We went over to the club we are thinking of joining to kick the ball around on one of the fields, and it just so happened that one of the U8 girls pre-academy teams was practicing on the next field. It gave me a chance to observe a little bit, and I liked what I saw. Didn't get to talk to the coach, yet, but he obviously knew what he was doing with this age group. Lots of dribbling games / drills, and some of them were doing basic fancy-looking feints like lunges and scissors. I also was invited to help start a new U8 girls team for summer indoor and fall outdoor at the current club by one of the board members (who happened to witness the fiasco last weekend, BTW, since our team was playing his daughter's team at the time). I don't know if I have time or desire to do two teams or not, as I'm already committed to my other kid's U6 team for the fall. We'll have to see about that one. JSD
Suffered a pretty bad loss Saturday, bringing us to 3-3. But the boys are playing better, and playing better together, so there was no reason to be upset about it. And really, I knew going in that we were likely to get stomped - the other team hasn't lost all season (they played indoors together over the winter, which shows), and all of my poor players were there and had to be played, while we were missing one of my top three players. Still, we took the early lead and held for a while, then they came back end were up 2-1 at the half. We came out and tied it back up right away, but after that the bottom fell out as our weaker line-ups couldn't hold. And I even had to call a handball on my son right outside the box, and they scored on the resultant freekick. Meanwhile, they had a kid whose sole concept of defending was pushing the other player down. His coach knows it - all the other coaches know it - the boys hears it during the game - but he still keeps doing it. I didn't want to seem like I was playing favorites, and since there's no ref, I kept my whistle quiet a number of times early on when we should have gotten freekicks on the edge of their box. Who knows - we could have racked up a 3 or 4 goal lead within the first 10 minutes if the game had been reffed. I'm also now assisting on a tournament team for our U7s. 4 of my players, including my son, are on the team. In reality - no one that tried out was cut. Although the bulk of the players that tried out were the more serious one, there still were a handful of rather poor players that are now on the teams even though their skills are woefully below their teammates (including Mr. Push U. Down (see above)). Luckily, of the 4 players from my team, I think they're all qualified (with my son being probably the weakest of the 4 (and the youngest by far)). Next Saturday we have a bye week (we will practice Saturday morning instead), and the remainder of the schedule are teams we've either beaten easily or should have beaten but for some silly mistakes. I know winning/losing isn't the goal, but the kids are a lot happier winning than losing. And if they can do that without me fixing things to make it easier to win, but not easier to develop, then all the better.
Hey, I think my U5 daughter played against this kid last weekend, too. Coach would pull him then put him back in 30 seconds later. Huge U6 kid. They (daughter #2's team) played their best game of the year despite only having 4 of 7 players. I think it was because the 4 were the slightly more aggressive (as in they go for the ball a lot more than the other 3). Her team has one really dominant U6 boy, and when he's in the game no one else really has a chance to get the ball. But, it was her first season, and she learned a lot about how to play when 5 other kids are all trying to take the ball away (3v3 is more like 1v5). She had great fun. Likes practice a lot more than games, though. Season's all done. Time to find some fun new backyard games for the two girls (graduating to U6 and U7) to play in the summer. Any suggestions?
I also coach in U7. I am surprised that scores and standings are kept. Do you play 4v4 or 6v6 ? The U7 division here is 4 v4 and we play on two seperate fields. I have my assistant coach the other field. We switch fields at half time so the kids get exposure form different coaches. It also allows my son to get used to the idea that he will have other coaches. In my scrimmages at the 2nd half of practice,I usually have a wrinkle. An example would be a size 1 ball.Last Wednesday,I gave them a brief lesson on who Pele was. I showed them a grapefruit,we then had a scrimmage with it. It was comical to say the least. I went to a size 3 ball after that. I think that there are only a handful of kids in this age group that practice or watch soccer on their own. I usually play 1v1 in the yard with my son at least twice a week other than practice. It makes a significant difference in his game.
