SV’s (and Infinity's) Bair invited to a prestigious national camp

Stacy Bair has dreams of playing soccer at a very high level, including aspirations of one day suiting up for the U.S. National team.

As lofty as that might appear, the Sky View sophomore certainly appears to be on the right track.

Bair received some big news recently when she was invited to represent Region IV at the National Development Camp Feb. 16-20 in Coral Springs, Fla. Bair left Cache Valley at 3 a.m. today for the Sunshine State.

Only 17 players from Region IV — which consists of 12 western states — were invited to attend this development camp for the U16 National team, and Bair is believed to be the first one ever from Cache Valley, according to Bair’s mother, Janet, and local club soccer coach Robson Chaves.

Needless to say, Bair is ecstatic for the opportunity to join such a select group of players. Bair caught word of the invitation when Janet Bair received an e-mail from Joyce Bordley, the girls administrator for Region IV’s Olympic Development Program (ODP).

“I was really excited,” Stacy Bair said. “I was a little nervous because I didn’t know if anybody that I knew would be going ... but then I found out that there were a couple people that I know who are going to the same camp, so I would be fine.”

Bair caught the attention of scouts for the camp by showcasing her ability at the Region IV ODP Championships, Jan. 16-19 in Phoenix. The striker played for the Utah 94 team and was a big reason the squad from the Beehive State advanced to the championship match.

During Utah’s five matches, Bair scored three goals and assisted on two others. Utah battled perennial power California South tooth and nail twice in the tournament, losing 1-0 in group play and in the finals.

Fellow Sky View forward Jessica Brooksby was also on the team, which notched victories over New Mexico (2-1) and Washington (5-0) after a tough 2-1 setback to Arizona.

Brooksby, a freshman, also played well in Phoenix, scoring a goal en route to being named to the 94 all-tournament first team.

Bair also played on the 94 squad a year ago, helping it advance to the championship match, as well. That team was handily beaten by California South 4-1 for the title, but Utah was a lot more competitive this time around.

The Richmond native credited better team cohesion and new head coach Heather Cairns and her staff for Utah 94’s improvement.

“I think that we just had better organization than we did last year, and the coaching was better this year, I thought,” Bair said. “And we played more as a team because we got to know each other better than last year.

“Because it was all kind of just put together (last year) and we didn’t know each other that well, but this year was a lot better, I felt.”

Joining Bair at the national camp is fellow Utah 94 teammate Maris Hamblin (Lone Peak), and Juan Diego products Monique Morrison and Victoria Shimkus. Morrison and Shimkus both played for Utah 93 at the recent ODP tournament, and all four players are in the Region IV ODP pool for their respective age groups.

As a sophomore for Sky View, Bair was one of the 4A’s most dangerous strikers. Bair led the Bobcats in goals and assists with 11 and seven, respectively.

Bair’s success has led to opportunities to attend several camps throughout the country, in addition to the national camp. The costs involved with Bair’s soccer endeavors are starting to take their toll, however. As a result, the Bair family is looking for local businesses to help sponsor the camps.

“You want to give them every opportunity to succeed,” said Janet Bair, who made it a point to thank all of those who have helped fund Stacy’s trips.

The original article can be found by clicking here.

En Route: MLS Academies Look To Set The Standard

Youth soccer in America finding an identity.
By JR Eskilson
Feb 9, 2010 2:36:00 PM
(GINN HIGHLIGHTS ARE BOLDED)

Three years ago, U.S. Soccer began an initiative called the Development Academy. At the forefront of the progressive youth soccer adjustment was the introduction of MLS academies to the scene.

Currently, there are only two American MLS teams without academies in the Development Academy, and both of those clubs have plans to join the system soon. So with the introduction of professional clubs to a youth structure that had been around for years, would there be backlash? How would the professional teams do against established clubs?

Goal.com asked youth directors around MLS their thoughts on the project and on the future.

