hope Solo on the World Cup stage as one of the faces of the USWNT. I am left to wonder if her participation is all about winning with her personal well-being a secondary issue. Will World Cup glory, if it is to be, be tarnished if Solo falls from grace and is convicted of domestic abuse? Is this the epitome of trying to win at all costs? What message are we sending to all the impressionable young girls playing soccer and watching the World Cup?
What say you?
Hope Solo not yet cleared of Domestic Abuse charges.
Although our legal system proclaims one innocent until proven guilty when it comes to sports figures the consequences for decision making that lead to legal troubles more often than not result in an athlete being suspended or even dismissed pending the legal proceedings playing out. Hope Solo has never been publicly suspended concerning this incident. She was kept out of the public limelight. Solo was suspended for 30 days earlier this year after her husband crashed a USWNT van while driving drunk with Solo in the passenger seat,
The current legal proceedings will conveniently not take place until after the World Cup is completed. US Soccer seems willing to allow Solo to play in the World Cup and take its chances on how the legal proceedings will play out afterwards.
I cannot complain if only for the fact we are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Even when this reasoning flies in the face of the conventional wisdom in dealing with athletes who run afoul of the law these days. However, I am not comfortable with putting Hope Solo on the World Cup stage as one of the faces of the USWNT. I am left to wonder if her participation is all about winning with her personal well-being a secondary issue. Will World Cup glory, if it is to be, be tarnished if Solo falls from grace and is convicted of domestic abuse? Is this the epitome of trying to win at all costs? What message are we sending to all the impressionable young girls playing soccer and watching the World Cup?
What say you?
Tuesday
Team Culture in Soccer
Culture: the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time.
Philosophy: a set of ideas about how to do something.
The culture of a particular team will be reflective of it's leadership. A coach's philosophy will go a long ways toward determining the team's culture. Player leadership will also impact a teams culture. Great team culture sees player leadership buy into the coach's philosophy.
Establishing a productive team culture is so important I write about it often. Most recently I authored the article Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast based on a quote I found on Twitter. The title says it all. We have all seen teams with great talent lose to "inferior" teams with great culture.
Every team has a culture be it great, good, indifferent or toxic.
Just think about that for a minute.
A great culture enhances and magnifies a teams technical, tactical, physical and psychological abilities. Perhaps most importantly a great team culture manifests itself as passion to participate with teammates and play the game together as many working towards a common goal.
The foundation of great team culture is Honesty.
A soccer team is a group of people who develop, nurture and grow relationships based around a common interest - soccer. Trust is the foundational principle that holds all relationships together. Trust is dependent on honesty, on truth, to exist. Trust is the glue of life, the most essential ingredient in effective communication. Healthy relationships are all about effective communication.
Belief takes root in the ground prepared by Truth and Trust. When a team believes, when a team buys in to the coach's philosophy, the potential for success increases exponentially. The momentum created can be palpable. Confidence can be felt exuding from vibrant athletes who are eager to test themselves against opponents.
When I scout a team the first thing I try to determine is its culture.
When I observe an opponent warming up, the first thing I try to determine is its culture.
Why?
Whatever problems an opposing player, their team or their teams tactics present can be dealt with and solved to the best of our ability. The opponents culture? If it is stronger than ours, we will face a difficult battle because there is virtually nothing we can do to counteract an opposing teams strong culture. We must match or exceed the opponents team culture. This being the case, it is of utmost importance to establish a strong team culture and intentionally work on strengthening it every day.
Philosophy: a set of ideas about how to do something.
The culture of a particular team will be reflective of it's leadership. A coach's philosophy will go a long ways toward determining the team's culture. Player leadership will also impact a teams culture. Great team culture sees player leadership buy into the coach's philosophy.
Establishing a productive team culture is so important I write about it often. Most recently I authored the article Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast based on a quote I found on Twitter. The title says it all. We have all seen teams with great talent lose to "inferior" teams with great culture.
Every team has a culture be it great, good, indifferent or toxic.
Just think about that for a minute.
A great culture enhances and magnifies a teams technical, tactical, physical and psychological abilities. Perhaps most importantly a great team culture manifests itself as passion to participate with teammates and play the game together as many working towards a common goal.
The foundation of great team culture is Honesty.
A soccer team is a group of people who develop, nurture and grow relationships based around a common interest - soccer. Trust is the foundational principle that holds all relationships together. Trust is dependent on honesty, on truth, to exist. Trust is the glue of life, the most essential ingredient in effective communication. Healthy relationships are all about effective communication.
Belief takes root in the ground prepared by Truth and Trust. When a team believes, when a team buys in to the coach's philosophy, the potential for success increases exponentially. The momentum created can be palpable. Confidence can be felt exuding from vibrant athletes who are eager to test themselves against opponents.
When I scout a team the first thing I try to determine is its culture.
When I observe an opponent warming up, the first thing I try to determine is its culture.
Why?
Whatever problems an opposing player, their team or their teams tactics present can be dealt with and solved to the best of our ability. The opponents culture? If it is stronger than ours, we will face a difficult battle because there is virtually nothing we can do to counteract an opposing teams strong culture. We must match or exceed the opponents team culture. This being the case, it is of utmost importance to establish a strong team culture and intentionally work on strengthening it every day.
Saturday
The Age of Enlightenment
Yesterday I wrote about how youth soccer in west central Ohio has grown from being almost strictly independent recreational soccer to becoming evermore affiliated with USYSA. The quality of soccer being played has gotten much better along the way. Individual player development once reserved for those who could afford to travel to clubs in the big cities or spend their summers at college camps has also made strong strides locally. Every single player from my most recent spring team had the opportunity to play in college. Most are. Some chose not to pursue that option. The point here is the sheer number of players getting that opportunity. It wasn't always like that.
In the mid 1990's Shawnee High School emerged as the powerhouse soccer program in our area. Their reign continued for the better part of two decades. The reason for Shawnee's dominance can be found in their being on the cutting edge of soccer in our area. A vast majority of the credit for this goes to Graham Ramsay who conducted Shawnee's team camp for many years. In fact, it was when Shawnee and Graham parted ways that Shawnee's decline began - slowly at first as the residual effects of Graham's training remained. The decent increased with each succeeding year until today where we find Shawnee has completely surrendered the throne it long held to now reside in mediocrity.
More than just being Shawnee's soccer guru, Graham brought the international game to our area. He used to lament how our players didn't know who the top clubs in the world were or who the superstar players of the time were. Remember, Graham's tenure as conductor of Shawnee's team camp began before the Internet. For many of his early years at Shawnee soccer was not available on television except during the World Cups and even then on a limited basis. In fact, the USWNT got more play in those days than did men's soccer. We were truly isolated from the world's game in almost every regard.
Progress does not rest nor take a backseat for long. The Internet and cable / satellite TV eventually made their way to west central Ohio and the flood gates opened. We suddenly had access not only to the entertainment aspects of soccer, but to the vast world of knowledge technology brought to our doorsteps.
Before the Internet and soccer become readily available on TV it was the video tapes Graham brought with him on his visits that provided a hint of the potential the world of soccer held for us. I eagerly anticipated Graham's arrival each summer in small part because of the video tapes and later on the DVD's he brought along with him. I made copies of everything he brought and this was the start of my video library. Soccer Star, The Mighty Reds and snippets of Romario ignited a fire within us to learn more about the game. These copies of tapes / DVD's are the foundation of a video library now numbering over 400 titles. That's not to mention books and coaching manuals that easily number upwards of another 150 titles.
The real gifts Graham brought were his knowledge of and passion for the game. Shawnee began running the flat back four defense years before anyone else in the area. This became Shawnee's trademark and one of its biggest advantages when competing against other high schools. Graham also brought to us a week of 3 sessions per day of technical training. It was a grueling week conducted at the end of July each summer. The payoff was when practice began around the first week of August, Shawnee was already in mid-season form.
