St Mike's - Jr Boys session - 1v1 attacking

Today, the St Mike's Jr Boys had a session after school.

I think I am going to enjoy being the assistant at practice for this program.  Mr Lucchetta and Mr Luppino are the full time staff teachers who coach the team.

This afternoon I found myself putting down and picking up cones and setting up balls , etc.  I am usually a dictator and take over sessions, so its a nice exercise for me.  When a coaching point needs to be made, I make it, and I try to make eye contact with a coach to make sure the timing is OK for them.  When asked for advice, I offer it.  If i am not asked ... I may still offer

Today, Coach Lucchetta's plan was to get to 2v1s.  He started with some running and a few passing drills to get the ball on their foot.  Coach Luppino worked with the keeper and I took over after he hit 342 balls at him and his thigh turned to mush.  I was watching wondering how he was doing it.

The boys on this team are great kids, but it's not an overly proficient group when it comes to technique.  It's a great opportunity for the coaches to instill the enjoyment of soccer in them and hopefully convert them into more active players.  I already have 2 boys in my scope to see if I can't talk them into playing this summer.

I see a very rewarding season for this group if they work hard, come to training and show pride in their play.  The teacher coaches are good role models for them and younger guys.

The sequence started with 1v1 attacking.  The plan was to start there and go to 2v1 attacking.  The coaching points were:

• attack the ball
• first touch out from the feet
• see the ball, defender and the space behind the defender
• change of pace/direction (deception)
• play to win

It went OK and the boys were getting the points.  And they were getting chippy and competitive! I love that.  He spent a little extra time on that and only introduced 2v1s then let them play 6v6 for the last 10 minutes.

I am not sure how long I will be at this school for, but I do look forward to working with this group some more.

U13 - 1v1 defending

Our U13 boys convened tonight for a 2 hour session.  1v1 defending was the theme of the night.  This is probably the single most weakest point of our team.

We started out with a 12-minute run where we asked for a minimum of 1.5 miles followed by five 40m sprints.  This is becoming tradition.

We moved into a passing-receiving warm-up type of drill and had them receive the ball 4 different ways.  Always first touch out of the feet and in a different direction.  The last style for receiving was to step on the ball dead, fake the kick and then change directions.  As usual, we looked for quick passes.

We then did a running-turning-passing drill using 4 different turns.  Our coaching focused on the balance in the turn, keeping the ball under control, lifting the head after the turn and making an early pass after the turn.  Doing turns only is not good enough because in a game you are always making a pass after the turn.

We've been passing, dribbling and turning for months.  We'll see how it pays off when he hit the grass.

For 1v1 defending we started with straight up 1v1, me against you.  One player serves the other and they play.  The nets are not square to each other so the players were not running straight forward and defending the target directly behind them.

Coaching points were:

• Goal side of the ball at all times
• Balance/patience (pressure ball, but don't over commit)
• Threaten the ball
• Speed/angle of approach (don't be square to the goal)
• Look to attack if/when you win the ball back
• If player turns away from you, don't let him turn forward again.  Force him back. 

From there we went to a game where there was a 1v1 happening and 2 players behind each net ready to play.  Winner stays in.  If you lost another guy ran in with a ball to play.  Everybody had to pay attention since there always had to be players ready to play so the game would never stop.  The game turned out to be very competitive.  When you do 1v1 it has to have a competitive edge to it.  Added points to this:

• new player came in quickly so winner had to be ready to switch from attacking to defending
• important to attack when you win the ball so you can stay in the game
• look to strike early if target is open so you were in a better position to defend
• if a player won 3 games in a row the other guys in the group did 5 pushups.

We then went to a 7v7 game (well, 7v6 we had 13 players).  We were looking for players to pressure the ball early and get into 1v1 defending mode.  This was working out "OK".  To add some intensity we added that if a team scored twice in a row the other team did 10 pushups.  So our mentality was if you were looking to score your second goal, you did not want th others to score and tried to win the ball back.  If you were the team under threat of pushups you worked to win and keep the ball in possession and score.

Anything to make the game competitive is helpful.  It's difficult to replicate a game.

It was nice to have Coach Paul out tonight and have 2 groups for each exercise.  More organization, more pointers and 4 eyes instead of 2 helps make everything easier.

The only bad feeling I left with tonight was that the final game was only 20 minutes long.  I didn't feel I had the time to step in and make corrections and still leave time to play freely.  So we tried to make the game's conditions do some of the teaching for us.  The other stuff was going well and I let the clock get away from me.  We also ran a bit late, which is not good for parents.

Next up is Wednesday.  I am probably going to repeat tonight's 1v1 theme with different exercises and a longer game.  Plus the 12 minute run.

U13 - Moving forward towards season

Up till now we have been training in gyms, indoor mini-fields with other teams, trying to keep costs low.  We've also been on ourdoor tennis courts to get more time in.   Niagara only has 2 outdoor full size artificial fields and no indoor full size pitches.  (that changes next year in Welland with our new building!)  For indoor soccer we have 3 mini pitches in Niagara that are all booked solid.