After discussing the Development Academy with various directors around the league, the message was clear: MLS teams want to develop players. “We are different in that player development is paramount and winning will be a by product of development, not the opposite.” Brian Crookham, Colorado Rapids’ Director of Youth Soccer, told Goal.com on Monday. A not so subtle jab at youth clubs that still polish their trophy case more than help their players advance.
(HEY, INFINITY SC IS WORKING ON IT)

John Maessener, D.C. United’s Director of Youth Soccer agreed, saying, “We are serious about player development and have shown that our system, even as it is relatively new, is a very good environment for top level players to develop.” Oscar Pareja, FC Dallas’ Director of Player Development, chimed in with, “The professional clubs should set the highest standards in soccer here in USA.”

The general consensus among the teams is that MLS clubs want their players to know the purpose of the academy is to help them reach their full potential. The emphasis that may have been stressed in the past on results is no longer an issue.

An important change to the previous system, that most of the clubs singled out as one of the best parts of the Development Academy, is the professional training environment that MLS clubs could offer. While it hasn’t always been that way, Crookham stated, “the bottom line is that the daily environment must be better if we want to produce better players and I think there has been some movement in that direction.”

Maessener was very upbeat about the potential of developing players in professional training: “In order to be able to produce world class players, you have to have world class training programs for players to develop.” He went on to say, “This country is used to being the best, I’m confident if we do the things that we all know need to be done, we will be a world power in the next 10-20 years.”

Pareja stated that FC Dallas gives a player a chance “to develop in a professional way, offering all our resources to reach their potential.” Development Academy offers Sparq training, as well as statistical analysis to their teams. Pareja singled out Sparq training saying, “Identifying areas where we can work on is crucial for the coaches.”

One of the major challenges that MLS academies have faced is dealing with local clubs that have been in the area for a long time. Youth clubs are a business, and they are not fans of competing businesses so when MLS academies were developed, there was a backlash. (WE SHOULD BE FINDING A WAY TO JOIN ODP WITH MLS DEVELOPMENTAL ACADEMIES)

Rapids’ experience with the local teams seems to be the status quo, Crookham explained, “We had clubs that jumped up at the beginning wanting to be partners, and we had clubs that circled the wagons and protected what they feel are their territories.” Obviously, the lack of support is not ideal for clubs that should handle the top youth players. However, as Maessener noted, some of these clubs have been doing this for a very long time, but they are beginning to understand that the MLS teams are “serious about player development.”

This is not an idea that is going to change over night, the process of MLS clubs winning a territorial battle might never be over. However, they have begun the process to stake some claim in the local areas.

Possibly the most promising future of the Development Academy is the chance at an all-MLS youth league. Maessener said that clubs are “always talking about ways to separate MLS Academies from the rest to set the standard in this country as it is around the world and as it should be.” Crookham added that MLS clubs are not necessarily in the best interest of the Development Academy.
Instead he offered, “Oversight that is good for a traditional youth club doesn't fit with our goals or philosophies.” For these clubs, the goal is player development and getting players ready for the professional level. There are obviously certain clubs in the Development Academy that don’t have the same beliefs, which does make the competition between these clubs vastly different in terms of goals and success.

Maessener pointed out that the MLS teams have begun to distinguish their clubs by introducing the MLS Youth Cup. (D.C. United won the event in 2009.) Another element unique to MLS clubs is the ability to transition to a professional contract from the academy teams. Maessener talked about the benefit of in-house player development for MLS clubs, “the Home Grown Player rule helps to bring the best, most serious players into our systems and makes it possible for the very best young players to sign professional contracts directly from their Academy teams.”

While it all sounds great on paper, there is still a ton of work to be done by the clubs and the Development Academy. In an ideal world, a hierarchy would be established with the MLS Youth Academies taking the lion’s share of talented players in this country. Maybe it is time for USSF to step up to the plate and help guide the clubs in the right direction. However, there are far too many clubs too uneasy about letting go of control in youth soccer. So the question remains; can the academies be successful with half the teams concerned about results and the others stuck on development?

J.R. Eskilson is the youth soccer editor.

For more youth soccer news visit Goal.com's dedicated page.

