U8 Boys Grassroots Soccer - Wizard Academy - Week 3

This past Thursday (July 9) we had our third session of the Wizard Academy, our club's "development" program for our U7/U8 players.  There is NO SURCHARGE by the Welland Soccer Club for this program and it is one of the coolest initiatives our Tech Director, Rob Lalama, has ever come up with.  And Coach Rob is a cool guy.  He was a drummer in a band and it can't get cooler than that, can it?

The group (players and coaches) is nothing short of energizing, from the point of view of a facilitator.  Planning and arriving to set up is fun, chatting it up with the boys as they stumble in.  Soccer Training for U8 players is the beginning of where you can start to see kids become "players".

Comfort with the ball and the confidence to experiment is our biggest priority with these boys.   The second priority is working with the coaches to improve their delivery of sessions.

For me, coaching development should be an important bi-product of everything the club does. (unrelated side-note;  Teams that call me to run a session only to see the coach "chill" with the parents the whole time never see me again. It's not a night off for the coach.)

This week we had 27 boys and 5 coaches.  We had an extra helper in the form of a U12 girl, Coach Kennedy, who is also part of the district program.  We split the boys into three groups of 9 and she evened out the small-sided-game station by making it 5v5.

We started out by doing a "follow the leader" type of dribbling exercise, in groups of three, one ball per player.  We then followed with 10 minutes of working on turns.  Lots of touches.

For the next part of the session, we set up three stations.  The group rotated through the stations twice.

Station #1 involved various dribbling sequences using agility poles instead of markers or cones.   It was the same setup we used in week 2.  This was manned by Coach Mirko (aka The Croatian Sensation) and Coach Chris (no nickname ... yet)

Station #2 was a 1v1 station with a different twist from previous weeks.  We set up 2 goals on each side of the attacker.  Coaching points:

• Attack either goal
• See the ball, the defender and the space you want to attack
• Use turns if a change of direction is required and accelerate.
• Don't be afraid to turn again if required 
• COMPETE!  Challenge to win the ball.  Drive the goal to score.

This station was delivered by Coach Marco and Coach Dave.  Their observation was that about 1/2 of the players were getting the idea and executing the second time around.  We will do this again.

"Comfort with the ball and the confidence to experiment is our biggest priority with these boys."

The small-sided-game Station was delivered by Coach Scott.  Minimum two-touch was the main condition again, but we were suggesting and looking for more turns, and we got them.  We also worked to get them to get their restarts going a bit quicker.  "Can I take it?" by 5 players is not necessary EVERY time the ball goes out.  We'll snap them out of that habit.  :)

Reflection:

• The program is voluntary and meant to give the boys more tools to enjoy the game.  The next session will not have group activities to start.  It made some of the kids who arrived late feel a bit alienated while we reorganized on the fly.
• Running players through an exercise a second/third/fourth time gives them a chance to succeed and refine. 
• We need to keep the water in a central location.   Too many players running to mom and dad and taking too long to regroup.
• I let the U8 coaches do most/all of the coaching tonight.  I was just moving around watching and injecting the occasional tidbit of information.  That seemed to work well.  The session content brought the learning out.
• I am trying to encourage the coaches to let the players settle their own disputes.  Too often we want to control what's happening and they depend on us.  I had the same experience at our club camp where everybody goes to the adult for the answer. Teachers tell me the school playground is the same scene, kids not working out their own issues.  The issues I am speaking of include fouls, somebody staying in as GK, who put the ball out, etc.
• For the last 5 sessions I am going to have one coach at each station and one coach travel with each group.  The coach with the group will co-coach each station.  This way, each week,  they get a chance to: (1) deliver one session multiple times to work on their delivery (2) see multiple exercises and be involved in delivering each one using the same group.

Near the end, I did assemble the parents for four reasons:

• Balls need to be inflated.  I passed a few balls around so they could see the correct pressure.  We have a pump onsite, but the balls arriving inflated makes everything easier.
• Kids were running out of water too early.  Send more water.
• Reminder to wear white shirts.  Easier to organize for games.
• Praise the boys and thanked them for their support.

So far the support has been good and the players have been enthusiastic.  We reconvene in July 25 for another 4 sessions.

