A student at Elon University and local youth soccer coach is doing some research into youth soccer coaching and could use your help collecting information about how various coaches coach…

My name is James Bryant and I am a senior at Elon University, NC. For the past couple of months, I have been doing academic research on youth soccer coaches and the factors associated with sportsmanship, winning and knowledge of the game. I am currently a coach for a U10 Academy and a member of NCYSA.

I am trying to collect information from youth coaches about what coaches are emphasizing to their players and to what extent.

Below I have a link to a questionnaire (7 questions which will take 3 minutes or less). If you could pass this email or link on to all your coaches (all levels of competition) in your club, it would be greatly appreciated. I am trying to get a true representation of coaches from all levels (rec-classic). So anyone that has coached youth soccer before, this questionnaire directly relates to you!

The link has all the information and the purpose of my research in addition to contact information. I hope you and your club are able to participate in my study. Names and clubs are also strictly anonymous in this study. If you have any questions about my research or would like to find out the results of my study, feel free to contact me at jbryant11@elon.edu.

Thank you again for your future participation.

Best Regards,
James Bryant

The survey can be found at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3Y292BY

The survey is VERY short. James has said he’ll share the results later this year and I’ll be sure to post a followup with them. So if you coach soccer, take the survey and suggest that your local league share the link with all their coaches.

UPDATE: This survey is open to all youth soccer coaches – not just those located in North Carolina.

I always get these coach gift idea posts out late, but such is life. Along the line of a gift my girls team gave me last year, Shutterfly can put together bound picture books, often for less than $30. I just wish they could do the 5×7 in hard cover. That would be perfect.

One of the coolest aspects of the USSF National Youth License course is that it goes into a lot of detail about how kids learn, how their bodies develop, how they interpret and understand things, and thus what their practice sessions should be like. Their age will dictate what they can realistically understand and process. It can put planning your practices into a whole new perspective, especially for younger age players.

One of the presentations they used in our classroom session was ‘How Children Acquire Skill‘ by Xavier University professor Ron Quinn. It lays out some of the foundation for the NYL course and the current USYSA thinking on youth soccer player development.

Give it a look – interesting stuff.

A while back my daughter had a coach that flat out forbade them from bringing Gatorade to practice. Water was the only thing allowed. Her belief was that it hydrated them better. This didn’t make the parents all that happy, especially when US Youth Soccer was advocating sports drinks simply because kids were more likely to drink them. But this coach wasn’t alone in her belief. My ‘E’ course instructor was adamant about it. (and my daughter’s coach that year was in the same ‘E’ class. Coincidence? I think not!)

Anyway, someone finally did some research on this very question – what helps kids stay hydrated better? Not from the standpoint of ounce for ounce what helps the body more, but instead looking at the drinking habits of kids in sports and the quantity of fluids consumed. Survey says? Sports drinks are the way to go without question!

Several other studies show that kids, by and large, simply don’t drink water, even if it’s readily available. In a seminal group of studies in the 1990s, young athletes were brought in to a human performance laboratory in Canada and asked to complete intermittent, easy sessions of bicycling, while drinking as much water as they liked. During the 90 to 180 minute sessions, the “children dehydrated progressively and their core temperatures increased faster than in adults,” the researchers found. Change the beverage, though, and children’s drinking behavior alters — dramatically. In the Canadian laboratory cycling study, when the kids were offered grape-flavored water, they voluntarily drank 44.5 percent more than when the water was unflavored. And when the drink included 6 percent carbohydrates and electrolytes — when, in other words, it was a sports drink — they eagerly downed 91 percent more than when offered water alone.

That is a HUGE difference. The article goes on to make some important points. First, this applies to older kids playing sports (ie 10-12 and older). 5 year olds playing soccer aren’t going to suffer from dehydration, though they should always have things to drink during activities. But as the activities get more intense as the kids get older, something other than water may be the best thing because they’re most likely to drink it.

Don’t believe it? Pay attention to the drink bottles around your bench after your next match with an older team. How many water bottles still have water in them vs the sports drink bottles? I’m emptying out water bottles all the time, but it’s a rare Gatorade bottle that has anything left in it.

Earlier this year, the US Youth Soccer Association published their Vision for Youth Soccer in America. It generated a smattering of debate, but not much. It certainly should, because this vision sums up much of what the USYSA is thinking and advocating for youth soccer in America:

Too often in America a professional sport model is used in measuring youth sports success. Youth soccer is not immune to this misapplied standard. For soccer the situation is made worse by a desire of many adults to use measuring tools from other sports. In fact it is maddening to many adults that soccer is not as black and white as with some sports in judging successful play. Many team sports played in our nation are statistically driven and coach centered. Soccer is neither of those! Indeed just like the Laws of the Game our sport has many shades of grey within it. As a player centered sport some coaches become disillusioned as they learn that they are the ‘guide on the side’ and not the ‘sage on the stage’. Too many soccer coaches bring a “Pattonesque” attitude to the youth sport environment. This coach-centered perspective has been handed down to us from other sports and coaching styles of past generations.

So consider this your OTP Holiday reading assignment and post some thoughts in the comment section below. I’m hoping to take some themes from this document and write articles this winter where we can discuss the merits of what the USYSA is trying to do.

There are a lot of people writing about youth soccer on blogs these days – which is a great thing. It wasn’t long ago that OTP was pretty unique in the ’soccersphere’ concentrating on youth soccer. Most youth soccer blogs are written about how to be a better coach, though often that means a better coach just like the blog’s author. I certainly suffer from that fault from time to time. Ironically when you look at what they’re advocating, it’s rarely the same across different blogs. So when I’m browsing through new youth soccer blogs, I like to look for the unexpected or refreshing ones.

Joy Of The People is just such a blog, which I stumbled across this summer. There are only a handful of posts, and it looks like Ted hasn’t updated it in a while, but it’s still worth reading what is there. I he finds the time to write some more – he put up some neat stuff.

Speaking of which – I wish Old Soccer Guy would share more of his insights!

Part of the reason I’ve been MIA these past few months is I returned to an active role in our league’s administration after taking a year off AND was coaching 4 teams, most without any of my children on them. I really should learn to say no. When a U12 coach had to step aside right as the season got underway, we couldn’t find anyone to step in for him. So I agreed to take his team, figuring I could combine at least one practice with my existing U12 team. That’s worked fairly well, but certainly presented a new challenge trying to come up with practice plans for 24 players vs 12. We rarely had all 24, but we simply ran it much like a ‘pool training’ session for our travel teams. Heavy emphasis on foot skills with occasional scrimmages thrown in. It paid off. The teams may not have won a ton of matches, but watching them repeatedly strip opponents and win 1v1’s was a lot of fun. We’ll probably continue the setup in the Spring.

Needless to say this Fall season was insanely hectic. Between my four teams (one of which my youngest plays on) and my other three children’s teams – my schedule was jam packed. Somewhere in there I managed to get a new business going too.

I need a vacation – or just need to learn that simple little word… NO!

Yeah, I don’t believe it’ll ever happen either!

I read Anson Dorrance’s book “The Vision of a Champion” a while back, his 2nd book where he talks about the competitive cauldron system they use for UNC Women’s Soccer. He talked about a coach who had adapted it for youth teams, but the links provided don’t work anymore and Google failed me, so I’m working on my own adaption. In order to do that, I’ve been tracking down any online versions of presentations that Anson has given and finally found a good one over at the North Carolina Girls Soccer Camp website. I figured I’d share.

On the competitive cauldron note, I also found a decent article by John O’Sullivan from Oregon Rush Soccer: Creating Intensity In Training.

