At the end of the day, there is no better teacher than the ball and the game itself

Take your player to a local soccer field when he doesn't have practice and let him play pickup with the Hispanic kids that can't afford a team but feel their soccer and are crazy about it. Your player will improve by leaps and bounds on a technical level, might learn some tricks and footwork that he would never learn from a coach, and he will make some soccer friends that are for life. You won't regret it and your player will have a blast getting an occasional reprieve from the shackles of organized soccer.

Anonymous wrote:a lot of the coaches that are training possesion i hear tons of "play the way you face". it seems to be decent, but i feel like it leaves a lot to be desired, like not teaching how to turn before receiving ball and creating something other than not going "backwards" all of the time.

there's almost no focus on that finishing. lots of weak shots that end up looking like passes to goalies. lots of wasted opportunities

I've had 3 kids go through the travel ranks and it's my opinion that independent technical training is a must to separate your kid's skills from the others. Off season is a great time to ramp up those skills!

I just saw that Arlington Soccer Assoc's Executive Director has now joined DC Stoddert Soccer as Recreational Program Director. It sounds like he will be in charge of a mid-level soccer between Rec and Travel. Anyone know why he switched clubs and is not the Executive Director?

http://www.soccerwire.com/notes/dc-stoddert-soccer-hires-justin-wilt-as-recreational-program-director/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:kick and run works! thats why some teams and coaches use that style and parents scream to send it. since it doesnt rely significantly on skills other than that of a decent boot, speed, receipt and shot, it can be useful as pp mentioned. eapecially if goalies are still developing. and if your end game is scoring goals, winnning and it works, then its hard to not consider it as a tool in your toolbox. we've all been told it wont work in a couple years, but clearly it siill used once in a while and can have a significant game impact.

in the end, whether wrong or right, for many (not all) winning records equal customer sales satisfaction and aids recruitment of more players, some whom may be stronger, which may influence others to join, ,hoping that training can aid in development that doesnt rely on kick and run. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt.

while training and development should be paramount, winning isnt meritless. having a team that can maintain significant possession and change it up once in a while take advantage of a long ball isnt terrible in my opinion.

Our club is very possession oriented, to the extent that we often dominate time of possession, but fall 1-0 to a single successful kick and run play. Our club's teams practice possession so much that the girls often give up good opportunities for better ones in games. I wish we could spend even 10% of our training time on finishing because we suck at it. I hear the coaches say the same thing... "stay the course, that k/r strategy won't work in a few years" but at U14 it's appears to be still working... what exactly is it that changes that causes the possession game to overcome this infuriating but common style? I watch collegiate games and see alot of kick and run too so it persists.

I hear you. The American mindset these days is that "finishing" is basically dessert. Be good in our six possession drills, and we might let you take a shot. It's striking the ball. Kids need to learn that.

Anonymous wrote:a lot of the coaches that are training possesion i hear tons of "play the way you face". it seems to be decent, but i feel like it leaves a lot to be desired, like not teaching how to turn before receiving ball and creating something other than not going "backwards" all of the time.

there's almost no focus on that finishing. lots of weak shots that end up looking like passes to goalies. lots of wasted opportunities

Two clubs and we've yet to work on finishing. U13 and U10 players. Team's shooting accuracy and form sucks. And almost none of the players can use both feet.

Yeah unfortunately a lot of teams don't work on turns with their players nor do they show them the possible different kinds of turns they could use in a game.

a lot of the coaches that are training possesion i hear tons of "play the way you face". it seems to be decent, but i feel like it leaves a lot to be desired, like not teaching how to turn before receiving ball and creating something other than not going "backwards" all of the time.

there's almost no focus on that finishing. lots of weak shots that end up looking like passes to goalies. lots of wasted opportunities

You have to match the kick and run teams for physicality and make sure to battle for the 50/50 balls. If you win the headers and don't let the ball bounce, their kick and run approach quickly becomes a farce, and once you do get the ball you look to play it direct IF you have time on the ball and IF there's a pass available, otherwise you try to move vertically down the field with quick passes, wide players opening up to create space, and forwards making diagonal runs to drag defenders, so that the players underneath can break through the lines and cause overloads. The keys are verticality, intensity, and passion. You want to play well to win and you have to take the game to the opponent and attack, otherwise possession becomes sterile. Also, there's a difference between working on finishing and being a kick and run team. Good possession teams should devote some time to finishing, again going back to sterile possession.

