The MISTITLED 2014 Climate Change Victimized Thread

Fina-freaking-ly, but what if we still play on turf? Can we still post?

We've been done with futsal for about a month now. Our outdoor schedule comes out tomorrow and the first weekend of games is the 7th. With all the snow, rain, warm, freezing temps, all the parks are a mess. Getting dark at 6 doesn't help. The only way we can get a practice in is 9 this Saturday morning on a local open-to-the-public turf field (hence the 9am part). Temperature? 19 degrees! I'm bringing cocoa for the team. Just hope they dress warm and the parents don't chicken out since it will be our only outdoor practice unless we get lucky and don't play the first weekend. Plus, I want to pick up my Girl Scout cookies!

 

This spring season is my first as a coach ever (U10), and I have been lurking on the coaches forum for the past month or so stealing practice ideas. I was surprised that my roster had quite a few kids that are new to soccer, but have really enjoyed just being around the game again (haven't played pickup or anything in at least 2 years). First game is this Saturday!

 

I was in a similar situation last year. Don't worry too much about the kids who haven't played before. A lot of them will be pretty athletic in general and pick it up really quickly. Conversely I had players with lots of experience who showed very little aptitude for soccer at all.

The main thing to remember at this age is to keep it fun. Even the most enthusiastic of them will lose interest if you get too detailed. Just stick a ball in front of them and try to massage them into being better players.

 

Appreciate the tips! You coaching this season?

 

We practiced on the concrete again today due to snow. We've seen grass on our practice pitch exactly twice in the last 4.5 weeks. In between all the cramped indoor turf and gym time, we went to a tournament in Las Vegas and played on full-size fields. We didn't do too badly, but you could tell we hadn't been in an area bigger than 40x60 yards since last fall.

 

This is my favorite time of the season, when games are still weeks away and there's no pressure (internal or external) to try to fix things we are doing wrong in games. Training priorities are set according to a developmental path rather than a game-performance improvement path. I try never to go down that latter path, but the temptations increase as the season wears on.

 

I will be but our season is still over a month away. The Pacific Northwest doesn't lend itself outdoor activities this time of year.

 

Ha! Didn't even think about seasons being different due to geography. That said I do remember being shocked that my little cousins were playing outdoor in the summer several years ago when I visited the Tri-Cities in Washington.

 

I've really enjoyed reading over some of your posts and was curious how you judge a performance. May sound dumb, but do you base it one specific theme or everything you teach in practice? With my kids I've been trying to focus on them being calm with the ball and not just blasting it every time they get it (especially the goalie and defenders). Been really praising players when they get the ball and look for a pass or shield and look for a pass even if it doesn't work out well for them. It seemed to be the element of the game we are the worst at (outside of positioning) so that's what I've focused on.

 

Yup. Our first outdoor game is next Saturday. We don't have lights so we can't practice at night. We called a last ditch practice for tomorrow. They are calling for it to be about 20 degrees. I'm bringing cocoa for everyone. If not for that mentality of being on a larger field with an extra person, I really wouldn't care and would just give them a week off since we just finished futsal. I've already had one say she can't make it because of her asthma. I know 20 is a bit extreme but how often is she going to use that excuse if it's cold out? I only have 3 subs as it is.

 

20° is a bit cold isn't it. All of the major spring kickoff tournaments in the NYC area were cancelled with much consternation because of the expected cold snap.

 

We'd have games in it so why not? I know teams that practice in worse. It ended up being about 25. Dress warm, go hard, have cocoa!

I just looked to see if it's still going on and it is, but there is a tournament happening here this weekend. THAT would suck especially since tomorrow is supposed to be a high of 9 and it's calling for 6" of snow.

 

I have a game the same day I wanted to attend a GK course through the NSCAA. Trying to find a sub. I'm not worried about the team we are up against that day. Last time we played them it was ugly even with using it as a glorified practice. Only so much you can do sometimes.

 

It must be a regional thing as below freezing point is usually the point leagues start to look shutting down games here in NYC area. I suppose a sunny day around 32 won't be a problem, but 29 and windy would probably be. Hard ground is also a factor due to concussion concerns.

 

In the military I required troops to do their daily run in all weather conditions, only cancelling if the temperature dropped lower than -25 degrees F. But there was a point to the training. There is no point in requiring kids to play in extreme conditions. The worst conditions I can imagine is 33 degrees and raining. I have played and coached adult amatuer matches in those hypothermia-inducing conditions, but with no "in and out" substitutions. We played flat out so our core temperature stayed high, and then we got out of the weather immediately after.

There are real health risks associated with being out in bad weather. "Soccer is the players' game. The paramount concern of coaches is the holistic development, welfare, enjoyment and safety of their players...." NSCAA Code of Ethics and Conduct. You wouldn't continue practice during a thunderstorm or tornado.

 

Oh no, if it had high winds and/or rain we would have canceled it. Honestly, had it snowed most of those kids would have been outside anyway but for another reason.

 

Since my first game as a coach was Saturday, I was just looking for some insight on how to judge my team's performance against other teams since I knew we were well behind the curve when compared to other teams in the association.

But it was really easy to see the items we needed to work the most on as the game unfolded. We lost 5-2, but we did pretty well in terms of what we worked on in our 5 practices. The things we were the worst at I had dedicated very little time to (restarts and using space). So I'll be working those into the next couple of practices.

 

If you are a development coach (i.e., coaching youth) you should be developing players rather than a team. Therefore you look for improvement in the individuals in areas appropriate for their age level. Aside from tryouts, you compare a player's performance to his own prior performance. That is why elessar78 responded the way he did about his U11 team. How well the other teams play compared to yours is really irrelevant. If you are coaching U11s, then your primary focus is on basic soccer specific techniques, individual and small group tactics, general athletic skills (speed and agility), and mentality (nurturing a love for playing the game). Some coaches including me think the last coaching objective is the most important for coaching children under age 12.

Youth coaches should take the long view.

 

I agree and this is the approach I am taking. If I haven't worked with them on a topic in practice, then I can't really use that as saying they were poor in my evaluation if they were poor in that area(how could I if they've never been taught the topic?). However, I can say we need to work on that particular topic because it is important and no one knew what to do -> restarts based on our first game.

If I have worked on a topic and they showed problems with that topic in practice(note I'm saying they but as you said, it's really individuals), then I'm also not grading them as playing poorly in that aspect because it's what I expected based on their performance in practice. I'm only evaluating them based on what they have demonstrated they can do in practice as it relates to what I've taught. And maybe that might have been a better way to ask it. To me that seems to be the only logical approach, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything glaring.

 

Outdoor games get started this coming weekend. 34 degrees on Sunday. My first game refereeing. Its on turf. We won't be outside for a while. All grass fields still have about a foot of snow on it.

 

My son had a first of the season practice outside on turf this past saturday. It was about 34-35 and sunny. He started with a hat, sweat shirt, underarmor, but soon discarded the hat and the sweatshirt. The first outdoor games are in two weeks, but the grass fields are still covered in snow.