GOAL!! Sorry for the audio issue.. I will fix this by end of this week.
Everything you ought to know about Soccer can be found in this little community. If you’re looking for soccer tips, then you’ve come to the right place.
Top 50 Soccer (Football) Goals / 足球
January 27, 2010 25 Comments
Soccer- Coaching Philosophy Or Headaches, The Choice Is Yours
September 28, 2009 Leave a Comment
Calling yourself a soccer coach is easy enough. Trying to coach soccer is a different story. Adding your personal touch to a training session is simple enough. Trying to enforce it without pulling your hair out is another story.
Do you have a coaching philosophy? Have you put pen to paper and actually developed your coaching philosophy? If you have, fantastic, great start. Are you upholding your coaching philosophy throughout the season?
For those of you that asked, “what’s a coaching philosophy?’ I’m glad you asked. A coaching philosophy reflects the standards you set for yourself and your team and it gives birth to your coaching values and belief. Before you decide to call yourself a soccer coach, make sure you’ve established your coaching philosophy.
Calling yourself a coach without a coaching philosophy is like driving a car without a license or embarking on a road trip without your trusty melways. The importance of a coaching philosophy is that it keeps you on track when things go wrong and helps keep the angry parents at a safe distance during the season.
But just a word of warning, even with a coaching philosophy penciled in and firmly placed, this does not guarantee you anything as a coach. The difficulty begins when you need to enforce it or adhere to it. Let’s use some examples to illustrate these difficulties shall we….
A few disgruntled parents approach you and question why the team is not winning more games. You quickly refer to your philosophy that states that winning is not as important as player development while you simultaneously wipe the sweat off your forehead.
John’s dad questions why the lesser skilled kids are receiving as much playing time as the team’s best players. You refer back to your philosophy that states that all players will receive the same amount of playing time irrespective of their abilities. The presence of your coaching philosophy eliminates any surprises throughout the season. Explaining your soccer philosophy to the parents before the season commences eliminates any unnecessary headaches and provides answers to most questions that might arise during the season.
Your coaching philosophy is extremely important. Don’t just put pen to paper, really concentrate and put the necessary time in. In the long run, your coaching philosophy will reflect not only who you are as a coach, but also as a person. Lead your players in the right direction and instill values and beliefs that you want your own children to have. If you can accomplish this your team will be champions irrespective of their win-loss ratio. Put things in perspective, coaching soccer at junior level is not the bigger picture is it?
Soccer Coaching Tips-What Makes A Good Soccer Coach Great?
September 28, 2009 Leave a Comment
Throughout my soccer career, i came across a number of Soccer Coaches who all had different styles, ideas and personalities. At the pinnacle of any sport, especially soccer, the top teams of any league are separated by the smallest of percentages. On any given day, the bottom team can in fact beat the league leaders. So how do we distinguish between a good coach and a great coach?
Some of the characteristics needed to be a good soccer coach are
- Good Man/ Individual Management Skills
- Good Communication Skills
- Eliminating team or club politics
- and a good set of tactics or vision.
The best coaches I’ve worked with simply had all the above boxes ticked and placed great emphasis on Man Management Skills and Communication.
A great soccer coach is able to control his team and get his message to the players as a group or on an individual level. Back in the good old days when i was alot younger, the coaching styles were totally different to what we have today. In the past coaches used intimidation and installed fear into the players to get their message across. These coaches who used to rant, rave and intimidate players wouldn’t survive in today’s modern soccer.
The great soccer coaches of today get to know their players. They talk to them and try to wok out what makes this individual tick. How can i get the best out of this player? Today’s coaches are more like father figures, obviously the coaches who are poor in this area tend to struggle.
After spending many years in soccer, the conclusion i draw is that great coaches had the ability to change direction and challenge the status quo. They were not set in their ways or their training methods. Also the coaches that stood out for me were the ones who had a great personality and remembered that life is always bigger than the game.