Kids understand it is just a game

By Paul Nelson

WEST VALLEY CITY, UT -- You'll find many loud and supportive parents at the Acord Ice Center in West Valley City during their hockey season, cheering on their children. Why did these parents really sign their kids up to play? What is their main reason? Many parents are looking at the big picture.

One father said he signed up his daughter up for hockey "just to get some experience" for high school and college hockey. One mom had high hopes for her son. She said, "Hopefully he'll excel and be the next NHL superstar."

As for the kids, a few might be focusing on their long term sports dreams. One girl who plays goalie said, "I'm trying to do it just to go to college because I think I'm really good at it."

But for most kids, their main reason to play is very different. While they do have dreams of playing sports in the future, having fun is the main motivator.

One player said, "I just thought it was really fun, so I tried it."

The New York Times reports a recent survey was taken by a sophomore at Fairfield College Prep School in Connecticut. Out of more than 700 kids surveyed, 95 percent of boys and 98 percent of girls said having fun was the main reason for playing sports.

Infinity '00 Girls met The Lady Aggies

On Tuesday, January 26th the U10 Girls were invited to come 20 minutes early, to their scheduled training session, to watch the Utah State University Aggies Women's Soccer team finish up training. The young Infinity Girls were captivated by the speed and intensity that the Lady Aggies were demonstrating right in front of them. The lady Aggies were intense, focused and skilled. It was fun for coaches, players and some parents to see what the college level of training is like.

The opportunity to meet someone that you admire, or find a new hero is priceless. As the Lady Aggies completed their training, the Infinity girls waited patiently to receive autographs from the finest soccer players in our community.

Not only do the Lady Aggies get to feel like rock stars to ten your old girls that admire them for 15 minutes, they get the recognition that they deserve. It is our hope as the premier soccer club in Cache Valley to continue to build a strong relationship with the USU Soccer program.

Much thanks to the Lady Aggies, Coach, Heather Cairns, Coach Josh Walters, Coach Marla Nelson and the USU staff that has made it possible for us to use the Stan Laub Center.

Making it Fun and Competitive

The original location of this article is on soccerbible.net
There are two types of fun; running around and goofing around type of fun and the competitive “I’m going to kick your ass” type of fun. These are two radically different types of fun and the coach and team must make the decision early in the season what type of team they are to be as this dictates what type of training and ultimately what type of play the team will have.

Certainly, there is a place for going out to just kick a ball around with very little instruction. This environment will have a lot of laughing and joking. This is certainly more of a recreational environment. That is not to say that this is not an acceptable environment, it is simply not one that will lead to competitive, aggressive dominant teams.

Within the competitive training environment, it must be understood that there is a great deal of fun to be had, however it is fun in a different manner than fun is commonly thought of. When players learn that hard work is fun, that becoming an excellent technical player is fun and when they learn that winning a game while possessing the entire game is fun, then the team is on their way. This is not easy at first and demands high expectations from the coach.

A team training to be competitive should be focused in this manner. The players will arrive at practice, it will begin on time, they will warm up on their own early and ninety minutes of the session will be productive, competitive and lead to true development. The players will have fun as they learn the importance of dedication, hard work and discipline. As they learn this and the session shifts to game play they be having fun playing competitively and will leave practice with a sense of accomplishment.

The interesting thing however, is that once this training environment is set it is far easier and more acceptable to have a part of the training session where the games are ridiculous, the rules are ludicrous, and the players are laughing hysterically. The trainer can often be involved in some way, working and playing; being part of the insanity. This shift if often great for the players as they see a more relaxed side of the coach/trainer rather than the focused demanding side which often is shown. Sometimes this is needed, maybe for an entire session depending on what a team is going through at a given moment. It must be understood however that this is to be exception to the rule rather than the general mood of training.

Final Thoughts on Training

A training session must then be focused and detailed with a set purpose. It is to be clear and concise to the players. It must be organized and within the session must exist a competitive desire which builds in the players the winning mentality. The session should focus on building the players skill and not on winning; that is secondary and will come with player development. Set up training sessions properly and teams will begin to succeed.