P.S.  Coach Rob's brother, Mark Lalama, is a busy musician and is the former music director for Canadian Idol.  His youngest brother, Paul, is lead singer in a local band called Jonesy.  So, Rob is even cooler by association and genetics.  His other brother, Dave, was a decent player and is now an architect in Winnipeg.  I guess that's cool too .... I do know he doesn't return calls from  Art Vandelay.

Six soccer teams, all ages, boys and girls - This past weekend made easy by LTPD

When people hear the term "LTPD" they automatically think of no standings and no scores.  That is a very minor component of LTPD.  Long Term Player Development revolves around age appropriate programming, patience, training methodology and attitudes, coach and referee education, game format, etc, all focused on the player.

This weekend I had direct interaction as a coach with six different teams.  This is what you call a "busy weekend".  And I still managed a 3rd birthday party (Thanks Patricia and John!), some soccer club duties, work to prepare for the week and a chic-flick.

I could have easily planned for each group, walked on the pitch and delivered decent sessions.

By using LTPD as my guiding principle, all sessions involved age-appropriate activities consistent with their development stage characteristics.  I am not the story here ... LTPD is.  Let me explain.

Saturday Morning.

Welland U4 girls.  32 players.  We ran the session using the information provided for the Active Start level and Active Start Course.  One parent/partner per player.  One ball per

Will adult soccer help drive the game at the Grassroots level?

Tonight I was an Assistant Referee for two women's game in St Catharines.  During the one game I asked a player on the bench how many teams were in their league.  She told me three tiered divisions of 9 teams each.  This is a Niagara based league.

I told her when I started playing men's soccer in 1984, Welland had one team in each the Niagara Soccer League Premier and First Division.  We now have 2 city-based men's leagues of 10 teams each, a Co-ed 9v9 program of 22 teams as well as teams in the NSL Premier, First and Second Division.  This growth has happened in every city in Niagara.  There wasn't a women's team in Welland for a long time.

So what does this have to do with Grassroots football?

You walk into any garage in Canada in you will find ice skates that fit everybody in the house, hockey sticks of all sizes and the occasional puck.  Many families have a hockey net as well, standard issue red posts with white mesh.

When I was a kid (born 1966) most of our parents did not play organized soccer, although may of our families came from soccer countries.  But, for argument's sake, we were the only players in the house.  All of my

Do field conditions matter when developing soccer players? Artificial turf, the necessary evil.

Before I get started, don't start talking about kids on the streets of Africa and South America.  Our kids not playing street soccer is another issue.  

Once our players get to the point where it's time to move them forward, how important is a surface where the ball rolls true?

We take our kids to Streetsville Memorial Park in Mississauga, Central Park in Burlington or Mohawk Park in Hamilton, and we expect a quality game?  Never mind the game, what about training there? Ontario's bad field list is VERY long but it's also a victim of the significant growth in soccer.

(We were at Mohawk park last night, that's what drove me to write this.  It is my least favourite place to take my team.  The grass fields are poor and they have the same white lines for football on them making them very confusing)

Poor fields and limited climate narrow the scope of our collective programs because of limitations on when you can train and where.

I know soccer people prefer grass over artificial turf, I know I do, that's for sure.  But in a place like

The genius of LTPD ... easier and better coaching.

I have a fear.  My fear is that new coaches are nervous, but do not take advantage of the incredible information that's out there to help them calm down and deliver a quality program.

LTPD has proven to be a very rare philosophy that is simultaneously easier to understand and provides better results. In this age of technology, we equate better with more complicated.  Not always true.

I can tell you, with modesty firmly in place, that I am confident that I can design and deliver a session for any team at any level, male or female.  In fact, a lot of my friend are.  But I find LTPD to be a very useful and valuable tool in my planning and delivery.

My main justification for using LTPD?  I have a lot of experience and formal coaching training.   But LTPD was developed by people far more experienced and educated than me.  I would be a fool to not embrace it and appreciate and evaluate it's ability to improve soccer in Canada.  Over time I may develop some opinions of it's effectiveness and contribute to its development, but for now I'm enjoying it.

I've written session plans for some coaches and they literally ask "that's it?"