It changes all over the country. For example, we play 4v4 and do not keep score. Well, we keep it, but we aren't supposed to record it down.
not sure if you're adressing me, but in my league no scores or standings are kept officially, but every kid on the field knows the score, and most of them remember from season to season which teams beat them and which didn't. We play 6v6 (5 field, 1 GK) at U7 - over my protestations that we should play 3v3 w/o keepers. Next year, the U7 division will play 3v3 - one small victory for me!
I know as coaches and parents,we normally don't do this. I know the kids do. The ones who keep score are the ones that are usually the more competitive.
I'm coaching my 5-yr old boy this spring, and I find it amazing that the kids are keeping score at this age (they didn't in the fall season). To be honest, I don't even know the score! I just ask them if they're having fun. When they say "Yes", then I tell them that they're winning. I do have a somewhat simple question for other coaches of youth teams. My 5-yr old team plays 3v3 with no keepers. My practices ( I have one per week) are organized so that the kids have fun and learn by playing games (rather than "drills"). My question, though, relates to the intermissions during games (the games are split into four quarters). What in the world do you say to kids in between quarters and at halftime? It's not as if I'm going to provide some profound tactical instruction at this age. Any advice at all would be welcome. Thanks!
For the U5s/U6s, usually just lots of individual praise for things they did or tried to do, and "did everyone get a drink?" By the way -- our U7s usually don't know the score and don't seem to care. The U6s, however really keep track of every goal even though we emphasize that it's not important (and the league doesn't keep score or standings at that age). Every group of kids is different about that, I guess. My U5 is the worst offender, and it drives me a little nuts. Her big sister totally doesn't care about the score, but only cares about playing as much as possible. They do give out trophies in the U7/U8 league (4v4) for the top 3 places, and participation medals to everyone else. Cheers, JSD
Funny how that works, isn't it? The girls (5 and 6) have been playing 1v1 in the back yard on their own a lot, and I'm really surprised at how well the 5-year-old is doing against her sister. Then they were playing in the front with a couple of the neighborhood boys (1-3 years older than them) yesterday. The boys could kick the ball a mile, but they aren't soccer players, and they were getting a little frustrated that these little girls kept scoring on them by little fake moves and cuts. All had fun, though, and one of them said that he wants to join a soccer team next season.
Been a long while since I've had time to post, between coaching my regular team, being division director, setting up the tournament team tryouts for our division, then assistant coaching one of the tournament teams - May was a very busy month for me (not to mention my regular paying job). But the tournament is now over. It was a good tournament all around, though my side didn't fare that well: 0-0 in our first game, and then got slaughtered in our second. I feel bad for the kids, because they worked really hard for that past month, and they were disappointed during that second game - but they bounced back pretty quickly. The parents (and coaching staff) will take longer to get over it. (I have a few differences of opinion with the way the head coach instructed the players, but what the heck - they're just 7 year olds, and win, lose or draw, they had fun). I still think that overall it was a good experience for the kids, who otherwise at this age have no way of testing themselves against better competition than the Saturday game. And these kids, for the most part, are going to be the ones who try out for next year's tournament team, and travel teams after that - so it's good to give them a taste of playing together. Now I just have to shake this cold I picked up from lack of sleep and too much stress.
No tactics, just a "get a drink" and praise them for doing a great job. This season with my U5 players, the game has taught them more than I could. We aren't allowed in our division to practice once the season begins, just a pre-game period for some very slight instruction. I had a player last week who was stabbing at the ball instead of controlling it, and it kept sailing over the touchline. I took him aside during set up for a goal kick by the other team and told him to try and control it more next time instead of wildly kicking at it. He scored the next time down. The game has also taught defense. We did quite a few defensive related games in pre-season practice, but the kids learned in the games that they needed to not just chase and catch up to the player with the ball on a breakaway, but to sprint past them and turnaround to get position and take it away. And by the end of the season, the players not on the ball would not only run past the ball, but they would space themselves into position to keep the ball out. We had two clean sheets in our last two games. Also I noticed that when our player with the ball is on the flank and angling in toward the goal for a shot, the others will set up in front of the goal mouth (outside the box) and wait for a deflection instead of crowding the player with the ball. They learned that by playing. I didn't teach them that in pre-season since we didn't use goals for our games. At this age the game will teach them. The tactics and positioning will come later.