'English football is going backwards'

'English football is going backwards' warns Sir Trevor Brooking

Sir Trevor Brooking last night admitted he feared English football will only go backwards if we cannot abandon the long-ball culture.

While Fabio Capello’s squad will travel to South Africa in buoyant mood in the summer, Brooking, the FA’s Director of Football Development, suggested the cupboard may be bare in a matter of years.

Brooking, speaking at the launch of the £100million National Football Centrer at Burton, said: “We’ve not got the depth of talent for a country of 60 million-plus people.

“If you look beyond the 'Golden Generation' of Lampard and Gerrard, what is there? We all ask if they can do it at the World Cup this summer? We’ll wait and see. But after them there isn’t the depth.”

Brooking added: “We’ve not got enough players who are comfortable on the ball, can step into midfield from the back or drop off into the hole."

“We have to get youngsters playing the way Brazil and Spain are playing. That’s the way football is going, with more intricate passing, and for the FA not to prepare our youngsters for that in the future would be stupid."

“If we are honest, we are not developing technical youngsters. The first thing you have to do is make it clear that you do not play long ball at any stage. You have to resist the temptation to do it at 12 or 14 just to win matches at that age."

“It is about building the right principles. We are trying to embarrass the dads who just want their kids to win at any costs. We have to get the message home that they have to play football. That means good quality coaches who can spread the philosophy.”

THE OFFSEASON: Recommended Backyard Games

By Mike Singleton

The offseason is near, so here are ways players can work on their skills on their own. …

1. Juggling
a) Juggle the ball with all parts of your body (left and right sides). Try not to have more than five consecutive juggles with the same body part (i.e., feet, head, etc.).
b) Juggle with a friend or friends in a similar fashion to the basketball game “HORSE” — the player who drops the ball gets a letter.
c) Play one-touch or two-touch juggling with your friends, earning letters for drops.

How to Juggle video:


2. One-vs-One
a) Only use one foot — the ball cannot touch your other foot.
b) Have a goal (or a cone) which you can score upon from all sides.
c) Same as b, but have the same goal for both players.
d) Have two goals for each player, one on an end line and one on a sideline.
e) Have three goals for each player, one on an end line and one on each sideline.

3. Wall Soccer
Just kick a ball against a wall using both your left foot and right foot. Place hard shots against the wall (with accuracy and force). Try doing this three-touch, then two-touch, then one-touch. This game helps with trapping/receiving, positioning, striking of a ball with both feet, foot speed, being on toes, and concentration.

It also will improve your passing/shooting accuracy because of the high number of touches you will have on the ball and the high number of balls you play against the wall.

Vary your shots - high, low, left, right, inside foot, outside foot, instep, etc., and make yourself work at a high pace to get your body behind the ball before it rolls past you. Get closer to the wall to improve foot quickness and move further away to increase lateral quickness.

Video on using the wall:


4. Own the Ball!
Just you competing for possession of one ball (through shielding) with one other person. If you lose possession, do whatever you have to do get the ball back as quickly as possible. Correct shielding technique — body sideways, arm providing protection, ball on outside foot, knees bent, turning as defender attacks, using feel to understand where defender is going.

5. 2v2 or 2v1 Games
Any 2v2 and 2v1 drills or games will be extremely useful. The entire game can be broken down into 2v2 or 2v1 situations. The more skilled you are at these, the more success you will have in the larger game. Playing combination passes is key!

6. Paired Tag
Pair players up, giving each pair two balls. One player starts and is given a two-second lead to break away from his/her partner. The chaser (”it”) dribbles after the first player and tries to tag him/her with his/her hand. If tagged, the roles reverse and the player who was previously “it” has two seconds to break away before their partner tries to tag them. Players must always dribble their soccer ball during this activity.

7. Marbles
Players are in pairs, each with a ball. One player plays out his ball and the partner passes his own ball in an attempt to strike the ball his partner played out. Players should keep track of how many times they hit their partner’s ball. This game should be fast-paced, because players take turns at trying to hit each other’s ball without ever stopping.

