Coaching Youth travel soccer, I don't know anything about soccer (1 Viewer)

[AcerFC]

Anybody have any idea how you know if this is a "patch tournament"

if so, do you give one to each player you play against (3games x 12 kids = 36 patches)?

The easiest way is to ask the tournament director. 

Yes, after each game just before the handshake line forms, you give each of your players a patch to give to the other team. First girl gives to their first, second to second and so on. Have some extras in your hand if they have more players than you. 

 

[jabarony]

The easiest way is to ask the tournament director. 

Yes, after each game just before the handshake line forms, you give each of your players a patch to give to the other team. First girl gives to their first, second to second and so on. Have some extras in your hand if they have more players than you. 

They still do that (my kids teams don't) ?  How cool.  I loved that as a kid.  Though it was rare that we would receive patches cooler than the ones we were giving out. A good deal of them where cheap monocolored crap.

 

[Righetti]

So we went 1-2 in the tournament, I was away but looked like we certainly belonged there.   We lost the first game 4-3 after going down 3-0 and the second game 3-2 after going down 2-0.  In both cases we played really well in the second half which was encouraging. 

The third game we dominated against a team that didn’t belong there, they were completely overmatched in all three games

few interesting notes

- they originally had us slate to play four 25 minute games but after a few teams dropped, we played three 50 minute games   That is a lot of soccer for our kids, especially because we only had 9 kids   

- they didn’t call plays as tightly as they do in our regular league   I saw a lot of video and many of our girls did not keep their feet planted on throw-ins   This lead to bad habits yesterday

- we found a stud goalie   One of our girls who has been playing forward volunteered to play goalie when our regular girl went down and this new girl is a beast  

 

[Righetti]

As for this week, we kept rolling with another 3-0 victory.  We are leading our flight at 5-0 but what is most striking is our 22 goal differential.  In five games we have given up only 2 goals (scored 24).  This is a credit mostly to our defense and midfielders but also to our goalies.  

We control the game and keep the ball away from the goal, so teams don’t have chances to score easy goals against us

I remember one of the two goals we had scored against us was a beauty shot from the top  of the middle of the penalty box on a riser.  No chance for our goalie to get it.  The other I don’t remember at all

our girls are super committed right now, our only issue is that we always start off slow.  This week was 0-0 at half but when we got the ball to start the second half we scored within a few minutes.  

One thing we did notice was that I’ve been instructing our players to try to front the opposing player when we are facing and inbound pass.   Yesterday we got beat over the top twice and gave up a lot of yardage.   I recently had a coach tell me that he prefers to have his player play behind them which I may start to do, at least to defend the opposing player lined up along the sideline.  

But 5-0 feels good, the girls are having fun and so am I 

 

[swirvenirvin]

Have our last game of the season coming up (rec) for u10.  We were undefeated before they tore my team apart because we were beating everyone so bad because I practiced more than the other coaches.  Anyways bad situation but still a good team and face the team who is now better than us because coach didn't practice and parents complained so they have 2 of my original good  players.

All a little background but not really that pertaining to question.

We play 7v7 normally and have 2 subs Saturday we only have 6 kids due to Halloween camping or kids just being out of town.  I asked the kids yesterday at practice if they still want to play and they said yes.  I let the other coach know and he said we would try to work out the best solution.

How should we handle this?  Play 6v6 no subs (assume our kids would be dead tired, and if he has full allotment would be sitting 4 at a time)

Play 6 vs 7 and get crushed (I only have 2 good kids left as 2 others that are good are the ones out of town)

Mix up teams completely and just have a scrimmage

Grab one of the better kids from my original team and have him play with us again for the last game

Any other good options?

 

[Ned]

Have our last game of the season coming up (rec) for u10.  We were undefeated before they tore my team apart because we were beating everyone so bad because I practiced more than the other coaches.  Anyways bad situation but still a good team and face the team who is now better than us because coach didn't practice and parents complained so they have 2 of my original good  players.

All a little background but not really that pertaining to question.

We play 7v7 normally and have 2 subs Saturday we only have 6 kids due to Halloween camping or kids just being out of town.  I asked the kids yesterday at practice if they still want to play and they said yes.  I let the other coach know and he said we would try to work out the best solution.

How should we handle this?  Play 6v6 no subs (assume our kids would be dead tired, and if he has full allotment would be sitting 4 at a time)

Play 6 vs 7 and get crushed (I only have 2 good kids left as 2 others that are good are the ones out of town)

Mix up teams completely and just have a scrimmage

Grab one of the better kids from my original team and have him play with us again for the last game

Any other good options?

Play 6v6

 

[Righetti]

Been a while since I’ve update the thread

we’ve had two ties in the last three weeks plus a rainout, so we’ve certainly slowed down a bit as the competition has gotten better.   

With that said, our girls are still playing really well.   

Two weeks ago we tied a team 3-3 but this one was probably on me more than anybody.   It was a very hot day and our girls played hard but running on fumes late.  We were clinging to a 3-2 lead but committed a turnover and then had a girl beat our defender who was playing up high.   They came down and our goalie stonewalled the shot.   We moved the ball back out but within two minutes they had the same breakaway and his time got it past the goalie tying it up 3-3.  

