Short sleeves in the snow: The Winter 2013 thread

Discussion in 'Coach' started by elessar78, Dec 21, 2012.

  1. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    I did my E license course this weekend. Outdoors. Cold, with a bit of wintry mix from time to time.

    But I'm responding here because I think I have enough rubber pellets and green threads in my clothes to build my own field.
     
    cleansheetbsc repped this.
  2. pm4chi

    pm4chi Member

    May 16, 2006
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Planning to bust my son out of school tomorrow to sneak over and watch the US men training session. I just discovered they've been practicing two blocks from his school the past two days!

    And I just swept out the garage after our last turf session last week. Damn pellets and fake grass was everywhere!
     
    cleansheetbsc repped this.
  3. pm4chi

    pm4chi Member

    May 16, 2006
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  4. equus

    equus Member

    Jan 6, 2007
    First U9 Academy play day of the spring on Saturday, in which it was marginally springlike for a change. We were only able to have two training sessions out of five scheduled due to wet, cold or both.

    Our academy director last Wednesday had the usual parent meeting agenda, going over the basics, approach to individual development over team play, parent behavior, etc.

    This was my first play day as assistant coach and basically managed the kids as far as laces tied, water, ice for injuries, positive comments and a few coaching moments with individual players as they came off the field for subs while the head coach did his thing. The first game went off without a hitch, and I told the head coach during it how quiet the parents were and that the director's speech must have paid dividends.

    Then the second game started about 15 minutes later. About five minutes in I can hear one of our parents start chirping instructions at his kid. Then more instruction and getting more frequent and louder. A few minutes later he was losing his mind, shouting out instructions to his kid and all other players out there and would not stop. This is a guy who has absolutely no soccer background at all but "coached" his son's rec team. He was yelling for the kids to "get it outta there!" and for the keeper to punt it when the state association mandates rolling it out and backing kids to midfield on goal kicks to help facilitate ball control, confidence on the ball and building out of the back.

    At one stoppage after my son got a knock, the head coach went out to check on him and this guy walked out on the field and started barking orders to the boys. I was shocked and embarrassed and so were our parents. The other team's parents were laughing at him. What's more ridiculous is that he pulled a similar thing last fall at our first play day, from reports I heard.

    Luckily the academy director saw the whole thing as he monitored both games being played and spoke to him at length following the game.

    Afterward, I asked my wife why the two games were so different and she said this guy's wife and parents were at the first game but left before the second one started.

    The unbelievable thing is I've had conversations with him in the past about why we do things the way we do in soccer vs. other sports to get him to understand and he says he does, but then goes back to this behavior. I hope he never comes to another game again.
     
  5. dcole

    dcole Member+

    May 27, 2005
    What state is this? Can you give a link to these rules? I'm trying to get our rec division to adopt these policies and would love seeing it codified somewhere. You can post the link or PM me. Thanks.
     
  6. equus

    equus Member

    Jan 6, 2007
    Kentucky. I don't know if it's in writing anywhere that I know of; I just heard it from one of the opposing coaches that those guidelines were recommended for academy teams.

    I've also tried to get it in rec at U8 a couple of years ago, but never got any traction.
     
  7. cleansheetbsc

    cleansheetbsc Member+

    Mar 17, 2004
    Club:
    --other--
    I recommend to our coaches to back off on goal kicks (they are painful at young ages). Doesn't always work.

    When I coached the little kids u-5's, we used to make a (team shirt color) wall at the middle line. I'd have them stand with their arms out to give them a little idea of spacing.
     
  8. equus

    equus Member

    Jan 6, 2007
    In our rec league they have that rule in place at U5 and U6, on tiny fields. Then in U8 that rule goes away yet the field size increases, so the goal kicks are going even shorter in relation to the field size. That should be even more reason to keep that modification in.
     
  9. dcole

    dcole Member+

    May 27, 2005
    I instruct my U7 team to stand behind the midfield line for the other team's goal kicks, but none of the teams in our league reciprocate and, in fact, don't even give us the 5 yards that the rules prescribe. The 5 yard rule is virtually impossible to enforce since there is no corresponding line on the field. We play 4v4 on a 25x35 yard field with no keepers. Goal kicks are the easiest way to concede goals in our league. In fact, you're better off just kicking the ball directly out for a throw in or even a corner kick to the other team. I won't let my team do that and also won't let them play it long. The other teams just camp out about 3-4 yards away from the kick and try to steal the ball and take a quick shot. We play without refs, so even when the coaches instruct the kids to "back up" they only take a half step back and then they end up rushing in before the kick so that they are about one yard away by the time the kick is taken. It's real rubbish soccer and incentivizes the kids to just kick it long to avoid the scrum in front of goal.

    I've talked to my DOC about having a rule requiring kids to stand on the midline when opposing a goal kick. In reality, that's only 10 yards away from the kick anyway, so it makes sense. My DOC agrees with me and thinks it's a good idea, but keeps saying he has "bigger fish to fry" because the overall quality of play is so low anyway, with teams posting one or two kids in front of goal as handless goalkeepers and destroying the spirit of the "no goalkeeper" rule. It's frustrating, but my team still manages to play attacking soccer despite the "craptactics" (to coin a phrase) of the other teams.
     