Everything you ought to know about Soccer can be found in this little community. If you’re looking for soccer tips, then you’ve come to the right place.
How Do I Coach 5 And 6 Year Old Youth Soccer When It Is My First Year Coaching And I Know Nothing About Soccer
September 28, 2009 13 Comments
What would really be helpfull is a point in the right direction to finding some good web sites. I would like something for a good guid line as to what I should be teaching these kids at this age. I have coached this age before in wrestling so I am familiar with that part of it. I just need to know what to show them. I can work with them from there.
Using Small Sided Soccer Games in Practice
September 25, 2009 Leave a Comment
As newer coaches begin learning how to coach soccer, most of their efforts go toward running drills to try to teach their players specific skills. That is to be expected. Often times you are given a team with very little understanding of how to play, so the coach has to start from scratch with teaching skills. The problem is, spending too much time concentrating on specific skills will not necessarily prepare your players for game situations.
As you learn more about how to coach soccer, you should work on coming up with ways to work the skills you are trying to teach your team into game situations. A great way to do this is to use small sided games as a part of your regular practices.
A lot of soccer coaches will use scrimmages, but small sided soccer games are a little different. Small sided games are small, controlled games that allow players to concentrate on certain aspects of the game. Rather than just blowing the whistle and letting your kids start playing a game, small sided games typically will set different goals or put different rules on the game. For instance, if you want your team to work on passing skills, you might set a rule that requires a team to make 3 successful passes before they are allowed to take a shot on goal. Or you could change the scoring to say that for every 3 successful passes a team makes, they get 1 point. This makes the team think more about passing than in shooting.
There are many different variations you could put together that make your team focus on one particular part of the game. If you want your team to get used to defensive pressure, you could set up a situation where you have 2 players on the field that always play defense. That way the attacking team is always outnumbered. You could require players to only shoot with their non-dominate foot. There are countless different situations you could set up for your players.
Teaching your players to play soccer is just that; you are teaching them to play. While skills are important, if they can?t perform those skills during a game then knowing the skill is of very limited value. Knowing how to coach soccer means knowing how to get your players ready to use what you have taught them during a game. If they can do that, you have done your job as a youth soccer coach.
Jim Smoot writes the “Learn Youth Soccer? website at http://learnyouthsoccer.com. It provides reviews of some great resources that will help you learn to coach soccer.
Tips for Organizing a Youth Soccer Team to Success
September 25, 2009 Leave a Comment
When leading a soccer team, the organization of the sports team can often be the least fun part. You have to balance your players needs, with your coach’s needs, with your league’s requirements and finally, with the parent’s needs. With such a large cast of characters with sometimes competing interests, organizing this chaos isn’t easy. Here are just a few organizing (non-coaching) tips to help you get organized and to help ensure your soccer team accomplishes its goals.
Steps
1. Get the team roster down. Make sure you get every participant’s key information like their preferred contact method (email, cellphone, etc.). Set up an email list using services like http://www.qlubb.com so that everyone can send an email to the group email address rather than having to list everybody’s email address. Publish the roster on the web so that people can get to know each other, set up carpools, and have their own side conversations etc.
2. Get the 911. Set up the call tree so that you can get in touch with people when it counts. People’s preferred method of communication should be taken into account. Last minute rain outs of games and other postponements require a quick and reliable response so that nobody gets stuck. Maintain this roster online so that everyone has the most up-to-date contact information.
3. Understand your goals. Have that first team meeting where everyone can get acquainted but most importantly get agreement on the goals. Are you out to win the championship or to learn and have fun? Who is the right person to coach the team? Prior to any meeting you should do some informal polling and discussion so that you can go to the team meeting prepared.
4. Ask for volunteers. Don’t get stuck doing everything. People are really willing to help if asked. At every meeting look for a chance to recruit volunteers, especially based on any skills they might have. Some parents may have good soccer skills and can be an assistant coach during practice. Online sign up sheets are very useful so that everybody knows what’s been taken and what’s left to do and they can sign up on their own time.