In hindsight, I should have gone to an extra defender (we play two but should have gone to three) as we were leading and had no legs left to hope to extend it.  My girls were tired and we had just dodged a major bullet and just needed to play with the lead.  Anyway, it was a disappointing draw since it was a game we could have won

 

[Righetti]

This weekend was a bit different although we again played to a draw (1-1 this time), we played a team that always play us tough and has one top girl who is strong and has a very goo nose for the ball.   They are a mirror of ourselves in many ways as they playbgood defense and goalie.   We were away and played on a field we hadn’t played on before, the goals were teeny and so was the field.   We had three shots go wide in the first half, two in the second and one hit the cross bar.   Obviously that goes both ways but I felt like on the normal size goals, this would have been a 4-2 game or something

we did show nice resiliency and played well overall as we were down 1-0 and came back.    Game was a nail biter the entire time, we scored on a fluky kick that just dribbled in as their goalie was shielded    

One issue we had this game which we haven’t before is that we got called on a couple of offsides   The girl who plays center mid and is blazing fast outran our offense twice    I think it stems from the team we played, playing their defenders up (while many others bury them back)    This was a learning curve but something we need to teach them  

Few notes from the game

We have found a girl who is just a beast at goalie, she loves the position but her parents aren’t keen on it.   She honestly has the size and ability to make something out of that position and play into high school and beyond.  She’s tall, strong and fearless.   She should be the starter but she is also a great midfielder and our starting goalie offers very little in the field.   But when we put her in the game in the second half, we know that we won’t get anything easy scored on us and she’ll stop a bunch of hard ones too.    The issue is that taking her off the field hurts us also, as we need her to help transition   She’s our strongest and most fearless player, so we lose some grittiness  when we take her off   

I also finally found a spot for one of our new girls who has limited soccer skills, she’s been playing forward but just seems to run into her teammates.   We sort of invented a spot in our lineuo for her.     Playing here as a midfield disrupter.   I ask her to stay around the middle circle and go sideline to sideline in pursuit   She seemed to really relish in the roll as it allows her to do the one thing she can do, run and engage players.    She is still lost but she’s starting to find a spot, she I’ll play some winter soccer and I think she’ll improve a lot 

 

[Righetti]

We got back on what I hope will turn into a winning streak this week after two draws and a rainout.  We played really well and dominated a team 7-0, our passing was crisp, we had scores from 6 different players and our defense once again dominated   The win brought us to 6-0-2 with two games to to   The two ties sting a bit as the team below us is 5-2 and assuming they win out and we went 1-1, they would finish ahead of us   Still they have three tough games this weekend, including one against us, so they’d have to really dominate.  

Saturday we play that 5-2 team and Sunday we play a team that hasn’t done real well this season but the final standings will likely come down to Saturday. 

 

[Righetti]

After going 0-9-1 in our first season, we won our division this year in C flight.  We play tomorrow but have mathematically clinched first place and assuming we win, we will have gone undefeated

our most impressive stat is 37 goals for and only 7 allowed in nine games

 

[Righetti]

The Righetts finished the season undefeated going 5-0 in our last game to finish the season 8-0-2 and winning in C flight. 

After Saturday’s nights game for all the marbles, I was afraid they’d come out a bit flat but to their credit they came out and controlled the game.  The team we faced wasn’t that good, so the win was pretty much assured but still I thought we could have a letdown.  It rained during Saturday’s game which made it a total mess since we’ve lost most of the grass after a season of training and games    by the time we got to the game on Sunday, it was worse since there had been three games played since   It took our girls a lot to get traction and I’d pull them out of the game to clean their cleats with a stick with some hope to get traction   We depend on our speed and quickness a lot and that was neutralized in the muddy conditions  in both games   Sunday was a route, so not much to say other than a game we should  win which we did.  Had we lost we would still have won the flight but it would have felt bittersweet and going undefeated was a nice cherry

Back to Saturday

conditions were terrible and the girls were anxious   They had this game circled on the calenders for weeks after it got rained out   It was one versus two and winner would almost certainly win the flight   The muddy conditions slowed us down a lot and we came out very flat   We gave up a goal in the first but came back very hard after that   Beautiful passing, a few crosses where we were jut a hair slow because of the mud and our defense just constantly pushing us back up the field.   We put one in when halfway through the first we tapped a beautiful pass from the corner right in front of the center kid who scored   Game tied at 1 and from that point we kept it up  

one of our better players got hurt late in the game when we were 1-1, she’d taken a ball to her wrist and said she was hurting  I asked her if she could come back in but she said she couldn’t    With about 5 minutes left she did ask to go back, her wrist wasn’t swollen and she could move it and I put her back in   With fresh legs, she took two fast breaks up the field, one she was caught on and tried to shoot too late but the second time with two minutes left, she muscled through her defender and put one on goal from the middle of the penalty box and buried it in the back of the net    Two more minutes of nail biting and we got that loony whistle and it was over.  Beautiful was to end in a downpour with the lights on   