But what he have done has been beneficial and most of the work has been individual technical work and small group tactics.  We've been playing a little bit of catch-up with some of the boys and working with who has been able to come out because of hockey and basketball. 

Now that the weather has been getting warmer and we have some field time booked we are ready to move this season's program forward.  The boys have been very good but they are wanting to compete.

With Coach Paul's work scheduling easing up a bit in the coning month's we'll be able to have more activities where we split the group in half and a coach for each side.

We will continue with the group fitness/agility sessions on Thursdays.  We will continue with our technical and small group work with small sided games.  Before our May 28 season opener, we have 3 field times booked in St Catharines, a tournament in local Beamsville and a day of 3 friendlies with a series of clubs.  That makes a minimum of 9 chances to get our 11v11 organization in place.

We are going to have some squad practices to focus on GK/defenders, midfielders and forwards, groups working together up the flanks and through the middle.

For the first 2 field sessions in St Catharines the opposing coach has agreed to 40min phase-of-play for each team in our own half and then 11v11 for 40min with coaches on the field for each team.

My goal for the first two 11v11 sessions will be to setup our shape so the boys are in a situation where they can succeed at applying what we've been working on in training.

Our 3rd session on the full field will be a straight up game.  Then we have another split phase-of-play and 11v11 setup before our tournament and final series of games.

It would be nice to have the field for ourselves with a few extra guest players, but I don't see that happening and I have a budget to work with.  We split the cost of the fields with our fellow renters.  The teams we are sharing with are good matches for what we are trying to accomplish.

We still need to have our parents meeting and a team social before our tournament in May.

We have a lot of work to do in 7 weeks.

The boys seem like they are enjoying themselves so far.  I have been feeling better about sessions this year compared to last and they have been running a bit smoother.  I haven't been as rushed getting to training  and the weather has been co-operative compared to last spring, when it rained and rained and rained.  

Fundamentals ... Who? When? Where? Why? What?

"The minute you get away from fundamentals – whether its proper technique, work ethic or mental preparation – the bottom can fall out of your game, your schoolwork, your job, whatever you’re doing.”  Michael Jordan, basketball player

“Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals. You’ve got to get the fundamentals down because otherwise the fancy stuff isn’t going to work.”  Randy Pausch, "The Last Lecture"

"You have to learn the basics of your instrument. It is like sports: if you don`t have the fundamentals, you don`t get very far. Natural talent will only carry you so far."  Steve Wilson, British TV personality.

One of my personal favourite moments in terms of coaching and sports was when a parent went up to my son's Novice hockey coach roughly 10 years ago to press him on a concern.  He was a self-declared hockey expert and asked the coach why the team never works on a break-out drill.  The coach looked at him and replied "Well, very few of the kids can accurately pass the puck out from behind the net to the end of the blue line, so we need to learn that. Of the ones that can, they don't pass it hard enough and few of the kids know how to receive a puck coming at that speed on an angle coming from behind, so we need to learn that too."  This coach spent most of his sessions skating and puck handling.  The players were 7 and 8 years old.

The fact is fundamentals have to be a very big part of every program.  Even NHL players continue to work on their skating, footballers on dribbling/passing and baseball players on fielding grounders.  It's silly to think your team is past the point of working on fundamentals.

But we occasionally hit a problem with some coaches.

New methods in training are developed as we gain more intelligence about our sport, but sometimes coaches think that the new method replaces all other types of sessions.  An example is delivering a session using GAG methodology (Game-Activity-Game) .  GAG is great and I use it often, but raw technique still has to be taught.

GAG is being explained and demonstrated through the new community coaching curriculum in Canada.  But remember, it's not the entire session.  There is a warm-up portion where physical movements and fundamental ball exercises can be presented.

"The fact is fundamentals have to be a very big part of every program."

Most coaches only see their players for 1-2 sessions/week plus a game.  You need to teach them technique and the game.  And don't forget physical literacy and Agility-Balance-Control!  They don't play enough on the street so they don't get enough touches and game exposure.  So now what?  How do we get them their touches?

Some suggestions:

• Run the occasional session where you run through several technical sequences with deeper coaching, then have a small sided game at the end.  Your Small-Sided-Game can still have a theme and ideas can be introduced.  Keep the fundamental exercises enjoyable and progressive.
• Use the "warm-up" portion of a GAG session to give the players their deeper coaching and repetition in techniques.
• Use the warm-up before your game to work on technique followed by an enjoyable and purposeful small-sided game before kick off.
• If you have a good technical coach on your staff, send players over in small groups during training for more a personal level of instruction and refinement.
• Conditions in your Small-Sided-Game can bring out more frequent use of certain techniques.
• Make it fun.  Certain contests and games can directly tie success to the perfect execution of a specific technique.  Dribbling relays, consecutive successful passes, shooting games, etc.
• Share the success indicators of a technique with the players so they can coach themselves to some degree.  Ex: if a short pass bobbles or pops up they know they hit the wrong part of the ball, if a ball is played through their legs then they know they were too square when defending, etc
• Give them fun activities to do on their own before training as players arrive, by their own choice.  Large group keep away with 1/2/3 players in middle, crosses into the penalty area, skill challenges, "World Cup", etc.