I have stated this before, but it is well worth repeating - I learn more about soccer from Graham spending a week at my house than I do everywhere else combined. To this day these lessons still bear fruit. I was a soccer novice when I first met Graham and still find myself realizing the truth of what he sought to impart to this day some 15 years later. In those early years with Graham I made copious notes of every session he conducted, but did not necessarily truly understand what I was noting. Understanding came as the base of my soccer knowledge strengthened over the years. And I still have all those notes!
While Shawnee decided to part ways with Graham, I continue to host him every opportunity I have. He has worked with Botkins and Lima Central Catholic high schools as well as Lance's youth teams. When next I coach high school, Graham will be the first I call to schedule a team camp.
In the grand scheme of youth and high school soccer our rural west central Ohio communities might still lag behind our big city brethren, but the gap has closed considerably over the last 20 years. The top programs in the area remain those on the cutting edge of the game. The best example of this manifestation is the movement of community based teams away from the independent WCOSA league and into USYSA sponsored leagues. This provides a more serious level of competition for the youth however it also brings along its own baggage - declining numbers for some of the recreational programs and a weakening of the overall depth in the numbers that are playing. The talent level in our small communities is becoming somewhat top heavy exasperated by declining numbers of participants that can ill be afforded if we are to sustain the sport to the standards previously set. I'm not overly concerned as it will all right itself eventually.
Our next writing will take a look at the vital importance of culture in the game.
In the mid 1990's Shawnee High School emerged as the powerhouse soccer program in our area. Their reign continued for the better part of two decades. The reason for Shawnee's dominance can be found in their being on the cutting edge of soccer in our area. A vast majority of the credit for this goes to Graham Ramsay who conducted Shawnee's team camp for many years. In fact, it was when Shawnee and Graham parted ways that Shawnee's decline began - slowly at first as the residual effects of Graham's training remained. The decent increased with each succeeding year until today where we find Shawnee has completely surrendered the throne it long held to now reside in mediocrity.
More than just being Shawnee's soccer guru, Graham brought the international game to our area. He used to lament how our players didn't know who the top clubs in the world were or who the superstar players of the time were. Remember, Graham's tenure as conductor of Shawnee's team camp began before the Internet. For many of his early years at Shawnee soccer was not available on television except during the World Cups and even then on a limited basis. In fact, the USWNT got more play in those days than did men's soccer. We were truly isolated from the world's game in almost every regard.
Progress does not rest nor take a backseat for long. The Internet and cable / satellite TV eventually made their way to west central Ohio and the flood gates opened. We suddenly had access not only to the entertainment aspects of soccer, but to the vast world of knowledge technology brought to our doorsteps.
Before the Internet and soccer become readily available on TV it was the video tapes Graham brought with him on his visits that provided a hint of the potential the world of soccer held for us. I eagerly anticipated Graham's arrival each summer in small part because of the video tapes and later on the DVD's he brought along with him. I made copies of everything he brought and this was the start of my video library. Soccer Star, The Mighty Reds and snippets of Romario ignited a fire within us to learn more about the game. These copies of tapes / DVD's are the foundation of a video library now numbering over 400 titles. That's not to mention books and coaching manuals that easily number upwards of another 150 titles.
The real gifts Graham brought were his knowledge of and passion for the game. Shawnee began running the flat back four defense years before anyone else in the area. This became Shawnee's trademark and one of its biggest advantages when competing against other high schools. Graham also brought to us a week of 3 sessions per day of technical training. It was a grueling week conducted at the end of July each summer. The payoff was when practice began around the first week of August, Shawnee was already in mid-season form.
I have stated this before, but it is well worth repeating - I learn more about soccer from Graham spending a week at my house than I do everywhere else combined. To this day these lessons still bear fruit. I was a soccer novice when I first met Graham and still find myself realizing the truth of what he sought to impart to this day some 15 years later. In those early years with Graham I made copious notes of every session he conducted, but did not necessarily truly understand what I was noting. Understanding came as the base of my soccer knowledge strengthened over the years. And I still have all those notes!
While Shawnee decided to part ways with Graham, I continue to host him every opportunity I have. He has worked with Botkins and Lima Central Catholic high schools as well as Lance's youth teams. When next I coach high school, Graham will be the first I call to schedule a team camp.
In the grand scheme of youth and high school soccer our rural west central Ohio communities might still lag behind our big city brethren, but the gap has closed considerably over the last 20 years. The top programs in the area remain those on the cutting edge of the game. The best example of this manifestation is the movement of community based teams away from the independent WCOSA league and into USYSA sponsored leagues. This provides a more serious level of competition for the youth however it also brings along its own baggage - declining numbers for some of the recreational programs and a weakening of the overall depth in the numbers that are playing. The talent level in our small communities is becoming somewhat top heavy exasperated by declining numbers of participants that can ill be afforded if we are to sustain the sport to the standards previously set. I'm not overly concerned as it will all right itself eventually.
Our next writing will take a look at the vital importance of culture in the game.
Friday
The path we TRAVELed to promote youth soccer.
There was a time we here in rural west central Ohio were being left behind in the world of US Soccer. While there remains a measure of truth to this even today, we have made tremendous progress, especially in the last decade.
In the mid 1990's I was coaching my son Grant's recreational team in the West Central Ohio Soccer Association (WCOSA) of which the Shawnee Youth Soccer Association (SYSA) was a member. The SYSA had been founded in part by my father and father-in-law to help promote the sport of soccer in our area. At the time being discussed here there were 4 teams in Grant's age group! Interest in the sport was exploding. These teams were randomly selected with the talent being divided amongst all teams. There were a host of local tournaments unsanctioned by United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA) that served WCOSA and other teams from independent organizations. As Grant's teams became dominant in these events we began searching for a higher level of competition. This meant going to USYSA events. The only problem was as an independent team from an independent league we were not registered with USYSA and therefore did not have player / coach cards. I set about obtaining cards only to learn Ohio-North, Ohio-South and USYSA would not issue us cards unless we played in a sanctioned league. There were not individual / guest player cards allowed at the time. There were no event rosters allowed at the time. In short, I was told by various people at both the state and national levels of USYSA there was no way to obtain cards for this team short of joining an Ohio-North or Ohio-South sponsored USYSA league.
We were not the only ones experiencing these difficulties and soon our areas first club began forming. This became West Central United. From the beginning I was a bit uncomfortable with this clubs emphasis on winning. I wasn't the only one and in short order a group left and formed Grand Lake United with an emphasis on developing players. This was more to my liking. Grand Lake United (GLU) is now the oldest surviving youth soccer club in west central Ohio having absorbed West Central United a few years ago.
WCOSA is comprised of a loose band of community / school based soccer organizations. We "traveled" about west central Ohio to play one another. Most trips were between a few minutes up to perhaps 45 minutes. The word "travel" was redefined for us while competing for Grand Lake United. Our home pitch was 20 minutes away in those days while we often traveled an hour plus one way for away matches. Tournament play... well, tournament play was in Ohio's largest cities and quickly expanded to neighboring states.
Our middle son, Treg, followed in big brothers footsteps to play in WCOSA during the fall and then Grand Lake United in the spring. Once in high school both boys played for their high school teams in the fall and then for GLU in the spring. It wasn't until our youngest son began playing that we abandoned SYSA / WCOSA completely. I organized and coached our areas first year round team to play solely in a USYSA league. Lance's GLU team competed in the Miami Valley Youth Soccer Association (MVYSA) of Ohio-South. Eventually that group would compete in the Buckeye Premier League (BPL), various college showcase events and more tournaments than I care to remember. Every single player from the last two years has had the opportunity to go on to play in college. Not all decided to do so, but the opportunity existed for them to do so.