5. Create the master schedule. Get a master schedule online published as soon as possible. It should include all practices, games and tournaments. Putting it online cuts down on needless email chatter and eliminates miscommunication. Be sure to include location, times and who is responsible for what. Remember to bring snacks for that half-time energy boost. Services like Qlubb (http://www.qlubb.com) has the ability to publish schedules either privately within the group or publicly.
6. Figure out the budget. Most budgets for recreational soccer teams are simple however, the numbers do have to add up at the end of the season. Make sure you account for all costs like league fees, equipment costs, tournament fees, transportation and housing costs. Remember that having a fundraiser costs money too. Look at ways to defray costs through activity fees, bake sales/car washes, sponsorships from local sports stores, subsidies from sports equipment manufacturers, etc.
7. Build on the community. A sports team is comprised of a group of people that form a community around the common interest of sport. However, over time as people get to know each other, bonds strengthen. Fostering the community through things like photo sharing, team picnics, after game dinners are a great way to have fun while also improving trust and teamwork.
8. Do something special. Getting your team excited about the sport can help enrich the experience. If the professionals are having a tournament in town, arrange for a field trip. If you are budget conscious, you can see some great competition at the college level. Most sports have a hall of fame that you could arrange a field trip to. And if you ask around you might be able to find a pro in the area who might donate some time to run a guest practice session or to give a pep talk.
9. Broadcast your accomplishments! Put up a public web page and talk about your wins! Nothing makes a team more proud than to let people know what you accomplished. It also lets players send that link to grandma. Sites like Qlubb have the ability to automatically generate a public site based on the content of the site, which minimizes the overhead.
10. Ask for feedback. Keep an open dialog with everyone and be flexible. It’s important to listen. Soccer teams live for months to years and needs change all the time. A good leader will be able to anticipate these needs by constantly listening and thinking ahead.
Andrew Yang works for Qlubb, a provider of social collaboration Web tools for real-life groups.
Example Letters Of Sponsorship Request For Youth Soccer Team?
September 24, 2009 2 Comments
Im interested in becoming a soccer youth team coach this year. Is there a website where I can go to get examples of letters of others requesting sponsorship of a youth team to send to a company?
Youth Soccer Player Characteristics
September 23, 2009 1 Comment
Listed below are player characteristics to look out for when training youth football I am sure you will recognise many of these as you read through them
Player characteristics for under 8?s
There are many different characteristics displayed by children under the age of eight, its important that we as coaches understand and recognise them.
Also there are many different issues that can affect and influence children in this age group such as School life, Home life, and also friends.
The basic characteristics to look out for at this age are as follows.
Talkative
Sensitive
Selfish
Excitable
Short concentration span
Another characteristic that we as coaches should always encourage at all times is Enthusiasm.
Player Characteristics�under 10
Players at this age level are at what is known as the Golden age of learning,� at this age players are becoming more aware of others around them and Are now starting to make decisions during game play bringing their team mates in to play, They now enjoy a challenge and have a greater enthusiasm to win.
At this age it becomes important to invite questions during and after matches and training, another characteristic of players at this age is a loss of flexibility so it becomes important to incorporate warm-up sessions before games or training, and a warm down after any activity.
Characteristics of under 10?s
Awareness of others
More attentive
Enthusiasm
Enjoy a challenge
Beginning to Lose flexibility
Golden age of learning
Player characteristics for under 13-14
At the age of 13-14 players now become more aware of team play and the importance of working together to get results this is the ideal time to work with players developing their understanding of team play and tactics, also we must be aware as coaches of the body?s physical changes at this age and the impact that puberty can have on them as individuals.