If Players 2 misses Player 1’s ball, then Player 1 immediately runs to her own ball and tries to hit Player 2’s ball (Player 2 does not get to touch his ball after missing Player 1’s ball). After Player 1 has a chance, then Player 2 immediately tries to hit player 1’s ball right back. etc.

This game is continuous and players should keep score.

(Hint: If two balls are lose to each other, a player should kick his/her ball hard at the other ball so that when they hit it, it is more difficult for the other to hit their ball back).

A video demonstrating soccer Marbles:


8. Soccer Tennis
With a partner, set up two 10×10 grids that are separated by a net (or a line, couple of bags, string tied to bags - something serving as a net). Just as in tennis, players play the ball (though with their feet) into the other’s grid and the ball must bounce once in that grid. If the receiving player(s) allows the ball to drop twice, the server earns a point. Receiving players can play volleys. Limit your touch count to two- or three-touch.

Soccer Tennis Video:


9. SLAM
Get a partner or partners and play against a wall (or turn over a bench). Use one-touch to kick the ball against the wall.

Turns alternate between partners. Players earn a letter if the ball goes over the bench or goes wide of the bench/wall until they spell “SLAM.” Once they spell “SLAM” they are out of the game.

A video demonstrating SLAM:

(Mike Singleton is the Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association’s Head State Coach and Director of Coaching. He is a Region I ODP Senior Staff Coach and a U.S. Soccer and US Youth Soccer National Staff Coach. This article first appeared in Mass Youth e-News.)

Other articles focused on improving skills outside of practice include:

Getting Kids To Play On Their Own

Practicing Solo: The 720 Challenge

Improving skills on your own: wall play

Getting players to juggle

Before you scream at a ref ...

By Donna Olmstead

Sometimes as I slouch down in my lawn chair watching my grandchildren's soccer games, I indulge in wishful thinking. Only skillful, focused players on the field. Only knowledgeable, supportive parents on the sidelines. Only coaches who remember the bottom line is character development and not just winning games. Only top-notch officials running the lines and the field. Never going to happen. Like I said - wishful thinking.

Not that I'm an expert on the soccer subject. But I have spent 32 years immersed in youth soccer. As the chauffer. As the team mom. As the team grandmother. And any other position that needed a warm body. Some knowledge of the game is bound to rub off after awhile.

Now my daughter and granddaughters are referees as well as players. And I'm seeing games from a whole new angle.

Sitting on the bleachers watching my 14-year-old granddaughter play at a Disney tournament recently, I got annoyed at our parents for criticizing the assistant referee's seeming inability to be in position to make good calls.

When the parents grew vocal enough for the AR to hear, I decided to muffle the criticism. Duct tape would have done the job, but I used something more personal - an incident that happened to my 16-year-old granddaughter Emily at a different game the day before.

Emily was running the line on the parents' side and they gave her a bad time about her offside calls. The coach even went to the center ref after the game and complained about her. Fortunately, the center ref had been paying attention and said Emily's calls had been correct. This is a tough situation for a young referee to handle, and probably why the attrition rate is so high.

When I told our parents about Emily's experience, they were indignant about anyone's criticizing Emily. After all, she's one of ours. We know her. We know she's conscientious and unbiased. She knows the game both as a player and a certified official. How dare those parents and coach give her a rough time?!

Then I pointed at the AR running our line and said, "She's somebody's Emily."

I know that, in the heat of competition, everyone forgets that the officials are somebody's Emily or Tom or Dave. Parents demand superhero officials. Which, in most cases, means officials that make only calls the parents agree with. And when most of the parents don't even know the difference between being offside or being in an offside position, that would be an impossible demand.

You couldn't pay me enough to take the abuse that soccer officials take. I'd probably take the field armed with a whistle and a small caliber handgun. And because I know that about myself, I stay on the sidelines. And try to encourage parents to send positive energy toward the field. And to try to help them remember that the every official is somebody's Emily.