Grand Lake United has been joined in serving our area by a handful of other clubs in recent years. Another sign of the growth the sport of soccer has enjoyed. In fact, some of the WCOSA based community programs have left to join USYSA leagues over the last years. Youth soccer in the area is experiencing some growing pains once again with some long-time WCOSA powerhouses seeing an erosion of participation as players and their families look for "more" out of the youth soccer experience. I understand this - it is exactly what we did 20 years ago.
Look for more on this subject in future writings.
In the mid 1990's I was coaching my son Grant's recreational team in the West Central Ohio Soccer Association (WCOSA) of which the Shawnee Youth Soccer Association (SYSA) was a member. The SYSA had been founded in part by my father and father-in-law to help promote the sport of soccer in our area. At the time being discussed here there were 4 teams in Grant's age group! Interest in the sport was exploding. These teams were randomly selected with the talent being divided amongst all teams. There were a host of local tournaments unsanctioned by United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA) that served WCOSA and other teams from independent organizations. As Grant's teams became dominant in these events we began searching for a higher level of competition. This meant going to USYSA events. The only problem was as an independent team from an independent league we were not registered with USYSA and therefore did not have player / coach cards. I set about obtaining cards only to learn Ohio-North, Ohio-South and USYSA would not issue us cards unless we played in a sanctioned league. There were not individual / guest player cards allowed at the time. There were no event rosters allowed at the time. In short, I was told by various people at both the state and national levels of USYSA there was no way to obtain cards for this team short of joining an Ohio-North or Ohio-South sponsored USYSA league.
We were not the only ones experiencing these difficulties and soon our areas first club began forming. This became West Central United. From the beginning I was a bit uncomfortable with this clubs emphasis on winning. I wasn't the only one and in short order a group left and formed Grand Lake United with an emphasis on developing players. This was more to my liking. Grand Lake United (GLU) is now the oldest surviving youth soccer club in west central Ohio having absorbed West Central United a few years ago.
WCOSA is comprised of a loose band of community / school based soccer organizations. We "traveled" about west central Ohio to play one another. Most trips were between a few minutes up to perhaps 45 minutes. The word "travel" was redefined for us while competing for Grand Lake United. Our home pitch was 20 minutes away in those days while we often traveled an hour plus one way for away matches. Tournament play... well, tournament play was in Ohio's largest cities and quickly expanded to neighboring states.
Our middle son, Treg, followed in big brothers footsteps to play in WCOSA during the fall and then Grand Lake United in the spring. Once in high school both boys played for their high school teams in the fall and then for GLU in the spring. It wasn't until our youngest son began playing that we abandoned SYSA / WCOSA completely. I organized and coached our areas first year round team to play solely in a USYSA league. Lance's GLU team competed in the Miami Valley Youth Soccer Association (MVYSA) of Ohio-South. Eventually that group would compete in the Buckeye Premier League (BPL), various college showcase events and more tournaments than I care to remember. Every single player from the last two years has had the opportunity to go on to play in college. Not all decided to do so, but the opportunity existed for them to do so.
Grand Lake United has been joined in serving our area by a handful of other clubs in recent years. Another sign of the growth the sport of soccer has enjoyed. In fact, some of the WCOSA based community programs have left to join USYSA leagues over the last years. Youth soccer in the area is experiencing some growing pains once again with some long-time WCOSA powerhouses seeing an erosion of participation as players and their families look for "more" out of the youth soccer experience. I understand this - it is exactly what we did 20 years ago.
Look for more on this subject in future writings.
Thursday
Crawl, Walk, Run
I recently conducted a coaching clinic for a soccer organization. I gave a brief presentation on the idea of practices being preparation for matches with very little instructional coaching actually taking place on game day which is reserved for match (and training) analysis. We then had an open question and answer period. As is often the case many of the queries were about advanced skills and tactics.
One coach wanted to know how to teach shielding the ball from an opponent. I have seen her team play and to be perfectly blunt about things, they have trouble gaining possession of the ball. She has a bunch of go-getters that are often first to the ball which is different from actually winning the ball. In order to shield the ball one must first be in possession of the ball, correct?
I did not call out or chastise the coach in front of her peers. I discussed the general concepts associated with shielding the ball and explained a couple of drills and ssg's designed to work on shielding. I felt somewhat conflicted about this but 30 years of coaching experience has taught me coaches tend to be a strong willed tunnel vision lot.
As I drove home afterward the idea of soccer being a series of 1 v 1 battles with the winner usually being the team who wins the majority of these came to mind. In the modern game, I do not believe this has the credence it once held. Gone are the days of man-marking defenses that lent themselves to 1 v 1 confrontations all over the pitch. Today's game requires attacking zonal defenses and that is usually accomplished by overloading a defender and creating numbers up situations for the attackers. And on defense pressing has been the trend which is being numbers up around the ball when defending. With this in mind, I once again considered the art of shielding the ball.
In today's game the target forward probably shields the ball more than any other player on the pitch. Backs will shield the ball when running at their own goal, but running at your own goal is taboo in zonal defending so this should not be a regular occurrence. Checking back towards a ball being played to his feet the target will often have a defender in close proximity. The target must either sit in a post up position or come sideways on to the ball looking to immediately drop the ball back or self pass. In either case the act of shielding is part of the act of receiving. Therefore, being first to the ball cannot be the entirety of the thought process. The target must be thinking of sustaining possession of the ball for his team.
Zonal defenses are designed to intercept "passes" and are by-and-large not tackling defenses. Pressure and support around the ball cutting off forward advancement. Intercept a pass and counter. When tackling in a zonal defense the art of dribbling (not to be confused with running with the ball) is often the strategy of choice. This in and of itself might be considered a form of shielding, sort of. I teach players to think of it as winning the ball to be followed by the execution of a safe pass to secure possession of the ball.
This brings us back to the coach wanting pointers about shielding the ball. Regardless of whether we consider the game of yesteryear or today's modern game before we can shield the ball we must gain possession of the ball. It stands to reason then, players must be taught how best to gain possession of the ball before learning how to maintain possession of the ball which shielding is a useful tool for doing.
When I conduct a camp on attacking soccer one of the first questions I ask of a coach is, "where on the pitch is your defense designed to win the ball?" Many coaches are taken aback by this question but it goes directly to what your team's style and system of play will be. I can guarantee you this, if forethought is not given to this consideration your team's style of play will be direct - win the ball and go to goal. Heck, winning the ball might not even be the primary consideration giving way to simply getting the ball moving towards the opponents goal which requires only being first to the ball.
Babies learn to crawl before they learn to walk and eventually run. The same holds true in soccer. The basic FUNdamentals need to be learned first. How to gain possession of the ball considered before maintaining possession. How to utilize possession to manipulate the defense comes after winning the ball and securing possession. Can we really expect soccer athletes to understand and execute advanced techniques and team tactics without first having a solid foundation in the basic FUNdamentals?
One coach wanted to know how to teach shielding the ball from an opponent. I have seen her team play and to be perfectly blunt about things, they have trouble gaining possession of the ball. She has a bunch of go-getters that are often first to the ball which is different from actually winning the ball. In order to shield the ball one must first be in possession of the ball, correct?
I did not call out or chastise the coach in front of her peers. I discussed the general concepts associated with shielding the ball and explained a couple of drills and ssg's designed to work on shielding. I felt somewhat conflicted about this but 30 years of coaching experience has taught me coaches tend to be a strong willed tunnel vision lot.