Can't let this thread die just yet - U7 season not quite over for me. Although our regular season is over, and the tournament we hosted is over, I decided to take a handful of players into the Kick-It 3v3 tournament at our own local grounds. Since our boys have not played formal 3v3 games before, I've told them and their parents - this is FOR FUN! Of course, despite that, three of the parents (who are also team coaches) immediately started asking about practices. We're going to have ONE practice tomorrow (right after our awards ceremony), and only if everyone really wants it, another next Thursday. And then it's the tournament the following Saturday/Sunday. I really want to go into this low-key, without a lot of over-coaching. I'm going to introduce them to the smaller field, smaller goals and rule changes, then let them play for a while and get familar with it. Then, when they have an idea what they're doing, I'll talk to them about just the basic important concepts on offense and defense. Then I'll let them play some more. I might do a short session to speficially get them comfortable with give-and-go's, but more as a lesson to simply reinforce moving after the pass. But mostly, I think I want to let them just play and get comfortable with the style and pace. Of the 6 players on the roster, I'd say that 5 of them are the top tier of our ~80 boy U7 division. They should do fine, with a little acclimation to the game.
Get them used to the crease and not being able to go into it. Get them used to taking kickins and not throwins. Remind them that all restarts are indirect. We had a goal scored on us because we let an opponent tap and score. Other than that, let them have fun as you said. My son likes the 3v3 games because the rules are a bit different and it reminds him of a practice and not a game.
Great advice. 3v3 has a few quirks that need some adjustment. I'd just add--encourage them to shoot from distance--in my experience, lots of younger players like to dribble it into goal or set up the "perfect" shot. Pass the ball from back to front and side-to-side quickly and have a go as soon as your on the right half of the field and have beat your mark. Have fun! EDIT: 3v3 is fun for young players partly because there are so few players on the field, you avoid the dreaded youth-soccer scrum that happens all to often at this age.
A post-season follow-up: Went to the "academy" camp this week, and it was quite an eye-opener. It is a really positive atmosphere, and you can tell that 95+% of the kids are really into it, no matter their age (this was U6 to U9 kids). My daughter had the best time, and now wants to play on an all-girls team with these kids who also love to play as much as she does. They are doing a 3v3 tournament this weekend as the camp wrap-up. From the other posts I've seen about those, here, it should be fun. So, we are thinking about switching her to this academy (w/ professional coaches) but there are pluses and minuses: + the coaches seem excellent + she had a great time with this group - great learning atmosphere + coaching fees actually very cheap compared to other activities she's been involved in. + I get out of either (a) coaching her team or (b) finding a good volunteer coach for her, and can coach JustSomeKid#2's team instead. + most games are at the club, it is the one nearest to us - a couple of parents told me that the organization is somewhat lacking (the academy at this club was new this spring); however, they really like the coaches. - the head academy coach claims that their focus is on building players and not on winning games, and I tend to believe him based on what I saw at the camp. But, he does say that they'll possibly travel to an overnight tournament, even at as young as U7. I'm not sure I'm ready to go down that road, yet, at this young of an age. Lots to think about. My brain hurts.
The best indicator of what to do. Don't look at it for furthering her soccer career. Look at it as something she enjoys. That would be the thing I would worry about continuing with the Academy - keeping it fun. Some more advice, you can always go to the Academy later and you can always quit it at any time. She can go back to Rec - it won't set her back.
