2018 Coaching Thread

Discussion in 'Coach' started by stphnsn, Jan 5, 2018.

  1. Peter Rival

    Peter Rival Member

    Oct 21, 2015
    That is very true. I only wish this league built practice time into the schedule, but the way things go there are only a few pre-season practices in this age group and then they play 1-2 games per week for the season and that's it - no practices. The younger groups practice, although I'm not sure at what age group that stops.

    I guess that just means I get time to work on my in-game coaching skills, along with trying to show them things when they sub out or at halftime. Fortunately it's rec so I don't have to deal with parents raging about how much they're paying and all that. They're already getting better though...
     
  2. jmnva

    jmnva Member

    Feb 10, 2007
    Arlington, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    I had two fun sessions this week. On Monday I worked with 1st grade girls and last night it was 4th grade girls.

    It is fun to work with different age groups than I usually do-- the differences in maturity and skills keep my on my toes (plus the pay is an added bonus).
     
  3. stphnsn

    stphnsn Member+

    Jan 30, 2009
    after poor attendance at training last week, i instituted the you're benched if you have an unexcused absence rule for my 18Us. 17 out of my 18 were there monday. funny how that works.
     
  4. Timbuck

    Timbuck Member

    Jul 31, 2012
    I think for the Fall season, I’m going to institute a new attendance rule for my 05 and 04 team.
    You are allowed 2 unexcused absences. After the 2nd, you are benched for a game.
    Need a night to work on homework? Take it.
    Family birthday party? Take it
    Out of town visitors? Cool. Hang out with them.
    Need to go to a non emergency doctor or dental visit? Go for it.
    You get 2. Being sick, injured or attending a funeral are about the only reasons that won’t count against this.
    Any feedback?
     
  5. rca2

    rca2 Member+

    Nov 25, 2005
    @Timbuck Better run that policy by your club.

    Personally I don't like it. Too much interference with the parents. For instance no excuses for school or religious activities, bad weather, traffic accidents, family emergencies and family illnesses. I also don't like the fact that medical and dental treatment are not an excuse. Health and safety should be a priority.
     
  6. Timbuck

    Timbuck Member

    Jul 31, 2012
    We only practice twice a week. Schedule your appointments on the other 3 days.
     
    Kevin Alexander repped this.
  7. stphnsn

    stphnsn Member+

    Jan 30, 2009
    for 04 and 05s the parents are the issue not the kids. @Timbuck, you ought to make the policy clear at your preseason parents meeting and give it to the parents in writing.

    btw, we were down to 10 again tonight. 4 had athletic physicals at school. 3 had to work. 1 was injured. at least everyone told me though.
     
  8. Timbuck

    Timbuck Member

    Jul 31, 2012
    Another Spring update for my girls 04 team.
    Played for the 4th year in a 7v7 sand soccer tournament. Finally took home the championship!!!

    Also- picked up a player that was on an 05 pre-academy team. Her coach had a tremendous resume- USWNT scout. Played at a high level.
    Player hated playing for her. Would do all she could to skip practice.
    Told my team we were going to skip practice on Thursday- this girl was bummed out. She said “that stinks. I love practice”
     
    rca2 repped this.
  9. Mike03

    Mike03 Member

    Jun 7, 2006
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    I've been lurking here for a while and it's been very helpful for me coaching my kids' rec teams. There's never been enough commitment from the families to play more than fall season so I don't get a lot of time with the kids and I certainly didn't know what I was doing in the beginning but I just received a very kind note from a parent who's kid has moved on to select that I thought I'd share.