(Florida resident Donna Olmstead has been involved in soccer through both her children and her grandchildren, as well as housing professional players and owning and running an indoor soccer facility. She is a freelance writer and spends weekends trying to remember which tournament she's supposed to be cheering at.)

Skill Priorities - The four letter word of soccer: KICK

Skill Priorities
Everyone knows that the game of soccer has a number of basic skills, or techniques, that players have to learn, such as dribbling, receiving passes, making passes, shooting and heading. Players also have to learn to make good decisions during the game, such as when to dribble, when to pass, and to whom to pass. These players’ decisions are referred to as tactical decisions.

Skill Factor Video containing break down of skills and live footage of the best soccer players in the world. (this is a long video in high definition, to watch it without if having to buffer freuently press play now, once it gets going press pause. The finish reading the article and watching the video below and come back to it. I highly recommend this video as a stocking stuffer or as a gift this holiday season.)

The first principle of soccer development is that players should master the basic techniques before they can learn the tactical side of the game. Technique before tactics! Think of techniques as vocabulary, and tactics as the grammar rules for forming sentences and paragraphs. Now, imagine a young immigrant who arrives in America without a word of English. It’s pretty obvious that before we can teach this immigrant about the rules for joining nouns, verbs, and adverbs to form a sentence, we have to give him a chance to accumulate enough vocabulary. The bigger his vocabulary, the better will he be able to use grammar to articulate his thoughts.

In terms of soccer development, your child is just beginning his/her ‘schooling’. We use the word ‘schooling’ here because there are many similarities between a regular school and a youth club, which can be considered as essentially a soccer school. In fact, as you might have already noticed, throughout this letter we will be using many analogies from real life schooling and the principles of growing up to explain the rationale behind the program.

As far as techniques are concerned, some techniques should be taught before others. The first technique that children should learn is dribbling. The ability to dribble is absolutely critical since dribbling is the foundation skill and preparation for all the other fundamental techniques of soccer, such as receiving, passing and shooting. When players are receiving the ball and making preparation touches prior to passing or shooting, they are essentially engaged in a mini-dribble. Young players need to learn to dribble within a variety of playing situations, such as dribbling forward unopposed, changing speed and direction with the ball, shielding the ball from opponents, dribbling past an opponent, and dribbling to get away from pressure. A limited ability to dribble leads to a limited range of passing or shooting. There are also times in the game, when the player with the ball has no passing options and the only way out of tight pressure is to dribble.

Aside from the fact that dribbling forms the foundation for all the other skills, there are many other reasons why we need to focus on dribbling at U-6/U-8. First of all, it takes years to become a comfortable and confident dribbler. Players have to learn to combine body control, agility, coordination and balance with the mechanics of dribbling and the sooner they start, the better. Just like any complex bio-mechanical skill such as skating or gymnastics, the later you start, the harder it is to achieve perfect form. Secondly, the process of learning to dribble involves trial and error. At first, the players’ rudimentary attempts at dribbling will often result in failure as they discover the contrast between a soft touch and a hard touch on the ball. The players will slowly develop a ‘feel’ for the ball as they experiment at controlling and propelling it. Young players don’t get discouraged easily if they don’t succeed. Players of this age do not possess the analytical thought process to look back or think ahead. They live for the moment, inSome of you might ask “but what about passing?” Isn’t soccer a team game and passing a fundamental team skill? Passing implies an intention by a player to direct the ball accurately towards a teammate. It implies decision making. Do not confuse passing with kicking. Kicking means using the feet to propel the ball in a certain direction. You will not see any passing in a U-6 game, and very little in a U-8 game. Passing is simply beyond the ability of U-6 the here and now, and the fact that the last time they tried to dribble it didn’t work will not even enter their minds. But if we wait for the players to mature before we emphasize dribbling, many of them will lose their confidence if they do not succeed and will become reluctant to dribble. Thirdly, In 3v3 and 4v4 play, the fields are so small that dribbling is always an option since the ball is always just a few yards away from shooting range. Once the game moves to the larger sized fields, dribbling becomes less effective on it’s own and must be combined with passing to get the ball from point A to point B. And lastly, it’s better to go through the process of trial and error when game results are not important and standings are not kept. At the U-10 and older ages, game results assume more importance, making it hard for the parents and coaches to show patience and tolerance for mistakes, and putting added pressure on players to ‘get rid of the ball’ rather than risk losing it. Once games become competitive, the resultant environment is not ideal to start learning how to dribble.

