Message to Assistant Youth Soccer Coaches

This message is for all assistant youth soccer coaches helping motivate, train and encourage players.  You do an excellent job supporting the coach.  You provide much needed support when the coach is not liked by the players.  You encourage the players when they need an extra boost.  You help move cones to setup exercises.  You are an integral role to the success of the team (when the coach is present).

However, what do you do in the coach’s absence?  If the coach cannot attend a training session or a match, what is your role now?  Here are some thoughts to help.  Also, leave your additional thoughts in the comments.

Related articles by Zemanta

• There is No Crystal Ball (soccerhistorynow.com)

Line-up Creation: Based on Talent or Opponent?

There are two drastically different schools of thought in preparing a line-up.  Those two schools are based on your team’s talent or your opponent’s talent.

School 1: Your Team’s Talent.

This school of thought focuses on creating line-ups geared toward providing players with the optimal amount of experiences in various areas of the field.  This school of thought rotates players from Striker to Midfield to Defender to Keeper equally.  This school of thought emphasizes that players need exposure to multiple areas of the field so they can handle multiple situations.  This school of thought enables the player’s long-term growth and development because they are exposed to a myriad of opportunities.

School 2.  Your Opponent’s Talent.

This school of thought focuses solely on creating a line-up to beat the other team.  This school of thought takes the focus off of your team and player’s development and forces you to think like your opponent.  This school of thought limits belief in your players, limits learning opportunities for your players and limits growth of courage in your players.  This school of thought places a heavy burden on your better players and does not let your average or bench players grow and develop.  This school of thought is very limiting long term.

Which school of thought are you?

Youth Soccer Referee Administrators: Local, Regional or National Talent

The spring soccer season is in full swing.  From local neighborhood games to youth soccer matches to highly competitive soccer tournaments, there will be a plethora of soccer matches occur in the upcoming months.

Have you ever thought how many referees will be needed for this many games?

Let’s just say… A LOT!

Many areas will not have the manpower to referee the amount of games scheduled.  Many areas will have an over-abundance of referees.

What is an administrator to do?  Should a referee administrator choose the best talent available or local talent to improve the area’s referee talent pool?

Direct link to the video can be found here.

Related articles by Zemanta

• How would you fix refereeing mistakes in soccer? (theworld.org)

Youth Soccer Tournaments: April 2010

Image via Wikipedia

A list of April youth soccer tournaments for those interested.  If you have additional tournaments not listed, please feel free to provide them in the comments.

DALLAS, TEXAS - Spring Classic Invitational & Showcase Tournament
April 1-4
Boys U9-U10
Girls U9-U19

The Spring Classic celebrates 19 years drawing top competitive teams from across the United States and Canada. U9 - 14 matches are in traditional tournament format. U15 - U19 teams will play a showcase format. College coaches from every girls program are invited.

Read more about the Spring Classic Invitational & Showcase Tournament in Dallas, TX

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI - Lou Fusz Midwest Cup 2010
April 23-25
Boys and Girls U9-U18

The Lou Fusz Soccer Club, under the direction of former international soccer player and professional coach Don Popovic, would like to invite all teams to participate in the Midwest Cup.

Read more about the Lou Fusz Midwest Cup 2010 in St. Louis, MO

MADISON, ALABAMA - Valley FC Invitational Friendship Cup 2010
April 23-25
Boys and Girls U9-U14

Join us for the Invitational Friendship Cup hosted by the Valley Futbol Club.

Read more about the Valley FC Invitational Friendship Cup 2010

How Do You Improve Team Shape?

Team shape can be difficult for young teams to grasp.

The players hear their parents yelling, “Get the ball!  Get the ball!”  The players hear their coaches, “Pass the ball, Pass the ball.”  How can a player determine and understand team shape with the conflicting words coming from their coaches and parents?

Below are some techniques we use.  Feel free to share your comments below.

Related articles by Zemanta

• There is No Crystal Ball (soccerhistorynow.com)

Unexpected Coaching

Are you predictable when you speak with your team before a game, during halftime or after the game?  Does your team know what you are going to say before you do?  Are your players excited to hear your pre-practice talk?  Are you players anxious to listen to your personal evaluation?

If your answer is “no” to any of these questions, hopefully the items presented in this video will help you become unexpectedly connected with your players.

There is No Crystal Ball

If I had a penny for how many times I am asked:

“Who do you think you will be a great soccer player?”

“Who do you think should have made team X?”

“Why didn’t the coaches pick player X for this team?”

I can definitively tell you that I would be a multi-millionaire for sure.

I played soccer for more than 20 years from the neighborhood youth levels to premier youth levels in Europe.  I can coach and train with the best youth soccer coaches around.  I could have played for some of the top youth clubs in Europe and maybe played professionally making a lot of money.

But, I did not.

Despite the initial success I achieved at a young age, according to various coaches I was not good enough.

Players better than me were cut, injured, retired–they were just not good enough.  And on paper, we were awesome!

Parents, I say all of that to say this, there is no crystal ball.

I understand that you want to make the best decisions for your children.  (I currently have two)  I want to make the best decisions possible for them and put them in the most challenging environments.

But, despite the exceptional experiences I have and the wonderful times I enjoyed, I cannot tell you who will make it and who will not–whether the children are seven or seventeen.

Related articles provided by Zemanta

• Coaching Youth Soccer: You Can’t Make These Mistakes (stepbysteptips.com)