"So tell me about your week": The Fall 2012 discussion thread

I'm just doing HS soccer now - no club soccer; which is a big break for me. We haven't had a game yet, but I feel good about this team.

My brag. A girl I coached emailed me so happy she made the college team, and is playing. She gave a lot of credit to me; which is a joke because she is such a hard worker and always sought to improve. Still, it feels great to have kid acknowledge you.

I've been lurking here for a while. I coached my son's u7 last year and focused on fun games where every kid is dribbling a ball during training. We lost all of our games but the kids developed some comfort on the ball and had a good time.

This year I'm adding some very basic tactics with a diamond formation and basic offensive / defensive jobs based on your position: forward, back, left, right and rotating all the kids through so they can play each position twice during the season.

We had our first game today and won 6 to 1! Although I'm not supposed to keep track They got bunched up a lot but I would call out "find your shape" and they'd spread out a bit and actually connected some nice passes.

This place is an awesome resource for new coaches. Thanks for all the great discussions!

Busy times:
Rec season started yesterday @ fields from 8-1. Back at 3 PM for novice goalkeeper training. 4 PM U-12 training. 4:45 chased off the fields with huge cold front pushing through.
Monday - scrimmage U-12 boys team vs. U-12 girls team as we get ready for first match next Sunday.

On your under 12 boys v under 12 girls game how did that work out for you?

If you play with more girls then guys like 3 or 4 players difference. That side differential can help both teams play a better game instead of just one team.

tomorrow afternoon. They have been training for several weeks. My boys have just been playing mostly pickup matches. I just started getting them organized last week. We have our first match next week.

I expect us to win, the girls are all good but lack any agressivness and right now can't handle much pressure / nor apply it properly. The boys were solidly trained last season for good technical skills, the girls are just starting to get that.

That's why playing with more girls and less guys could help both teams play. The girls have a numerical advantage and can pass through the boys team. So if it is just a practice game try doing that.

This was a league travel game? If the rules of the travel league say they must be goals and you don't the home team forfiets. What did the official that was on time at the game say? If the league says the areas were not right either that's it.

All the girls are experienced travel players. That and 6th grade girls are hitting their growth spurt, they will tower over most of the boys who are all squat with belly fat. It is quite amusing. A few of my boys are new to this and have little tactical awareness, dribble too much, new to goalkeeper, etc. We'll have things to work on as well.

Could've been worse. We play pickup at the local HS with field hockey nets.

I had parents assemble 12 brand new goals on Friday night ahead of the start of our rec season on Saturday. Henry Ford would've been proud of our assembly line. Love Kwik Goals. Damn expense, but well manufactured.

ridiculous, but legal.

Funny how we now complain about old turf. Still likely better than a dirt/grass potholed field.

One thing I always do after warmups and before pregame chat with my U-12's (and when U-1o), I always ask "OK, what did you notice?" completely open ended - to make them aware of the environment, let them tell me and the teammates, what issues are out there and how to overcome/take advantage of them.

Such as:
"grass is wet" - so we don't need to hit the ball so hard with our touches. Goalkeepers should be aware of the hydroplaning effect.
"Sun is in our eyes", "wind is blowing at our backs" etc. Talk about the field markings and how to you use them to your advantage, or what do you need to do so your opponent doesn't etc.

I don't limit either. We'll talk about "did you notice anything about the other team?"

"Yeah, their 11-yo 6'0" goalkeeper can punt the ball the length of the field." So "how do we adjust knowing when it comes?" etc. Learn to key on certain players or plays.

Saturday assistant coaching Rec U12 girls (half of whom I've coached in wither U8 or U10). Won 5-0, left that game to get to my son's U9 Academy game. Sunday afternoon, second U12G game against the same team from Saturday, only at their field.

Funniest moment: We were up enough at half and were telling the girls to make extra passes so as not to have a blowout. Head coach and I were showing them a 1-2 at halftime. I pass to head coach; her one-touch back to me is a little bit behind me. She tells the girls, "I needed to give coach a better ball."

One of our players, who hasn't played much organized soccer looks down at our bench area, picks up a nice looking ball and passes it to me. "Coach, here's a better ball!"

Due to our club merging with (more like absorbing) a neighboring club, I'm an assistant coach this fall for the first time in 12 years for my daughter's U12 team where 11 of the 13 players are formerly with the other club, 7 of them played together last spring on a team that went 0-12. Amazingly we're off to a 2-0 start after this weekend. In the second game there is a handling call against the other team just inside the center circle in the other team's half. With a stiff wind and the setting sun at her back, our central defender is positioning to take the kick. I yell out to her "It's a direct kick, if it goes in it counts". She nods, take 3 steps up and launches it in just below the crossbar. After the game my wife (who was on the spectator's side) tells me that all the parents, most of whom I don't know, heard the comment before the kick. Instant credibility!

I tell my players I can predict the future. "Look at that space," I tell the bench. "A needs to start her run now, because that's where the ball will go..." A makes her run, arrives right on schedule, collects the ball. On the flip side, "Uh oh, look at opponent #14. She's on the wrong side of her marker, and if she gets the ball... whew, that was close. We almost got scored on. What did I tell you?"

I do it enough, I think some of my players really do believe I have ESP.

We won 3-1. My boys who are back from last year moved the ball around the back and switched fields nicely. New kids need some work. Have one new kid who has gifted vision, just needs to learn how to receive that initial ball to attack better. Goalkeeper, starting over again.

The girls were much improved technically (they have the BEST coach I have ever seen). They will catch up and learn quickly with 2-3 practices a week that they are going through (we only practice 1-2 times). They have gotten much tougher physically. This is truly the difference between an A division girls team and B division team. Who wants the ball.

As most of the kids are in the same grade in the same school it was a fun experience.

Our club's move from U8 to U9 means going from 4v4 no keepers and coaches reffing to 6v6 keepers and refs. Our first U9 game was last Saturday and the goals were much smaller than they were supposed to be, smaller than we had been practicing.

Anyway, this presented a great challenge for our team and they loved it. We ended up winning 5-3, but the best part was how we totally dominated the possession and attack - just hard to get past a keeper and multiple defenders on a small goal. In our post game meeting one of the players said that was the most fun he's ever had playing soccer.

Basically it was getting difficult to push the players, games were too easy. Increasing the number of players and adding a keeper definitely increased the difficulty which added to the challenge/fun. Should be a great season.

Good to keep track on the minutes each player plays

It seems that each year I have to come up with a new rotation to ensure all of the players get equal playing time. I usually spend a couple of hours figuring it out and then map out the rotations for all of the games before the season begins in a spreadsheet.

This year we went from 2 4v4 games played on fields side by side to 1 6v6 game, and our team returned all 12 players. Luckily it's an even number where I'm just rotating all 6 players every 5 minutes, at least until a player misses a game which will happen this weekend. I've got 11 players to even it out for somehow. Hopefully whatever I come up with won't lead to a similar angry stare down.

It takes time for players to get into the game. So I can't agree with taking players out every 5 minutes. This is not a hockey game.