Kicking is NOT a Soccer Skill!!!
Most coaches and parents of beginner players unknowingly emphasize the wrong skills. In a typical U-6/U-8 club play, the players are encouraged by both the parents on the sidelines and the coaches to ‘boot’ the ball up the field. Shouts of “get rid of it!” and “kick it!” are all too common. The further forward a player kicks, they louder the cheers. Players are so indoctrinated to ‘kick it forward’ that very few of them dare to get out of pressure by dribbling. The fact is that the players are asked to execute a skill (kicking) that they would automatically learn anyway as they grow up, even if they didn’t play soccer. If you don’t believe it, just go outside to your back yard, place a ball on the ground, take a few steps back, run up to the ball and kick it forward. I am willing to bet you that, even if you never played soccer in your life, you would still succeed in kicking the ball forward. Your kick might look awkward and your movement lack grace, but you still would manage to kick it forward.

The reality is that players are controlled like puppets by the adults to such an extent that they are not thinking for themselves and are afraid to do anything but kick the ball. Even throw-ins are routinely thrown straight to the other team by confused players who are conditioned to play the ball forward, no matter what. The kick-offs are no better, with players kicking the ball straight to the other team, American football style. Players who clearly have plenty of time on the ball with no pressure anywhere near, are still kicking it forward without any thought or skill. And this type of mindless play is usually not corrected by the coaches and is allowed to occur time and again. The end result is that we are ‘coaching’ the skill of dribbling OUT of the players. We take away the natural ‘comfort’ with the ball - forever!

Let’s be frank here. The underlying issue has to do with how you, the adults, look at the game and analyze it. It’s fair to say that you all accept that results at U-6 and U-8 do not matter and that there is no need to keep standings. But you also instinctively know that the easiest way to get the ball from point A to point B is to kick it in that direction. It’s hard for you to watch your child lose the ball in front of his own goal and for the other team to score. So, the next time your child has the ball in his/her half, you can’t help it and shout “kick it!”. But every time they kick it, they lose another opportunity to learn to dribble. The buzz word of our program is: ‘Soft first Touch’. Every time your player goes to the ball, his/her first touch on the ball should be a soft one, meaning, NO KICKING!

Some of you might ask “but what about passing?” Isn’t soccer a team game and passing a fundamental team skill? Passing implies an intention by a player to direct the ball accurately towards a teammate. It implies decision making. Do not confuse passing with kicking. Kicking means using the feet to propel the ball in a certain direction. You will not see any passing in a U-6 game, and very little in a U-8 game. Passing is simply beyond the ability of U-6 and most U-8 players. In terms of the level of difficulty, kicking is the easiest to learn, dribbling is next, and passing is the hardest to master for young players. Think of dribbling as ‘passing to oneself’. If players cannot pass to themselves, how can they be expected to pass to a teammate 15 yards away? What young players do is actually kick, not pass, and the cheers they hear from you when they kick only serve to reinforce this bad habit. For this reason, we ask you to stop shouting to your players to Kick the ball. If game results truly don’t matter, no one should be overly concerned if a player tries to dribble and loses the ball. First touch must be a SOFT TOUCH.

SOFT TOUCH VIDEO:

MLS CUP Photo Album

REAL SALT LAKE - 2009 MLS CUP CHAMPIONS!

SLIDESHOW


ALBUM

MLS CUP

Honestly one of the most memorable and fantastic weekends of my life! Thank you Bobby Ginn, Brandon Haug, Brett Payne and Dell Loy Hansen (and his family) for sharing the experience with me.