U17 - shape, movement and support

This morning we worked with the U17 boys.  This is a tough balance because right now a lot of the boys have high school soccer so you have to be careful of how much fitness work you do.  Some of the high school coaches in the area run the boys a lot.  And they are starting their preseason tournaments as well.

Last Wednesday, for high school soccer,  my son played 6 25-minute indoor 6v6 games (with 2 subs) between 9:30am and 3:00pm.  You have to know what's going on with the players and take proper care of them.

So, today ... we had 12 players in attendance at the Welland Soccer Club indoor field.  The only notable injury was a bruise one player had from getting spiked at school soccer training  (he wasn't wearing shin pads).

We started with a small run and dynamic stretch as always.

Our next exercise was a sequence involving turning and passing.  The pattern run was game realistic and we did 4 different turns.  Our coaching points were:

• Dribble at pace leading into the turn
• Head up after the turn
• Quick-early-accurate pass after the turn

Some of the players learned new turns today and overall they were "OK" at it.  Some used a few of the turn-pass patterns in the game at the end, so that's always good. 

One coaching point I forgot to remind them of was balance during the turn so they can make a proper pass and move after the turn.  Looking at my plan, I didn't have it written down to remind myself.  My fault.

We followed this with a passing sequence that involved a minimum of 12 touches going through the pattern.  We started with 2-touch, then 1 touch passing, then 1-2 combo going through the sequence.

It was one of those exercises I enjoy where there is pressure on every player to get it right or the sequence breaks down.  It was about working to make the good pass and to run and fix the bad passes coming to you.  We are trying to instill a level of responsibility and teamwork in their passing and receiving and realizing there is more to being on a team than just having the same jersey.

They were working to keep it going and for the most part they did.  We did very little technical coaching during this portion.  It was more giving them ideas on how they would fix passes, using their athleticism to get to a stray ball  and being creative in getting it to the next guy.

I have to say, up to the game portion of training, I was happy with them.  We got a lot of movement and ball touches in.  We were all happy as coaches and the players were happy with themselves.

When we got into the game we changed gears a bit.  We wanted to see that they worked towards not having the man with the ball as the last man.   This forced some support movement.  Then we worked on the type of movement you would do when passing the ball back.  To keep it simple we said if you pass back, you make 3 steps backwards and wide,  then play is ON.  If the defender follows you then a space is opened up for the man with the ball.  If the defender goes towards him then he can use you and now it's a 2v1 which opens up a world of possibilities.

We kept the instruction on support down to those 2 points.  I want to see if we can build this group up one step at a time.  Some have had solid training at younger ages and some are playing catch-up.

Coach Loris wanted to try something and it worked fairly well.   Later in the game when he said freeze the defending team stood where they were and the attacking team had to split defenders with 'x' amount of quick passes and the game was back on.  We have to tweak it a bit but the boys seem to catch it and Loris explained it well.  I look forward to seeing where that goes.

I think it went smoothly today.  I should have been more thorough with coaching points but I always fear talking too much.  17-year-old boys want to play as much as possible.  We have 4 coaches and it's tough to keep everybody busy with only 12 players at training.  You want to avoid 4 people barking out instructions but you also want to avoid a coach doing nothing at the same time.

Next up are 2 outdoor sessions during Easter weekend.  These boys are making progress and they are fun to work with.  I appreciate how they make me feel welcome and work hard.

U13 - Practice Cancelled

We cancelled practice for Saturday.  The unusually warm weather we've had in March gave way to one last cold spell with wet snow before the month ends.  Winter's last roar, I guess.

I did not have an indoor field or gym booked as a backup, so we will just reconvene Monday night.  The forecast is promising.

U13 - Fitness session #2

Tonight we had our second fitness session involving all travel boys players from U10-U13 and U17.  It was VERY cold tonight and we had a lot of boys winding down their hockey and basketball season.  In total we had 47 boys, down from last week's 70.  Five of our fourteen players were missing, 4 for hockey the other for basketball.  Our other U13 team was also missing 7 players due to winter sports.  

I am looking forward to more players and warmer weather.  :-)

The good news from tonight is that the kids who came did so in a big way.  Their work rate was refreshing.  We also had several new parents manning our circuit stations.

I've been thinking about what we want out of this.  My personal desires are:

• Ability to bring a higher work rate in games
• Making the players realize what they are capable of
• Physical literacy and co-ordination
• Team/Club bonding

One of the early feedbacks from a parent-helper was to better explain each exercise or why we do it.  So tonight I did a brief explanation and provided each station person a small list of coaching points.  That is something we'll have to keep improving.  We also did a cool-down jog afterwards, acting on more feedback.

We did the same thing as last week:

• 12 minute run
• 5 40m sprints
• 15 station circuit (twice)

I was hoping to free up the coaches and have more parents manning stations, but the lower numbers took some of last week's parent helpers with them.  I want the coaches to see their kids in action and cheer them on.

My personal feeling after the session was good.  The boys are able to help set up, the level of co-operation was good and I felt I had a better handle on the situation, being the second time doing it.  The kids are learning how to train which is good.  Training is always good, but learning HOW to train is important too.

We re-demonstrated 2 of the stations after our break and the boys really refocused their efforts.

I should have done my homework sooner to see who was there and organize the parent helpers in advance.  I was assuming they would all be there but they weren't because it was their boys who were missing.  Never assume.  This week I will get my ducks in a row to make sure the evening passes a little smoother.

Another item that needs tweaking are the stations.  They were OK, but they need to be changed up to keep the routine fresh.  We may opt to change the format of the second portion altogether.  We'll see.  Now that a system is in place I should consult somebody who is a fitness guru to adjust the stations.