We have all seen it; our top player lollygags his or her way through yet another session. We have prodded, cajoled, whispered and yelled, and yet, another display of average effort is put forth by a talented player, and a talented team. It is a problem all too common for the American coach, a result of our poor youth soccer structure in the US. With yearly fixed rosters, and little avenue to promote and demote players between teams, we are faced with players who know that their spot on the roster is pretty much guaranteed until the next tryouts.

My 96 girls team (which plays a 3-4-3) is in an even tougher spot as their spots are pretty much secured for as long as they want – we have 15 players and there are no other players trying to make the team since our overall numbers at this age are small. So incentive to play hard just isn’t there. I hope to touch on this in a lot more detail soon.

Along with a number of other teams, I currently coach my youngest son’s U5 Rec team. Sponsored by Sheetz, their name is the Lil’ Sheetz – you gotta love it. Anyway – we’re playing a match that is pretty even this past weekend and both teams are scoring plenty of goals and having fun. I think I had three kids total (it was a cold morning and I had a few sick). So coach was happy. Then towards the end of the match, one of the players ‘dribbled’ towards the end line and stopped, unsure what to do now that he hadn’t ended up in front of the goal. So he put his foot on the ball and did a pull back, turning around and dribbling away. I went nuts cheering, as did the parents. The players on the field are like ‘huh?’ And for the last five minutes of the match, no matter where they were when they got the ball, they all tried to pull it back and turn. The other team wasn’t really sure what was going on, but a few of them decided to join in as well. Both coaches were hooting and hollering every time they did one. I’m not sure another goal got scored in those five minutes, but what an awesome feeling to watch kids that age so something other than chase and shoot. Can’t say it was anything magical the other coach and I may have done in practice. We certainly have the kids do pull backs as part of other activities, but it’s not like they’re a central focus. Yet as a coach I couldn’t help but walk away from that match extremely proud of the kids on both teams, and the parents who recognized what they were doing and cheered them on even if they weren’t scoring.

Good stuff!

Raise your hand if you’ve worried about how much your kids do in a given year and if you are ruining their lives. Come on – you over there. As soccer season kicks off and schedules get busier, it’s a common concern. Joel Maners passed on a recent article in the Wall Street Journal that debunks the common belief that our kids are over scheduled:

we have some data about how kids spend their hours. In recent years, researchers from the University of Maryland have analyzed findings from the continuing Panel Study of Income Dynamics, which documents children’s time use. They found that teens spend 30 of their weekly 168 hours in school. With the 12- to 18-year-old set sleeping 65 hours per week (a little more than nine a day), that leaves 73 hours for other things. Homework took up a mere 4.9 of these hours (about 42 minutes a day), and sports 3.9 hours. “Organizations” (like youth groups) filled 1.2 hours.

These are, of course, averages. Some children spend more time playing sports or doing homework, but some do less, too. Joseph Mahoney, an education professor at the University of California, Irvine, estimates that about 40% of children aren’t involved in any activities.

Emphasis mine. You’d think by now most of us would be used to the over sensationalism of our media today. Those of us with soccer players, especially travel soccer players, put our kids at huge risk every time we put them in a car to go somewhere. Yet many parents fear kidnapping or assault by a stranger the most, something about as likely to happen as getting hit by lightning. All because of these individual horror stories the media latches on to. Many of us struggle to look at these things in terms of ‘acceptable risk‘ and instead believe a problem is rampant because something happened to someone in another state and the media latched onto it. The same holds for the idea that many kids have no down time. Yet few people actually do the math to see how much free time their kids may have, and even in extreme cases where kids are doing things non stop – that may be just what they need.

I have four children. They all play soccer (and usually basketball), and are doing or have done other activities in the past. We have family members who tell us how we’re hurting them because they do ‘too much’. There’s no question our lives are busy. Yet contrast that with summer – where they would sit and watch TV day after day if allowed. Even during school, they have time to relax and overall they seem to be having fun and staying busy. Do they groan once in a while about not being able to watch TV? Sure. But take away those activities, and you know exactly what they would be doing day after day (“Are you ready kids?” Ugh!).

All kids are different. Just like coaches are taught about ‘slanty lines‘ and challenging kids of all different athletic abilities, parents should try to do the same when assessing their own kid’s schedules. Ignore the media hype and do what seems best for your own child’s temperament and abilities.

Pretty scary how fast the summer can fly by! The fall season is already underway for our Rec teams and most of our travel teams have been in pre-season tournaments before the start of their season after Labor Day. I’ve missed writing, but certainly haven’t been sitting idly by in Margaritaville. Besides opening a new business here in town (that finally is close to being ‘ready’ – took much longer than I expected), I’m president of our local league again and am coaching a number of Rec teams in addition to my 96 Girls travel team, the Lunachicks.

I’m hoping to get back in the swing of writing – certainly have a ton of stuff to write about. But it may be a while before I’m posting multiple times a week.

In addition to coaching the 96 girls, who moved to 11v11 this season, I’m coaching my youngest son’s U5 team (aptly named the Lil’ Sheetz. What? It’s their sponsor! ) I’m also coaching two U12 Rec teams, which is fun. I really enjoy coaching 8v8. Big enough to give players some concept of tactics and field positioning, yet small enough to keep most players very active. Needless to say, my weeks are very busy (but it’s great exercise!)

I also got my National Youth License this summer after getting my National ‘D’ License last summer. The NYL course was fantastic – kind of like four mini ‘D’ courses packed into one course, one for each youth age level (U6, U8, U10, U12). Each day dealt with a different age and there was a lot more taught about WHY certain ages should be coached a certain way. Highly recommend it for any experienced coach who still coaches small sided teams. Our league tries to send one coach a year to this.

I hope everyone has a good Labor Day weekend! What are you all up to this season? New teams? New clubs? New Rules?

Sorry for disappearing! The end of the season is always crazy hectic. I’ve been dealing with a ton of makeups due to all the rain, end of season tournaments (Going to Wilmington NC this weekend – fun!), helping organize tryouts, setting up registration for the Fall, and more. Hope to get back onto the blog and Twitter in a week or two. I’m sure I’ve missed lots!

Anyway – my son had two U12 matches this weekend, and during the first the referee was letting a lot of contact go, even with arms being raised up. It wasn’t one sided, but some parents were still getting annoyed and making comments to call some of the pushing. So during a lull in the cheering from the parent sideline we all suddenly hear clear as day:

Come On Ref! They Don’t Bump That Hard In NASCAR!

Now that was funny. Even the referee grinned and it eased some of the tension. Just figured I’d share.

Hope you all are enjoying the nicer weather and your soccer seasons! Ours is almost over here

As the severity of the H1N1 or swine flu pandemic increases, governments are taking significant steps to deal with any severe outbreak. The US has already authorized the release of significant portions of it’s flu medication stockpiles and many states are activating their pandemic flu plans. Most of these plans were put into place after the avian flu outbreak in Asia.

Soccer leagues should also be taking steps to be prepared if things get worse. We are responsible for significant gatherings of children, often across school district lines, which could aid in the spread of an illness like this. Now, I’m not talking about over reacting, and the media certainly can overhype things. But when the World Health Organization is seeing significant human to human transmission of a virus that humans don’t have a natural immunity to – it has the potential to be very serious. So there is nothing wrong with leagues being prepared.

So what should soccer leagues be doing?

