Introduction to coaches
Mark Smith – CU11
Meaghan Osbourne – GU11
Gary Lorruso – BU11
Laws of the Game – 8v8
Playing in Granite State League 8v8
Starting 9/11 and finishing 10/31 – 8/9 game season
75 x 50 field size
Size 4 ball
16 player game roster
Offsides!
Attitude toward winning and losing.
The ages from 10 to 14 are very important in the development of a soccer player. It is during this time that players develop the majority of their technical skills (ball handling). Often the best 14 year old players were not the best players on their team at age 10. Therefore we want to focus developing every player into a complete soccer player.
Player development means training the important technical skills during practice. At this age players are just being to master some of the core soccer skills. To develop as a complete soccer player, they need to be exposed to all aspects of the game. This means we will be looking to have players in different positions throughout the season and even a single game. It also means giving every player equal game time, since game play is an important aspect of player development.
Soccer is a competitive sport and that means winning and losing cannot be ignored, but at this point developing your children as players is the focus. Kids enjoy winning and are more motivated when they win, so we will work to make our teams competitive, as part of our development process.
Player expectations
The focus this season is on having responsible players. This means working to make players responsible for their:
Behavior – good attitudes, ready to try their hardest, listen to coaches, focus of training
Equipment – Arrive to practices and games with all equipment. NOT parent's responsibility
Performance – Realize that improvement and ability is directly result of effort & focus
Team – Good sportsmanship to teammates and competitors. Commitment to the team (School and family first) At all practices and games. Supports all their teammates.
Coach – Inform coach if missing practice or game. Inform coach if going to be late. Phone or email
Aims and goals for upcoming season.
Soccer is broken into 4 areas: Physical, Technical (how to do it), Tactical (what to do), and Psychological. For this season we will be focusing on:
Physical – Development of good training habits. Warmups , cool downs, and hydration. Start the development of the habits now so when they are 14 and 15 and more prone to injury, they have a good physical foundation and habits that will keep them playing. Physical conditioning will be almost totally through game play.
Technical – This is the major area of focus for this age group. Work will focus on developing the core soccer skills: passing, receiving, shooting, dribbling with special emphasis on developing both feet , the weak side, and handling balls in the air (heading, trapping, kicking).
Tactical – Work on difference in offensive vs defensive play. Play in different areas of the field and small sided tactics ( 2 v 1, 2 v 2).
Psychological – Get players to invest in their own development. Get players to identify with team and teammates.
Position and Substitution policy
As mentioned before, players will be expected to play different positions. No one will play only offense or only defense. No one will only play goal. If a player is interested in being a goalie, then I am happy to give them time in goal, but they will also play on the field.
Goal is to have all players get equivalent playing time. We will not have a set substitution policy such as subs every 15 minutes. Will depend on game play. Will give all players a chance to start in games.
Playing time can be effected by behavior, effort, and attendance.
Help needed from each parent.
Encourage kids to speak with coaches about issues or concerns. How to improve a skill. Trouble with a teammate. Why am I playing or not playing. Etc. Make them responsible.
One thing players cannot do by themselves is get to practices and games ON TIME! Parents please help them with this. If a player is late because they do not get changed or cannot find their equipment, then that is their fault and they should have to deal with the consequences at practice or game. If the parent is not ready then that is not fair to the player.
Make players communicate with coaches, NOT YOU! Do they have their own email account?
I understand that players are just 10 years old. You will need to backstop them on many of these responsibilities, but be a backstop, do not do it for them. Let them be late to practice because they are not ready. Better now then when they are 14, 15, and 16.
Remind them to practice skills, but don't force them. Let them learn that effort bring results.
If you have concerns please feel free to contact the coaches. The best approach is to send an email outlining the concern and asking for a time to talk. Please realize that before games and practices coaches are focused on preparing for the players and will not be able to give you their full attention. Also, after games and practices coaches often have plans which means they will not be able to give you the attention needed. We are happy to discuss any issue let's just plan on the best time for everyone.
Sideline behavior of the adults at training sessions and matches.
Be your child's cheer leader. Positive support from the sideline during games and try not to coach. Players do not generally hear you and if they do, often they get confused. (might be contradiction with coach, might be because they do not see what you see). Be supportive of the Referees. At this level many of the Refs are young and developing their skills just like the players. In just a few years it may be your son or daughter out there. Ref'ing is a tough job. Even the best refs make mistakes. At this age level, it is just not worth it to get upset. If you really cann't bear the quality of the refs, then please do your part and become one, we need as many as we can get!
Parents are always welcome at practices. Please while practices are running just observe from a distance. Players never perform their best when they think mom and dad are watching them.
Team Managers.
We need 3 team managers. One for each of the teams. Managers are responsible for
1. Managing communication with the club.
2. Helping the club with administrative issues.
3. Assisting the coaches in team communications.
4. Planning and organizing team events
If you are interested, please send an email.
Ball kids
Ball boys for the SHS Varsity game Tuesday@4:00? Contact Amy Facey
Ball Girls for a girls varsity game? Contact Shawn Hollister
ISSUES & Questions
Email. Apologize for email issues. Will get a form out soonest to make sure we have all critical contact information. Always will be able to find info on team blog site (ascu11.blogspot.com).
Questions?