We have a really strong starting 7 with one incredible sub, so we don’t have a real hole in our lineup

one thing we did with one of our new girls who hadn’t played any real soccer was that we played her as a sub forward. But halfway through the season you saw that the position was terrible for her, she got an aggressive side to her and swarms to the ball.  She doesn’t have a lot of skill -yet- so we played her as a defensive mid, a position we created for her as we played 2-3-1 usually

when she got into the game we move to a 3-3 and it worked much better as it allowed her to run and not think so much about positioning.   We cover enough ground with two defenders, so having her attack up high wasn’t a bad strategy 

overall we finished with 42 goals for and 7 allowed, so we really played well on defense.  Our two starting defenders played a bunch of midfield yesterday as a thank you for a hard season, one of them scored 

 

[AcerFC]

So what are you going to do. Stay and develop passing skills or move up and have more of a challenge. 

I moved up to B after an 8-1-1 season. Biggest mistake I ever made. We didn't win a game and did not have a lot of room for development since we couldn't control the ball very long. If I had to do it again,  I would have stayed and really worked on square balls while keeping possession. Would have kept an internal score after every x amount of passes. 

Good luck. I don't think there is really a right or wrong move. If you do the MWUSC winter tournament let me know. I'll be there. 

 

[Righetti]

I believe the league will force us to move up in flight if you win (if you are the worst team they move you down a flight)

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

If you're plus 3.5 goals/game, I think you have to move up.  Anything you work on in a game at that level will be no different than a scrimmage.  

 

[SwampDawg]

I'd like to nominate Righetti for USMNT coach after that turn around. Of course the FFA will be along to provide assistance.  Very well done !!

 

[Righetti]

If you're plus 3.5 goals/game, I think you have to move up.  Anything you work on in a game at that level will be no different than a scrimmage.  

we were 42 for and 7 against, so right at that plus 3.5 goal/game.    We played in a flight with three good teams two decent ones and two terrible ones.   We might be right for this flight, I assume the two lower ones would move down to D flight and we'd get the bottom two from B flight.     anyway, I think the rule is that you move up, you don't have that much choice unless you make a compelling argument which would be hard after going undefeated and giving up just 7 goals

 

[AcerFC]

I won my division in u9 the fall season in northern counties and I asked to stay in C. They let us. 

 

[SwampDawg]

So for those with experience in pay to play programs what questions should I be asking and what should I be looking for in a club ?

I've commented on here before so I'll keep it quick, my son is a 2006 and has played all along for our small school district based club starting at U6 and U8 on into travel at U9. They have been successful, he had a great coach with some soccer back ground (high school and college inter-mural) which has allowed him to grow. Unfortunately the age rule change really hurt the small club, he is a fall 2006 birthday so this last year he was split off from many of his classmates and former teammates and moved up to 2005 because many of the spring 2005 birthday kids were now playing Middle School soccer and stopped playing for the club. It was a bad mix as the 2005/2006 6th graders were more rec kids playing travel because of numbers and long story short 2006 5th graders who moved up not only had to carry the team they couldn't trust or get the older kids to buy into what they were doing so they started compensating and that can lead to bad habits.  Mid season we decided we needed to see what else we could supplement for him, he tried out for ODP, after two tryouts he made the cut from 90 kids down to 50 for the call backs. While he didn't make the final team it gave him confidence he could play with better kids as it was almost all pay to play club kids at the tryouts.

He has decided to give up baseball (at least until Middle School) and would like to give a higher level soccer a try for a couple years as it is his favorite sport. We only have one DA club in our area, he went and did a training session with them at the end of the season and their coach said he showed enough they would be interested in having him come to a couple more training sessions over the winter or spring for a full evaluation (we will likely do that as soon as basketball finishes). However they currently have two 9v9 teams and when their new season starts in June will be going 11v11 and I'm not sure if they will have one or two teams, if it is one it would be a longshot for him to make it over kids already in the program. I've started looking at other "Premire" clubs as they are known in the area. One offers a winter training for local club players and they plan to do a few spring tournaments with that group and they use it to pull guest players for their regular team for the spring season when needed. So far he has enjoyed that and the training director who also happens to coach his age group so it is good exposure as they plan to add 3 or 4 kids for their next season that starts in June as the move to 11v11. There are a handful of other pay to play clubs but I'm not really sure what I should be looking for and asking? I did talk to one teams coach at the ODP tryouts and he turned me off as he kept touting all the tournaments they win but wasn't saying much about development, he also had them watching film for two hours once a week to go along with practices. My kid enjoys soccer and he enjoys practices as much as games but at 11 he would be bored 10 minutes in to watching film.

Any guidance from those of you with experience on what I should look for and ask of clubs to find a fit would be appreciated. Also it seems they all have tryouts over April and May and their new season starts in June, would you have him try out for multiple clubs or pick the one that seems like the best fit and focus on getting to as many of their open training sessions and tryouts as possible to get him exposed ?  What is the real advantage of a DA program ?