Right -- in the big picture, this is how I tend to think as well. She's having loads of fun, getting exercise, learning stuff, and making friends -- what else can one ask for a 6-year-old? So, I think that we are going to give it a try this fall and see how it goes. Anything is better than what we went through last spring, and this seems like a different world. I think she has the most fun trying to take on bigger kids, and so she is constantly seeking out someone to play with during breaks in practice. Earlier this week it was "Dad, two of those boys were messing with me. They kept calling me a 'little kid'!" (she was probably 3 years younger than them).
I don't understand the argument against taking young kids to tournaments. If the kids get along, a trip to a new place and staying as a group in a motel is a total blast. Get the team to stay at the same motel--something with a pool. Of such trips are great childhood memories made.
OK, sorry if I inferred something that wasn't there. I have read some posts in this forum that suggest that it's always a bad idea to take such young kids to tournament out of your immediate area, and I just don't get that. Of course, it helps if the kids know each other AND if the families know each other already. And, of course, get along. Also, I was assuming that the families would be traveling with the team--is that the case? If I'm wrong, I can understand that there's a whole other level of anxiety there.
No prob. I'm certain that the families would travel with the team and be responsible for their own kid (in this club). In fact, for the 3v3 this weekend there are several families that are staying overnight despite the fact that the tournament is a 1-day (8-hour) affair and is within a 2-hour drive (more like 1.5 hours). We don't really know anyone at this club, yet, as we are new, but from what I've been told they will do any major trips at the end of the spring season. So, that's a whole year of getting-to-know people. The U9 academy team is apparently going to Florida from middle-America. The younger groups will take shorter (drivable) trips.
All of our tournaments to date have been within a 30 minute drive. With Rec, there just isn't that much parental motivation to travel. Also, we weren't allowed guest players, so it made it pretty hard if even one family decided not to play the tournament. We will probably find out next week if we are going on our first overnighter in August. The main motivation probably won't be tuning up before the start of the season - it will be the bonding of being in the same motel, etc.
Back from the 3v3 tournament, which was another eye-opening experience. I think my family managed to avoid looking like "tournament virgins", for the most part. I didn't realize that soccer tournaments would be a lot like tailgating, just without the beer. My '01 kid played with an all '00 team, 3 of whom were very fast, with very good touch, and 4 of the 6 girls are on a very good academy team together. She got a fair amount of playing time (apparently there is no "equal playing time" rule at this tournament) given that she was the youngest and a guest -- somewhere between 1/3 to 1/2 of each game. She seemed shell-shock during the first game, because they played a super-big/fast academy team from a club that traditionally produces state champs at the higher ages. After that, she adjusted to the speed and did a lot better. We ended up having "ultra-competitive dad/coach" for part of the time, since the the academy coaches couldn't be at 6-8 games simultaneously. I didn't see the guy at the camp all week, but I guess he is the assistant coach for their team normally. Blew his stack badly at a couple of girls. I wouldn't want him to coach my kid on a regular basis. One other dad was also over-the-top and critical of anything that anyone on the team did "wrong". I wanted to grab the guy by the collar and scream "they're just 7 years old!!!" All the other parents were pretty nice and didn't seem to expect their daughter to be the next Mia Hamm, but there is a lot of excessive parental pressure on a couple of their best players. From a coaching perspective, all these teams were playing with two forwards and a sweeper, usually with the best players swapping out in the back. For her team, that player was expected to take possession of the ball and dribble or pass up the sideline, then cross it into the middle when they got near the endline. My daughter actually managed to score a goal on a cross from one of her teammates, but the rest of their goals were mostly scored by good defense in the midfield area that turned into a scoring opportunity up the middle. Going to the sideline seemed to be a good strategy for getting the ball away from your own goal, though. Anyway, my kid had a great time, and we'll probably give this club's academy a try in the fall. They sort by ability, so I'm not too worried about her getting stuck in with the Mia's-to-be