As I drove home afterward the idea of soccer being a series of 1 v 1 battles with the winner usually being the team who wins the majority of these came to mind. In the modern game, I do not believe this has the credence it once held. Gone are the days of man-marking defenses that lent themselves to 1 v 1 confrontations all over the pitch. Today's game requires attacking zonal defenses and that is usually accomplished by overloading a defender and creating numbers up situations for the attackers. And on defense pressing has been the trend which is being numbers up around the ball when defending. With this in mind, I once again considered the art of shielding the ball.
In today's game the target forward probably shields the ball more than any other player on the pitch. Backs will shield the ball when running at their own goal, but running at your own goal is taboo in zonal defending so this should not be a regular occurrence. Checking back towards a ball being played to his feet the target will often have a defender in close proximity. The target must either sit in a post up position or come sideways on to the ball looking to immediately drop the ball back or self pass. In either case the act of shielding is part of the act of receiving. Therefore, being first to the ball cannot be the entirety of the thought process. The target must be thinking of sustaining possession of the ball for his team.
Zonal defenses are designed to intercept "passes" and are by-and-large not tackling defenses. Pressure and support around the ball cutting off forward advancement. Intercept a pass and counter. When tackling in a zonal defense the art of dribbling (not to be confused with running with the ball) is often the strategy of choice. This in and of itself might be considered a form of shielding, sort of. I teach players to think of it as winning the ball to be followed by the execution of a safe pass to secure possession of the ball.
This brings us back to the coach wanting pointers about shielding the ball. Regardless of whether we consider the game of yesteryear or today's modern game before we can shield the ball we must gain possession of the ball. It stands to reason then, players must be taught how best to gain possession of the ball before learning how to maintain possession of the ball which shielding is a useful tool for doing.
When I conduct a camp on attacking soccer one of the first questions I ask of a coach is, "where on the pitch is your defense designed to win the ball?" Many coaches are taken aback by this question but it goes directly to what your team's style and system of play will be. I can guarantee you this, if forethought is not given to this consideration your team's style of play will be direct - win the ball and go to goal. Heck, winning the ball might not even be the primary consideration giving way to simply getting the ball moving towards the opponents goal which requires only being first to the ball.
Babies learn to crawl before they learn to walk and eventually run. The same holds true in soccer. The basic FUNdamentals need to be learned first. How to gain possession of the ball considered before maintaining possession. How to utilize possession to manipulate the defense comes after winning the ball and securing possession. Can we really expect soccer athletes to understand and execute advanced techniques and team tactics without first having a solid foundation in the basic FUNdamentals?
Saturday
From college to 5th grade all in one morning.
I began my morning working with college goalkeepers and finished it working with a 5th grade co-ed recreational group. I enjoyed both experiences. All participants were engaged and eager to learn. The standards of learning as widely disparate as were the ages. Measured success of each session was also gauged by different standards.
On a field adjacent to the one I was working with goalkeepers on another team was practicing and I on occasion got a glimpse of their goalkeepers being worked with. At one point they were practicing full blown diving saves - both feet off the ground, laying out for a driven ball 4-5 feet off the ground that was barely within reach when service was good. Matt, one of the goalkeepers I was working with asked why "we" never worked on full diving saves like that. I answered with a question of my own, have you ever had to make a full blown diving save like that?
Matt replied, "Yes."
Were you successful?
"Yes"
"Why were you successful?"
There was a long pause. I could see the Matt considering his answer. He finally ventured that he had been ready / prepared to make the play. I urged Matt to continue on with his answer. " I was properly positioned on the ball line / angle arc. My feet were square to the action with toes towards the ball. I was in the correct ready position, I read the cues the shooter offered for when and how he would strike."
"Your basic fundamentals were excellent?"
"Yes."
"What do we work on in every session?"
"The fundamentals."
"How are the goalkeepers fundamentals on the team down at the other end of the pitch?"
So we watched the other goalkeepers train for a bit. Karl was the first to offer that fundamentals were not as sharp as they could have been. Missteps were causing them to miss plays. They were not getting both hands to the ball at or close to the same time. The ball was getting to their palms. Matt concurred. So, those goalkeepers were unable to make the routine saves on a consistent basis in practice. Yet they were training to make the spectacular save?
We went back to working on the fundamentals.
Later this morning I was working with the co-ed recreational group of 5th graders. There were a fairly wide range of skill levels as is the norm in such situations. In speaking with the gentleman who had worked with age group the previous week he related the need to work on ball control, push passing and basic tactics. The usual fare for this age group and recreational soccer. Being completely new to this particular group I began the session by asking the players names. I memorized them immediately and then asked each by name to demonstrate a basic foot skill. After a player introduced a foot skill the entire group performed the skill. This went on until no one had any more foot skills to share with the group. I did this to 1) connect immediately with the individuals of the group on a first name basis and 2) to bring myself up to speed with where the group was in terms of controlling the ball.
We next worked briefly on the speed dribble or running with the ball. Again I demonstrated the proper technique. With this I provided a few visual cues to look for to be used by the players to coach themselves.
We then moved on to the basic push pass. I demonstrated the proper technique, then set them to working with a partner passing the ball back and forth. We had an odd number of players so I paired them up and then worked with the remaining player myself. Once again, I provided tips on how they could coach themselves by recognizing their own mistakes and how to correct these. I then rotated through working with each player. At a distance of 7-8 yards this went fairly well Next we added passive pressure by having partners face one another at a distance of 3-4 feet. One player passed the ball through the legs of their partner who then turned, retrieved the ball and brought it back using the running with the ball technique. Then roles were reversed. The passive pressure of performing a push pass in close proximity to another player added just enough difficulty to expose flaws in the players technique.
It was about this time, less that 1/2 hour in, that Kyra began asking about scrimmaging. This is a common occurrence as well. Kids want to play! Its what they do.
We proceeded to a basic version on breaking lines while assuring Kyra that we were progressing towards playing a game / scrimmaging. For breaking lines we focused on the push pass with only minor instruction on receiving the ball properly. In this case the added pressure was found in the demand for accuracy of passing. We discussed the necessity of preparing to play the ball in the sense that we had a designated player to receive from and play to. I asked the players to play in the scan, touch, scan, play pattern to begin transitioning them from being ball watchers to becoming game watchers.
Again, Kyra asked about scrimmaging.
Were they ready to play a game? From a skill perspective, no. I knew before we started it would be bumble bee ball with a lot of mindless whacking of the ball. There would be more mistakes than correct plays. That's okay. Each mistake is a learning opportunity, a stepping stone on the way to success.
We progressed on to playing a basic version of the gates game. It was bumble bee ball as anticipated. yet, with in the madness it could be discerned an effort to properly execute the push pass, especially at the start. When the game began to really break down we paused and I asked the players to discuss what was working and what was breaking down the game. They nailed it. They always do. So, we set about putting it right. And they did in a relative sense.
We took a break and discussed the session / drills / game a bit more. The discussion turned to playing fast. When allowed to figure things out on their own kids are amazing problem solvers. We discussed what was required to play fast. Physical speed was mentioned immediately, but Rose pointed to her head, her brain! Soccer is a game played with the brain. We talked about Ronaldo being labeled fat and slow, yet how fast he played and how he is considered one the very best players in the world.
We played the numbers game to impress the need to be game watchers instead of exclusively watching the ball. Slowly but surely they began to get the ideas associated with increasing the pace of their play. By the end of this portion of the session they were actually demonstrating some ability to play one-touch soccer with two ball active in the game. When I stopped the exercise I had the players freeze where they were and look around. We had progressed from clustered bumble bee soccer to being spread out over the pitch.
Still Kyra wanted to scrimmage.
I finally asked her to talk about the session so far. Kyra began describing each exercise we had worked on. I asked her to grade our performance in each of these. The grades she awarded our group got better with each exercise. I stopped her at one point to ask what grade she thought it would be necessary to achieve before we were ready to scrimmage. The lights started to flicker on. When she arrived at evaluating the numbers game she decided we were ready to play. I said, "if..." and Rose spoke up to say if we don't slip back into bad habits. If we don't go back to being ball watchers and playing one decision soccer. Bingo!
