I have been asked by my club to put together a few things for our coaches before the spring starts both in tools and theory. Too much background. We are a small club in a small outer suburban town. We have about 250 (used to be over 400) players and our club primarily feeds a local HS that has been very successful on the boys/girls side. Relatively affluent nationally but below other communities in our area. People move to our community for good schools and reasonable home prices but jobs are 30 minutes away so parental support is minimal. We have never had a DOC and our teams have no continuity. This fall 4 coaches (all under U12) started on the USSF Grassroots path and we all tried the Play-Practice-Play methodology espoused by them. The idea was that the club wanted to all coaches to have some level of certification. Independently we all concluded at different points during the fall that it didn’t work fpr us for a multitude of reasons but primarily around a technical side that was lacking (Coerver, Tovo, whatever you want to call it). You can’t teach passing if you can’t control a pass with a decent touch. I am working with one of the guys to build a support structure for all our of coaches. Due to some issue we will have new coaches on 5 teams. (we lost an individual that coached 4 of our teams for something beyond both of our control) and luckily we have assistants who are willing and able to step up with some realignment. This means however a different voice for lots of kids. Today each team operates independently and our teams results show that the results are dictated completely by the individual players on the teams. We have some very good and some very bad teams. We’ve already seen some success in that our U9 teams have been good compared to other clubs as they almost all played in our inhouse program started the year before vs my U10 boys where none of them did. The individual ball control is night/day. Additionally, to keep kids playing with their friends our U9 and U10 teams are actually by grade which puts our teams on average a half season younger than their competition. (My U10 team has 7 kids who should be in U10 and 7 in U9). As much as we can push an agenda of not worrying about winning we need to be competitive as the parents otherwise will question the coaching and we know of a few parents who push their young kids to the bigger regional clubs as they win and that means better coaching. Over the winter we have consumed lots of literature from various sources on the internet from Coerver, 3Four3, USSF and understand that you cannot just say you want to play possession, press without an exact way of teaching it. To start we’ve built up quite a catalog of drills that coaches can do separated both by age and by what they are trying to do (attacking, defending, possession in the middle, etc). We have currently have two 90 minute meetings scheduled for the coaches to get together before the season starts. What should we be discsussing at this meeting and what else should we provide to the coaches? We know we won't have a solution but if you were us (defacto DOC) with a blank slate and a bunch of new coaches what would do/focus on.
A curriculum. There is the USSF curriculum from several years ago, but it wasn't that good imo for pre-teens. Plus it was written for a DOC audience. Somebody has to translate it into English for most us without an A license. The process lets you think about the big picture instead of separate teams. If that is too ambitious, how about a training plan for the season or the year. You already should have club rules, a discipline plan, and a safety plan.
I'd send your materials ahead of the meeting. Engaged coaches will read through it and, hopefully, make your meeting more substantive. Otherwise, they get the info at the meeting and they are talked at. Write out your vision, how you want your individual players and teams to look 5 years into the program. I was just having this conversation with a coach from another club. We both play against this club in a neighboring state where ALL their teams play a nice, consistent brand of Positional soccer. Regardless of age or division, be prepared for their teams/players to play 1 or 2-touch passes around you for 60 minutes. New coaches? How new we talking? If we're talking new new—complexity is the enemy of implementation. One big thing: address the coaches' fear of boredom. Learning to play positional soccer involves repeating the same/similar drills until mastery is achieved. There is so much individual detail work that you can do the same 4v2 rondo every practice and work on different aspects each time; passing, receiving, body shape, 2-touch, 1-touch, deception, angles, etc etc. For example: each practice could start with a 4v0 warm-up (passing and receiving technical, losing your marker) > 4v1 > 4v1+1 transitional rondo (learning to move the ball to another area). Like the 3four3 approach: rondo isn't something you do here and there—it's something you do every session, nearly every part of practice.