^^that is why a lot of great players don't show at these cattle call travel tryouts with just scrimmaging where nobody will give up the ball or pass. They miss a helluva lot of talent.

^^I know. I pulled my kids out of a very winning kick-run-physical top Club when they were small because it pained me to see the game played so poorly --even if it was winning. My kids are good athletes so they could hang with the kick/run style, but at what cost?

I think it doesn't get better in the US because even as you move up, it's still working all the way through college.

Where it does not work is Internationally. Those possession playing, one touch masters that are cunning and quick and move the ball around so fast you almost miss it make a mockery of us in the International stage.

But--what's an American kid to do? Coaches here don't value thinkers and can't identify them. Teammates are incapable of playing this style and don't have good enough technique.

When a kid learns and trains correctly he can't find another 10 players to mesh with him. The other players don't know where to move, where to pass, don't have good touch. That 1 player shows horribly when he is out with the kickers. The kickers are screaming "just boot it out of here" when they are in the back. Now putting a ball at a 50/50 chance versus keeping possession. The parents on the sidelines are yelling the same thing. You have to have a strong personality to tune that shit out and play your game. Now--put that same kid with 10 players that have similar skill, vision, intelligence and the kid looks phenomenal.

But since most Americans are only playing in the US, I feel like I'm handicapping my kids by training then the correct way, but I just can't help it.

Anonymous wrote:kick and run works! thats why some teams and coaches use that style and parents scream to send it. since it doesnt rely significantly on skills other than that of a decent boot, speed, receipt and shot, it can be useful as pp mentioned. eapecially if goalies are still developing. and if your end game is scoring goals, winnning and it works, then its hard to not consider it as a tool in your toolbox. we've all been told it wont work in a couple years, but clearly it siill used once in a while and can have a significant game impact.

in the end, whether wrong or right, for many (not all) winning records equal customer sales satisfaction and aids recruitment of more players, some whom may be stronger, which may influence others to join, ,hoping that training can aid in development that doesnt rely on kick and run. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt.

while training and development should be paramount, winning isnt meritless. having a team that can maintain significant possession and change it up once in a while take advantage of a long ball isnt terrible in my opinion.

Our club is very possession oriented, to the extent that we often dominate time of possession, but fall 1-0 to a single successful kick and run play. Our club's teams practice possession so much that the girls often give up good opportunities for better ones in games. I wish we could spend even 10% of our training time on finishing because we suck at it. I hear the coaches say the same thing... "stay the course, that k/r strategy won't work in a few years" but at U14 it's appears to be still working... what exactly is it that changes that causes the possession game to overcome this infuriating but common style? I watch collegiate games and see alot of kick and run too so it persists.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Call me crazy, but I think parents have a right to know if a club they're considering is involved in competitive games or a long series of useless blowouts that develop neither the winning team nor the losing team.

(Silently bangs head against wall). For the8/9/10/11-year old---that one game per week is essentially nothing for their development.

Worry about your kid playing on their own and what they are actually doing in PRACTICE sessions.

You would be appalled at how absolutely shitty a lot of the $3k/per year travel practices are for developing individual players.

My kid has been on very winning teams and very losing teams. He actually got a lot more out of the losing Club because the coaches were so good. They weren't filling the field with just physical players that chased down the ball. In the teen years, these kids all replaced the little former A team CCL stars.

(Bangs head back) If your games are all 10-0 either direction, they're useless. The training may or may not still be good.

If it's your only strategy for generating offense*. Sorry, I suck at this.