My first year coaching thread

[Lloyd Heilbrunn]

First day with an actual jv team ... even if it was only 7 players.>>>>>

I've been following this interesting thread without comment but I'm more and more puzzled........if you get 8 for varsity practice and 7 for JV,and the most players you've ever mentioned showing up is 21 why even run a JV team???

[pething101]

Originally posted by Lloyd Heilbrunn
First day with an actual jv team ... even if it was only 7 players.>>>>>

I've been following this interesting thread without comment but I'm more and more puzzled........if you get 8 for varsity practice and 7 for JV,and the most players you've ever mentioned showing up is 21 why even run a JV team???

Not quite sure of that one. I think we had maybe 22 kids show up yesterday. Split into jv and varsity. I had 7, Varsity had 15, I think.

I dont know the answer to your question.

[bungadiri]

Originally posted by Xscape
pething101 and bungadiri:

Regarding Smith and the conference realignment, Smith is in the Two Rivers 4A Conference. (Not 3A.)

bungadiri, Smith has been picked to finish first (in A. football).

Apologies to everyone else for the interruption.

By the way pething101,
I have just spent two hours reading this fascinating thread. Great stuff.
I am the coach of a middle school team in your area. Now I've become a fan of Smith's soccer team. Beat Terry Sanford!

Thanks for the information Xscape. I agree about the thread--I've referred a number of people I know to it.

Regarding the 7 man JV question (with apologies it it's been answered already and I've forgotten or missed it). Even if you've only got 7 guys you want to keep them involved in the program. Having a JV team is probably a better way of doing this than sinking them deep into the nether regions of the varsity bench if this gives them a chance to play in real games more frequently. Is it possible to set up 7-a-side JV games with other schools in situations similar to yours?

Yes! Beat Terry Sanford.

[Coryattheplex]

A lot of our jv games are NOT played at the same time as our varsity, so i have several players who float between the two teams so that they can get additional playing time. This obviously doesn't include my varsity starters, but the kids at the end of the bench who may see only a few varsity minutes here and there. If I held them to just the first team, what good am I doing them? By letting them play for both teams I can get them experience that will help them later on varsity, but keep them involved and interested by letting them see time with the junior team. I would suggest you speak with the head coach about doing the same with some players on your team.

[Fender playa]

This is a cool thread...........it took me half an hour to read all the posts,..............

[Fender playa]

hey.............you guys are coaches right.......i need some help. I played right defence fot 3 years in a row now. but my school coach chose me to play centre defence, whats the difference. and what do i have to do..............do i need to check anybody......

[pething101]

Rain out. Other school did not want to tear up their football field by having us play a game on it after an inch or so of rain.

Match tomorrow off as well.

Reprieve city, today.

[fernb8]

I thought there was a rule that a player could not play for JV and Varsity in the same time span. If a player participates for JV then he must wait 3 days before playing for Varsity.

[crewcrazy17]

Originally posted by fernb8
I thought there was a rule that a player could not play for JV and Varsity in the same time span. If a player participates for JV then he must wait 3 days before playing for Varsity.
I'm not sure this applies everywhere but in Ohio the rule is that a player may play three halves between the two teams on the same day.

[Coryattheplex]

Sorry if the rules where you are don't allow the players to play for both teams.....guess I'mm lucky here in Indiana. Our state association allows a team 16 regular season games, and each player, jv or varsity, 32 halves in which to participate. If I want I can play any player in all four halves of both games on the same night, it just means he or she has to sit out one full game (two halves) some other night.

[pething101]

Not sure on how those rules break down here in NC. I am betting that we will play 11 the whole match when we actually get a match.

Crappy thing is, we have practice tomorrow. No practice for Fri, Sat, Sun and Mon and then have a match on Tues. Not sure how much we can get accomplished in that two hours. Certainly, conditioning wont be a major portion since they will have 4 days rest.

[Reality_Al]

Originally posted by pething101


Not quite sure of that one. I think we had maybe 22 kids show up yesterday. Split into jv and varsity. I had 7, Varsity had 15, I think.

I dont know the answer to your question.
I think the question is: "If you only have 21 kids show up, call them ALL Varsity! Then practice accordingly. To have a JV & V team is reeally going to help conditioning, but will probably fry the team!

[Reality_Al]

With 21 Kids, you have a Varsity team, with 10 reserves. In every practice,(although it sounds like you don't get enough) you can have 3 small side teams with 2 GK's. You can also have challenges for position-responsibilities, and GREAT Scrimmages at the end of any practice! (But it takes a little preplanning!)
In a season of 16 Varsity & 16 JV Games, it will be impossible to put together an 11 side team/ with a couple reserves, and stay w/in the 32 halves limit, while still having any chance to gel!