 

[PIK95]

My son got this package today that he made the 2005 Futsal ODP.  I'm excited for it as the player pool that I saw was very talented.  Our soccer ODP groups are garbage, but I have high hopes with this group running Futsal.  I'm not a facebook bragger, but I know some of you would appreciate this here.

"CONGRATULATIONS on being selected to the first U.S. FUTSAL ODP in the country!

Attached you will find important documents for you to review with your family. We look forward to having you participate in the U.S. Futsal ODP. "

My boy works hard and I'm proud of him.

 

[Sammy3469]

My son got this package today that he made the 2005 Futsal ODP.  I'm excited for it as the player pool that I saw was very talented.  Our soccer ODP groups are garbage, but I have high hopes with this group running Futsal.  I'm not a facebook bragger, but I know some of you would appreciate this here.

"CONGRATULATIONS on being selected to the first U.S. FUTSAL ODP in the country!

Attached you will find important documents for you to review with your family. We look forward to having you participate in the U.S. Futsal ODP. "

My boy works hard and I'm proud of him.

Awesome!  

 

[Righetti]

I won my division in u9 the fall season in northern counties and I asked to stay in C. They let us. 

We tried to but got bumped up to B.  The funny thing is that the towns we play now are all much further away.  The closest away game will be a 25 minute drive

The flight we’re in 

One team moved down from A 

Went 0-8-2   7GF 40GA (a flight)

Three teams strayed in B. 

First team went  4-3-3 21GF 14GA  (b flight)

Second team went 3-6-1 21GF  24GA (b flight)

Third team went  3-6-1 12GF.  21GA (b flight)

Three teams moved up from C

First team went  7-1-2. 50GF. 17GA. (c flight)

Second team went  7-1-2 34GF 16GA (c flight)

My team went  8-0-2. 42GF 7GA (c flight)

One team moved up from D  

They went  5-2-0. 39GF 20GA (d flight)

 

[Righetti]

So for those with experience in pay to play programs what questions should I be asking and what should I be looking for in a club ?

I've commented on here before so I'll keep it quick, my son is a 2006 and has played all along for our small school district based club starting at U6 and U8 on into travel at U9. They have been successful, he had a great coach with some soccer back ground (high school and college inter-mural) which has allowed him to grow. Unfortunately the age rule change really hurt the small club, he is a fall 2006 birthday so this last year he was split off from many of his classmates and former teammates and moved up to 2005 because many of the spring 2005 birthday kids were now playing Middle School soccer and stopped playing for the club. It was a bad mix as the 2005/2006 6th graders were more rec kids playing travel because of numbers and long story short 2006 5th graders who moved up not only had to carry the team they couldn't trust or get the older kids to buy into what they were doing so they started compensating and that can lead to bad habits.  Mid season we decided we needed to see what else we could supplement for him, he tried out for ODP, after two tryouts he made the cut from 90 kids down to 50 for the call backs. While he didn't make the final team it gave him confidence he could play with better kids as it was almost all pay to play club kids at the tryouts.

He has decided to give up baseball (at least until Middle School) and would like to give a higher level soccer a try for a couple years as it is his favorite sport. We only have one DA club in our area, he went and did a training session with them at the end of the season and their coach said he showed enough they would be interested in having him come to a couple more training sessions over the winter or spring for a full evaluation (we will likely do that as soon as basketball finishes). However they currently have two 9v9 teams and when their new season starts in June will be going 11v11 and I'm not sure if they will have one or two teams, if it is one it would be a longshot for him to make it over kids already in the program. I've started looking at other "Premire" clubs as they are known in the area. One offers a winter training for local club players and they plan to do a few spring tournaments with that group and they use it to pull guest players for their regular team for the spring season when needed. So far he has enjoyed that and the training director who also happens to coach his age group so it is good exposure as they plan to add 3 or 4 kids for their next season that starts in June as the move to 11v11. There are a handful of other pay to play clubs but I'm not really sure what I should be looking for and asking? I did talk to one teams coach at the ODP tryouts and he turned me off as he kept touting all the tournaments they win but wasn't saying much about development, he also had them watching film for two hours once a week to go along with practices. My kid enjoys soccer and he enjoys practices as much as games but at 11 he would be bored 10 minutes in to watching film.

Any guidance from those of you with experience on what I should look for and ask of clubs to find a fit would be appreciated. Also it seems they all have tryouts over April and May and their new season starts in June, would you have him try out for multiple clubs or pick the one that seems like the best fit and focus on getting to as many of their open training sessions and tryouts as possible to get him exposed ?  What is the real advantage of a DA program ?

I have no experience in this but I’d think to try out for multiple teams.  They are choosing you and they make no guarantees so I’d make sure I’d try out for a couple of teams to find the one that is the best for your kid and also gives you the best shot to play

kind ofmlike applying to multiple colleges 

 

[AcerFC]

We tried to but got bumped up to B.  The funny thing is that the towns we play now are all much further away.  The closest away game will be a 25 minute drive

The flight we’re in 

One team moved down from A 

Went 0-8-2   7GF 40GA (a flight)

Three teams strayed in B. 