I am starting to see a bit of a trade-off with this.  The positives are definitely the energy of the group, the club atmosphere and the guarantee of good numbers.  The down-side is your ability to coach and perfect the technique of each exercise, due to the numbers and format.

The feedback from other coaches has been positive with good tips for future sessions.

I was not always feeling good at the end of training since January, but that has been getting better as time passes this season.

Next up is Saturday morning ... more footwork, more passing, more soccer.

Niagara United CSL Program

Tonight I went and spent some time on the bench of Niagara United's new CSL team.  They had a friendly 11v11 with a local team.

The Canadian Soccer League is considered Canada's Professional League and was formed over 80 years ago.  It's not at the MLS level, but it's an all Canadian league.  The Montreal Impact and Toronto FC of the MLS both have teams in this league.

It was nice to be exposed to a high level of men's soccer again.  I am returning to the OCAA College Men's game in the fall and it's important to stay familiar with that level of player and play.

The team has a lot of nice players at their disposal.  Their fitness and technical level were clearly above that of their opponent but it was important for them to be on the pitch together, getting to know each other.

Because of the commitment level for CSL play it's difficult to lure some quality players away from the top senior teams because of work or family commitments.  The level of play is still very good, but the league does have it's challenges.

I was impressed by how eager they were to counter attack in transition and how quickly the ball got forward when the chance was there.  Their 1v1 defending and on-field communication were also noticeable in a positive way.    

Being so early in their formation, you could see their team shape was a little out of whack but that will come with time.  During this stage in their formation I felt it would have served them better to knock the ball around for the sake of knocking the ball around, drawing as many teammates as possible into the game and flow.  There were situations where they had no play forward but tried to force it anyway.  In a friendly like tonight, there's no need to force the issue if you're under pressure...  just turn, use your support and knock the ball around until somebody has a play forward.

I look forward to running a few sessions for them over the next little while.

Are we sticking to LTPD?

So now that we are moving to our outdoor phase of training I am looking at the LTPD stage for our boys (Stage 4: Training to Train).  See previous posts about Long Term Player Development.

According to the program as it's laid out by the CSA:

Description: At this stage, skill training demands and training loads are increased to develop and refine skills and tactics. Tactical awareness becomes an increasingly important facet of training, alongside mental toughness, concentration, and diligence. Elite soccer groups may express interest in recruiting talented young players, but coaches and parents should be careful to recognize and protect the long-term interests of each athlete. Game formats develop from 8v8 to 11v11 (although no 11v11 prior to 13 years of age) as players grow through this stage, and the season moves toward year-round play that includes appropriate rest and recovery periods. 

GOAL: Increase training loads and soccer-specific skills and tactics. Begin to identify elite players.

Our progress: The load has increased over last year and will continue to do so as the winter sports taper off. 

TECHNICAL: Develop consistency in base skills. Continue to introduce advanced skills. Develop position-specific skills. Practice with increasingly complex and demanding games. Individualized training to address strengths and weaknesses.

Our progress: We have been introducing more complex ball skills and have been more demanding regarding their footwork.  We've introduced more conditions into games and the boys are responding well. 

TACTICAL: Increased emphasis on team play. Understand principles of play such as offensive
width and depth, defending pressure, cover and balance. Positional awareness developed in small-sided games and full-sided competitive matches. Develop understanding of defense, midfield and forward units’ tasks.

Our progress: this has been progressing as we have been setting the shape before exercises and competitions progress too far.  We have not broken things down into unit tasks as we have been training as a bigger unit until we have our boys on a more consistent basis.  We've been working a lot on 2v1 since we don't have our entire team out on a regular basis.   Defending (1v1 and team) is a problem with this group that will be addressed over the next 4 weeks.

PHYSICAL: Regular musculoskeletal assessment to detect onset of PHV and monitor afterwards. Aerobic training after onset of PHV. Girls strength training at onset of menarche after PHV. Boys strength training 12-18 months after PHV. Emphasize flexibility during PHV. Soccer-specific conditioning - stamina, speed, strength, suppleness.

PHV is Peak Height Velocity (growth spurt)

Our progress: we have been very aware that some of the boys are experiencing PHV and exhibiting patience with them.  Through our general fitness and agility exercises Coach Paul and I have been watching the players closely and trying to identify who will need some extra encouragement as they  work their way through their growth spurt.  It's tough because the physically awkward period happens at the worst psychological time for them.

Our fitness and agility workouts are more intense than last season and the boys seem to enjoy that kind of work.

MENTAL: Introduce advanced skills: Self-talk, imagery, profiling and thought-stopping. Introduce training and competition diaries. Relaxation and anxiety control techniques.

Our progress: we started working on this last year a bit introducing game scenarios.  This will progress this season.  I can guarantee the diaries aren't going to happen for u13 boys.

LIFESTYLE: Understand nutrition for health and optimized performance. Manage rest and recovery and time management.

PERSONAL: Responsibility and self discipline. Positive communication and teamwork. Issues of peer groups, alcohol, drugs, school, family.

Our progress: this will become more of a challenge as the boys enter their "Grade 8" summer, more sleepovers, etc.  Busy families also make it difficult to maintain an athlete's diet and rest schedule.  I also think it would be a difficult sell at this age.  But the development stage covers to age 16 and it would apply more as elite players are identified.  We give out guidelines for eating during tournaments, etc, but it's nothing carved in stone as we can't control what happens when they are away from us.

I am happy with the direction and progress so far.  We will make more progress as we move towards working with our group alone.