But in all seriousness, why is high school soccer the way it is? And by that I mean the all-physical, all-running, low-skill, long-ball game that, as best I can tell, it almost always is? It doesn't seem to matter whether a team has an actual soccer person doing the coaching, the game appears to always be a mess (we live in Illinois). I've known a couple of real soccer guys coaching high schools in the area over the past few years, and it didn't seem to matter. While club teams they had coached played good soccer, their high school teams were pure kick-and-run and hyper physical. I talked briefly with the director of coaching last night at my son's (he's a u12, so we're not there yet) club, and the DOC just rolled his eyes about having to break HS kids of bad habits after they return from their HS teams every year and get them to again play soccer. The DOC grew up in the Chicago area, played through it himself roughly a decade ago, ... Is it poor officiating, with physical fouls just not being called (and if so, why aren't they called? refs working club games tend to call those fouls)? Is it that too many of the coaches just aren't good and the games degenerate to the lowest common denominator? Do coaches resort to this style because their HS teams include large numbers of non-club players who don't really know how to play and long-ball is all they can reliably do? All of the above? Again, these may be dumb questions. I just don't understand why this is just the way things are with little or no apparent change or effort to change. I'm dreading tossing my son into the meat grinder these games appear to be (and, since he's a good-sized kid, having some HS coach convince him that all he really needs to do is knock people down -- he's a fairly skilled kid).
The players aren't experienced and even the good coaches don't have the time to drill possession soccer into them. Low skilled players are going to resort to equal the field with physicality and booting it a mile because they aren't comfortable under pressure.
you have a lot of inexperienced players on a lot of HS teams. They come under pressure they get rattled and decide to clear the ball before they lose it. Plus a lot of their coaches are teachers, and not soccer people. How many club players are on your average HS soccer team. It is possible to play a long ball possession game with skillful experienced players and good coaching.
In my state I am under limitations as to what I can do with players in the off season. Due to socioeconomics and distance from cities that support club/travel soccer my players will not be able to avail themselves to that form of improvement. I would love to be able to work with them in the off season(school) and then take them to tournaments to get them exposed to a different side of soccer but the regulations by the state athletics association are not soccer friendly. What pointy football coaches can get away with for contact with players in their off season is not equal to what soccer coaches are allowed to do. As far as the assumption of the level of play I have been around High School soccer in my state for the last dozen or so years. I can assure you once you get to the state playoff level in most classifications you will see a higher level of play. But at that playoff level you will also see a larger amount of players that play club soccer.
Appreciate the replies. HScoach13, I particularly appreciate you weighing in. It's the teams from the smaller towns that I most dread, teams that I'm guessing will have the fewest club players because of that lack of access and, from what I can tell, will be the most reliant on hard tackles, overly physical play, sharp elbows, ... While I assume a lot of the Chicago-area schools are heavy in club players, we're a couple of hours out and the team at the high school where my son will go (where his older brother, who is a runner rather than soccer player, now goes) seems to be between those extremes. It appears to be a mix of club players (maybe 50-60 percent?), Hispanic kids who mostly don't play club but have skill and know the game, and other kids who I'd guess have played rec soccer at some point but are pretty limited. Time to get my youngest used to a mouth guard, I guess.
The team I am working with does not rely on hard tackles. 90% of my team is Hispanic as a whole we have better foot skills than even the teams that beat us. In fact we really are a finesse team. What we lack is experience working as a team and team tactics. My players are too caught up with beating everyone one on one and trying to get the ball individually. Wingers not getting back consistently so they can stay forward etc.
My son's HS team suffered from that a bit. Lots of good footskills, lots of guys who were relatively comfortable on the ball, but far too much casualness and playing with the ball in dangerous situations. A real tendency to over-complicate in the final third and spend too much time on the ball in the defensive third. They were starting to click at the very end of the season--it was a first-year coach and an over-sized roster so part of the problem is getting to know your players and them getting to know each other in a short season.
This sounds a bit like the winter indoor teams my son plays on -- all club players with at least some skill but assembled for just a few weeks at a time for short, six-game seasons, no practice, ... Combine that with the fact that the games are in the kids' eyes lower-stakes, and you see a lot more players convinced they're going to dribble through two or three or more players and beat the world (and you see lower-skill teams playing kick-and-run being more competitive than they should, even winning ...). Hopefully what you're saying about the hack play not being a real issue rings true up here, too.
