I recently discovered that there will be a Coerver Clinic in my region. I have some concerns about attending due to being very green to the game and coaching. I have been assisting for a few years at the U8 and U6 rec levels. This year I am going at it solo with a U10 and U6 group. Being a former college basketball coach and player, I am very aware of how important ball skills are to both basketball and soccer. This is what excites me about the Coerver Clinic. However, my ball skills are minimal at best and I wonder if the clinic would be way over my head....both skill wise and soccer IQ wise. If I am unable to demonstrate what I learn at the Coerver clinic, what use would it be to attend? Your thoughts or recommendations.....? PS - I do have the Coerver Make Your Move and Coach Great Soccer Session Planner DVDs.
Green? Don't let ignorance be an excuse for not learning more. Besides you are not green. Your basketball background is perfect for U-Littles. While before you were training college players to win, with U-Littles the focus is on learning technique. U6 is about learning basic movement skills. U8 is about learning basic athletic skills. U10 is where we start teaching sport specific skills and Coerver will help. The goal is ball mastery by age 12. And even at U10 there is debate as to whether they are too young for repetitive skill training drills, but my one big regret coaching U10 was that I didn't learn more about the Coerver method. Like everyone else I used some of their ball mastery drills and spent time on skill development, but in hindsight I should have put an even greater emphasis on ball skills. Demonstrating the ball mastery drills is not difficult even for a novice. You are better off using a player to demonstrate anyway, from an educational standpoint. Demonstrating a positive attitude and no fear of failure is more important than demonstrating your own proficiency. In fact using a demonstrator with advanced skills can establish unrealistic expectations for the players. Remember the object is to demonstrate technique, not proficiency.
Yeah, coaching doesn't have to be this linear process: youth licence, e-license, coerver coaching course... I live in a rural area so I have to take the coaching courses that happen to be within driving distance of me. Put the Coerver thing under your belt and realize that it's a tool. I recently took the same course because I wanted to develop individual players beyond my current ability. My players, I would say, are competent in the game but they're not exactly scaring anyone. Only one or two of them would be considered "game changers" or dangerous. And that's exactly the type of players I've seen coming out of our local Coerver academy. To me, it was a know-how that I wanted in my back pocket. There are a lot of criticisms of the Coerver system, but the proof is in the pudding—they're players, to use basketball terms, are great ball handlers and rarely cough up the ball. Big clubs like Arsenal and Man Utd use the Coerver system. Have you seen Japan's players in the past decade men's and women's? The Japanese FA adopted coerver as their training system years ago and it's paying dividends. So have the French FA. They system works, but you still have to coach. If it's an oven and your players are cookie batter—you're the heat. The videos make it seem like put the players in this scenario, push start, and in 24 months out comes players with great skills. Not saying you thought this way. As I mentioned in another thread, we are working through changes in direction now. My players need so much refinement and coaching points in doing these movements it's not even funny. You still have to give the coaching points. Sorry if I hammered the last point repeatedly, but that's the big takeaway for me.
http://www.coerver.com/home.php/youth-diploma Elessar78: Is this the course you took 2 years ago and are you still happy with it?
So what you're saying is I should spend the money to take it when it rolls around here in July? It only lists Kansas at the moment but let's be honest, nothing really exists out West so I imagine I'll be able to attend. It's probably been discussed, but my computer is acting stupid today so it's difficult to use, but what's the key focus of the Coerver stuff? From what I can see (mostly youtube) it looks like the 1000 touch stuff's full version. Is that close to right?
Well, cost and "happy with it" (the knowledge I gained) are two different things . I e-mailed that guy who ran it and told him that, when he asked for my review of the course, that I thought it was pretty pricey. What's it going for nowadays? The counter argument he made was that it included the DVD ($150 retail). Fair enough. More of sticker shock on my part, probably. But in the end it was moot because the club reimbursed me because I came to coach for them. I still use the DVDs today, so it's useful. What's the price of knowledge? When I compare it to the two day seminars my work sends me on (yes, I'm not footing the bill in that case), the course is inexpensive. Coerver is about the player development pyramid, at the base is "Ball Mastery" which includes the 1,000 touches type things. As you can see, despite popular perception that Coerver obsesses about 1v1, that receiving and passing are closer to the base.
Wait, you mean to tell me there are other methods of development?! Seriously though, IMO, that should be the norm. I mean, you can't see or make a pass if you are too busy freaking out with the ball at your feet. It's listing it as $450. Retail price for a DVD could be whatever they want though. I liken it to the infomercials that have products that retail $X but they give it to you for free. That makes the retail 0, not X since it's not actually sold. Then again, I sucked at all my business classes. *end rant* I guess it would be good to say I did it but since it's on my dime it's probably not really worth it then. That's kinda how I feel about a lot of things but I suppose that's life.
It's kinda funny to note that from a visual/information standpoint the pyramid is somewhat misleading. Passing and Receiving is in a thinner band than 1v1 attack + defense. Is that because passing and receiving is less important than 1v1? But then why have it closer to the base? Or is it because "1v1 attack + defense" couldn't fit on one line. It's pricey out of pocket no matter how you dice it.
The C license course tuition is $1150. It includes meals and is a week long, but still it costs a lot of money and time. The equivalent NSCAA National Diploma is $750 for members. The NSCAA level 4 course is only $100 (same for level 5 on SSG tactics), focuses on teaching technique, and is quite a bit cheaper than the Coerver Course. The state D and E courses likely cost about the same. I look at these as being the primary coaching courses and the Coerver course as an "elective." I have had a long-term interest in the Coerver method. While I have played over 50 years, my disadvantage is that I was self-taught. I was 33 and playing competitively before I had my first coach, so I have never experienced developmental coaching. When I coached youth the first time, I was pretty much reinventing the wheel. To make up for this, I try to learn as much as I can about teaching technique.