I say, They are all VARSITY, and start think of platoons, or sub-sets, or dynamic rotations, whatever to get as much playing time for as many as you can.

[soccernutter]

Originally posted by Fender playa
hey.............you guys are coaches right.......i need some help. I played right defence fot 3 years in a row now. but my school coach chose me to play centre defence, whats the difference. and what do i have to do..............do i need to check anybody......

Well, you stated the obvious, right back to center defence. As for marking or not, that depends partly on how many you play at the back, and in what formation, as well as what the coach instructs.

Take at look at the 3-5-2 v. 4-4-2 discussion on this thread as well as the seperat thread that was started. They might give you an idea of what to expect.

And on behalf of the coaches, welcome to the thread.

[Xscape]

All this Varsity - JV talk is moot anyway. I work for the same boss as pething101, the AD of Cumberland County Schools. I can tell you, it's not up to pething101, the head coach, or the school's AD. They are going to want a JV team fielded because the other schools have JVs, games have been scheduled, officials have been assigned. If you just don't have enough for a JV you just don't, but they are going to "encourage" your AD to try to put something together.

[uniteo]

Originally posted by Fender playa
hey.............you guys are coaches right.......i need some help. I played right defence fot 3 years in a row now. but my school coach chose me to play centre defence, whats the difference. and what do i have to do..............do i need to check anybody......

Well that really depends on what your coach expects out of defenders, but normally the central defenders stay home more and one will be given responsibility as 'last man back.' You should really talk to your coach about what, if anything, he wants differently.

[fernb8]

they obviously seem to vary from state to state, thanks for all the input. I have to agree with Xscape, as long as the AD or the director of the schools association wants a JV team, then pething will have one.

[fernb8]

I dont have to worry about high school for a couple of months, but I do have a problem with the U16 rec team(s) I coach

background- I have coached the U16 rec team for the last two years, and although several players had to move up most of the core group I started with are still intact. The team has really developed, a few players are on the Varsity squad and nearly everyone else is either on JV or will be on JV.

The problem- this year we had so many kids sign up that they were turning them away. A suggestion was made to have two teams, and the teams were divided into an older group and a younger group. There is a dramatic difference in skill level and knowledge of the games between the two teams. The younger team can not master the basics and most of the players have terrible attitudes.

The root of the problem- no coaches. It is just me and a "soccer dad" and he will not coach the younger team due to the fact that his son is on the older team. Other coaches have refused to work with the younger team due to their need for attention and attitudes. I can still work with both teams in practice, but a huge problem is if the older team will apply what we learn in practice at the games (of which I can only make 2 or 3). The "soccer dad" is not much help due to the fact that he plays his son, the sweeper, at foward when I am not at the games.

Any ideas/comments/suggestions

[Fender playa]

Originally posted by soccernutter


Well, you stated the obvious, right back to center defence. As for marking or not, that depends partly on how many you play at the back, and in what formation, as well as what the coach instructs.

Take at look at the 3-5-2 v. 4-4-2 discussion on this thread as well as the seperat thread that was started. They might give you an idea of what to expect.

And on behalf of the coaches, welcome to the thread.

Thanks soccernutter...........:D

[JohnW]

Originally posted by fernb8

...The problem- this year we had so many kids sign up that they were turning them away. A suggestion was made to have two teams, and the teams were divided into an older group and a younger group. There is a dramatic difference in skill level and knowledge of the games between the two teams. The younger team can not master the basics and most of the players have terrible attitudes.

...Any ideas/comments/suggestions

Fern, you don't say where the suggestion came from, but I'm guessing it came from a parent of one of the newer players. You also don't say whether you must take all of these players or not. Obviously, these will affect your final decision.

To me, it sounds like you have too many kids for some/many/all of them to have a good experience. As you know, this ultimately is counter-productive.

It's tough, because you have such a wide range of physical and emotional maturity at this age, which is--as you note--exacerbated by the wide variation in skill.

So, what to do?

Pick a good squad size and work with that. With a fairly competent assistant, that's probably about 18-20 at that age (assuming you are pretty organized and keep things moving). IMO, the rest of the players should be told that your team is full.

Look at it this way. What you have now makes no one happy. You have the less-skilled, poor-attitude athletes holding back the more-skilled, likely-to-play-in-high-school athletes. The better athletes are not going to improve and may be infected by the poor attitudes. The others probably aren't having fun either (and isn't that one of the keys to rec league?).

RE: father/assistant. I'd have a pleasant chat with him, explaining that you have his son at the sweeper spot because you think that's where he helps the team best. Especially in a rec league, the son will develop more as sweeper or center mid than as a forward. He will most likely get more touches on the ball (which he needs for his development), and he will learn to read the game better.

Then, if he's good enough, he will make it as striker on his high school or competitive club team.

Best wishes.

jgw