I agree with elessar78 but want to emphasize that I believe specificity, repetition (that is what SSGs--rondos--bring) and unrestricted play in a match-like context are the keys to efficient, effective training sessions. rondo is a Spanish word for keep-away games used to train soccer players. I believe keep-away games are the best way to teach players the fundamentals, and they are used for technical and tactical training at all levels and ages.
I haven't taken the new 7v7,9v9, 11v11 courses ussf mandated to all the regional soccer associations. So I'm not familiar with the "play-practice-play" framework details. What I understood is USSF has been preaching guided method and self-discovery method to teach players the technical and tactical insights of the game. Play-practice-play is one way for them to get coaches to stop using drills and avoiding players standing around waiting for their turn in the drill. I have found the most player improvement aka "success" (this is different from winning silverware in my opinion) applying a framework I believed in completely and tweaking it to aid me in teaching what I want taught. When it comes to training Coerver, first touch with different parts of the body, motor skills, reading opponents body language ,. etc. I still use direct method to correct the body mechanics and you will sometimes find players in a line (like when doing motor skills development). @rca2 used to recommend the Long Term Athlete development. Been a while since I read it, I remember clearly it recommended motor skill development at youngest ages and during the teen years when growth spurts occur (peak-height velocity?). I recommend getting comfortable with as much teaching material you can. Read alll the sources you can. Player migration is a tough question. I coach youth in SoCal. There is options at almost every corner and you can sometimes find kids driving from San Diego to the LA area. The past 5 years there has been mergers, affilitiations and acquisitions with many of the independent smaller clubs banding with the bigger brand clubs to make mega clubs. So one possible direction, from a business standpoint, is to affiliate with a bigger brand to keep customers that like shiny bright objects. From an administrative standpoint, if your coach's continue their education and make improvements like we ask of players, then you should be covered. Most of the clubs in SoCal make A, B, C level teams to cater to every competition level. Usually, the more expereienced coach's get the A and B teams and less experienced coach's get the C or lower level teams. This present another issue that can also cause player migration when players dont' like their coach's inexperience and/or want to be competing at the next highest level. Labor relations can also sour if the coach feels he should have the A-Team and not the C-team. ---- I agree with these guys. You need a curriculum for your organization. Ask coaches to adhere to it. Recommend the United Soccer Coaches courses and USSF licenses as well. Set up some organization goals and objectives. I would recommend making Futsal and/or indoor soccer part of your curriculum during the offseason.
I still believe in a Long Term Athlete Development Model for soccer. It helps a coach decide what is age appropriate.
Thanks for the comments/thoughts so far. The year before I joined there was some issue on the role of development vs winning at the younger ages and several coaches and players left to join a neighboring club. I joined the board this year and I have seen a ton of dysfunction in almost all areas. We are trying to chip away at solutions and we know Rome wasn't built in a day but with 5 new coaches this Spring out of 14 teams we needed to do something to support them. We have identified coaches for 4 of the 5 teams and the coach for 2 of the teams has coached before (U10 Girls 1 season) -> U12 and U14 girls competitive. Two other teams will be coached by assistants of those teams so that will not be too bad. We have an option for the open created by the U10 Girls coach switching but we're not a fan (nice guy, knows soccer not a good youth coach) and we had a great candidate but he cannot in the spring due to work. In general none of them have any certificates but generally know the game of soccer, our clubs standing in the community and our generic brand. We have no brand due to the fact that we really force players into teams that is not optimal for development due to our lack of numbers. For example we had 2 very good girls that were the best of the U10 team (1 is a good athlete, the other is a great soccer player (technically very good). Both wanted more competition so they went up to play U12 competitive and don't start on a decent U12 team because physically they can't hold up. The other coach who is helping me on this is the coach of our U7/U8 inhouse program who coached U14 girls the previous year after the split in our club the year before and has tried to help me avoid the landmines of the egos and drama of the adults. (I have sometimes listened). He is the only club member who has any certification (Grassroots) and is working on his D. The good news is that our club has a good relationship with our parents. This is partially due to the success of the local HS team (halo effect) and its probably our only point of emphasis when a family joins the club. As part of this we have updated our club rules (due to a different