This is how you supposed to tackle it takes practice nothing comes without practice. Let's talk about the stand up block tackle. It is all about timing and form not about being physical or big or even contact with the player. it is about winning the ball, then starting your teams attack. Tell player the idea is not to crash into the dribbler. The idea is to win the ball from the dribbler. I have the feeling nobody has worked with them on their tackling. So they don't know how to tackle. You don't go for the tackle when the dribbler has close control of the ball. You do close space on the dribbler. Meaning if the dribbler is alone you close that open space within two yards of the dribbler. That alone limits the dribblers options, their view of the goal and also their passing options. Then you position your self to be ready to tackle. You get into a side ways position, and again you wait for the moment where the dribbler does not have close control of the ball. Then at that time you go for the tackle. So it is a lot about the timing of the tackle knowing when to tackle. You never go straight into the player. Your not looking to bang into them just take the ball away from them. Then you can start your teams own attack. You come in from an angle to the left or the right of the dribbler not straight into the dribbler. You tackle using only the inside of the foot with a bended knee not stiff legged. You want to hit the center of the ball so your tackling foot should be slightly off the ground with the heal down, and toes up ankle locked. It looks very similar to the form they use for push passes. Can they make a good push pass by the way? So he hits the center of the ball, and the tackling foot follows through riding up the ball. That gives the ball top spin. You want to put top spin on the ball to help the ball go over the dribblers right or left foot depending on the angle you took. You wants to put the ball behind the dribbler off the dribblers left or right shoulder. Then you go to the ball and win the ball and start her own attack. If you don't hit the ball over the dribblers foot the first time. Immediately tackle the ball again, and keep tackling until you do win the ball. When you tackle you will hear a loud noise of your foot hitting the ball, not your foot hitting the dribbler and not the dribblers foot hitting the body. A loud noise but no one should be hurt either player. Both of you hit the ball at the same time again loud noise both neither player should be hurt because your just hitting a ball. Take a ball put it down. You come from one angle the player comes from another angle you both hit the side of the ball your facing at the same time. You both will hear a loud noise, and you both will be okay. Unless you don't know how to tackle. Do not turn your inside of the foot after the touch. Keep it square with the ball just like she does with the push pass. If they can't do the push pass think of it as when you putt in golf. You don't turn the face of the club immediately after the putt as your follow through you keep the face of the club in the direction you want the ball to go. The tackling foot also faces in the direction you want the ball to go. Also the non tacking foot points the direction you want the ball to go. Eye on the ball and tackle coming in from an angle, hitting the ball with the inside of your foot so it goes straight over one of the dribblers feet with your top spin follow through. You don't want to hit the ball into the dribblers body. Practice-last thing is you don't go for a tackle unless you have a team mate supporting from behind just in case you miss. Practice - once they understand that you are not making contact with the dribbler just the ball, and the foot to ball contact does not hurt they will be fine. Once they see that they can win the ball they will be like the terminator on there tackles Good luck practice and have fun with it.
My son starts high school next year (just down the road from you, I believe) …and maybe lucky or just naive, but I am greatly looking forward it… The HS team he will be playing for seems to play enough decent soccer (from seeing a half-dozen games over the last couple of years)…the team seems to made up of a fair number of club players… From my son’s incoming class alone, I know 10 kids that play competitive club ball, many for the same team my son plays on… about the same numbers coming up behind them in 7th grade currently…from that alone, I can’t see the need to play kick and run (I certainly hope not)… I guess I do worry about skill level and play style of the other teams…like I say, only watched a handful of HS games, and those were mostly “big” games against other very good opponents…so yeah, there probably are a lot of lesser/smaller teams in the area, that play nothing but physical, kick and run that they will have to deal with…I guess l’ve already seen some of that from my son and his teammates playing up in the local JV indoor winter league the last few months…teams mostly made up of local freshmen/sophomores by school…not nearly as much completion as I would have thought and lot players who just wanna put a body on someone…
The high school girl's team I coach recently won our 4th consecutive State Title...(We play in an 18 school conference) and we did it playing 'possession with a purpose' soccer....In practice we NEVER run laps....NEVER do so called 'fitness training'....rarely do 'drills'...we practice for an hour and 20 minutes, (our matches are 80 minutes) are always on the go and everything we do is short sided games, possession games, 1/2 field games, uneven numbers games, playing out of the back games, games to create width and depth. The girls LOVE the sessions, stay active and involved the whole time and basically destroy our opponents who invariably play 'kick the crap out of it and run'..... You get fit for soccer by playing soccer.....not running laps and the rest.....Rocket science it ain't...
Last season's Title match went to 2 X 10 minute overtimes (no sudden death) and we won the game with literally the last kick otherwise it would have been penalties. I stayed with our best 11 just about the whole game. No O.T. games this season and, being high school, we have free and unlimited substitutions. I am convinced that you get fit for soccer by playing a lot of soccer....not by running laps around a track or a field. At NO point in a soccer game are you required to run at a steady pace for 25 minutes or more, just does not happen. We train accordingly and are the best and fittest team in our conference. My graduating seniors (I have 6 of them and 4 have started since they were freshmen) have never lost a conference game....37 wins 6 draws 0 defeats in 4 years...