1. Find out of your state has a Pandemic Flu plan. Many states do. Here is North Carolina’s (my home state). In particular, look for sections pertaining to ‘Community Containment’ or ‘Social Distancing’. Again, here is the applicable section for North Carolina. It will often provide hints as to how the state will respond if the pandemic worsens and at what stages they will limit social/community gatherings. NC uses a ‘Pandemic Severity Index’ with applicable durations (4 weeks and 12 weeks), depending on severity, for limiting community interaction (adults and children).
2. Most community programs that involve children will follow the lead of the schools. In NC, the pandemic flu plans talks about the use of ’snow days’ to close schools since that will trigger the closure of many other programs (day cares, after school programs, sports activities, etc.) If someone in your league works at your school district’s central office – reach out to them. They are likely to hear about things quickly in terms of future closings, pandemic threshold levels, infection rates, etc. This could be especially important if your state doesn’t have a pandemic flu plan.
3. Find online sources of information. Not CNN or Fox News. Direct sources of information about the pandemic and steps state officials are taking (see list below). A great place to start is your state’s Health and Human Services department. Ours is providing detailed media briefings and has a wealth of information available. The media briefings will be where states announce any efforts to limit social/community interactions.
4. Tap someone in your league to be the person responsible for getting informed and monitoring news/government information sources. They can review your state’s plans, work to find the best sources of information, and keep your league officers up to date on what’s happening.
5. Touch base with your state soccer association and see if they are putting together tips or information on steps local leagues can take or if they plan to issues state wide activity suspensions and how will those be communicated.
6. If things continue to worsen, or your state sees an outbreak, start to think about contingency plans for extended cancellations of activities. What would your league do if you had to suspend activities for 4 weeks? What if that happened when travel tryouts were scheduled? Would you simply cancel the rest of the season or try to make it up later in the year? Would you be able to? How would promotion and relegation be handled if you use it?
7. Be prepared to responded intelligently to your parents. I guarantee  you if this gets worse, parents will be asking if soccer activities will be suspended long before schools are closed. How will you answer those questions? You don’t want your parents thinking the league is unprepared for this – that can cause many problems down the road. So get ready to respond to parents and issue league wide communications to let your parents know the league is monitoring the situation and getting prepared. Note most health experts are NOT encouraging the use of masks, except for those already sick or in health care settings – so if things reach that point – expect parents to ask about wearing of masks.

Hopefully all this preparation will be for naught and the virus will burn out quickly without causing widespread suffering. But when many soccer leagues lack a severe weather policy, let alone a policy to deal with something like this, now would be a great time to get informed and putting something like that together. Even if it’s as simple as stating your league will follow the lead of the schools and the recommendations of state and local health departments, it shows you did your homework and have the kid’s best interests at heart.

Here are some other sources of information on the H1N1 Flu:

• CDC Swine Flu Website
• CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report – Despite the ghoulish name, this report provides almost realtime information about where outbreaks are occurring.
• PandemicFlu.gov – Clearinghouse for US government pandemic flu information
• List of state pandemic flu plans from PandemicFlu.gov
• World Health Organization’s main Influenza page

A league in Bethesda, Maryland, has tried fining parents who misbehave at youth soccer games, but that didn’t work. They just paid it and kept yelling. So now they banished them from the sideline – forcing them to watch from 100 yards away. Many used binoculars to see the action.

The trouble began when a parent from the Springfield Youth Club’s Xplosion working as an assistant referee raised a flag in the air and called an offside violation on a Bethesda player, according to the minutes of the disciplinary hearing. After the game, a Bethesda parent approached the referee and accused him of making the wrong call, the report says. The parent “started to raise his voice,” according to the report. More sniping occurred, and “the tone and behavior of the parents was aggressive.” Then another Bethesda parent allegedly yelled at the referee’s daughter, “Your father should be fired!”

The league’s disciplinary committee ruled that the Bethesda parents had violated the league’s code of conduct — which asks parents to refrain from questioning referees’ calls — through “egregious” behavior that “has no place in youth sports.” They ruled that the parents could not be on the sidelines for the first two games of this season.

That’s good stuff. This league doesn’t mess around – they even have sportsmanship liaisons for each team. And one of the parents inadvertently showed why this method will probably work when she was interviewed:

“It’s embarrassing,” one of the parents said. “This is seventh-grade soccer.” Across the way, Potomac lawyer Philip Page watched his daughter Jacqueline play through binoculars, which was “very maddening.” Especially because he wasn’t even at the game where the unsportsmanlike conduct occurred. “We accepted our punishment, and we’re abiding by it,” Page said. “One of the functions of sports is to teach sportsmanship. When we as parents violate that, the girls need to see there are consequences to those actions.”

Emphasis mine. What other innovative ideas have you encountered with leagues trying to address poor parent (and coach) behavior?

For those of you not following me on Twitter (I’m @soccerdad), here’s a peek at my Tweets for the past week. Clearly I tweet too much.

• Morning tweeps! Hope to come out of hiding after tax day. Been a crazy couple weeks! #

For those of you not following me on Twitter (I’m @soccerdad), here’s a peek at my Tweets for the past week. Clearly I tweet too much.

• You know you’re a @RealSoccerMom when you list your Twitter location as Region III USYS. Awesome. #
• Morning all! Hope you soccer parents/coaches had a fun weekend of soccer! Weather was finally beautiful here. #

As players get older and matches get more intense, rough play is something you have to deal with and work with your team to handle. No amount of yelling at the referee is going to change things if they’ve lost control. So you have to prepare your teams to deal with it and also prepare yourself for an extremely difficult decision should it come to that. ZenMaster has an excellent article with tips and ideas over at ZenFooty. Here’s a snippet:

Games get out of control physically for a number of reasons. Among them are slow play, poor game management by your captain and coach, loss of control by the referee, and lack of personal skills in warding off dirty defenders.

Let me first say that the issue of dirty and abusive play does not start with the referee or the players, it begins with coaching. The tolerance level of the coach has a direct bearing on the ethics of players. The best coaches will reprimand their own players for foul play. I have seen good coaches pull their own players even before the referee takes action.

Emphasis mine. Read the whole thing – excellent stuff.

For those of you not following me on Twitter (I’m @soccerdad), here’s a peek at my Tweets for the past week. Clearly I tweet too much.

• Ouch. Sign you’re getting old. One of my players talking about 1 of my team emails she read: “You’re too old to use LOL. That’s just weird” #
• One of the coolest things at our soccer fields? Free Wifi. So easy to setup – if you can get DSL in your shed/stand – 1 router = WiFi! #
• So we’re facing the possibility of washed out weekend #5. Hoping sun & lots of wind 2day will dry the fields out PDQ. But not counting on it #
• Morning tweeps! Had a fun practice in the rain/mud last night. Really helps u learn to strike the ball right – wet ball is VERY unforgiving. #
• Soccer practice in the rain – sweet! May have to rethink focus on shooting though. Never fun when it’s wet. But makes them strike it right! #
• Saw wildest thing @ son’s U12 game last nite-Ref shows red 4 hard keeper challenge on free ball in air-Player leaves-Ref changes mind=yellow #
• Altidore with the hat trick! #
• RT @ChrisWaluk: Wow, country w/most World Cup ticket requests (other than host South Africa) is the USA according to FIFA. Hurray US soccer! #
• I used 2 hate writing documentation when I got paid for it. Now I’m doing it for free as a volunteer. Updating soccer league guidelines. Fun #
• No Doubt RT @scooter42481: And the rain wins again. I am giving mother nature a red card and the finger. I am sick of canceled soccer games. #
• Looking at our weather forecast. Rain Wed, Thu, and Fri. You cannot be serious. 4 weekends washed out, more clearly to come. Sigh. #
• RT @CoachLok: Coaches want all players to give”100%”effort all the time. Do those same coaches give 100% to*each*players’ development? #
• RT @ToddSullivan: The greatest soccer coach ever-read the letter-guess what? got him fired. PC Nazi’s strike again… http://bit.ly/1YJmoo #
• How sweet would it have been if the USMNT beat El Salvador as time wound down with a bicycle kick into an open net. But it was not to be. #
• Kids out of school today, so we’re off to the zoo in this unusual sunny and warm weather Might even be able to practice 2nite! #

Seeing the reaction to the ‘Green Death’, it amazes me the primal reaction people have to stuff like this.