New coaches need to remember, first and foremost, do not get frustrated with how a game is played without knowing the building blocks of what you want them to do and if they know how to execute those building blocks.  

Before we become tacticians and present our young players to the world on a full size field, there is lots to learn:

• Fundamental movements (Physical literacy)
• Fundamental attitudes (in possession, defending, transition, down 1 goal, up 1 goal, etc)
• Mastery of fundamental ball techniques ("drills", exercises, activities, contests)
• Fundamental principles of play and decision making (Small sided games)

So the questions are:

Who? Everybody

When? As often as possible 

What? Everything that is a building block to "big picture" ideas and interplay with other players

Why? Read everything above :)

Where? At training field, on-field during game warm-up, watching games lives, video review, etc.

How? Know your session topic, keep it enjoyable, focused, progressive and with definite indicators of success.

U17 - Time and Space

Today we had a daytime session with the u17 boys.  It's Good Friday and they have the day off school.

We took our chances with the organization by assuming the tennis court area was open.  School and City fields are still closed until May 15, so we make do with what we have.  The tennis courts were already occupied with a street hockey game so we improvised on the track area.  It worked out fairly well.

The theme of today's session was "Time and Space".  My objective was to build more chemistry between the boys and review concepts they should already know.  Time/space has to be an underlying theme for everything, but occasionally you have to make it THE theme to keep those concepts fresh.

The message was to keep possession and be able to make better decisions, you need time and space when you have the ball.  What helps create time and space? :

• Overall shape
• Support position and angle
• Communication
• First touch and ability to control the ball sooner
• Quick-early-accurate passing to give the receiver more chance of success

With this group we really need to work on earlier and better passes to give teammates the confidence that if they assume a more open support position, the ball will get to them.  if they think the pass is weak, they will move in closer, killing the team's shape.

The session started off with a run along the canal bank.  While Coach Loris was doing that, Coach Venanzio and I were setting up the first drill.  We improvised for the new location of the track.

The opening exercise involved passing and running, emphasizing the speed and quality of the pass so the receiver had enough room to do what he had to do.  All players were running through a sequence so a weak pass caused the timing of the whole thing to collapse, putting pressure on each player to focus on their jobs.

Players were taught to move to passes when they were kids.  This is great until moving too close to the passer resulted in the pass being useless.  The message is for the pass to get there, and with quality.  We progressed this to the sequence involving a lot of wall passes, again, coaching the initial receiver to assume a position of maximum space.  If the support position allows for maximum space, that more room for the receiver to move towards the ball to get it (and time).

We then progressed to grids with 4v2 keep away and then 8v4.  During 4v2, we coached the players to always move to a position creating more space.  In the grid, if you are 2 yds in from the corner, why not move right to the corner?  If a player is open, why not pass it NOW instead of after an extra touch?  if defenders are covering one side, why not move the ball to the other side?

The lesson was simple.  Spread out,  talk, keep the ball moving quickly and possession is easier.  Moving to 8v4 in a rectangle, they started using players at the other end to spread the defenders out.  It is always nice to see players figure things out on their own.

All was according to the plan until the final game.  I was planning for more space but we just played 3v3 with 2 teams waiting, winner stays on each time.  We had 14 players but one had to leave for work and another hurt his knee at school this week.  The game was getting competitive and they seemed to enjoy themselves, so we minimized the coaching other than to give them a few tips on how to react to the new opponents after you score.

The organization was a rectangular field, 6 yellows, 6 blue players.  3v3 on the field.  The other 3 teammates were waiting behind the goals with a ball.  If a team scored, the defeated team cleared the field and the teammates ran on quickly with a ball and started the next game.  There is a bit of a counter-attack mentality involved, but we didn't beat on that and start a new theme.  The passing was quicker and sooner, players were getting themselves open with a lot of chatter, so we were happy.

The boys continue to be enjoyable to work with.  They have nice personalities and enjoy playing together.  Half of the boys are from St Catharines and they show dedication by coming to Welland to train.  I hope, in some small way, they understand what Coach Ben is doing by keeping this team going and they decide to play into their adult years.

I am not happy that I poorly planned the location.  We can't exactly book the tennis courts, so next time I need to make 2 plans, for 2 venues.  I also have to find a way to know how many players will be available. You develop the ability to adapt quickly with experience, but it's always better to plan ahead.  I think the end game would have been better served if we had done less of the initial passing drill and more keep-away with different themes.  The keep-away is very applicable and the boys enjoy it.

I am going to take a "time-space" themed approach Monday with our U13 boys.  I will devleop 2 plans for the U17 boys for Monday.  If we have the larger space I will repeat this session with a few more ideas for them and we'll see where that takes them.