The Approaching Season

The fall season is approaching and, as usual, I can't wait. I just completed the class to get my coach's "F" license. We spent several hours outdoors doing drills and games. The sun was beating down and there wasn't a breeze to speak of. The temperature peaked at 106 while we were out there. I'm pretty used to the heat from playing with the kiddos, but I have to confess that it was "hot". I also have to say our instructor is one tough dude. He was certainly the oldest person out there and he was working just as hard as we were. By the way, I had a blast playing the small-sided games.

We found out that our league has decided to better comply with the US Youth Soccer suggestions for playing rules for the younger kids. This will mean smaller teams (than expected for the new year), smaller fields, and bigger goals. I think its great. (You'd think from the way some of the coaches reacted that we were banning soccer in our town; I think they were more concerned about how the changes affect them rather than what's best for the kids.) The field sizes will be significantly shorter which will encourage having kids play both offense and defense. It will also encourage better ball control as opposed to the kick and chase tactic. The kids will get more touches and have to make more decisions. Its going to be more fun than ever. Fun is the big advantage recreational soccer has over club soccer. We really need to keep this in mind as coaches.

While there were many important points in the class, I wanted to make a special note about this point: we should coach the kids in terms of 1st defender / 2nd defender and 1st attacker / 2nd attacker rather than positions. The players should not feel constrained to certain locations on the field. Instead, they should "read the game" and do what needs to be done. That may mean supporting an attack, applying pressure, covering for the 1st defender, or any of a number of different things. I'll experiment with this and see what happens. I've always struggled getting my backs to better support attacks; this may address that. By playing on smaller fields, we will better enable this type of play. I think it will be even more fun too.