• “You can come coach my kid ANY day!”
• “Find your sense of humor! It was a joke!”
• “The PC Nazi’s strike again!”
• “We need more coaches like this!”

Yeah! Because my coach can teach my 6 year old kid to kick your kids ASS! UNH!

We all want our kids to be tough, ready for life, and able to take anything that is coming to them. I certainly do. But preparing kids for life doesn’t mean drilling the fact of life into their head like a drill sergeant. Before you jump on the Green Death train, let’s pick our way through the email. Let’s see if maybe this really was just a big misunderstanding from a fantastic coach who just used poor judgement in sending an email his new parents weren’t prepared for, or didn’t have the sense of humor for. Or maybe, behind all the wit and sarcasm, there are real warning signs.

First, be sure to read the coach’s reaction and resignation letter. He includes point by point rebuttal that sheds light on what he believes and how much of his letter was really a joke vs exaggerated. That’s a BIG difference. We can ridicule all we want, but there usually is truth behind sarcasm. So let’s begin.

1. OK, here’s the real deal: Team 7 will be called Green Death. We will only acknowledge “Team 7” for scheduling and disciplinary purposes [MEANT TO BE A JOKE, BUT CLEARLY AN ISSUE NOW]. Did anyone really care about the team name? I think Green Death is funny. I coach a team called the Lunachicks. I play a U5 team called the Jawbreakers this week (sponsored by a dentist).
2. According to my wife, my emails get too wordy, so for those of you read too slowly, are easily offended, or are too busy, you can stop here. [CLUE #1 THAT THIS IS MEANT IN JEST FOR THOSE WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR]. Did anyone really care that he said ’stop reading here’? My emails (and posts) are epically long too and many a similar coach has said the very same thing – if you care – read on.
3. We play fair at all times, but we play tough and physical soccer [FAIR BUT TOUGH – SEEMS REASONABLE]. Playing tough and physical soccer – nothing wrong with that if it’s fair. These are 6 and 7 year old girls, but you certainly don’t want them to shy away from the ball or opponents.
4. We do not cater to superstars, but prefer the gritty determination of journeymen who bring their lunch pail to work every week, chase every ball and dig in corners like a Michael Vick pit bull [EVERYONE SHOULD PLAY AND I’M ENCOURAGING HARD WORK BY EVERYONE AND NO FAVORITISM TO SUPERSTARS – BY THE WAY, I LOVE DOGS TOO AND FOUND VICK’S MISTREATMENT OF THEM OFFENSIVE]. Everybody plays and develops = great. The Vick thing was stupid – if it was that offensive to you, then don’t joke about it. But still, not a big deal, IF he’s not coaching to win (see below).
5. Unless there is an issue concerning the health of my players or inside info on the opposition, you probably don’t need to talk to me. Coach Mac has been designated “good guy” this year. [JOKE – BUT I THINK I HAVE DEFINTIELY MADE HIM LOOK GOOD ON A RELATIVE BASIS] OK, here is my first concern. Yes, halfway through the email, this is my only concern. Parents are not to talk to Coach K unless their kid is sick. Coaches are not untouchables and good coaches encourage parent feedback, within reason. Don’t come complaining that your child should only play striker or your child didn’t play enough. But encouraging two way communication with your parents will help you better understand your players, what they are facing, and how to handle them. It also helps your parents better understand you. Designating an assistant to be the go between – ok, that’s a decent compromise, but still not great.

If Coach K had stopped right here? Heck, I’d sign my daughter up to play for him. He believes in hard work, fair play, and wants to develop tough players. What’s wrong with that? But then he had to get political, and in my opinion, that is what brought the strong reactions. You’re there to coach the kids and teach them soccer and some life lessons. Great. But what follows is a screed about how American kids are fat and lazy and the great Coach K will whip them into shape and make them crave red meat and to win at all costs. Lets see…

1. I believe winning is fun and losing is for losers [JOKE – WE ALL LIKE TO WIN. ALSO PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE OPPOSITE OF THE WINNER IS, A NON-WINNER? EVERYONE LOSES AND NEEDS TO DEAL WITH IT]. Ergo, we will strive for the “W” in each game. While we may not win every game (excuse me, I just got a little nauseated) I expect us to fight for every loose ball and play every shift as if it were the finals of the World Cup [YEP, I AGREE WE WON’T WIN THEM ALL – BUT WHAT’S WRONG WITH TRYING]. This is where red flags start to come up for me. No – there certainly is nothing wrong with winning and you want your kids to play hard. Winning is great and there is nothing wrong with the players taking the field trying to win. But coaches of young players are there to develop their players – ALL of them. You can put in the fastest couple kids you have and win most games. Meanwhile the rest of the team, even while on the field, do little but watch the fast kids play. Those kids aren’t being developed, even though they are playing. Any long time coach will tell you that the strongest fastest kids in the younger age groups are NOT always the best soccer players when they get older. Kids develop at different rates and times. But soccer players need a soft touch on the ball and standing around in a game while a couple fast kids play to win means you’re shorting the other players. Would this coach do that? I have no idea. But based on what he wrote, I’d be very concerned as a parent that winning would outweigh player development. Playing time does NOT equal development. Players should play all positions and the faster kids should sit some and be encouraged to involve other players once they score a couple. His comment earlier about not catering to super stars seems to indicate he believes this, but the strong winning language makes it a toss up. As a parent, if my kid wasn’t one of the fastest and strongest players, I’d be concerned.
2. While I spent a good Saturday morning listening to the legal liability BS, which included a 30 minute dissertation on how we need to baby the kids and especially the refs, I was disgusted[A JOKE, PERHAPS A BAD CHOICE OF WORDS, BUT AREN’T WE ALL A LITTLE TOO CONCERNED ABOUT LEGAL LIABILITY NOW? HOW ABOUT LETTING KIDS JUST PLAY THE GAME]…If the refs can’t handle a little criticism, then they should turn in their whistle. The sooner they figure out how to make a decision and live with the consequences the better. My heckling of the refs is actually helping them develop as people[I HAVE NEVER HECKLED A REF WITH INTENT OF MALICE, SOME MAY NOT GET THE JOKE, BUT ISN’T IT GOOD FOR KIDS TO BE ABLE TO INTERACT WITH ADULTS, THEY WILL DEAL WITH THEM SOON ENOUGH]. This right here, by far, is the part that infuriated me the most. Legal liability is BS until somebody gets hurt – then the league has to deal with it. Heckling referees is absolutely uncalled for. At the U8 age level, most of the referees ARE KIDS THEMSELVES trying to learn how to officiate soccer. Being heckled or screamed at by a grown adult on the sidelines is insanely intimidating and more often than not leads them to quit reffing instead of learning how to handle criticism. How sad is it that for many younger referees, their parents will attend matches they officiate, not to watch out of pride, but to be there in case a parent or coach starts to berate them. Seriously – Intent of Malice? So unless you’re screaming at a young kid trying to referee because you want to hurt them, it’s OK to get angry with them? Put yourself in that 12-13 yr old kid’s shoes being screamed at by a grown man who isn’t their parent, because they made a mistake. Consider this: You’re in the grocery store and your kid drops a jar of jelly on the floor – some splashes on a grown man’s shoes nearby. Suddenly he starts to scream at your kid about being clumsy and they should be more careful and what were they thinking! For all of you who think Coach K is the bomb, tell me you’d stand by while that happened. Bull. You’d get up in the guy’s face and tell him to mind his own business. As it stands, this guy berated a kid so badly last year, they refuse to referee any more. It’s soccer for 6 and 7 year old kids. If a referee makes a mistake that costs you a goal, is it REALLY that big a deal? it’s all about perspective. Plus it teaches your kids to blame the refs when things don’t go their way – great life lesson. Blame the other guy.
3. The rest is just a political screed about lazy kids and not wanting to win at all costs. I thought it was funny, and not too far from the truth at times, but not appropriate for the first email you ever sent to your parents. Besides – the guy likes blue slushies – can’t be all bad. But there’s a time and place for stuff like this and in an introduction to your parents, no.
4. Lastly, we are all cognizant of the soft bigotry that expects women and especially little girls, to be dainty and submissive; I wholeheartedly reject such drivel. My overarching goal is develop ladies who are confident and fearless, who will stand up for their beliefs and challenge the status quo. Girls who will kick ass and take names on the field, off the field and throughout their lives. I want these girls to be winners in the game of life. And despite all my misgivings about the above, this is awesome stuff right here. As a girl’s coach I agree wholeheartedly with this. Teach your players to be fearless and confident. Reject the expectation that girls will play less intense than the boys.