issue from the fall) that includes a discipline plan (which means we actually removed one more coach this fall), and a safety plan (currently in development). This meeting started out as a safety meeting but we figured it would be a good time to talk curiculum, methodology. What is funny is that our community has always had a decent Basketball program however its taken a step up in the past 6 years and yet our club didn't look around. Their success has been driven by coordination between our HS coaches taking the time to spend many hours teaching philosophy and how to teach it at all levels of our basketball club. The only problem is they have completely cut out the rec side which we could manage because we already split into rec and competitive. We are hoping to emulate part of it including a code of conduct for the parents and kids. I really like the idea of sending out the materials ahead of time so that the discussion is focused. I know we will have a few hold-outs and we will need to discuss and be willing to work with the various ages and have flexibility. Many of the teams do indoor in the offseason but manage it outside our club. The other coach wants to buy a 3Four3 subscription. Does anyone have any thoughts on if it is worth it. (I was for it and went thru the 8 week email session and found it interesting but I've been put off by their tone via their podcasts)
Thank you. I see too many of the coaches (including myself) often trying to find the magic drill that will make it all click. This is a good point. I'd like to get our HS coaches thoughts on a general shape (I believe he plays a 3-4-1-2) and get him involved as its in his interest otherwise his teams will struggle.
Physical size should not be a problem for the U10s playing up at that level. If they haven't hit peak height velocity they will have the advantage of shorter limbs and lower center of gravity over girls that have. They will also not have the awkwardness associated with rapid growth, which is an advantage. In another year or two it will be more of a problem as the older girls grow out of the awkward phase while the younger girls likely become awkward. What they will need is good technique and good positioning. If they have superior skills they should do well. If they don't have the skills, then the older girls size and experience difference will work against them. Larger size is really not an advantage in a shoulder charge. It is mostly about balance and timing. And being confident. Strength comes from the lower body, not upper, and a "strong stance" to steal a marital arts phrase.
don't disagree. The problem for them is the jump from U10 rec to U12 competitive was right for them but that meant they didn't start but still played a bunch. This was the right call as the challenge was good. Next year when they should be at U11 they will start and play a bunch. The size disadvantage was part of the story told to the parents. Physically they both lacked stamina to play longer shifts like the coach required. (all of this is second hand info)
I like many of the answers, but I think your question still needs answering, but more from an experienced DOC rather than individual coaches. I love that you want to get your coaches on the same page and are looking for ways to meet with them and provide them the guidance they need to be coach's as part of a club rather than individuals. Great start! I was hoping the club I am an assistant coach with would do something similar. I think the hesitation is that you first have to get the big ego coaches to buy in to whatever path you take. You also need them to attend, all of them. Good luck with that! We're busy people. Offer good dinner! I love listening to the 3four3 podcasts personally. I don't always agree with John, but he is says it like it is, and when he isn't droning on (which he does just sometimes), does a good job of letting his guests talk. Great variety of guests too. As far as buying the program, when I end up taking my own team, I have no doubt I will buy in. I hate the idea of looking for 1,001 drills, and dozens of dvds, etc. A core program with a defined vision is the key thing, and that is what they sell!
Thanks about offering dinner. We have it planned before a board meeting and I was so focused on the time that I ignored that its dinner for most people. Would be a nice touch and maybe break the ice between a few. Going back to the 3four3 podcasts - I enjoyed it initially and he's probably good if you listen to one a week but I started to go back and I'd listen to 5-8 in a week during my commute. I get his opinon and I think he thinks that his podcast can help shape the discussion in the US but frankly its the old "think global, act local" The recent US soccer elections showed that change from outside is hard especially at teh national level. Well then change your local level (substate, state, region). My critique of the USSF coach and I'm working thru the grassroots now is that it should focus on how to teach (which I think it does a decent job and I've heard that is the focus vs previously forcing them to teach a system. I also appreciate the Play-Practice-Play but they refuse to acknowledge that doesn't work for all teams/situations. I'd like to see it focus on 2 things. 1. How to teach (which I think they are working on) 2. Teaching the different styles of play and providing materials to use those. An entire world doing the same thing is boring.
