ASC u11 Practice - CANCELED - Thursday, 9/30

Team:

Amherst has closed the fields, including Simeon Wilson, because of the rain, so practice is canceled today.

We have a big weekend with 6 games between the three teams so make sure you rest up and are ready for Saturday.  See you all at the games this weekend.

Coach Mark                     Coach Meaghan                 Coach Gary
(c) 603-493-7179

GAME REMINDER - Sunday, September 19th

Hi all,

One last reminder!  The ASC Coed U11 team has a home game tomorrow at 4:00PM at Cemetery Field.  Players should wear their white jerseys (and bring their red jerseys just in case we need to switch) and be at the field by 3:15PM for warm-ups.  

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Shawn Hollister

672-1589 (h)

566-9414 (c)

Best Nutmeg Ever!

Players, check out this move!

Best nutmeg ever!

What do you think?  Is this even legal?

Reminders

Good morning!

Just a quick reminder that practice tonight is from 6-8PM at SIMEON WILSON field (next to the high school).  Please do not park on the street!  There have been complaints in the past from residents, so be please be courteous and use the high school parking lot (although that could be challenging tonight as it is SHS open house :) ).  

Also, please note that the coed team has a home game this Sunday, September 19th, at Cemetery Fields at 4:00PM.   

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Shawn Hollister

(h) 672-1589

(c) 566-9414  

ASC u11 Practice - Moved to Simeon Wilson Field

Team,

Because it is getting dark earlier and we are not able to practice to 8:00pm as scheduled, we will be moving the practices to Simeon Wilson field starting on Thursday (9/16).  Simeon Wilson field has lights which will enable us to run our practices right up until 8:00pm.

For the rest of our season we will be practicing on Monday and Thursday from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at Simeon Wilson.

Coach Mark                        Coach Meaghan                       Coach Gary
(c) 603-493-7179

ASC U11 Practice

Parents,

It is getting dark well before 8pm.  Until we move to lighted fields, please plan on picking-up players when it gets dark.  On 9/9 that will be around 7:35.  Thanks.

Coach Mark Smith
(c) 603-493-7179

ASC Coed U11 - First Game - Saturday, Sept 11 @ 9am - Bishop Field, Merrimack Middle School

Team,

Our first game is at 9am on Saturday in Merrimack.  Please notice that the time has changed from the original schedule.

Players should arrive ready to start warming up 45 minutes before game time.  Plan on arriving 5-10 minutes before 8:15am so we can start warm-up promptly.

Remember to bring:

1. Uniform
2. ball
3. drink
4. Weather appropriate clothing
5. A great attitude!

Directions  http://goo.gl/maps/qgdV

Coach Mark
(c) 603-493-7179

ASC u11 Contact information

Team:

Please take the time to visit the team website and fill in your contact information if you have not done so already.  There is an electronic form on the site and it takes about 2 minutes to complete.

We currently have about 14 out of 36 players who have submitted their information.  Thank you to those who have got their information in.

If you have not entered your contact information, please do so ASAP.  Thank you.

Contact Information Form on team website: http://ascu11.blogspot.com/p/contact-form.html

Coach Mark Smith
(c) 603-493-7179

Monday 9/6 Practice - Cemetery Fields @ 6pm

Team:

Just a reminder that we ARE having practice today.  Thanks.

Mark Smith
(c) 603-493-7179

Amherst SC U11 Website

Team:

Thanks for the great attendance at the Parent Meeting Thursday evening after practice.  There were lots of great questions and interest from everyone.

Please check out the team website

http://ascu11.blogspot.com/

Here you will find lots of information about the team and all the team communications.

Please use the Contact Form tab to submit contact information for your player.  This information will be important as we move through the season to make sure we can contact you when needed.

Thanks

Amherst SC U11 Parent Meeting

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?  
 

ASC U11 players homework!

Players,

This year you will be playing 8v8 for our games.  Unlike 6v6 soccer, 8v8 soccer has the offside rule.

I would like you to learn about the offside rule, even if you think you already understand it.  Please watch the following presentation at least once before practice on Thursday.  If you can watch it 2 or 3 times that would be even better.

Law 11: Offside

If you have any questions, please remember them for practice.