  10. pm4chi

    pm4chi Member

    May 16, 2006
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You know what I love? I love when I email people for a month confirming our numbers for a game that takes place at the tail end of spring break, and I confirm we have just enough to play, and when a family then tells me two days before our game that they have decided to go away for the weekend, leaving us a player short.

    I love that.
     
  11. equus

    equus Member

    Jan 6, 2007
    Need some opinions...I put this post on this thread because some of my previous posts shed light on my situation.

    I'm a volunteer assistant at my son's club academy. I have Youth Module and USSF E licenses and have coached U6 to U12 for seven years. The academy director asked me to help out after he learned of my credentials, my philosophy for this age group, and that I'd coached a group of Academy U8s this winter.

    The first play day I assisted on a team that my son played on -- let's call them Blue -- since I was at his game and it was fine, with the head coach making the play/sub decisions. Last week the director approached me about taking over coaching Blue for this weekend's play day and maybe more this season. The guy who was the head coach is fresh out of college, is working two jobs, and his fiance isn't too keen on the amount of time he spends coaching (silly girl!), so he may not be around as much as originally planned.

    Blue will be the most advanced academy team and will have most of the kids I coached during the winter sessions on it. It also has my son and a lot of the more vocal parents on it, including the loudmouth (see above) and Coach Joystick (see previous). This pocket of parents, despite what the director has instructed them, is very WAAC and results over development, not taking risks and constant tactical coaching over letting the kids make their own decisions. They also know me as a fellow parent.

    I'm debating whether or not to coach Blue this weekend and instead coaching another team playing at the same time whose parents don't really know me. I debate this from the perspective of these Blue parents whispering nepotism among themselves (I would play my son as if he were any other kid), and why they're paying $XXX for some kid's dad to coach them, even though I'm as experienced and credentialed for this age group -- in some cases more -- than the other coaches.

    I'm just helping out the academy director and doing what he asks of me, but I want to do what's in the best interest of the academy as well.
     
  12. dcole

    dcole Member+

    May 27, 2005
    I say go for it and just ignore the other parents. It sounds like your club has a good developmental model and the parents you are concerned about most likely will take their talents to South Beach pretty soon anyway. If you have the backing of the academy director, you should be fine. Maybe ask him to send out an email explaining the change and telling people who might have issues with it to address him rather than you.
     
  13. cleansheetbsc

    cleansheetbsc Member+

    Mar 17, 2004
    Club:
    --other--
    I spent last week, scrambling to postpone one indoor game, recruit players for another, and finally get some subs for the weekend match. Hate vacation weeks.
     
  14. Beau Dure

    Beau Dure Member+

    May 31, 2000
    Vienna, VA
    On this specific question, I'm inclined to agree with the others who say you should go ahead and do it as long as you know the Academy director has your back.

    But I'd like to ask a more general, more provocative question that relates to something I'm writing:

    What right do we have, as coaches, to tell parents we're going to sacrifice results for "development"? Suppose they say they're not interested in building good U17 players -- their kids might end up playing football in high school instead -- and they just want a good competitive experience for their kids right now? Who are we to tell them otherwise?
     
  15. dcole

    dcole Member+

    May 27, 2005
    This is a good question and one I have struggled with in the past. 99.99% of the kids won't play past the high school level and 90%+ don't even need to play for a true "developmental" club in order to play at the high school level, so what's the point of all this "development for the sake of development"? I certainly struggle with this with my eldest son who is 9 and is a really good multi-sport athlete but not truly "great" at any of the sports he plays. The more I think about it, the more I want him to have fun rather than "develop," if "developing" means doing Coerver drills for hours on end and having his games described as "superfluous" by his DOC. His current team plays with no passion and just passes the ball around with no sense of purpose. I fear that the kids don't even recognize the objective of the game anymore.

    Overall, I think we've gone a little too far toward the side of "winning is not important" and have gone to the other extreme where soccer is just being played for soccer's sake, without any other values like teamwork, sportsmanship and (gasp) winning even registering on the priority list. I think my son would do better in a club that just has two practice per week and focuses on a mix of technique and tactics, without all the "let's be Barcelona!" nonsense.

    To answer your specific question though, each club has the "right" to choose what they value (be it development, winning or both) and each player should choose his or her club in accordance with his or her priorities.
     
  16. cleansheetbsc

    cleansheetbsc Member+

    Mar 17, 2004
    Club:
    --other--
    As between winning and development, I choose neither. I've always approached that I want to make them a fan of the game first and foremost.
     
  17. equus

    equus Member

    Jan 6, 2007
    Well, in my case as a U9 Academy with oversight by the state guidelines on how you play to develop players, you go into the situation with the knowledge (or you should know) that the objective is to prepare these kids for U10 club teams and beyond.

    Development doesn't mean you don't try to be competitive or to win the game. Going for the win at the cost of developing the kids that have come to you are by actions such as:
    • playing only the stronger players;
    • booting it out of trouble every time instead of building out of the back when the opportunity comes to increase confidence and touches;
    • booting it long from the back to the biggest, fastest forward every time instead of playing a possession game to get them comfortable on the ball and learn how to beat a defense multiple ways;
    • instructing players to avoid taking on defenders because they might lose the ball, etc.
    If a particular club wants to use those actions then I guess they have the right, and people are free to choose. I would think, for example, Barcelona's youth academies love to win as much as anyone else, but I don't think they put as much stock in whether they do or not as much as clubs here do.
     

Share This Page