Where does that leave us? A very long email, over the top in sarcasm, sent to parents who have no idea who this coach is or what he is like. However, once  you weed through the sarcasm, what does it tell us about the coach? All of you chanting that he’s such a great coach and so on, don’t be blinded by the political BS and what not. When you whittle it down you have a soccer coach, for 6 & 7 year old girls, who believes that:

• Girls should play hard, tough and fair at all times [Good]
• Parents should not talk to the coach [Bad]
• Winning is important [Bad if it's done at the expense of developing the players]
• Referees should man up and accept heckling from adults for their mistakes [Bad]
• Girls should be developed to reject the status quo and play fearless [Good]

When you come down to it, as a new parent, that’s what you are faced with. This type of coach is VERY common in youth soccer. He’s most likely a screamer, who comes down on referees when they make mistakes and maybe believes getting the win is more important than player development. Ironically, that contradicts his political statements about life and girls and being tough. I tell my team all the time, if they lose a match because of a referee mistake, they weren’t playing hard enough to overcome it. Life’s not fair. If you want to make sure you walk away with a win, then put the ball in the net enough times to overcome any bad calls you think were made. I think it’s a toss up as to how he handles player development (win at all costs or develop all players even if it means losing games at a young age). But as a new parent, getting this email, I’d probably think he’s win at all costs.

So was what happened fair to Coach K? Absolutely. As I stated before, he let his beliefs get in the way of smart communication with his new parents.

he acted with blatant disregard to his players, their parents, and how they would react to this. He attracted national media attention to a group of 6 and 7 year old girls who just want to play soccer and whose parents suddenly had to struggle with what to do, threaten to pull their kids, debate sticking it out, etc. The kids just want to play and this coach, either trying to make a joke (and failing), or trying to make some political statement, did so at the expense of a group of girls who just want to play soccer. For that reason alone, he shouldn’t be coaching, regardless of his views or badly written humor.

Add to that the beliefs he has as a coach once you get through the ‘joke’ and the parents who decided they wanted a different coach were making a smart choice for their kids.

Many people don’t realize how insane the crowd noise can be at some soccer venues. We Americans like to think that our football games with 80-90,000 fans are loud, but there is loud and there is LOUD. ESPN cranks the crowd noise down SO much because they want you to hear the commentary, that you really miss the effect. I remember watching the USMNT v. El Salvador match and thinking the crowd noise seemed tamer than I expected. Then I watched this highlight film from US Soccer (H/T Jared at JMSoccer). Insane – from the roar of the crowd to the ear splitting siren wailing whenever El Salvador was attacking late in the match:

You can’t help but get chills when El Salvador scores that first goal. Intense. There is no doubt that’s a 12th man for El Salvador, though I thought the US played so-so much of the match and only woke up in the last 15 minutes. Also – I cannot believe this highlight video left out Ching’s bicycle kick shot in stoppage time that would have won the match.

Oh, and that crowd? Only 30,350 people. Insane.

As we all know, there are bad coaches out there who don’t have perspective or a long term view of a player’s development. They don’t get that at younger ages we should be primarily concerned with developing foot skills and giving kids the tools they need for more competitive soccer later. What some mistakenly take as some political statement about ‘everybody wins’ is really ‘everybody gets a chance to develop’. The irony in all this is the non competitive environment when kids are younger is mostly there to help them develop into much more competitive players later.

So it’s not a surprise when stories surface about ultra competitive coaches screaming at 5 year olds to ‘take one for the team’. But even then you can stumble across stuff that just makes you go ‘Wow!’. Let me introduce you to the coach of the ‘Green Death’, who has caused a huge uproar in a northeastern soccer league.

Here we have Michael Kinahan, the new coach of a group of U8 girls for Scituate Soccer Club in Massachusetts, introducing himself to his new parents. Now, this league seems to start at U8, so these parents are opening their email and excited that their daughter will soon play, and wondering what their new coach is like. Here is their introduction from their new coach, welcoming them to the ‘Green Death’:

Congratulations on being selected for Team 7 (forest green shirts) of the Scituate Soccer Club! My name is Michael and I have been fortunate enough to be selected to coach what I know will be a wonderful group of young ladies. Chris Mac will also be coaching and I expect the ever popular Terry to return to the sidelines. Our first game will be Saturday April 4 at 10:00AM. There will be a half hour of skills followed by a 1 hour game, so total time will be 1.5 hours. All games will be played on the fields in the front of the High School. Each player will be required to wear shin guards and cleats are recommended but not required. A ball will be provided to each player at the first meeting, and each player should bring the ball to games and practices. There is no set practice time allotted for the U8 teams, but I will convene with the coaches to determine the best time and place. If there are cancellations due to rain, all notices will be posted via the Scituate Soccer Club website, no calls will be made (though I will try to send an email). Attached is the Schedule and Code of Conduct. After listening to the head of the referees drone on for about 30 minutes on the dangers of jewelry (time which I will never get back), no player will be allowed to play with pierced ears, hairclips, etc. We used to tape the earings, but that practice is no longer acceptable. Please let me know if your child has any health issues that I need to be aware of. My home phone is XXX XXX XXXX, my cell number is XXX XXX XXXX, and I check my email frequently. According to my wife, my emails get too wordy, so for those of you read too slowly, are easily offended, or are too busy, you can stop here. For the others……

OK, here’s the real deal: Team 7 will be called Green Death. We will only acknowledge “Team 7″ for scheduling and disciplinary purposes. Green Death has had a long and colorful history, and I fully expect every player and parent to be on board with the team. This is not a team, but a family (some say cult), that you belong to forever. We play fair at all times, but we play tough and physical soccer. We have some returning players who know the deal; for the others, I only expect 110% at every game and practice. We do not cater to superstars, but prefer the gritty determination of journeymen who bring their lunch pail to work every week, chase every ball and dig in corners like a Michael Vick pit bull. Unless there is an issue concerning the health of my players or inside info on the opposition, you probably don’t need to talk to me. Coach MacDonald has been designated “good guy” this year.