Again, in a totally different manner, the importance of technical excellence was brought to the fore.
As we finished the session with a shooting exercise that incorporated everything we had worked on today the pace of play was markedly improved and the kids were noticing this. They were recognizing their mistakes and beginning to correct themselves. Not all the kids, but a majority for sure.
Quite the morning of emphasizing basic fundamentals to bring out spectacular plays and increase pace of play. Soccer is a simple game with spectacular plays. The spectacular plays are based in the simplest of fundamentals. Johann Cryuff said, "The most difficult thing to do is to play simply."
On a field adjacent to the one I was working with goalkeepers on another team was practicing and I on occasion got a glimpse of their goalkeepers being worked with. At one point they were practicing full blown diving saves - both feet off the ground, laying out for a driven ball 4-5 feet off the ground that was barely within reach when service was good. Matt, one of the goalkeepers I was working with asked why "we" never worked on full diving saves like that. I answered with a question of my own, have you ever had to make a full blown diving save like that?
Matt replied, "Yes."
Were you successful?
"Yes"
"Why were you successful?"
There was a long pause. I could see the Matt considering his answer. He finally ventured that he had been ready / prepared to make the play. I urged Matt to continue on with his answer. " I was properly positioned on the ball line / angle arc. My feet were square to the action with toes towards the ball. I was in the correct ready position, I read the cues the shooter offered for when and how he would strike."
"Your basic fundamentals were excellent?"
"Yes."
"What do we work on in every session?"
"The fundamentals."
"How are the goalkeepers fundamentals on the team down at the other end of the pitch?"
So we watched the other goalkeepers train for a bit. Karl was the first to offer that fundamentals were not as sharp as they could have been. Missteps were causing them to miss plays. They were not getting both hands to the ball at or close to the same time. The ball was getting to their palms. Matt concurred. So, those goalkeepers were unable to make the routine saves on a consistent basis in practice. Yet they were training to make the spectacular save?
We went back to working on the fundamentals.
Later this morning I was working with the co-ed recreational group of 5th graders. There were a fairly wide range of skill levels as is the norm in such situations. In speaking with the gentleman who had worked with age group the previous week he related the need to work on ball control, push passing and basic tactics. The usual fare for this age group and recreational soccer. Being completely new to this particular group I began the session by asking the players names. I memorized them immediately and then asked each by name to demonstrate a basic foot skill. After a player introduced a foot skill the entire group performed the skill. This went on until no one had any more foot skills to share with the group. I did this to 1) connect immediately with the individuals of the group on a first name basis and 2) to bring myself up to speed with where the group was in terms of controlling the ball.
We next worked briefly on the speed dribble or running with the ball. Again I demonstrated the proper technique. With this I provided a few visual cues to look for to be used by the players to coach themselves.
We then moved on to the basic push pass. I demonstrated the proper technique, then set them to working with a partner passing the ball back and forth. We had an odd number of players so I paired them up and then worked with the remaining player myself. Once again, I provided tips on how they could coach themselves by recognizing their own mistakes and how to correct these. I then rotated through working with each player. At a distance of 7-8 yards this went fairly well Next we added passive pressure by having partners face one another at a distance of 3-4 feet. One player passed the ball through the legs of their partner who then turned, retrieved the ball and brought it back using the running with the ball technique. Then roles were reversed. The passive pressure of performing a push pass in close proximity to another player added just enough difficulty to expose flaws in the players technique.
It was about this time, less that 1/2 hour in, that Kyra began asking about scrimmaging. This is a common occurrence as well. Kids want to play! Its what they do.
We proceeded to a basic version on breaking lines while assuring Kyra that we were progressing towards playing a game / scrimmaging. For breaking lines we focused on the push pass with only minor instruction on receiving the ball properly. In this case the added pressure was found in the demand for accuracy of passing. We discussed the necessity of preparing to play the ball in the sense that we had a designated player to receive from and play to. I asked the players to play in the scan, touch, scan, play pattern to begin transitioning them from being ball watchers to becoming game watchers.
Again, Kyra asked about scrimmaging.
Were they ready to play a game? From a skill perspective, no. I knew before we started it would be bumble bee ball with a lot of mindless whacking of the ball. There would be more mistakes than correct plays. That's okay. Each mistake is a learning opportunity, a stepping stone on the way to success.
We progressed on to playing a basic version of the gates game. It was bumble bee ball as anticipated. yet, with in the madness it could be discerned an effort to properly execute the push pass, especially at the start. When the game began to really break down we paused and I asked the players to discuss what was working and what was breaking down the game. They nailed it. They always do. So, we set about putting it right. And they did in a relative sense.
We took a break and discussed the session / drills / game a bit more. The discussion turned to playing fast. When allowed to figure things out on their own kids are amazing problem solvers. We discussed what was required to play fast. Physical speed was mentioned immediately, but Rose pointed to her head, her brain! Soccer is a game played with the brain. We talked about Ronaldo being labeled fat and slow, yet how fast he played and how he is considered one the very best players in the world.
We played the numbers game to impress the need to be game watchers instead of exclusively watching the ball. Slowly but surely they began to get the ideas associated with increasing the pace of their play. By the end of this portion of the session they were actually demonstrating some ability to play one-touch soccer with two ball active in the game. When I stopped the exercise I had the players freeze where they were and look around. We had progressed from clustered bumble bee soccer to being spread out over the pitch.
Still Kyra wanted to scrimmage.
I finally asked her to talk about the session so far. Kyra began describing each exercise we had worked on. I asked her to grade our performance in each of these. The grades she awarded our group got better with each exercise. I stopped her at one point to ask what grade she thought it would be necessary to achieve before we were ready to scrimmage. The lights started to flicker on. When she arrived at evaluating the numbers game she decided we were ready to play. I said, "if..." and Rose spoke up to say if we don't slip back into bad habits. If we don't go back to being ball watchers and playing one decision soccer. Bingo!
Again, in a totally different manner, the importance of technical excellence was brought to the fore.
As we finished the session with a shooting exercise that incorporated everything we had worked on today the pace of play was markedly improved and the kids were noticing this. They were recognizing their mistakes and beginning to correct themselves. Not all the kids, but a majority for sure.
Quite the morning of emphasizing basic fundamentals to bring out spectacular plays and increase pace of play. Soccer is a simple game with spectacular plays. The spectacular plays are based in the simplest of fundamentals. Johann Cryuff said, "The most difficult thing to do is to play simply."
Friday
No Brain?
No Pain
No Gain
I think we are all familiar with this motivational slogan. And I will not argue against the measure of truth it holds. However, I don't think those four words are enough to complete the thought process they begin. I believe four more words are needed.
No Brain
No Gain
The first set of words addresses the need to train the physical body for competition. The second set of words identifies the importance to train and play with as much intelligence as possible.
S.O.C.C.E.R.
From the Mission Statement page of the coaching manual I wrote for SYSA / SSS.
Sportsmanship
Opportunity
Competence
Challenge
Enjoyment
Resources
Sportsmanship
Opportunity
Competence
Challenge
Enjoyment
Resources
The Basics for Beginner Coaches
I usually write about coaching teenagers as these are the ages I currently coach. Recent discussions with a group of colleagues have centered around our beginnings as soccer coaches. I have found myself waxing nostalgic of those days when I was put in charge of my eldest son's first soccer team. What struck me immediately was how little guidance we coaches were given. It was basically, "here's your roster and t-shirts now go get 'em tiger!" It was several years later that I wrote my first coaching manual. The target audience was parent / coaches involved in our local youth soccer organization. This endeavor eventually led to publishing 3 age specific coaching manuals for coaches in that association. These coaching manuals are apparently no longer in use and that is where today's writing begins.