Team play
Peer pressures
Competitiveness
Physical change
Player characteristics under 16
Players are now reaching adulthood as their body?s become stronger, they are now able to cope with any Physical and mental challenges put in front of them, they are also able to reflect on their own performances after games and this should always be encouraged.
They are also more competitive during play and training.
Physically stronger
Mentally stronger
Tactically aware
More competitive
For more information on the coaching and development of youth football visit http://www.dmsoccerschool.co.uk a site dedicated to the development of youth football in the U.K
About the author
Dave Maz is a FA qualified coach who has been coaching youth football for over eight years and has now started a website dedicated to any aspiring coaches in need of help and advice.
Davemaz FA Qualified coach working with youth teams from the grassroots level of football and running a website dedicated to information and advice on coaching youth football.
Soccer Drills – Teach Your Young Soccer Players to Shoot Like the Pros
September 23, 2009 Leave a Comment
What makes a great striker or centre forward? Surely it is the ability to score goals. Nobody remembers how hard a striker worked off the ball, or how they pressured the opposition defence. Everyone remembers the goals they scored, or the ones that they did not score. Traditionally as players grow towards senior ranks there will be fewer goal scoring opportunities for strikers, and so they must be able to take the ones that they get. Balance, speed, agility and power are the key characteristics that make a great young striker. The soccer drills that you use at training should develop these attributes in your young strikers.
When using shooting drills at training, the first thing I do is make clear areas in the goal in which I want them to shoot. I use hats or cones, which I usually place about 2 metres inside of each post. As players become more proficient move the hats closer to the goal posts. To start I encourage the players to shot along the ground, and as they become more proficient I encourage them to shoot into the top corners. As strikers mature I also encourage them to take into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of the opposing goalkeeper. If it is a tall keeper that is strong in the air I encourage them to shoot along the ground, or if I know the keeper is not strong in the air I encourage them to shoot at the top corners.
Power and coordination are key attributes of a good striker. I use tennis balls at training to help develop these attributes. Using a small ball encourages the players to watch the ball more closely. They will find this frustrating at first and there will be some funny moments at training, but I guarantee that a striker that can shoot well with a tennis ball will be dynamite with a soccer ball. I particularly like to use a tennis ball for first time shot drills, and volley drills as I find it most effective.
Strikers will face many different situations in a game. It is important that you practice these at training with a variety of soccer drills. A good striker must know when to hit a shot first time and when to take a touch. A good striker will know when to have a shot themselves and when to lay the ball off to a teammate. Practice different types of shots including volleys, first time shots, lobs, shooting with their weaker foot, shooting with their head, and shooting on the turn are a few of the different situations that you can practice at training to improve the proficiency of your strikers.
The final element that I like to include at training is always an element of realism. Make them beat a defender and then take a shot. Make them beat the goalkeeper. I always watch my strikers closely to see how many times they hit the goalkeeper with their shot. If this is happening frequently you will see that they look directly at the goalkeeper when taking a shot. Encourage them to look at the spot where they want the ball to go and not to look at the goalkeeper. You will need to reinforce this many times at training if you have a striker that consistently hits the goalkeeper with their shot. If they are shooting over the bar consistently encourage them to keep their head down over the ball, and to place the ball into the net. Trying for too much power tends to make the head go up and the ball go over the bar. The other thing I watch for is how strong they are on their weaker foot. A one footed striker is much easier to defend against.
If you want your young strikers to shoot like pros your training drills must focus on the key aspects which make a good striker. These are power, speed, agility and balance. Teach them to shoot in different situations at training so they make good decisions on the field. Make sure the training drills have an element of realism. Give them targets to aim at in the goals, develop their power and coordination, and practice, practice, practice.
Are you looking for soccer coaching resources. Looking to get more out of your young soccer players. I have coached young soccer players for a number of years. Check out my website for more soccer drills and soccer coaching info. Subscribe to my free weekly coaching newsletter and get a free copy of my 12 favourite soccer drills for coaching young soccer players at Soccer Drills Review.
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