That's funny about how you are listening to the podcasts, I have the same experience. I only started a few months ago, and spend about 90 minutes a day during my commute catching up on all the old ones. Still hoping a DOC chimes in for you here!
An update mainly for myself. After attending a USSF Grassroots 11v11 coaching seminar on Sunday that didn't have enough kids so I had to play with the kids. The few adults that played with the kids forced the kids to play with possession and I think they got the most out of it vs anyone. I had taken the Grassroots 9v9 in Aug '18with the same instructors and noticed a slight change in their story. While last fall they really pushed the Play-Practice-Play methodology they were slightly more agnostic to other methods. The focus was much more on how to keep players involved (including simple things as focusing on leading words, how you orient yourself to the players (face into the sun so your players can see). Lots of little things and an acknowledgement that each team is at a different stage. The focus was on however letting kids play and you can do walkthroughs but the focus should be on letting the kids learn by doing. A slight shift in their language but I thought it was important. Then drove a few hours to get home and run our coaches meeting (1st one ever for our club) as we are just starting the Spring Season in Wisconsin. The meeting ended up being very procedural in nature. A section on: Player Safety (concussions, ACL injuries) How to manage parents & ref issues (driven by requests from our local org) General Housekeeping Small discussion on USSF Play-Practice-Play and a small recap of the fall for each team. We ended with a starting discussion on our clubs philosophy. It wasn't much but for several of the coaches it was good to just learn who the others are. Optimistically we are going to get together a few times after the Spring Season during the summer and put together a framework. We already have a working group to really revamp our in-house program for U7/U8 with plans to run that into the U9+U10 rec program and even the U11+ Rec program.
Our small club does preseason coaches meetings. They're good for getting introducing new coaches, getting organized, and reviewing rules and expectations. As soon as we start talking about actual soccer philosophy and training methods, we lose them. That's why we started our "academy training" sessions for all rec players. Most of our rec coaches are parents who don't know anything about the game. If we can get an experienced coach - our "academy coaches"- to work with the kids once a week, at least they're getting one good training session. The hope is the volunteer team coaches will pick up ideas from the academy sessions and use them in their team sessions in the future.
How do you do your practices. We were debating this very topic with a few of the coaches. Today each coach/team works autonomously. We all have different styles or some have none at all. I'd like to get to that next year but there is a limit of time we all have and I doubt we'll get there. Our focus has been on solidifying our littles program. Its officially our 4th year but only in the last year have we really gotten things moving. Now we need to document and hopefully expand it so we can really get it working like we'd like. Currently our U9 and U10s are all rec which is consistent with our area. Then in U11+ they split into competitive & rec. There is one team in our community which used to be just like us with up years and down years but in the past 3 years they've taken a jump and I think its due to the academy practices they have. They have 1 practice/week with their team and then they have 1 day/week that is an academy practice and the coaches each run stations and the kids/teams somehow rotate. Is this what you do? I'd like to go watch it but I'm coaching at similar times. .
That sounds like what we do. All players and coaches for a given division train with their academy coach once per week focusing on technical skills. Our team coaches are also supposed to be holding individual team training sessions for 8U and older teams so they can reinforce the technical work they did at academy and work on their individual teams' needs. I say they're supposed to hold team training sessions because we're finding that a lot of the time parents aren't bringing kids to both training sessions each week. Team coaches are cancelling their individual sessions so the kids come for academy night because we've told them that should be the priority.
Want to make sure I have this right. Monday - Academy Day (kids rotate between phases or something / multiple people) Wednesday - Individual sessions with team coach? Friday - Team practice? Or am I misunderstanding? Also, could you give me a sample of what an academy practice looks like? email mrholty at hotmail dot com
That's correct. Academy sessions are one night per week. Team coaches hold another session one other night per week. I'll send you an email.