U13 - Good Session - But I goofed

Our U13 boys had their first session on grass tonight.  The field was far from perfect, but we were outside, and it was grass.

When I say I goofed, I felt bad because the boys had worked hard, listened and I didn't leave time at the end for competition.  The boys deserve competition and it's bad coaching to not do that.  Bad me.  I would kick my own rear-end, but I have a sore knee.  Or else I would.  The number one question when you self-assess is "Did the players enjoy the session?" Not having competition will affect that answer.

Tonight we touched on a lot of things that Coach Paul and I want to fix, but the plan aimed towards working the ball to the winger in our 4-3-3 and across into the box. The lessons had to aim in one direction.

We started with a 5 minute run immediately followed by 6 field length runs.  We divided the field into thirds.  You walk the first third, then jog the second and sprint the third.  My friend who coaches rugby gave me that one.

Coach Paul took our keeper aside to strike some balls from his hands and off the ground.  He struggled with that a bit last game and we thought we would give him a chance to do it uncontested to regain some confidence.  His big brother comes to our sessions to help and was helpful to coach Paul.

One our end, we started with 7v3 keep-away.  Very little coaching, just whooping it up having some fun.  I did remind them of receiving the ball first touch away from pressure.  My main goal was getting used to the grass again.  It was wet, not very short and a little bumpy. 

We then addressed three things that Paul and I agreed that we need work on.  Driving the ball with the laces, heading and crosses.

The main weakness with our boys is their bodies seem to come undone at the moment of contact with the ball, with the foot and head.

For striking the ball we just had 3 players moving within a square receiving balls, turning and long pass to a teammate without a ball.  Coaching points were:

• Ball out from the feet
• Setup before striking: not directly inline with you and the target, strong steps towards ball and spacing your steps in approach
• Locked ankle, knee bent, toes down, with laces
• Hit ball through the middle, vertically

There was some improvement, but still an area for more work.

For heading we did a basic heading sequence, straight on and heading a ball coming from the side.
Coaching points:

• Drive entire body through the ball
• Attack ball
• Use forehead
• Eyes open
• You hit the ball, it doesn't hit you

On this we saw the most improvement tonight.  Some of the boys were relishing their new found  abilities with their heads.

For crossing we worked on setting the ball and body up for the cross.  Once we sorted that out the quality of the crosses improved.

Then we setup a little functional setup where we had 4 attackers and 5 defenders and players crossing balls in from both sides.  So there was a chance for defensive and attacking head balls.   Some players were attacking balls then backing out at the last second.  DANGEROUS.  We will keep practicing until they are comfortable.  Coaching points:

• Get to the ball first, regardless of defending or attacking
• Play the ball out of air.
• Follow through on commitment to play the ball (don't duck)
• Assume ball is coming to you, in case the first guy misses or ducks
• Attacking - redirect towards goal
• Defending - clear the ball

This is an area where we will have to drive the boys for improvement, but be patient as it's a new facet to the game.  Heading the ball makes exciting things happen, but it's a big step in becoming a dangerous player in the air.  We'll get there.

We ended the session with a lesson on what can happen between the right defender, attacking midfielder, right wing and striker.  We reviewed different combinations that can happen to get the ball behind the defenders and crossed into the box.

The plan was to get to that point.. I am disappointed that I let it get to the point where practice ended and the kids did not get a chance to compete.  I hope to avoid that in the future with better planning and a closer eye on my watch.

U17 boys - friendly with Welland u16

Our U17 boys were on the turf this morning, sharing it with the u16 boys from our club.  It was supposed to be an 11v11 friendly, helping both teams get organized.

While we were waiting for their team to assemble we played some keep away, including the boys from u16 who were early.  It was very basic: 1 touch, in a circle, 2 guys in the middle type of keep-away.  NO COACHING.  Just having fun.  They don't realize they're learning and practicing, so they just play and have fun.  The only coach and motivator you need is their desire to not want to be in the middle.  :-)

Still waiting for their team to assemble, we moved the one net to half and lined a small field the width of the penalty area.  So the field is now 50x44. We were playing 10v10 so the space was tight.  There was very little coaching here.  I wanted them to figure out if they want to be successful the ball has to keep moving, quickly, early and accurately.  They seemed to enjoy this game as well, and some were figuring out the recipe for success.  Other than guiding a few guys into position, I left them alone.  I played with them and was having fun trying to keep up.  "Trying" is the big word here.