First team went  4-3-3 21GF 14GA  (b flight)

Second team went 3-6-1 21GF  24GA (b flight)

Third team went  3-6-1 12GF.  21GA (b flight)

Three teams moved up from C

First team went  7-1-2. 50GF. 17GA. (c flight)

Second team went  7-1-2 34GF 16GA (c flight)

My team went  8-0-2. 42GF 7GA (c flight)

One team moved up from D  

They went  5-2-0. 39GF 20GA (d flight)

Just looked. Looks like you will be playing my club this season. No idea how they are. Good luck. It seems like you should be ok with so much movement. 

 

[Righetti]

Just looked. Looks like you will be playing my club this season. No idea how they are. Good luck. It seems like you should be ok with so much movement. 

Was thinking that might be you guys.  Our girls are training all winter many of them with two different groups.  I think we are going to be very good this year,  it’s indoor so hard to say how directly it will translate but having watched a number of the training sessions I’d say that our movement without the ball is getting better, our footwork is greatly improved and we should be better passing team.  

The guy who runs our winter training will be the guy we will use for our trainers this spring (club is considering moving away from the British guys).  I like the idea of continuity, this way the girls can train with the same guy throughout the year and from one year to another.  Assuming he’s good (he seems to be), we won’t lose time trying to get the kids acquainted with a new trainer every few months.   Many kids do additional outside training also, so this won’t be the only voice they hear

 

[SwampDawg]

I have no experience in this but I’d think to try out for multiple teams.  They are choosing you and they make no guarantees so I’d make sure I’d try out for a couple of teams to find the one that is the best for your kid and also gives you the best shot to play

kind ofmlike applying to multiple colleges 

Interestingly enough both clubs scheduled their tryouts on the same two nights at the same times on opposite sides of the county. Obviously being done because they want to prevent the kids they currently have from trying out for the other team. While I get that it seems counter productive to finding additional players which with 2006 moving to 11v11 this fall they will need. Let's just say you have 20 kids in the area looking to try out, now on average each team is only going to see 10 kids if they evenly split where they are going instead of having 20 to pick from.  The club my son has been doing the winter training team with announced their dates a few days before the other so I signed him up there. I then emailed the coach of his age group at the other club and flat out explained the situation that we weren't looking to play clubs against each other but I wanted him to try out for both because no one will commit at this point to exactly how many openings they have and also to see which team he felt most comfortable with and vice versa.  They were understanding and he is going to their current teams training sessions this week and next instead of the tryout for that club as his tryout. Unfortunately they start outside this week and it looks like we could have snow/rain/temps in the 30's Tuesday evening so not sure if they will even hold training this week. 

 

[Righetti]

Tomorrow we start spring practice!!!   It’s going to snow the next day

sports in the Northeast is really horrible in terms of weather

 

[Ned]

Interestingly enough both clubs scheduled their tryouts on the same two nights at the same times on opposite sides of the county. Obviously being done because they want to prevent the kids they currently have from trying out for the other team. While I get that it seems counter productive to finding additional players which with 2006 moving to 11v11 this fall they will need. Let's just say you have 20 kids in the area looking to try out, now on average each team is only going to see 10 kids if they evenly split where they are going instead of having 20 to pick from.  The club my son has been doing the winter training team with announced their dates a few days before the other so I signed him up there. I then emailed the coach of his age group at the other club and flat out explained the situation that we weren't looking to play clubs against each other but I wanted him to try out for both because no one will commit at this point to exactly how many openings they have and also to see which team he felt most comfortable with and vice versa.  They were understanding and he is going to their current teams training sessions this week and next instead of the tryout for that club as his tryout. Unfortunately they start outside this week and it looks like we could have snow/rain/temps in the 30's Tuesday evening so not sure if they will even hold training this week. 

It's a huge problem with this sport and all it does is hurt the kids in the long run.

Our clubs here have finally had enough and have gotten together to work out a better process.  I'm curious to see what they come up with for this spring.

 

[Ned]

Tomorrow we start spring practice!!!   It’s going to snow the next day

sports in the Northeast is really horrible in terms of weather

My youngest has been dying to get outdoor started.  So of course this is their first week outside and we're supposed to get a foot of snow. 

 

[SwampDawg]

It's a huge problem with this sport and all it does is hurt the kids in the long run.

Our clubs here have finally had enough and have gotten together to work out a better process.  I'm curious to see what they come up with for this spring.

Well last week was tryout week, the weather actually helped. One club kept their tryouts Monday and Wednesday and did them on an indoor field, the other kept Monday  and went indoors but switched their Wednesday to Thursday so they could be outside. So he got seen by the one club three times (at the two practices they had him come to and then Thursday) and by the other club twice on Monday and Wednesday. We got the email last night from the club he had went to the practices for that he made their team. The other club sent an email Saturday night saying due to the large numbers at the tryout they were still making decisions, personally I think they were waiting to hear back from kids. Either way while both seemed good in the different practices and winter training the one he made I really liked what I saw from and we know some people with kids that have played for them and they had good things to say. It's a little more of a drive to practices (45 minutes vs 20 minutes) but in the grand scheme I think it will be a good fit. He is excited and I'm happy for him because it has been a lot of growth for him to go to winter training where he didn't know other kids and tryouts with 40 kids he didn't know as he tends to be shy. But he wanted this and pushed himself through it and it paid off.