Some say soccer at this age is about fun and I completely agree. However, I believe winning is fun and losing is for losers. Ergo, we will strive for the “W” in each game. While we may not win every game (excuse me, I just got a little nauseated) I expect us to fight for every loose ball and play every shift as if it were the finals of the World Cup. While I spent a good Saturday morning listening to the legal liability BS, which included a 30 minute dissertation on how we need to baby the kids and especially the refs, I was disgusted. The kids will run, they will fall, get bumps, bruises and even bleed a little. Big deal, it’s good for them (but I do hope the other team is the one bleeding). If the refs can’t handle a little criticism, then they should turn in their whistle. The sooner they figure out how to make a decision and live with the consequences the better. My heckling of the refs is actually helping them develop as people. The political correctness police are not welcome on my sidelines. America’s youth is becoming fat, lazy and non-competitive because competition is viewed as “bad”. I argue that competition is good and is important to the evolution of our species and our survival in what has become an increasingly competitive global economy and dangerous world. Second place trophies are nothing to be proud of as they serve only as a reminder that you missed your goal; their only useful purpose is as an inspiration to do that next set of reps. Do you go to a job interview and not care about winning? Don’t animals eat what they kill (and yes, someone actually kills the meat we eat too – it isn’t grown in plastic wrap)? And speaking of meat, I expect that the ladies be put on a diet of fish, undercooked red meat and lots of veggies. No junk food. Protein shakes are encouraged, and while blood doping and HGH use is frowned upon, there is no testing policy. And at the risk of stating the obvious, blue slushies are for winners.

These are my views and not necessarily the views of the league (but they should be). I recognize that my school of thought may be an ideological shift from conventional norms. But it is imperative that we all fight the good fight, get involved now and resist the urge to become sweat-xedo-wearing yuppies who sit on the sidelines in their LL Bean chairs sipping mocha-latte-half-caf-chinos while discussing reality TV and home decorating with other feeble-minded folks. I want to hear cheering, I want to hear encouragement, I want to get the team pumped up at each and every game and know they are playing for something.

Lastly, we are all cognizant of the soft bigotry that expects women and especially little girls, to be dainty and submissive; I wholeheartedly reject such drivel. My overarching goal is develop ladies who are confident and fearless, who will stand up for their beliefs and challenge the status quo. Girls who will kick ass and take names on the field, off the field and throughout their lives. I want these girls to be winners in the game of life. Who’s with me?

Go Green Death!

Just wow.

Needless to say the parents freaked out, and the league has relieved this coach of his duties (or he resigned – I’ve seen both reported). The coach insists this was all tongue in cheek, but like Dr Webb, who feels Soccer Is Ruining America, this guy isn’t very good at it. And lest you think ‘Yeah this guy was just trying to be funny’, well, no. He was serious. This story quickly got regional media attention, both in the Boston Herald, and local TV stations. The local FOX station did a five minute segment on this, and in talking with league officials, this coach was so hard on the refs in a previous year, one of them quit. You can watch that segment here:

The Boston Herald article includes some additional info from the coach, and a league board member:

Kinahan told the Herald last night his letter was a mix of “suburban satire” and a challenge to compete.

“I stand by my comments. This isn’t two hours of free babysitting,” Kinahan said.

Scituate Youth Soccer board member Chris Park said the preseason letter may have been “tounge-in-cheek,” but saying he was going to challenge referees – some 12 years old – was inappropriate.

“It’s not a joke,” said Park. “He chewed out a 12-year-old so bad last year she said she won’t referee anymore.”

So tongue in cheek or not (and clearly from his reaction it wasn’t), this coach was known for problems in the past, which he even alluded to in his email. Glad to see one more coach with zero perspective will be on the parent sideline, though I’m sure he’ll go to some other club and try to coach there. What I’m curious about, though, is if a coach chewed out a referee so bad that they quit, why was he still coaching? This is such a problem in youth soccer – problem coaches that most people know about continue to coach because the leagues don’t want to take action. They hope they can ‘contain’ the problem, until it blows up in their face. I’ve seen this firsthand.

What do you all think? Have any similar horror stories to tell? The funny thing is, some of what this guy says is true, though how he says it is borderline psychotic. There’s no reason to coddle kids and make it out like soccer isn’t a contact sport as the players get older. But these are six and seven year old girls, with ribbons in their hair wanting to learn how to play, not eat red meat. There absolutely are issues with how referees sometimes officiate girls differently than boys, where parents are led to believe by some leagues that all competition is bad, that we should coddle kids until they’re in HS. But this clearly is not the way to accomplish any of that. You build a team and you develop your players the best you can. You start out introducing them to the basic skills and making sure they have lots of fun. Over time you slowly clue them (and their parents) into the fact that if they pursue competitive soccer, it gets rougher, requires more commitment, and winning starts to matter more. But it still is fun. You try to gradually (I’m talking years here, not at U8), expose them to the faster more physical style of play they’ll encounter. But dropping the bomb on a bunch of parents of six and seven year old girls, what was he thinking? Clearly he wasn’t.

H/T to Bar Stool Sports who first publicized this (Not Really Safe For Work) Found via Twitter (@Dwatson783)

UPDATE: Via (@ToddSullivan) here is the coach’s resignation letter (Not Really Safe For Work) to his team where he insists this was all in good fun and he was just being funny. Long time readers know I’ve written about the fight to remove competition from youth soccer and how we need to strike the right balance since kids need to learn how to compete and deal with pressure as they get older. Some of the points he makes aren’t far from what many have thought, myself included at older age levels, but how can he have expected a bunch of new soccer parents to take this well? The original email aside, clearly there were issues with this coach. Coaches who berate teenagers trying to learn how to referee have no place on the sidelines, regardless of their humor. Safety measures are put in place for a reason – youth soccer is a contact sport and I’ve seen earrings, taped over, that get jabbed into the side of the head from contact and bleed profusely. I’ve seen kids who aren’t very aggressive at age 6 or 7 stick with soccer and become stars, but all too often they quit because they get sidelined by coaches who just want to win, not develop players.

Do I agree with some sentiments behind his letter? Sure. Hard work, determination, and being pumped up to play are great. I’ve told my U12s to stop eating McDonalds so much, especially right before practices. Building a tight knit team can be a wonderful thing. But sarcasm or not, there were enough sentiments between the lines of that letter, humorous or not, that would set off alarm bells for any decent DOC. I’ve seen plenty of instances where the PC police ruin things for us and our kids over something silly. In this case? I think this soccer league did themselves a favor.

And honestly? Regardless of what this coach really thinks, he acted with blatant disregard to his players, their parents, and how they would react to this. He attracted national media attention to a group of 6 and 7 year old girls who just want to play soccer and whose parents suddenly had to struggle with what to do, threaten to pull their kids, debate sticking it out, etc. The kids just want to play and this coach, either trying to make a joke (and failing), or trying to make some political statement, did so at the expense of a group of girls who just want to play soccer. For that reason alone, he shouldn’t be coaching, regardless of his views or badly written humor.

UPDATE #2: A number of parents have spoken out in support of Coach Kinahan over at Wicked Local. H/T to Your Kid’s Not Going Pro who had his own satorical take on the Green Death and the reaction of past parents.

For those of you not following me on Twitter (I’m @soccerdad), here’s a peek at my Tweets for the past week. Clearly I tweet too much.

