Rec soccer is still very affordable. In the DC metro area: $120/season. In my area rec soccer runs: $70/season (uniform included). Better coaching is sorely needed at the rec and grassroots level. Had a $150 check bounce for camp last week. This is the same family that I was telling you that sent their kid to Barca camp a few weeks ago. It wouldn't be so painful if dad hadn't made a joke to me that he was going further into debt to pay for soccer. If tomorrow I told all the families on my team. "Hey, I decided this is way too much to pay for soccer. I'm going to the rec/travel club that practices here in these same fields. Your kids will get the exact same coaching and have the exact same quality teammates for 1/10 of the cost." I don't know if 80% would go with me.
there's no reason club kits should cost players more than $75. our club picked simple nike uniforms that are "good through" spring 2020. two jerseys, shorts, and socks. that's all that players should be required to buy. everything else is gravy. i'd love to get the club parka that soccer.com offers for our club, but it's $250. it's cold in indiana in march/april, but it's not THAT cold.
I agree. Especially when the second jersey is only $20-25. Why not just get that one in a different color? I talked with a neighboring club parent and they are required to get new unis every two years as well (different Brand supplier). So it might be industry standard. We're also on our second supplier in 3 years, because the previous one couldn't turn around the orders fast enough—definitely had a good chance to reduce cost. BTW, just to be clear, these decisions are happening at a level above me. Year 1 we got a couple of t-shirts, shorts, and a track suit. That's all I've ever gotten in any place I've coached. Year 2, we got the parka out of the blue. I don't think anyone on the staff is asking for this stuff. The parka was funny for me because I bought my own parka just six months prior on sale at Dicks for $25.
The last sentence, which is the basic problem with the pay to play model. Elsewhere I see uninformed fans believing that enforcement of FIFA policies on training compensation and solidarity payments would cure all the problems of the pay to play model. Reality is that those policies apply to the cost of training teens, most players are younger and participation is declining.
I thought that If a club gets $150k for the sell-on fee of a teen then the whole club should get to benefit from u8s to u19s, not just the teens. Further, it’s supposed to be paid down the line so the rec club, and travel/select club would get a piece too.
By the way. I believe most soccer clubs are registered as non profits 501(c)(?) therefore they file a tax return that is publicly available. One of the first steps is to demand more transparency into club finances. I think that’s only fair for a non-profit organization? Do State associations need to mandate this? For all sports in general?
I had a bit of an epiphany with a player on my girls 05 team yesterday. We scrimmaged a boys team our same age. Boys were faster and stronger but played crappy soccer. I like this player on the wing. She’s got ok touch, ok speed, but not super physical. I’ve been working really hard with them to receive the ball with their back foot. She was on the left side. 3 times in a row, a nice ball was passed to her just inside of midfield about 10 yards inside the touchline. She received the ball on her outside (left foot). Body position wasn’t as open as I’d like, but she wasn’t totally closed either. She received the ball with a decent touch. But instead of opening and turning towards the touchline to go forward, she went backwards and toward the center of the field. Thinking back, she’s done this quite a bit over the past few games. I think I can break her of this habit. It should really open up the game for her. I just took over this team a few months ago- im finally starting to pick up on some of their tendancies.
@Timbuck Yeah, it is complicated. You have to look at the context too. The timing, placement, and accuracy of the pass determines what the receiver can do with the ball when it arrives. A common amateur mistake is to stand still where they want to receive the ball and then wait for it to arrive. Tactically this is slower than a tortise, because a tortise at least moves slowly. Ideally the player should move into open space to receive the ball while positioned open to the field, not moving too early and not too late. Timing is more important than running fast. (Indoor soccer really helps people to learn about when to move into the space. The spaces are small so timing is very critical.) Some coaches will generalize that the players should let the ball travel across their body to the front foot. That is good, but reality is that the preference should be to receive the ball with the foot that is away from a marker (assuming there is a marker). If the target is moving away from the marker (has beaten the marker) or, if there is no marker, then the front foot is best for speed and position. The back foot slows down the receiver (because the ball is behind the player) and requires the player to turn to face upfield. In theory if the winger is tightly marked, the pass should go to someone in a better position. So you see some problems are not something that the winger can control. All this is necessary to get to this point. If the teammates are poor, that greatly restricts the movements players can make off the ball and still get service. I was often frustrated with recreational players who couldn't pass accurately to a teammate unless they were standing still or making a blind side run. Any other type of deception (such as a checking run or other deception) would confuse the passer more than the defense. I cannot tell you how many passes were made behind me because the team mate had never learned how to pass accurately to a moving player running in a straight line.