 

[Righetti]

Three games into the spring season and the Lady Bugs are 2-1 in B flight.  

Last weekend, as anybody in the NE will attest to, we played in 40 degree cold weather which wasn’t helpful at all but persevered and won 5-1 after going down 1-0    Girls dig deep and worked their tails off    We had the wind in our face the first half and played them to a 1-1 tie, so it wasn’t surprising when we got the wind that we rolled off 4 more goals

big win against a team which was in b flight the year before and a hatrick out of our right mid    We moved her from center mid to right mid to give her more scoring opportunities   She isn’t thrilled as she wants to engage more but it burns her energy more than needed 

 

[Righetti]

this Saturday we went against one team that had dropped down from A flight who we faced a few seasons ago   We started slow again going down 1-0 when their top girl hit a riser over our goalie’s head.   Nothing we could do other than tip your hat.   We didn’t get down and our midfielders really capitalized.  Our right mid scored one to tie it (her fourth this year) and our center mid put two into the back of the net, one an absolute monster    Our first sub who has been an incredible addition as a true second grader and only 7, scored too

we gave up one late to the same girl who blasted one.   Our defenders sort of looked at each other instead of attacking and she smashed one.  Our goalie got her hands on it and knocked it down but as she fell it rolled over.  Nothing she could have done differently.  This brought the score to 4-2 but held on for the last five minutes    I was planning on some mass substitutions to save us for the next day but this sort of put a kink in those plans 

We took the team to the RedBulls game afterwards which was a great team building excercise.  

A long day outside and I felt it myself after going out to dinner with a couple of the parents after the RedBull game 

 

[Righetti]

we played the next day (Sunday) which was our first real back to back (had one last year but he second team was really not very good)    We go down 1-0 as we always seem to do.    Our legs were tired after a long day before and you could tell that this would not be easy  

We switched our center mid and left defender and she almost immediately capitalized and got us a goal      But we just couldn’t get another one across and gave up two

This team had also moved up from C flight and had had a 50-17 goal differential.  They played a defensive style almost like a 3-2-1 but their back defenders stay back and just clog the box   

 There are just no ways to find lanes, we tried swinging it around the box but with our limited passing length, we can’t really get out of position    It’s a tough play for us as it negates all of our speed and finesse and forces you to hope either a hard clean riser (girls this age won’t get in front of it) or an ugly goal off a rebound    

They beat us one three breakaways   Their defense forces you to bring more people up and then they exploit you   They have an incredibly fast girl who they could get out in front of the ball

 

[Righetti]

Do any of your clubs do a “soccer dinner” at the end of the year?   They do it for football in my town but never for soccer

thought it might be nice and allow each coach to give an MVP to a player and recognize teams that win their flight or something 

 

[PIK95]

Do any of your clubs do a “soccer dinner” at the end of the year?   They do it for football in my town but never for soccer

thought it might be nice and allow each coach to give an MVP to a player and recognize teams that win their flight or something 

We have an outdoor carnival at the fields.  Clear it with the city and get bounce houses and giant grills. The kids want to run around.  Not a sit down meal.

 

[Righetti]

with six games into the season we are solidly at 4-2 with three games to go.  We certainly belong in B Flight and my girls have been playing better every week.   We had one loss a few weeks ago against a team who dropped three defensive players in the box and kept them there, we just couldn't find a way to score in that situation.   We eventually would press up and then got beat on two fast-breaks the other way. It was a weird game because it was the first loss we had taken in a full year, so a good learning experience.     It was the second game of a back-to-back game weekend as we had won on Saturday, so our legs were likely tired and we had taken the entire team to a RedBull game after game 1 on Saturday night.     

we then followed that up with another back-to-back weekend and played a game against @AcerFCclub and lost that one 3-2 in a game where we felt like we should have won.   It was the first time that after a game and gave the kids a piece..  It wasn't the result but a lack of effort and lack of hustle    we played the next day and won decisively/

last weekend we played our third consecutive week of back-to-back  and won both games including one game for the local cup tournament.   We need a few more wins and then we'd play for the CUP at a local college at the end of June..  My girls certainly have come a long way since the start of this thread..  

 

[Righetti]

With the spring season now 90% of the way done, I have to say that I’m super proud of my girls.  We’re 6-2 in B flight and our 0-9 in our first season seems like a long memory.    We also are playing in a cup tournament and with a win we play in the finals.  It has been a great experience for all the right reasons (girls forged great friendships, my daughter and I are enjoying it together, I know a bunch of girls who might be long term friends of hers, met some great parents)

the only sad thing is that after this season I have three top players leaving.  One is moving out of the country which we have known about for a while but were prepared for as we have a girls coming off the bench now who deserves to start.    But then this week I found out that two other girls made a local club team and will go that route.   This one really hurt as they are great players, happen to my daughter’s closest friends on the team, we’re very close to the families and their dads are my two assistant coaches.    They are moving to a team playing in A flight (one above us) but if we were to win our last game we would have also moved up to A flight next year.   (We can’t now because we’d be overmatched).   I know it’s part of the game but it’s sad that in soccer they pick kids so early.   