My inspiration for this stems from the many conversations I have had with coaches who say they are not sure what to do at training, yet ignore the mountain of very focused information that has been printed, mailed, emailed, verbally conveyed and visually demonstrated to/for them.  They want to do it "their way".  That would be OK if they had a "way".  One thing I learned as I progressed through the coaching ranks ... there is no glory in re-inventing the wheel.  My reward comes in my delivery, rapport with players and ability to observe and correct (or cheer). 

What you get from LTPD.

Better knowledge of characteristics of the player.

With the help of LTPD info and info from courses, you have deeper insight into the player you are working with.  Characteristics include physical, tactical, technical, mental, social, and psychological .


Considerations for training session

If we know who we are working with, then we know what would be better and more appealing to them in terms of session content.  LTPD information offers coaches more suggestions for session considerations.

Age appropriate activities

I've seen coaches trying to run U16 level sequences with U8 players, and vice-versa.  Age appropriate doesn't mean dumbing-down a session.  It means establishing a challenge level

that still gives a player a mountain to conquer, but able to see successes along to way to build confidence.

Knowing the LTPD information offered about the development stage you are coaching puts you in the right frame of mind to deliver the session effectively to the athlete you are working with.

Session/season organization.

LTPD information gives coaches guidelines/suggestions for how much time to spend various areas of focus.

You also have guidelines on the type of schedule you should keep  and length of the program.

And now, as the icing on the LTPD cake, Ontario Soccer has just released the Provincial Grassroots Curriculum , a quality document that comes to the aid of the entire soccer community.

Other coaches' experiences

LTPD was developed by very experienced and educated coaches and educators.  Why not put their own growing pains to work for you?

"In this age of technology, we equate better with more complicated.  Not always true."

As an experienced coach:

LTPD reminds you to consider developing a more player-centred session plan and tailor your delivery to maximize the time you spend with your players.  Even if you are an academy coach or club technical director, you need to remember to reset your expectations and delivery from session to session if you work with different groups. The framework has also made it easier to train other coaches by keeping sessions simple and focused.

As a beginner coach:

You're nervous and have the same question as many other new coaches "What do I do during practice?".  OK.  Let's talk ..... you're coaching U8 girls .... you played soccer yourself up till U18 ... you are one girl's father and somebody else's mother is helping you ... she has no soccer experience but is very active ... you and your assistant refer to your LTPD information for "Learn to Train" development stage.  Hmmm .... you now have an idea of what they are capable of, physically, mentally, socially, psychologically, etc ... you know a L2T session suggests 15% warm-up, 50% small sided games, 30% soccer technique and 5% cool down.

OK.

Your assistant leads them through a dynamic warm-up and you transition that into a few warm-up exercises with the ball. 

You get them into a small sided game, after letting them play, you add a condition where they must pass the ball 3x before scoring.

You stop the game and have them play 4v1, 4v2, 5v2, etc keepaway within a grid.  You give them ideas that you are comfortable giving, but let them solve the problem before them.  You and your partner have a group each and you switch so you can both see them all.

You get them back into a game and see if they are able to keep possession a bit better.  Yes?  Great.  No?  Maybe reintroduce your game condition of 3 passes or back into the keep-away for a bit and mix up the groups, then back to the game.

After wrapping that up, your partner leads them through a cool down.

You go home.

"LTPD was developed by people far more experienced and educated than me."

The LTPD info (available at NO CHARGE) laid out the warm-up, game, technique and cool down scenario.  You used the curriculum and Internet to find some ideas for each section.

Your practice is done. Your girls played a lot of soccer, had some problems to solve on the field and maybe even squirted you with their water bottle.  You, my friend, just delivered a very decent session.  More experience will help you offer more information and be more comfortable in your delivery.

Using LTPD's information relieved you of some of the stress surrounding the content of your session.

If I brought my young son to a session and you delivered the content I just presented, I would be happy.  And they got to play so, more importantly, my son was able to play some soccer.

This is the genius of LTPD that some people are not open to seeing.  Your sessions are easier to deliver, yet content of the session will contribute more to your players' development.

I've written session plans for some coaches and they literally ask "that's it?".  Yes.  That's it.  I think they're disappointed because they're expecting a 1000 cones and 40 drills.

Simply put, coaching in accordance with LTPD works.

If you have more questions, consult your club's technical director or any friends that you have who are more experienced coaches.