The Shawnee Youth Soccer Association (SYSA) is a recreational league servicing our local school district. It is a member of the West Central Ohio Soccer Association, a loosely organized independent league of similar community based soccer associations. The manuals I wrote were aimed at coaches of recreational teams and the players they would be coaching. The SYSA was at its strongest when it adhered to the recreational tenets it was founded on.
My father and father-in-law were founding members of the SYSA some 40 odd years ago. Their vision was to provide an organization and environment to promote the sport of soccer that would eventually lead to the founding of a high school sponsored team. In this they were successful. At some point, as my three sons were coming through the SYSA there was a change in direction as the parents in charge decided the organization, at least in part, needed to place a stronger focus on preparing players to play at for the high school team which had become fairly successful. Focus shifted from a purely recreational league to fielding teams comprised of only the very best in each age group. Remaining players were assigned to other teams that were more recreational in nature. The competitive balance associated with randomly drawn rosters was lost,
The coaching manuals I authored were not really applicable to these "all-star" teams, or so some would have you believe. The manuals fell out of use even for the purely recreational teams within SYSA. In perusing those manuals I would agree a re-write is in order. This is the catalyst for the reverse engineering of my current coaching philosophy and methodology. I have evolved as a coach and so too should too should the coaching manuals. It is an "if I only knew then what I know now" adventure that will undoubtedly result in new additions of those old coaching manuals. Rest assured parts of the new manuals will be published in articles on this site.
The logical place to start is from the perspective of a first time parent coach. What would such an individual need to get them started off properly on their journey as a coach?
1) Basic coaching knowledge including an introduction to coaching philosophy and coaching methodology.
2) Sample practice plans, info on game management and guidelines for interacting with parents and referees.
3) Knowledge of the basic fundamentals of soccer
4) The Laws of the Game
5) Soccer balls, a few cones, scrimmage vests
6) Possibly a whistle, stop watch and clip board.
7) An understanding that soccer is a player given game.
The best avenue for presenting this information is a coaching clinic, imo. And I did in fact present coaching clinics to the coaches of SYSA at one time. Those too have fallen to the wayside. It might well be time to bring them back alongside the coaching manuals.
The Shawnee Youth Soccer Association (SYSA) is a recreational league servicing our local school district. It is a member of the West Central Ohio Soccer Association, a loosely organized independent league of similar community based soccer associations. The manuals I wrote were aimed at coaches of recreational teams and the players they would be coaching. The SYSA was at its strongest when it adhered to the recreational tenets it was founded on.
My father and father-in-law were founding members of the SYSA some 40 odd years ago. Their vision was to provide an organization and environment to promote the sport of soccer that would eventually lead to the founding of a high school sponsored team. In this they were successful. At some point, as my three sons were coming through the SYSA there was a change in direction as the parents in charge decided the organization, at least in part, needed to place a stronger focus on preparing players to play at for the high school team which had become fairly successful. Focus shifted from a purely recreational league to fielding teams comprised of only the very best in each age group. Remaining players were assigned to other teams that were more recreational in nature. The competitive balance associated with randomly drawn rosters was lost,
The coaching manuals I authored were not really applicable to these "all-star" teams, or so some would have you believe. The manuals fell out of use even for the purely recreational teams within SYSA. In perusing those manuals I would agree a re-write is in order. This is the catalyst for the reverse engineering of my current coaching philosophy and methodology. I have evolved as a coach and so too should too should the coaching manuals. It is an "if I only knew then what I know now" adventure that will undoubtedly result in new additions of those old coaching manuals. Rest assured parts of the new manuals will be published in articles on this site.
The logical place to start is from the perspective of a first time parent coach. What would such an individual need to get them started off properly on their journey as a coach?
1) Basic coaching knowledge including an introduction to coaching philosophy and coaching methodology.
2) Sample practice plans, info on game management and guidelines for interacting with parents and referees.
3) Knowledge of the basic fundamentals of soccer
4) The Laws of the Game
5) Soccer balls, a few cones, scrimmage vests
6) Possibly a whistle, stop watch and clip board.
7) An understanding that soccer is a player given game.
The best avenue for presenting this information is a coaching clinic, imo. And I did in fact present coaching clinics to the coaches of SYSA at one time. Those too have fallen to the wayside. It might well be time to bring them back alongside the coaching manuals.
Wednesday
Culture eats strategy for breakfast.
I saw this quote on twitter a couple of days ago and it struck a chord with me. Culture does indeed eat strategy for breakfast provided the team culture is healthy, positive and strong.
Every team has a culture.
It is most unfortunate that many coaches do not recognize the importance or full impact a team's culture has on its performance. The culture of a team defines who the team is and permeates every aspect of the program. The culture is the standards the team adheres to, its attitude and commitment level. The culture is found in the teams degree of competitiveness and resiliency. As such the team culture needs to be defined and nurtured on a continuous basis. It is a process.
The process begins by honestly and accurately evaluating where your team culture currently stands. The next step is to set a goal for where you want your culture to be. Finally, establish a plan that will take you to there.
Here's a secret, your captains must embody the team culture you seek to establish. Contrary or negative leadership can destroy team culture before it has a chance to blossom. It can be better to purge contrary or negative leadership from the roster than attempting to bring such into the fold... unless of course you prefer a corrosive, self destructive culture to be representative of your team.
When I take over a program or a team the first thing I do is stress timeliness and punctuality. The next thing is to make it mandatory to dress appropriately. All required equipment will be worn. Standards for what is considered appropriate training attire will be established and this always includes having shirts tucked into the waist band of shorts. From here we can begin establishing standards for training and playing the game. It is a daily process that must be nurtured and cared for in order to take root, grow and blossom. And deviation, any sign of weakness in your steadfast adherence to the goal for the teams culture can set things back to square one.
In short, establishing a winning team culture is built around truth, trust and belief in one another. Winning team cultures see players playing for one another. The team, is greater than any individual. No one is irreplaceable. Resiliency is found in a next man up attitude. Expectations are for positions on the field and for the individuals in their comportment always.
It's not always the most talented team that wins the match, but it is rarely the team with the best culture that loses a match.
Every team has a culture.
It is most unfortunate that many coaches do not recognize the importance or full impact a team's culture has on its performance. The culture of a team defines who the team is and permeates every aspect of the program. The culture is the standards the team adheres to, its attitude and commitment level. The culture is found in the teams degree of competitiveness and resiliency. As such the team culture needs to be defined and nurtured on a continuous basis. It is a process.
The process begins by honestly and accurately evaluating where your team culture currently stands. The next step is to set a goal for where you want your culture to be. Finally, establish a plan that will take you to there.
Here's a secret, your captains must embody the team culture you seek to establish. Contrary or negative leadership can destroy team culture before it has a chance to blossom. It can be better to purge contrary or negative leadership from the roster than attempting to bring such into the fold... unless of course you prefer a corrosive, self destructive culture to be representative of your team.
When I take over a program or a team the first thing I do is stress timeliness and punctuality. The next thing is to make it mandatory to dress appropriately. All required equipment will be worn. Standards for what is considered appropriate training attire will be established and this always includes having shirts tucked into the waist band of shorts. From here we can begin establishing standards for training and playing the game. It is a daily process that must be nurtured and cared for in order to take root, grow and blossom. And deviation, any sign of weakness in your steadfast adherence to the goal for the teams culture can set things back to square one.
In short, establishing a winning team culture is built around truth, trust and belief in one another. Winning team cultures see players playing for one another. The team, is greater than any individual. No one is irreplaceable. Resiliency is found in a next man up attitude. Expectations are for positions on the field and for the individuals in their comportment always.