Coach Mark                Coach Meaghan          Coach Gary

Amherst SC U11 Parent Meeting

Welcome,

It was great to see all the players at the first practice on Monday night. As part of the preparation for the season, we would like to have a meeting with all the parents after Thursday's practice at Upper Wilkins.  We will end the practice a little early at 7:45 so we still have a little light for the meeting.

Agenda

¨   Introduction to coaches

¨   Laws of the Game – 8v8

¨   Attitude toward winning and losing.

¨   Children and sports and sportsmanship.

¨   Aims and goals for upcoming season.

¨   Position and Substitution policy

¨   Help needed from each parent.

¨   Sideline behavior of the adults at training sessions and matches.

¨   Team Managers.

¨   Questions

Please make an effort to have at least one parent attend the meeting.  If for some reason, you are not able to attend the meeting, please let us know so we can plan on making sure you have the information from the meeting.

If you have any questions, please feel free to drop us an email.  Thanks.

Mark Smith                        Meaghan Osbourne              Gary Lorusso

Amherst Soccer Club U11 soccer pool

Players welcome to our Amherst U11 soccer season, attached emails are the coaching staff for our u11 pool.

After a great week of camp we have finalized our plans for the U11 player pool.  The basis of our decision lies in the fact we are trying to develop both a boys and girls team to be successful at 11v11 (needing 16-18 players).  This year the players will be playing 8v8, whereas last year they played 6v6.  US Youth Soccer has these developmental stages to let the kids grow with the field and to get more touches on the ball as they are developing.

 

This season we want to focus on extending their skills, increasing their speed of play, while maintaining their love of the game and group cohesiveness.  The group will train as a pool on the same nights just like they did with EDP, however we will break the pool into subgroups and allow our coaches to train at a 1: 12 ratio with players of similar skill level. As we all know the learning and improvement process for soccer is on-going, therefore we will move players around during the season to participate in the group that will provide the a better environment for their continuing development.

Based on the various skills level and the gender mix of players involved, one team was determined to be a coed group. Our game roster for each weekend will mirror our training subgroup for that week's practice. Please be aware that player's movement will be communicated each Thursdays before the weekend games.  Please note that the movements of players aren't on a weekly basis, but on a selection basis when the group of coaches determines when and which player will move.

Similar to your EDP practices, players grouping will be announced at their arrival to practice by their respected coaches.  The first practice sub grouping is already established and as the season progresses and the game schedules are distributed we will inform players / families with any player movement. You will be receiving an email introducing you to your coach for the first practice sub grouping.  

The practice days for the U11 pool will be MONDAYS AND THURSDAY 6pm-8pm. First practice will start on August 30, 2010

We are happy to introduce you to the coaches for the U11 pool this season:

Gary Lorusso

Gary began coaching youth soccer in 2003 at South Soccer league in Manchester. He continued at South coaching the 2004, 2005, and 2007 seasons. In 2008 he was an assistant coach for the Central High freshman soccer team and has returned to that team for 2010. Since 2000 Gary has been the coach and manager of the men's team the Manchester Rowdies. Traveling in Europe he spent time studying teaching methods at the youth levels in both Italy and Germany.

Gary played varsity soccer at Central High School continuing after high school to play on the Manchester Rowdies and the Manchester Gunners.

Gary is a professional musician who has performed around the world and teaches privately in Exeter, NH.

Meghan Osbourne

Meaghan has more than 18 years of playing experience. She played for Hampshire football club, Souhegan High School and most recently her club team at Louisiana State University. This is Meaghan first Head coaching job, but has been involved as assistant for many years, her coaching exposure started with our own TOT's program many years ago and also has many years of coaching at soccer camps

Mark Smith

Coach Mark played soccer at Phillips Academy Andover.  His coaching career started in 1993 coaching his son Beau on the Waltham, MA U8 travel team.

In 1994, he moved to Amherst and joined Amherst SC coaching the boys U9 team and continued with the team through the U10 and U11 seasons. 

Mark continued his coaching with the Nashua World Cup boys U7 team coaching them through their U8, U9, and U10 seasons.  Most recently, Mark coached the Inti Soccer Academy boys U12 and U13 teams out of Manchester.

Coach Mark holds both the National 'D' and National Youth coaching Licenses and is excited about rejoining the Amherst Soccer Club.