Important Soccer Coaches Meeting

    The coaches meeting is Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 7:30pm at Hampshire Hills in the Americana rm. which is upstairs next to Tie Breakers.  

Now that "football" is over let's talk real football...

Hello fellow coaches,
    On many superbowl Sundays in the past I have found  myself at work.  Not being a huge American football fan I don't mind working letting the true fans get the night off, while I catch the game on my break.  This superbowl, however I found myself at home in bed with a fever watching the game.  Although the game was entertaining my biggest complaint is too many damn commercials.  Give me 45 minutes per half of uninterrupted real football to watch any day. Plus the commercials were not even that good. I mean how many cars do I need to buy really?
   Anyways, you will be getting a call in the next couple of days with a recorded message of my lovely voice. The caller ID for this call is "calling post" so please don't erase or ignore it.  I'm going to start utilizing this as well as the blog and the emails to get you the information you need.
   In the last post I had asked the coaches of the U10 boys and girls teams and the U12 boys teams if they wanted to play each other during the regular season or if they would rather play just teams from other towns. Out of the 6 coaches for these teams I have currently heard back from 2.  So if you have not responded to this question yet please let me know asap.  I have to notify the league soon.
    I believe all of you have gone onto the GSYSL web site and completed the kids safe requirement.  If you have not please do so as soon as possible.
    The next thing needed from you is any potential schedule conflicts that you may have.  What this means is if there is a Saturday or Sunday during the season when both you and your asst. coach will not be able to make it.  You need to submit these dates through the GSYSL web site.  So please check your calenders and work things out with each other. The deadline for to get these conflicts in is 2/15.
   The link below will bring you to what I found a very interesting review by FIFA of the 2010 world cup. It goes into what formations and styles of play were most successful as well as how individual countries have progressed over the years.  I hope you enjoy.
     FIFA World cup review

Crowd Management Course
   State of Maryland, State Fire Marshall's Office on-line training. Course takes about 30 minutes, but be warned that it contains some graphic video of the Rhode Island night club fire.
    The web site is:  http://www.firemarshal.state.md.us/

We need the orange ball....

   It's time to break out the orange ball and snowshoes so we can start practicing.   The team registration for GSYSL closed on the 30th.  After looking at the amount of teams in each division I had a few questions that I sent to the league coordinator.  I asked if there are two teams from MCAA in the same division would they play each other? and what happens if there are not enough teams in a division?
    Unless we specify otherwise the two teams in the same division will play each other.  So for the following divisions I need to know if you want to play each other or not - U10 boys, U10 girls, U12 boys. 
   Each of these divisions and the U12 girls division all have enough teams in them to play only teams in the 3rd division.
    The amount of teams in each division including our own teams is as follows:  U10 Boys - 10,  U10 Girls - 7, U12 Boys - 7, U12 Girls - 8, U14 boys - 4, and U14 Girls - 2.
     What this means for the U14 Boys team is that they will have there schedule offset with division 2 teams, and the U14 Girls will be absorbed into division 2.

   Kevin Tronkowski sent me this drill which looks like a good one for when we start the gym practices.  If anybody else finds some to share throw them my way so we can share them. Think Spring!!

SLAM IT

The ability for players to cross a ball or make a defence-splitting pass comes from being able to kick the ball with the correct height, weight and accuracy. This will become instinctive to players as they develop their soccer instincts.

I like to let my players experiment with how they kick the ball. At first it is important they just get the ball back – especially in the younger age groups.

You are looking for them to react to the position of the ball and the position of their opponent. Don’t worry if they just kick with their toes at first. Pick them up on it later.

This game epitomises what soccer coaching is all about – good fun and using the tools in your skills box to try and beat your opponent. It goes back to the school playing ground when there is just you and your mate and you play each other against a wall.

How to play Slam

• Pair up your players and put two cones in front of a wall, six yards apart.
• Tell each player they have three lives.
• Players take turns to play the ball against the wall between the cones.
• They lose a life if they miss the area between the cones, let the ball stop, cannot play it first time or get hit by their own rebound.
• They play until one of the pairs is out of lives.

How to develop it

Children in a playground would play with a bunch of their friends, not just in pairs. Get your players to do this by:

• Having teams which try and beat each other, with any player on each team playing the ball when it's their team's turn. Misses or the ball stopping etc, count as goals. Play first to five.

• Playing with more players as individuals. Each player can be given a number and they must hit the ball in sequence. In this case, players go out as before, and the winner is the last one left.

How to advance it or make it easier

• Make the game easier by allowing a second touch or harder by having to use left foot then right foot.
• Change the size or height of the goal.
• Allow the ball to stop for young players.