    Makes me proud! Thank you to all the folks who post here. This has been an awesome resource.
     
    stphnsn and rca2 repped this.
  10. stphnsn

    stphnsn Member+

    Jan 30, 2009
    my 18Us won 2 games this weekend. yesterday we managed to beat a team who only had 8 players. it was our worst performance and by far the most frustrating game of the season so far to coach. we should have crushed them and used our numbers to spread them out and run them into the ground, but we didn't figure that out until we'd played 80 minutes. it's amazing how these guys lost their composure and forgot everything we've been working on all season just because we had the "advantage" of playing up 3 or 4 players. hopefully this was a learning experience for them.

    i think i made a mistake in switching from our usual 442 to a 343 once i saw how the opponent was going to play their 8 guys. i think i should have left my guys in the formation they knew with the patterns and spacing we'd worked on. they probably would have figured out how to use their advantage quicker. live and learn for me too.
     
    jmnva and rca2 repped this.
  11. elessar78

    elessar78 Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 12, 2010
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    I instituted that with a team a few years back. One incident with our best players had a no call/no show so we benched them for the game and the parents were irate despite knowing the rule ahead of time. I think you keep the rule, but if you need to bench someone give the player and parents a heads up before the game. It gives them time to simmer down, recall the rule, etc. Up to you, give them the discretion of whether to attend the game or not. Ideally, they'd be there to support their teammates, but the reality is that we're all busy people and families.
     
  12. jmnva

    jmnva Member

    Feb 10, 2007
    Arlington, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    On the attendance issue, this where coaching is very different from coaching travel. I never know how many I will have at practice because of schoolwork, other activities or other sports. I have a couple of families that are great about giving me a heads up.

    For games, most families are good about letting me know if their kid will make it but I almost never have everyone there.
     
  13. Peter Rival

    Peter Rival Member

    Oct 21, 2015
    The rec league I'm coaching right now, well, let's just say we never even know if we'll get 11 to play - half of the games we've played so far our opponents have started with < 11 and then had kids show up over the next several minutes. We wind up having to patch together lineups every game and figure out who might be decent where.

    Our game last Friday was a perfect example. We have one girl who played well as a left back in practice but said once that she hates playing defense. This game our two best backs were both absent so we plugged her in as a center back hoping the other center back could cover any deficiencies.

    After 15 minutes they had scored 4 goals, all coming on runs between her and the other center back that she just couldn't keep up with. I suggested we swap with a kid we normally rotate between striker and mid who has never played as a back before. Poof, she starts playing 10 levels better, and his speed and willingness to run through contact means we only give up one more goal the whole game.

    Next game we expect to have both of our normal backs in, but who knows who we'll be missing where. One of the upcoming games we'll be missing our goalie and our CAM ... I think I'm going to start calling this "roster roulette"...:p
     
  14. rca2

    rca2 Member+

    Nov 25, 2005
    Positions are "Much Ado About Nothing." I always thought of myself as a right half. I played competitively for 2 years on an adult men's team, started every game, but never played a minute at right half. I played every other wide position, but mostly I played left wing. I like to say that there are only 2 positions in soccer--keeper and field player.

    I have had a few adults that rather sit the bench than play out of "their" position. It is really just a matter of having a "comfort zone." With kids you can force them to play out of their comfort zone, until the entire field becomes their comfort zone. :)
     
    Jyby repped this.
  15. elessar78

    elessar78 Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 12, 2010
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Do you have an app like TeamSnap or something? People can mark attendance. It may not help with people showing up, but may ease anxiety with knowing how many you'll have at the game.
     
  16. Peter Rival

    Peter Rival Member

    Oct 21, 2015
    I'll ask the league Director if she's looked into it, but this league runs on an absolutely shoestring budget. The city has a lot of low-income families and this is in part a way to keep the kids active and out of trouble. Almost all of their budget already goes to facilities / repairs / uniforms / referee fees. It would be hard to add something like TeamSnap if the cost is anything beyond minimal.
     
  17. stphnsn

    stphnsn Member+

    Jan 30, 2009
    you don't need an app. just use group texts. the afternoon of training, text all the parents "is everyone coming tonight? let me know if your player won't be there." that makes it easy for them to reply back to you. i have group texts for my 18U players, my 6U team coaches who i train on fridays, and one for each of our other rec divisions' coaches. everyone has a phone. make it easy for them to get you the information you need.
     
  18. McGilicudy United

    Dec 21, 2010
    Florida
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    WhatsApp works pretty well for big group communications.
     