Good stuff. Thanks. I have another girl. She is decent technically. Plays hard. Her former coach had her on the back line. I see her as more of a playmaker. I’ve been trying to play her at the “8” in a 4-4-2 (diamond in the middle) lately. Yesterday she approached me after the game and asked “playing there, what should I work on? I’ve only played in the back before”. Before I go into what I discussed with her- WTF? How has a girl played soccer for 5 or 6 years and never tried a new position? This pisses me off!!!! I said “on the back line, everything is in front of you. So it’s a bit easier to know what to do with the ball when you have it. And usually, our goal is behind you- so you are almost always facing the direction you want to play. In central midfield- you need to be very aware of what is happening all around you. If you receive a ball with your back to the goal that we are attacking- you need to know all of your options in a 360 degree view. It requires a good first touch and fast decision making. Can you turn? Can you drop the ball back? Can you get it wide and play a 1-2 going forward?” I’m really looking forward to see her develop this year.
Work with her so she is trying to receive the ball while sideways instead of with her back to the opponent's goal. Small sided games such as in the clip above are useful for this purpose. One technique that works with teens is in a 11 v 11 scrimmage for the coach to take over the CM position for a brief time and have the player "shadow" a few steps behind you while you move. That way she can see and mimic (like a shadow) your movements and your positioning as you react to the changing circumstances. Sometimes that works better than instruction. Forwards near the opponent's goal are forced to play with their back to the goal when they are tightly marked and stationary. The better tactics is to shake their marker by checking back into the space between the lines and then (if not already moving laterally) at least at the end of the movement curl so that they are facing sideways when receiving the ball instead of back to goal. The same type of movement (lateral or ending with a curl) is generally tactically useful for both midfielders and forwards. Ending a movement sideways ("open to the field") should become a habit when moving off the ball. Unfortunately you will see a lot of pros who do not have good positioning off the ball.
Right footed. I’ve only got one natural lefty on the team. A few are almost serviceable with their left. She is one of them.
Is her first touch back towards the inside? When she moves inside is she mostly working with her right foot? If she's forced to rwtb down the wing, does she use her left? If so, does she lose control/dribble out? Does she rwtb using her right even though she's on the left, leaving it exposed to defenders?
Probably dribbling on her right. In these instances, she didn’t even open up to take the space towards the touchline. She received the ball with her left and took the touch inside and to her right foot. I’d be ok if she opened up took the touch forward and then dribbled with her right. (For now. I’ll work on the left footed dribble once I get her to turn into the space).
I do a weekly skills session once a week and do some private training over the summer. Some of the players in my skills sessions are also my players for the upcoming season. But I noticed that while they were doing skills they weren't actually playing soccer over the summer—seems pointless to me. So for my players, I organized a pickup game. No coaching, we just set-up goals and let them play. We had 10-12 kids come out and they played 5v5 for almost 75 minutes with breaks. Then played World Cup for the last 15 minutes. They were very into it. I didn't coach at all. So because of my schedule I can't be there every week. When I'm not there, interest drops—only 5 kids or so can make it. I know there are a lot of vacations (we do it midweek) but can't help but feel that because "coach isn't there" that there's no value to just playing. I LOVE skills training but it seems pointless if they don't actually get to play. I feel like it swings in the opposite direction in the offseason. People feel it's okay to just train in the offseason. But when the season starts, all people want are games and more games. When we did a camp last week, we ended with a scrimmage to big goals. 5v5 mostly. And it was feisty, spirited and competitive. Co-ed. Multiple age groups. Need more of that.
This new club i'm at organized an open play over the summer.. No coaching, Coed, all ages, mixing it up- it was great.. Usually 50 -60 kids per session. I noticed my daughter plays so much better against boys than girls. She's out to prove a point with a chip on her shoulder- I wish she would carry that over to her club games.
Update: I might be moving to Cornellá, Spain to further my coaching development and the best part, its not on my dime
So jealous!! Last week when mega millions was half a billion I was thinking I’d do something like you are if I won (if I bought a ticket).
I think I just need to open up to more age groups and genders. But this isn’t club sanctioned. Also, if it gets too big I think the park will crack down on it and make us get a permit.
Help!!! I have added a full time keeper to my 05 team this year. She has solid hands and catches if it’s near her. She is decent with distribution and will play short or long with good decision making. But- she does not come off of her line fast enough. She hesitates. Thinks about it. Goes forward. Freezes. And gets caught in no mans land. I do have another 05 keeper that plays on my 04 team that I can bring down to play. I’d rather not and I’d like to see this player just get better. I don’t want to break the spirit of a 12 year old girl by sitting her. She hasn’t played much on the field for prior teams. Maybe I need to get her 1/2 on the field and 1/2 in goal.