It's not always the most talented team that wins the match, but it is rarely the team with the best culture that loses a match.
What is development?
In re-reading the recent article on coaching to win I found myself pondering what exactly is development. I apologize in advance for what will almost assuredly be a rambling article. I often write as a means to gather my thoughts on a subject and this is the process I am following today. Process is a good word to begin with for development is most certainly an active on-going process.
The idea of playing, in this case playing a game of soccer, is fun. So, soccer development should be oriented in fun activities. We often have the most fun when being challenged. Curiosity is a good thing. We explore to learn. The process continues when we apply our new found knowledge to take ourselves somewhere we have not been before. So, developmental activities should be designed to promote thinking, exploration and attempts to succeed. Failures will be part of the process. Success will be relative, ever changing, ever elusive and yet always attainable.
Drill work should be limited to introducing new techniques and demonstrations of new tactics. There is nothing stimulating about drill work. It is tedious, can lull the mind and cause it to wander from the task at hand as it seeks stimulation from other sources. Development then must be centered on activities designed to promote thinking.
I have sometimes thought how promoting players to think for themselves in sports might be considered heresy or anathema to American coaches. Most American sports are coach driven, after all. Free thinking creative problem solving players are often looked upon as trouble makers or non-conformists in most American sports. Yet, in soccer ingenuity and creativity are prized traits attributed to the elite of the sport.
Development needs to take place in the context of the Four Pillars of Youth Soccer.
Technical: The skills of the game. Running with the ball, dribbling, receiving, passing, heading and defending.
Tactics: Player decisions and application of techniques in problem solving.
Physical: The ability to perform at a sustained high level of play.
Psychological: Freedom, Responsibility and Positivity in play.
Each of these four pillars of youth soccer are grounded in FUN. Skill development is a critical component of FUN. The attempts, failures and successes found in application of tactics is FUN. Being physically fit to execute techniques and tactics is paramount to having FUN. Being psychologically challenged with the freedom to explore, fail and succeed responsibly is definitely about having FUN.
I think we could describe the process in a number of ways, but two in particular come to mind. Truthfully, they are one and the same. First is giving ownership of the game to the players. I have repeatedly stated my belief that soccer is a player driven game. Ownership of game occurs when the players are allowed to think for themselves, decide for themselves while playing the game. For this reason, training the art of decision making should be a primary consideration in every practice session. Player decision making.
With all this talk of development it might seem I am devaluing the importance of winning. I am not. However, I do believe winning should not be equated to a team result in a match, especially at the younger ages. Winning implies a competition is taking place. Competing is what athletics are all about. I am suggesting that the opponent in terms of development is one's self.
The intrinsic rewards of self-knowledge, self-worth, self-esteem that stem from competing against one's self will last a life time. Whereas the extrinsic rewards of victory, relative fame and glory are fleeting at best lasting only until the next game or next season. Where sports are about elimination in a search for the best we cannot allow this to overshadow the benefits of competing against our self to make one's self a better player, a better person.
The idea of playing, in this case playing a game of soccer, is fun. So, soccer development should be oriented in fun activities. We often have the most fun when being challenged. Curiosity is a good thing. We explore to learn. The process continues when we apply our new found knowledge to take ourselves somewhere we have not been before. So, developmental activities should be designed to promote thinking, exploration and attempts to succeed. Failures will be part of the process. Success will be relative, ever changing, ever elusive and yet always attainable.
Drill work should be limited to introducing new techniques and demonstrations of new tactics. There is nothing stimulating about drill work. It is tedious, can lull the mind and cause it to wander from the task at hand as it seeks stimulation from other sources. Development then must be centered on activities designed to promote thinking.
I have sometimes thought how promoting players to think for themselves in sports might be considered heresy or anathema to American coaches. Most American sports are coach driven, after all. Free thinking creative problem solving players are often looked upon as trouble makers or non-conformists in most American sports. Yet, in soccer ingenuity and creativity are prized traits attributed to the elite of the sport.
Development needs to take place in the context of the Four Pillars of Youth Soccer.
Technical: The skills of the game. Running with the ball, dribbling, receiving, passing, heading and defending.
Tactics: Player decisions and application of techniques in problem solving.
Physical: The ability to perform at a sustained high level of play.
Psychological: Freedom, Responsibility and Positivity in play.
Each of these four pillars of youth soccer are grounded in FUN. Skill development is a critical component of FUN. The attempts, failures and successes found in application of tactics is FUN. Being physically fit to execute techniques and tactics is paramount to having FUN. Being psychologically challenged with the freedom to explore, fail and succeed responsibly is definitely about having FUN.
I think we could describe the process in a number of ways, but two in particular come to mind. Truthfully, they are one and the same. First is giving ownership of the game to the players. I have repeatedly stated my belief that soccer is a player driven game. Ownership of game occurs when the players are allowed to think for themselves, decide for themselves while playing the game. For this reason, training the art of decision making should be a primary consideration in every practice session. Player decision making.
With all this talk of development it might seem I am devaluing the importance of winning. I am not. However, I do believe winning should not be equated to a team result in a match, especially at the younger ages. Winning implies a competition is taking place. Competing is what athletics are all about. I am suggesting that the opponent in terms of development is one's self.
The intrinsic rewards of self-knowledge, self-worth, self-esteem that stem from competing against one's self will last a life time. Whereas the extrinsic rewards of victory, relative fame and glory are fleeting at best lasting only until the next game or next season. Where sports are about elimination in a search for the best we cannot allow this to overshadow the benefits of competing against our self to make one's self a better player, a better person.
Tuesday
The Gates of Hell
As the June tryout season for club soccer approaches questions about how to identify talent are pouring in once again. This happens every May and again just before high school tryouts in August. When trying out to play soccer one should be expected to actually play soccer in the tryout, imo. I want to see players in live action and under pressure of game conditions. A favorite small sided game to help identify players is called the Gates of Hell. I have used this game with groups from U12 through U18. It is a simple game. Very easy to set up and provides abundant opportunity to observe multiple players in a short period of time.
The grid size needs to be appropriate for number of participants, age and talent level of the group. For the purposes of this article will say 25 yards by 25 yards for 7 v 7 play. On two opposite sides of the grid there will be marked "gates" identified by large cones or coaching sticks.
This is a continuous play possession game with the condition that if you cause your team to lose possession you must exit the grid through a gate, run around the entire grid and re-enter through the same gate you exited. It is best if all runners run in the same direction so designated clockwise or counter clockwise before starting the action!
The players who run the most are quickly identified as players who struggle to maintain possession of the ball. These are candidates to be cut from the team or relegated to a second team. You could leave it at that cursory level or you can look at little deeper at what is taking place in the action. Left to their own devices the receiver of a pass that is intercepted or bobbled away will run. A closer look may find the pass was weighted improperly or was above waist high elevating the degree of difficulty for the receiver. Should the receiver run or should the passer run? A pass might be played to the front foot of teh receiver instead of across teh receivers body to the back foot. The receiver in this case must close his hips to the field making his next play very predictable. Is this the receivers fault or the passers fault? So, something else to look for is recognition and ownership of mistakes made.
With so much running possibly involved, the popularity of this game is a bit surprising. Nonetheless, it is favorite of players. To ramp up the intensity we will add the condition of "X" number of consecutive passes completed by a team being equal to a point. Another condition is if the team in possession can complete "X" number of passes while the entire opposing team is running around the grid aditional point(s) can be awarded to the team in possession.