• The sun! I almost forgot what it looked like! #
• Up WAY too early for a Saturday, and expect at 8AM we’ll be told the fields we’re heading to are closed. Hopefully before we leave! #
• So much for this weekend. Friday and Saturday completely washed out and Sunday is probably done for as well. Sigh. #
• Realizing I will never be able to write posts for everything in my Favorites list. Time for Plan B! SoccerDad’s Weekend Reading posts. #
• RT @USYouthSoccer: It’s here and it has it all…www.USYouthSoccerShop.com. Sales benefit US Youth Soccer and did we say it has it all… #
• Has anyone seen my motivation? Anyone? it was just here a minute ago… I think Friday took it. #
• Cool. We use Umbro 4 our club RT @soccerlens: Umbro has a blog, & they’re talking about the new England kit: http://is.gd/pfP2 (via @umbro) #
• #followfriday @bernadettelisa, @TrentVaughn, @dogwalkblog, @JBNET, @JessicaLWeimer, @funkimunkii, @SGFsoccer, @deputy627, @Lneighbo -This Wk #
• #followfriday @sidelinesoccer, @ltlecapnnya, @pattyrodriguez, @5ftnthn, @ClosetOfStyle, @waalien, @sportsgirlsplay, @soccerdadone (Last Wk) #
• Morning tweeps! If you liked the sportsmanship story (http://is.gd/oXZN), you can now follow the coach who started it all: @bernadettelisa #
• Been there-done that! RT @TrentVaughn: No soccer tonight=Trent happy. Seriously. I know FOURTEEN U12 girls that are gettin’ on my last nerve #
• The WPS, so far, gets social media. Cool stuff. RT @sirmichael: Women’s pro-soccer leauge 2 allow in game tweets: http://bit.ly/maAsY #
• HAHAHA RT @downdb: Watching the media cover the federal budget process is like watching 2nd graders play soccer, but more depressing. #
• Tony loves some Britney RT @tonygravato 1st Britney song of the day: Circus on WAYV 95.1@8:35. She’s like a firecracker,she makes it pop! #
• I don’t usually ask, but this is such a great story (http://tinyurl.com/c7xl2c) if you use Digg, digg this if you can: http://is.gd/p3jc #
• Good stuff HS team helping @ youth practice RT @dallasnews_com: Lake Highlands soccer team lends a helping hand http://u.mavrev.com/29lr #
• New at OTP: An Amazing Story of Sportsmanship http://is.gd/oXZN #
• Working on a fantastic story about sportsmanship and corporate community giving. (Thanks for the tip @blondiell6) #
• Ooops RT @trevordodge: at barbers w/ the boys: some poor kid wearing AIG soccer jersey took enormous amount of shit from the stylists #
• Must. Thaw. Fingers. To. Type. First week of Spring my behind. #
• So true RT @BrianBaute: @traviscarter Enjoy college when you only have 8am classes some days. After college every day is an 8am class. #
• This looks fun! RT @TuckerCenter: Kick Like a Girl- doc about 3rd grade girls soccer team competing in boys’ division http://is.gd/oIET #
• Sure sign the youth soccer team you’re playing is ‘professional’ (in a good way)-every player thanks the ref after the match & their parents #
• Things that make a soccer coach bonkers: My U12s play the top 2 teams in our div. Won 1, Scored 5 Allowed 7. Next five teams? Shutout losses #
• Amen! RT @jtgulls: in defense of soccer moms: http://tinyurl.com/czl6lo #
• I said ‘Respect’ so many times at soccer practice last night, I thought I was channeling Aretha Franklin! That and ‘Trust’ #
• Morning Tweeps! Actually got 2 practice U12 team outdoors on grass last night. Was surreal-it had been so long. Look! Rain forecast Wed-Sun #

As I noted earlier, Twitter has completely changed things here at On The Pitch. Every day I see cool articles, posts, and other tidbits that I want to check out and share, but then real life gets in the way and suddenly my Favorite list is much too long. And that’s just on Twitter – I need to rescue my Google Reader account at some point. So I’m going to start a weekly feature here at On The Pitch where I’ll select 10 or so posts/articles and include them with a short blurb. I may write a more in depth post about some later, but this will help get them out there in a timely manner.

Feel free to send me ideas for stuff to include in the future via comments below or via Twitter (@soccerdad). Obviously I can’t include everything I get, but send them on anyway! If it’s your own post/article, don’t feel bad if it doesn’t show up right away. If I want to include it, it may take a while as I still have a lot of stuff from months ago. There will likely be a backlog!

ANYway, welcome to Vol 1 Issue 1 of SoccerDad’s Weekend Reading.

• With so much talk about possible economic stimulus through public works projects, many towns are looking to build new athletic complexes or complete/expand existing one. A town in OK just bought 130 acres for a new complex. (H/T @goodsports). That’ll be on HUGE complex. I was surprised at how many field and lighting vendors were at our state’s soccer show this January. I think they sense opportunity too. But the flip side is economic hard times make it hard to justify spending money on something that seems frivolous, like a soccer complex. Homewood, a town near Birmingham, Alabama, saw controversy over their plan to fund the completion of fields at their soccer complex. (H/T @Birmingham_News)
• Coaches of girls teams will often scrimmage against boys to help improve their teams. But in Iran, it can get you fired. (H/T @rfe_rl)
• Coach Mark has some tips in keeping practices fun for younger players. (H/T @soccercoachmark) I’ll admit one danger in using point totals is the more athletic kids always win the prizes. I always try to use 2-4 ‘teams’ so the points get spread around vs awarded individually. Another idea is to reward effort/intensity, not just successful completion of a skill in the least time, etc.
• A few months ago, the NY Times had an interesting article about Yelling At Your Kids and how in rare cases it may be a good thing. (H/T @goodsports) Granted, they’re talking about parents. But even as coaches – if you’re calm and collected all the time, an occasional shout may startle your team enough to know you really are serious. Above a certain age, of course, and never angry. But I’ve been known to shout out ‘Ladies!!!!’ to get my team’s attention. If you yell all the time, it won’t work
• @tonygravato shared an interesting article over at Youth Soccer Insider about ways to get kids to play soccer on their own. I think the ’street soccer’ advocates are sometimes a bit too naive about the idea of free play, but it certainly can’t hurt to try and encourage it.
• In these tough economic times, it may surprise you (or your municipal government if you’re asking for support) how much money youth sports can bring to an area. @goodsports linked to an interesting article from Pasco County, Florida that highlighted a county that was actively working to recruit and sponsor youth sporting events to boost the economy.
• Since the research results seem to still be mixed, the debate continues about the safety of artifical turf. (H/T @yourdon)
• Steve Perkins (@SPerk15) had an interesting article about the politics of being a youth soccer coach. It was related to grades and steps some HS coaches might take to allow students to start soccer on time. As a coach I’d be VERY uncomfortable using a loophole like this. I tell my parents and players all the time, even in club, bad grades = no soccer.
• Thomas at Soccer Mastermind (@kidssoccer) wrote an insightful article about setting goals for yourself as a soccer coach. I agree 100% – Outcome/Results should never be a goal – it’s the performance and improvement goals that will help you get there.
• Jeff Carlisle wrote an excellent piece about how the US was overhauling it’s national youth programs. (H/T @mshund) This was part one of an excellent five part series. Much attention is being paid to how the USSF Development Academy works and what types of players it produces for the national pool in the coming years. I think the 3-1 practice-match ratio is a good goal for all youth teams, so long as you count pre-season practices. We tend to practice twice a week, not three times – but also have a solid month of preseason.

So there you have it – SoccerDad’s Weekend Reading. Obviously most of this came from January when I first started saving stuff. Hopefully I’ll catch up soon, and I’ll toss in more current stuff in future lists. Enjoy!

(Note H/T means Hat Tip – simply acknowledging someone who tweeted the link or a link that led me to the link)

I’m thinking a whole lot of soccer matches across Region III won’t be played this weekend:

I found this note from an experienced referee (FirstTouch at the NC Soccer Forums) who had an insightful post about the differences in how boys and girls may retaliate at the older ages. The context was a question about how a referee would handle a certain type of retaliation in a girls match:

I’d add that since this is a GIRL’S game rather than a boy’s game, one characteristic difference is that when you ref a girl’s game, you need to be aware that girls are more inclined to bide their time after the originally provoking incident to exact tit-for-tat, and something can happen in the game 20 minutes later that is in fact meant to be the continuation of, or tit-for-tat retaliation for, the original incident. And many girls are somewhat crafty about how they go about it. So if the attacker does get taken down hard several minutes later (or even the center who said the original words in question), I’d be much more inclined to yellow-card the perp than without the context.