  19. Milan Brindic

    Milan Brindic New Member

    Chelsea
    Italy
    May 19, 2018
    Hello everyone,

    I was amateur football player for years, and now I'm IT student, who is trying to solve communication problem between coach and players in most efficient way. So I came up to the idea of football tactics designer - where coaches can create custom drills. The major advantage is Virtual-Reality part - coach creates custom drill, and practice with players by giving them virtual-reality glasses, where they can see highlighted path exactly where they should go and what coach demands from them to do. This was major problem when I had to communicate with coach - I just could not fully understand whiteboard scribbles!

    I'm in fundraising stage, so I would really appreciate if you guys can fill this form, and tell me what you think about my idea.

    Many thanks guys!!!
     
  20. stphnsn

    stphnsn Member+

    Jan 30, 2009
    my 18Us won one and lost one this weekend to end our league season. we had another game against an undermanned team on saturday, but we figured out how to use our advantage a lot sooner and ended up thrashing them the way we should have. then we got thrashed 6-0 on sunday by the league champs. it was men against boys, and our boys we dead on their feet by the end having played on saturday too. we stand second in the league now, but 3rd and 4th have games to play so we'll probably finish lower.

    we have a friendly on wednesday, and then we're done. i'm pretty happy with how we did in our first season playing together. i hope i can keep most of this team together for next spring. i plan to do some indoor work with the guys who want to over the winter and also apply for the state tournaments. hopefully we can build on the progress we made this spring.
     
  21. elessar78

    elessar78 Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 12, 2010
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    I'm giddy for "tryouts" tonight. Tryouts in quotes because since I moved to my daughter's age group, they're not exactly tryouts. Unless we get 36+ players out for an age group then we wouldn't really cut anybody at the academy level. It's always exciting to see the new players who come to tryouts. My core group signed up for tryouts so I have a reasonable certainty they'll be back next year. My "not as good" players don't seem to be re-upping for next year. No, I dind't push them out. I guess they decided soccer wasn't for them.
     
  22. rca2

    rca2 Member+

    Nov 25, 2005
    My club calls them "t-t-t..placements!" :)
     
  23. Peter Rival

    Peter Rival Member

    Oct 21, 2015
    In our U19 rec game today, at some point after the start of the second half the opposing team realized they only fielded 10 players. They tried to get a sub on but the referee (correctly) would not allow a sub while the ball was in play. Play went on for another ~4 minutes including possession for both teams until finally our team scored a goal. The next thing we know the referee is disallowing the goal and giving the other team a goal kick "because they only had 10 on the field".

    Now, I know this is rec and not competitive club, and I know I don't know everything, but I can't find that rule anywhere in the LOTG. During a water break I asked all three of the referees how that could possibly be a rule since it's wide open to abuse (get ahead by a goal and if there's a promising attack simply have a player vanish into the bench and claim you're down by 10, *poof* you can't be scored on) and punishes the team that did nothing wrong. Could someone please enlighten me as to how this is supposed to work since clearly I'm missing something? We wound up losing the game 3-2 which left a lot of players angry - yes, it's rec, but they're competitive teenagers and can keep score.

    (Note, we've lost to this team before due to, ah, "inventive" refereeing - a player was ruled onside "because he was running when the ball was kicked", not because he was, you know, actually onside when the ball was kicked which is the actual rule.)
     
  24. elessar78

    elessar78 Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 12, 2010
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Had 8 returning and had ten new kids show up at p-p-p-tryouts—offering all 18 a spot! So excited for the potential new additions.
     
    rca2 repped this.
  25. elessar78

    elessar78 Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 12, 2010
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    One unintended consequence of the change to birth year age groups was some clubs couldn't survive as is and had to merge with other clubs. About 2-3(?) years down the road that has triggered clubs to expand to areas that, traditionally, were outside their footprint. Two clubs here have been swallowing up other clubs and opening up variants called "Club X North/West/East".

    For many years and decades even, a lot of the clubs could operate as smaller standalone clubs, but now survival is hard in the age of conglomeration and mergers.

    My own club went through a merger, but we are not in the acquisition mode. My verdict is still out on if this is good for my region. Merely an observation at this point.
     

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