I am old school and newer school when it comes too training adult men players. Yes, most of our training was small sided even when it was not in to do it that way. Because there is always small sided play near the ball until someone can make the break out pass. Soccer is a mix of aerobic and anaerobic fitness. But you do need an aerobic base to build other fitness. Gianlucca Vialli detailed a fitness test they had at Juventus called the Delta. 100 yards, 10 times, with less than a minute recovery between each leg. They measured the drop off between your third sprint and your last sprint, and forwards and center backs had to have the smallest drop off in times. The idea was that they could make repeated sprints and not slow down as they kept going.
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I have to say that I wish DA and High School Associations would open the gates to allow players to participate in both. Both ban play during the season - the only difference is that DA is year - round. But in the end - they both ban outside play. A lot of HS teams could benefit from having one or two players participating from a higher level - and frankly that's all your going to get from the DA level. It's not going to be a case of DA players coming in and taking over - the mindset of these players and families is that the best training is at the club level. That said, my 2005 plays with high school players in a free play - no coaching environment once a week. She has a mate from her club who is a 2006 boy who also plays and at first the older kids were wonding why they were there? However after 6 weeks the overall level of the game has improved. Our two younger ones are working very nicely with one other (older boy who is decent) to open the field and spread out the play - not just to crush the ball down the field or jam it on the walls. The others are emulating and I think understanding that running all over and just kicking is a lot more work then just lifting your head up to determine appropriate options. It's actually quite amazing the impact that good players who understand the game can have on others.
sometimes even that can be a problem. The club players usually know the game better then HS players. But if your going to play HS your going to have to play HS the way the coach says to play right or wrong. Some places you can play HS and club at the same time. Then both coaches expect you to be their at their practices. If not the player will be told he has to be there more problems for the player.
I have high school girls who also play high level club soccer. I excuse these girls from school practice ( or have them join in for 3o minutes before letting them leave) when they have club practices to go to. In my experience the clubs NEVER give these girls a break, treat them like machines and are generally clueless in their approach.....way too much time spent on 'fitness'....nowhere near enough time on ball work, field awareness and 'game sense'... The D.A. situation will not affect us too much when it does start....by the way, does anyone know which 10 months of the year the D.A. season will actually be...? or has a decision even been made yet...?
I definitely agree we in the US need to find a way to arrange a marriage between club and high school soccer…soccer is a sport that necessitates year round play/practice at about U14 and beyond (clubs are right) and popularity/health of soccer will grow drastically if it could be better incorporated in our academic sports culture (HS proponents are right)…need to take these two “rights” and create a win/win for everyone…
College can be bad for the player. Some schools have 2 practices a day one in the morning one later in the afternoon. Some kids have the meal plan. They always miss breakfast because of practice. Frankly college season is too short. School work can get in the way A coach gets players that fit his vision how the team should look. Then guess what if he leaves the college. They get a new coach who's vision is different that his predecessors. Then it is time for that player to transfer out of that college if he still wants to play.
We got a new trainer for our under 16 team while I was away in Italy. He did not just train players he started to play them at different positions. He was the coach of St.Francis college a D1 school. I get back the team looked like crap. I had some influence with the club and asked what happened. I said fire the guy. So we fired him and undid everything he did.
You are a first for me as far as my discussions with other coaches parents. The first in the sense that your High School sports governing body allows your player to play a club sport while the season (of that same sport) is going on. You can't do that in Illinois and many other states. A player can participate in private lessons but anything more could result in the player being banned from the high school sport, team losing results or the team being banned for that season altogether. I am not sure how you could say "NEVER". Most clubs that are small to medium (community clubs in particular) expect that their players are going to being playing high school soccer. Only the crazy coaches will discourage that. Some clubs with access to ENCL or DA will discourage - and in some cases rightfullt so. If you're a top player in either, you'll benefit far more from club then high school. Hopefully parents of those players will encourage their players to play a different high school sport to supplement that experience though. But "NEVER" may be relegated to your area/region.
Not sure how HS soccer works in other states, but in Illinois the game schedule is a nightmare. Some schools are playing +18 games in 6-7 weeks, with games generally on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. So how, as a coach, do you periodize any training when you're having recovery sessions everyday but Monday? Which environment is prioritized: training or match? Is playing this many games in a such a short period in the best interest of the young athlete? We ask our Men's/Women's national teams to play a max of 1 game/week, and they're some of the fittest elite athletes on the planet (generally speaking). Why ask youth, still physically developing in many cases, to endure such a heavy load and open the door to fatigue-related injury or over-stressing the growing body? Club governing bodies are starting to embrace the idea of training/game periodization (US Club's Fit for 90 campaign). The goal: keep players fit so they can keep playing so they can keep developing. Logical. A solution could be less games in the current 6-7 week season, or following NCAA's proposed changes and extend seasons eliminate mid-week games, but now we're creating a larger overlap of the club season. Not sure if there's a winner either way...maybe it's best left a choice for the individual player? NCAA proposal: https://www.nscaa.com/web/News/Arti...e_Men_Propose_Academic_Year_Season_Model.aspx US Club Fit for 90: http://usclubsoccer.org/playersfirst/offerings/fit-for-90/