Anyway, nothing to do but try to win our last flight game and win the divison and hopefully win two more cup games and be able to call ourselves the top team in northern jersey/southern New York 

 

[AcerFC]

Im confused. Your team is a club team. What does this local club team have over you guys who would have been in A anyway. 

 

[Righetti]

So my girls played in the cup final in our league over the weekend.    We lost 3-2 but still feel like it was a great accomplishment considering where we came from.  The team that beat us won the cup last year and play in A flight (we play in B flight)   The Cup runs parallel to the regular season, so we would play a Saturday cup qualifier game on a weekend and our regular flight game on Sunday 

we really had a great season 6-3 in the flight and runner up in the cup.   

As I mentioned up thread, we will lost three girls next season (two to club soccer and one moving out of the country)  it’s a shame because we were really building something    We come back with four strong fielders and our goalie, so should be OK but will move down to C flight for the fall to see how we handle it 

my biggest issue is finding new talent  we live in a really small town and trying to carry two teams means that we have very small rosters    We don’t want to break up the “B” team as they are just OK in E flight, so am trying to backfill the back of the roster with some athleticism   

Two girls who were subs this year will have to step up   They are both very new to soccer, so they are far behind our starters and played less because of it    Next year will be a big transition for them 

 

[Righetti]

Im confused. Your team is a club team. What does this local club team have over you guys who would have been in A anyway. 

Nothing really. 

We would have gone to A flight and played the team they went to.  We can’t go to A flight now without them

they offer paid trainers two times per week (we do once per week and I coach the other one) and they have a beautiful facility (we use town fields) but really we offer them convenience, friendship and a program that their girls thrived in.   

These girls will also go from playing 55 minutes per game to playing 25 minutes as their rosters are 12 deep while we are 10 and our bottom is much worse than our top. 

 

[Righetti]

We will replace our three departing girls with three new ones

- a super athlete who is an absolute dynamo basketball player.  Our town is a soccer town and she just moved in, likely the closest competitive sport she’ll find.  Expect her to pick it up quickly

- a girl who quit last year when we put her on the B team.  She’s an OK player and did a bunch of training over the year but her losing two seasons will hurt her

- a total project.  We had a total of six girls try out.  I’m sort of deciding between a very small but somewhat quick girl and one who is a bigger frame but not quick at all. She did get a 3 out of 5 on the 2v2 still so hope she’s not afraid to engage 

 

[Short Corner]

:sehorn:

 

[SwampDawg]

Ok @Righetti time to start training camp and give us some updates, who did you end up picking up ?  Are your games listed on the new legalized jersey sports book yet ? 

We are starting our first year with a club team, my son just got back from a 4 day, 3 night preseason camp they ran at the local university. Between the 3 training sessions per day and an 11 year old having some freedom (they were fully supervised and had to be in their dorm rooms by 10pm but still it was big for him) I have never seen him so tired as when I picked him up Wednesday. But he said he had a blast and got to bond with some of the other kids from his team that were there.  Going to be a busy year as he is also secondary rostered on the his old local clubs team as they needed some help numbers wise. I'm expecting he'll play 4 or 5 games for them as well when it doesn't conflict with his club teams schedule.

Probably not an option in your area with the Red Bulls having an academy but we have a local PDL team (they actually are playing in the National Semi-Final this weekend) and we were able to line up some one on one training for my son and a friend of his with their coaches once a week earlier in July during the clubs down time just to keep him active. Plus he was a ball runner for 4 games of theirs and got to be down and watch the game from field level.

 

[Worm]

Welp. I volunteered to coach my girls local county u8 team. Last night was the first practice. I am in huge huge trouble.

I have coached previously at a local place with walls (think indoor soccer but outdoors), and it was great for the younger kids. This new league is full 7v7, and on a normal field (but smaller of course). My team seems pretty terrible overall and I think there are going to be some stacked teams that really put a hurting on us. I don't mind losing but I have a feeling it will be discouraging for them at times this year. Hopefully I can keep it fun and teach them a few things, but I'm definitely overwhelmed a little. First practice was like herding cats.

 

[SwampDawg]

Welp. I volunteered to coach my girls local county u8 team. Last night was the first practice. I am in huge huge trouble.

I have coached previously at a local place with walls (think indoor soccer but outdoors), and it was great for the younger kids. This new league is full 7v7, and on a normal field (but smaller of course). My team seems pretty terrible overall and I think there are going to be some stacked teams that really put a hurting on us. I don't mind losing but I have a feeling it will be discouraging for them at times this year. Hopefully I can keep it fun and teach them a few things, but I'm definitely overwhelmed a little. First practice was like herding cats.

https://dcc.ussoccer.com/

US Soccer has some online grass roots courses, unfortunately only 4v4 is currently available. I did the intro, I want to do the 11v11 just as a curious parent to understand more. They do have some free downloads. 8U should be 4v4 or 5v5 I believe by the new US Youth Soccer rules.