When we broke into our 11v11 setup, we had the boys in 4-4-2.  Most are familiar with the various roles.  I just walked the field with my whistle to blow down crazy fouls, but spent most of my time massaging the shape into place.

Some quick points to note for future sessions:

• recovery runs when team loses the ball
• releasing the ball earlier
• organization of 2 strikers up front
• organization of back 4 when working the ball around
• width in possession
• moving out past half when team is in possession

The kick-around never got out of hand and nobody suffered any needless injuries.  It's good to work with this team because these boys are the ones called when the u17 are short players.

Again, our original plan was displaced.  This time because we wanted to include the U16s and keep them busy.  We had planned to organize our boys into their positions via a short phase-of-play setup.  They all play 4-4-2 in high school, but it's still necessary to set up with your players.  That's something we can address the next session.

The high school soccer is a blessing in that the boys are able to enhance their school experience and stay active.  It's also a curse in terms of getting your own team organized.  If Coach Benny's work in the past prepared the boys to be successful at the high school level, then that part of his duty to the players was well done.

A nice observation for me is this team's trust in their goalkeeper.  He's a hard working young man with good hands and smart distribution.

Fox Sports World Canada Out of Business

I found out today that Fox Sports World Canada ceased operations April 30.  It was a great channel and I appreciated how much soccer they brought to the viewing audience.  Sky Sports News from the UK was my favourite show.

So the question is ... did it close up because there was too much competition to show soccer on TV (at least 5 other networks show games regularly) or was there no interest in a mainly all soccer network?  The network said it also showed Rugby and Cricket, but soccer took up most of the broadcast day.

It may sound like a dumb question,  but the high number of children playing soccer in Canada does not mean it's mainstream.  It still makes me scratch my head thinking of the number of players who have never seen a full game, live or televised.

We'll see if the other networks add more soccer or remain status quo.

U13 Fitness Session

Our 6^th group fitness session took place tonight.  We had 60 players total, including a U14 girls team that joined us.  The U14 girls at our club are a great bunch of young ladies.  I've coached them in clinics and they've always been a focused bunch.  They are coached by Eric Opala, a man with good experience.

The group for this session was U10, U11, U13 boys and U14 girls.

 

The session.  The players ran for 30 minutes with 4 stations set up around the track.  The stops were 5 pushups, 10 skips, 10 jumping jacks and 8 hurdles.

After a short break we followed it up with 30 minutes of dribbling and turns.

I have some ideas for the next session that I need to run by the other coaches.  We admire the players' work ethic, but they are young and we have to work to keep it interesting.

A great development for next week is that the grass fields are available to us!  We will definitely have to integrate that into our program.

St Mike's - phase of play 4-4-2 - basic

I ended up attending St Mike's Jr Boy's training a bit late as I was at another school.

Coach Lucchetta ran them through a few exercises to keep a ball on their foot and moving.  His plan for the day was a phase-of-play to work on the front 6 in their 4-4-2.  He actually started them off with the front 6 playing again 2 opposing defenders, so it was borderline shadow-play for the first bit.

The main goal was just to get the boys more familiar with their shape and basic movements in 4-4-2.

Introduced to the players was:

• Striker combining with wide midfielders
• Different runs for strikers
• Central midfielders supporting strikers and wide midfielders

Once some movement was established, the defending team had 4 defenders and a midfielder while the attacking team had the front 6 and Coach Lucchetta supporting from behind.  4 players were absent.

As the play kept moving more and more towards the goal on each restart, I started to coach the back 4 a bit to push up and make the space available more realistic.

If all players were there I would have suggested  6 players on the defending team and add 3 supporting defenders to the attacking team.  That's something we can progress to.

The boys worked hard for 35 minutes at this and I would have to say they showed improvement.

Playing and coaching a 4-4-2 properly is not as easy as people think.  I watch teams at tournaments throw their players on as 4-4-2 and I scratch my head.  4 players line up straight across the midfield, each striker assumes their side of the field and off they go!  it's like playing with 3 forwards and the centre striker got a red card.

Because a lot of the boys are not overly experienced players, the coach's delivery was clear and not overwhelming.  Once they feel more comfortable he can introduce some more ideas for them to consider during a game situation.