As a coach observing action in this game I look for players who properly prepare to play the ball before it is passed to them. Off the ball movement is a king consideration. I also look for the players who are directing the action both in possession and when defending. Which players execute defensively to deny options and approach with a bounce step? Which players work to support the pressure defender. In short, I am looking for ball watchers, vision, communicators, organizers, soccer IQ as much as I am looking for application of proper technique under pressure. e Gates of Hell game provides ample opportunity to see all this and so much more in a short period of high intensity play.
The grid size needs to be appropriate for number of participants, age and talent level of the group. For the purposes of this article will say 25 yards by 25 yards for 7 v 7 play. On two opposite sides of the grid there will be marked "gates" identified by large cones or coaching sticks.
This is a continuous play possession game with the condition that if you cause your team to lose possession you must exit the grid through a gate, run around the entire grid and re-enter through the same gate you exited. It is best if all runners run in the same direction so designated clockwise or counter clockwise before starting the action!
The players who run the most are quickly identified as players who struggle to maintain possession of the ball. These are candidates to be cut from the team or relegated to a second team. You could leave it at that cursory level or you can look at little deeper at what is taking place in the action. Left to their own devices the receiver of a pass that is intercepted or bobbled away will run. A closer look may find the pass was weighted improperly or was above waist high elevating the degree of difficulty for the receiver. Should the receiver run or should the passer run? A pass might be played to the front foot of teh receiver instead of across teh receivers body to the back foot. The receiver in this case must close his hips to the field making his next play very predictable. Is this the receivers fault or the passers fault? So, something else to look for is recognition and ownership of mistakes made.
With so much running possibly involved, the popularity of this game is a bit surprising. Nonetheless, it is favorite of players. To ramp up the intensity we will add the condition of "X" number of consecutive passes completed by a team being equal to a point. Another condition is if the team in possession can complete "X" number of passes while the entire opposing team is running around the grid aditional point(s) can be awarded to the team in possession.
As a coach observing action in this game I look for players who properly prepare to play the ball before it is passed to them. Off the ball movement is a king consideration. I also look for the players who are directing the action both in possession and when defending. Which players execute defensively to deny options and approach with a bounce step? Which players work to support the pressure defender. In short, I am looking for ball watchers, vision, communicators, organizers, soccer IQ as much as I am looking for application of proper technique under pressure. e Gates of Hell game provides ample opportunity to see all this and so much more in a short period of high intensity play.
Monday
What you see is what you get. Maybe you should see something else?
There are numerous sports quotes that urge players (and coaches) to look at things from different perspectives. If all you ever do is all you've ever done, all you'll ever have is what you've always had. This is one example that implores change to be made. In our camps we seek to retrain the brain, which is another way to say changes must be instituted before progress can be made. Asking players to step outside their established comfort zones is yet another means to motivate them to change.
As coaches we "borrow" from one another all the time. When one coach is successful his methodology and systems of play will be examined and reversed engineered by his peers. Perhaps the most recognized example today is the spread of zonal defenses. The strictly man-marking system is nearly extinct although I suspect it will rise again like the mythical phoenix in retro-ness some day. A by-product of zonal defense is the incorporation of the outside backs into the attack. These players are filling non-traditional roles. Because of this the players manning these positions have been granted freedom in exploring how to execute their duties and responsibilities. In a sense the outside backs have been allowed to write their own job descriptions. As a result we are beginning to see creative and innovative play emerge.
I often refer to "our" attacking system that we run from our 1-4-2-3-1 or 1-4-1-4-1 formations. I lay claim to it, but in the last 3-4 years I have seen it emerging independently at various ages and levels of play. It is a natural extension of the zonal defensive systems in prevalent use today. That the Columbus Crew SC are successfully running "our" system in MLS validates what I have been coaching these past several years.
Many of the coaches we conduct camp for want us to demonstrate how we have taught our players to make creative / deceptive runs that stress defenses. They want to know our patterns for making runs and are shocked that I spend less than one training session per season working on specific patterns.
I have written often of how I allow the players to conduct our half time discussions. One of things they cover is what the opposing defense is giving us and more specifically which opposing player(s) is (are) the weak links we can attack. We have learned to also identify how we wish to set up those players to be attacked. How do we move players and the ball to isolate the defender(s) we wish to attack in the match ups we prefer to have?
Patterns in soccer are, in my opinion, symptomatic of the problems that plague American soccer. American sports are largely coach driven sports and patterns in soccer are an extension of this. In short, patterns are restrictive. Patterns take the onus for decision making away from individual players. The coach teaches the pattern and its variations and expects the players to adhere to these. Even the decision of whether to follow the patterns or not is taken away from the players for if they do not, they will find themselves on the bench in favor of someone who will. Any deviation from the scripted established pattern and its variations is blasphemy regardless of if it is successful or not.
So it is when we come to conduct a camp on off-the-ball movement that we need to retrain the soccer brains of the players ... and coach. A few years ago I had a coach ask me how to get his team away from playing direct soccer. We watched some game film of his team and one of the first thing we noticed was nearly all off-the-ball movement was towards goal and at the same pace the ball was traveling. What else could his team do, but play direct? So, if you want your team to have a balanced, dynamic and varied attack the off-the-ball player movement is key. Retraining the brain to allow for multi-decison, multi-tasking play is the solution. The answer for how to go about doing this? Well, you'll have to sign up for one of our camps for that! ;) LOL.
As coaches we "borrow" from one another all the time. When one coach is successful his methodology and systems of play will be examined and reversed engineered by his peers. Perhaps the most recognized example today is the spread of zonal defenses. The strictly man-marking system is nearly extinct although I suspect it will rise again like the mythical phoenix in retro-ness some day. A by-product of zonal defense is the incorporation of the outside backs into the attack. These players are filling non-traditional roles. Because of this the players manning these positions have been granted freedom in exploring how to execute their duties and responsibilities. In a sense the outside backs have been allowed to write their own job descriptions. As a result we are beginning to see creative and innovative play emerge.
I often refer to "our" attacking system that we run from our 1-4-2-3-1 or 1-4-1-4-1 formations. I lay claim to it, but in the last 3-4 years I have seen it emerging independently at various ages and levels of play. It is a natural extension of the zonal defensive systems in prevalent use today. That the Columbus Crew SC are successfully running "our" system in MLS validates what I have been coaching these past several years.
Many of the coaches we conduct camp for want us to demonstrate how we have taught our players to make creative / deceptive runs that stress defenses. They want to know our patterns for making runs and are shocked that I spend less than one training session per season working on specific patterns.
I have written often of how I allow the players to conduct our half time discussions. One of things they cover is what the opposing defense is giving us and more specifically which opposing player(s) is (are) the weak links we can attack. We have learned to also identify how we wish to set up those players to be attacked. How do we move players and the ball to isolate the defender(s) we wish to attack in the match ups we prefer to have?
Patterns in soccer are, in my opinion, symptomatic of the problems that plague American soccer. American sports are largely coach driven sports and patterns in soccer are an extension of this. In short, patterns are restrictive. Patterns take the onus for decision making away from individual players. The coach teaches the pattern and its variations and expects the players to adhere to these. Even the decision of whether to follow the patterns or not is taken away from the players for if they do not, they will find themselves on the bench in favor of someone who will. Any deviation from the scripted established pattern and its variations is blasphemy regardless of if it is successful or not.
So it is when we come to conduct a camp on off-the-ball movement that we need to retrain the soccer brains of the players ... and coach. A few years ago I had a coach ask me how to get his team away from playing direct soccer. We watched some game film of his team and one of the first thing we noticed was nearly all off-the-ball movement was towards goal and at the same pace the ball was traveling. What else could his team do, but play direct? So, if you want your team to have a balanced, dynamic and varied attack the off-the-ball player movement is key. Retraining the brain to allow for multi-decison, multi-tasking play is the solution. The answer for how to go about doing this? Well, you'll have to sign up for one of our camps for that! ;) LOL.
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