 

[AcerFC]

Welp. I volunteered to coach my girls local county u8 team. Last night was the first practice. I am in huge huge trouble.

I have coached previously at a local place with walls (think indoor soccer but outdoors), and it was great for the younger kids. This new league is full 7v7, and on a normal field (but smaller of course). My team seems pretty terrible overall and I think there are going to be some stacked teams that really put a hurting on us. I don't mind losing but I have a feeling it will be discouraging for them at times this year. Hopefully I can keep it fun and teach them a few things, but I'm definitely overwhelmed a little. First practice was like herding cats.

Honestly, I have been down this road. Spend a majority of your training sessions doing footskills. There are coerver drills linked here somewhere but something like this will work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwsUBXrq9UQ

I also like Joner. This session with this kid has some great things to work on with younger kids

https://youtu.be/MB27cIRGNTI

I would waste zero time teaching them tactics. Even if they play herd soccer, let it be. Once they get the skills necessary, you can move to small sided rondo stuff at U9/U10

Like I said, biggest mistake I made in coaching my daughter was trying to do tactics and technical stuff. 

And just make it fun so they want to come back

 

[Worm]

Honestly, I have been down this road. Spend a majority of your training sessions doing footskills. There are coerver drills linked here somewhere but something like this will work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwsUBXrq9UQ

I also like Joner. This session with this kid has some great things to work on with younger kids

https://youtu.be/MB27cIRGNTI

I would waste zero time teaching them tactics. Even if they play herd soccer, let it be. Once they get the skills necessary, you can move to small sided rondo stuff at U9/U10

Like I said, biggest mistake I made in coaching my daughter was trying to do tactics and technical stuff. 

And just make it fun so they want to come back

Thanks GB. Saturday went better (though there were a couple less kids that showed up). One of the dads helped a bit.

Foot drills were good, and I did some more "fun" stuff like playing sharks & minnows and finishing with 10 minutes of scrimmaging.

I really just need an assistant to help herd them a little and keep making it fun.

 

[Dickies]

I've been assistant coach for baseball and soccer the last few years, but decided to take the plunge and be the head coach of my son's soccer team this year.  This is U8, and we play 4v4 plus goalies.  This is just a rec league and my main goal is for the kids to have fun and get equal playing time.  The team is pretty good, and we have a diverse mix of kids (some have never played, some are balls of energy who can take over the game, and some are mellow but good listeners).  

My problem is that I have one kid who refuses to play.  He is overweight, lazy, and has a piss poor attitude.  His parents are nice people, but pushing morbid obesity.  After the last game he didn't play much because he refused.  I put him in as a defender to start the game and he sat at the edge of the box cross-legged.  I subbed him in on offense and he stood at midfield talking to the defender and goalie before moaning that he is too tired and needs water.  I put him in at goalie figuring there is no running involved and he was playing with the net inside the goal as balls are being kicked into the net.  It's not that I don't want to play him, but once he is on the sideline bench he throws a fit when he has to go in, while I have other kids begging me to get in the game. 

After the last game his parents expressed concern that I wasn't spreading the playing time evenly enough and that their son only played about 10 minutes of the 40 minute game.  I told them that my main objective is to keep the game as fun as possible for the kids and I made the decision that he was having less fun on the field than sitting on the bench, and like every other kid on the team when the say they need a break I sub them out.  Where they pissed me off a bit is that they insinuated that I wasn't "encouraging" him enough and that last year he never had these problems.  I don't know what to do.  In practice he mopes around, doesn't listen to anyone (his own parents more than me), and is more of a distraction than anything (picks the ball up with his hands in scrimmages and runs half way across the park).  There is one other dad that occasionally helps, but I can't put 95% of my energy into one kid and ignore the other 8.

What would some of you more experienced coaches out there do?  I feel like I'm handling it to the best of my ability, but I love the game and don't want to feel like I was the reason this kid stopped playing when the season ends.

 

[[scooter]]

Where they pissed me off a bit is that they insinuated that I wasn't "encouraging" him enough and that last year he never had these problems.

Maybe last year he wasn't as fat?

 

[Otis]

Update?

 

[AcerFC]

@Dickies

Sounds like the parents are forcing him to play and he does not want to. Being that this is rec, I think that they do have a right to be upset about the 10 mins of playing time. 

Does he ever talk to you about things he likes. Maybe use that to create a game during training. Maybe he gets into it. I used to play candy mountain with my young kids. Make a square with some cones. The ball was the kids candy bag. Each side of the square was a different candy (hershey, kisses, krackle etc. The kids picked) Then I would yell out a candy and they would have to dribble the ball to that side. I bought some candy and at the end of training handed it out. 

You can really sub anything in for candy in that one. I also had a shrek and toy story game. And something with animals that I vaguely remember. Just pick something her likes and see if that helps. And play him just as much as the other kids. Its rec 4v4.