Boys tend to immediately escalate from some provocation, and if you can quickly control it (with or without cards), it will far more times than not simply blow over. Shove or hard words tend to be immediately responded to with more hard words and shove etc, with boys.

I’ve found that to be true as well. The boys try to make their point early while the girls will bide their time. Not that any coach would/should advocate retaliation. But with competitive kids, its something you definitely have to watch for. Just figured I’d share – interesting.

It seems that whenever you see ‘youth soccer’ mentioned in the news, it’s some story about crazed soccer parents ruining their kid’s lives or some deviant, who also happened to be a soccer coach (making it even MORE newsworthy), being arrested. Yet those of us with kids playing or who coach see the good in youth soccer every day and you wish it would get the attention the bad does.

Well this is a story that is bound to get some media attention – the good kind.

In southern California last weekend, AYSO teams were playing in a tournament to decide who would represent southern California in the state wide championships held in Davis, CA. In the U10 Girls division, the Huntington Park American Eagles, coached by Maria Espinoza, won the right to go to Davis after defeating the Cypress Cyclones, coached by Bernadette Arizmendi. However, the Eagles were upset after their win, because they knew they could not afford to make the trip to Davis to play in the state championship. By default, since the Eagles could not attend, the 2nd place Cyclones would go to Davis representing southern California.

Instead of preparing her team for the championships, Coach Arizmendi decided to try and raise some funds so the Eagles could attend and represent their region as the 1st place team. She asked her parents for donations and sent emails to various organizations asking for help. One of those emails went to local radio personality Ryan Seacrest, know to many as the host of American Idol.

Ryan is a radio personality at KIIS FM 102.7 whose show On Air with Ryan Seacrest is syndicated nationally. Understanding the heartbreak that the Eagles must be going through, he and his crew worked to find a way to get them to Davis for the championships. They contacted various businesses who might be able to help as well as the LA SOL, the new Los Angeles women’s professional soccer team. Together they arranged for the Eagles to attend the tournament they had earned a spot in. With Coach Arizmendi and Coach Espinoza on the phone, Ryan told his listeners their story and let Coach Espinoza know that her Eagles would be able to play in Davis thanks in part to the efforts of Coach Arizmendi. They arranged a charter bus for the team and hotel rooms for them to stay in while at Davis. The hotel restaurant will also host a reception for the girls the night they arrive. Ryan then brought in Shelby Russell, the marketing director for the LA SOL, who explained to the coaches that the LA SOL wanted both teams to attend their opening match this Sunday as their guests of honor at The Home Depot center and to meet the players on the field before the match.

You can listen to the radio segment over at 102.7 KIIS-FM where they let the coaches know what was going on.

What an amazing story of sportsmanship and selflessness. Coach Arizmendi did a very selfless thing in trying to make sure the Eagles could attend the championship and a huge shout out to Ryan Seacrest and his team for not only arranging for their transportation and lodging, but doing so in style. This includes Patty Rodriguez (@pattyrodriguez), his producer. Producers are often the silent heroes in stories like this, working to hammer out all the arrangements and details before the story is aired. Same for the LA SOL, who will make fans for life of two teams of young soccer players.

What a cool story. Thanks to @blondiell6 and @iBake for tipping me off to this on Twitter, and to The Original Winger for providing some specifics on this story. I expect we’ll see this hit the national media within the next day or two. Great stuff.

UPDATE: Still trying to find videos of local newscasts, though many may air today. If you have links, post them in the comments. Also, here’s a cool tweet from Patty, Ryan’s producer, at the end of the day after this story aired:

This is why I love my job! http://tinyurl.com/djn4sv *smiles*

Patty deserves a lot of credit for this as producers are always the unsung heroes in the shadows of stories like this, making the calls to learn more about a situation and working to arrange great solutions like this. I’ve updated the story to reflect this. Ryan also uses Twitter: @ryanseacrest

iTunes users can listen to the segment as a podcast. Found at Ryan Seacrest Fan Zone

If you are part of youth soccer in any way, this is a great story to share with your team or league. Just use the handy Share button below.

UPDATE #2: Here is local CBS News coverage of the story, including interviews with Coach Arizmendi and a couple of her players. Thanks Lee for posting the link.

UPDATE #3: Here is coverage on the AYSO National website and the Positive Coaching Alliance. You can also follow Coach Arizmendi on Twitter at @bernadettelisa.

We all have seen or heard of parents wanting to dictate how a coach develops their child as a soccer player, but it’s still interesting to see the justifications some parents will make for the interference.

There’s a great thread over at the NC-Soccer forums about an email a local DOC received from a U10 parent:

XXXXX I trust and respect you. I want my child trained to be a striker.

I’m paying $XXX a year. I want a striker. He can use left or right and he has the size and speed.

You coached him in one game into scoring 7 goals. He played on weak rec teams and felt it was his fault if they were scored on and lost so he dropped back on defense. He has scored over 27 goals in the first half of the year, but the last half of the season they have put him on defense or in the goal. I’m paying to develop a striker….

XXXXXX will you please take care of this matter

This is a 9 year old. Some of the responses on the thread are priceless, from the serious and pragmatic, to the comical. My favorite, by far, is this one from FJames:

Our philosophy is to expose all of our players to numerous positions at this early stage in their development. We understand that you would like little Johnny developed solely as a striker and as a paying customer we will honor your wishes. From this point forward Johnny will be limited to the striker role. The playing time he would have had at the other positions will be divided among the other players on the team.

So if you were this DOC, how would you respond?

I’ve coached girls in soccer, either as part of coed teams or on girls travel teams, for a number of years now. Yet it’s still an amazing learning experience as a coach, especially as a male coach, every day. Probably the toughest coaching job I’ve had was coaching a coed U10 Rec team that had a number of talented girls and boys on it, most destined for travel teams when they got older. Dealing with the dynamic between the girls and boys, the differences in their competitive spirit and motivations, ensuring the girls had opportunities to shine, and making sure the boys didn’t act like, well, boys – ignoring open girls when passing, etc. – was extremely difficult. It was also very rewarding.

So when I saw a note on Twitter about a new soccer documentary called ‘Kick Like A Girl‘, directed by Jenny Mackenzie, I was intrigued. The documentary tracks the experiences of a 3rd Grade (U9) girls soccer team called “The Mighty Cheetahs” that moves to the boys division seeking stronger competition. Now, this is not as uncommon as many people think. Talented girls teams in smaller leagues will often play in boys divisions if their league lacks a dedicated player development program where they can play against teams of similar skill. But recording much of the season and being able to make a documentary about it is special:

Anyone who is really into youth soccer will tell you that most volunteers always wonder how other programs or teams are doing X or Y. It’s a curiosity that arises from a desire to make their own team/program/league better. So having the experiences of a team documented is interesting enough. When the scenario happens to be the girls playing the boys, that’s a perfect combination. The film is narrated by “Lizzie”, one of the young players on “The Mighty Cheetahs”, which is a neat idea.

Almost all of the girls on my 96 travel team came from coed teams and knew what playing with the boys was all about. The good and the bad. I spend a lot of time trying to counter the bad in our Rec program with ‘girls scrimmages’ and clinics for younger girls with the older travel players mentoring. I see the situations and difficulties girls face growing up playign with the boys every day. So I’m looking forward to seeing this film – both to see how others handled the situation and how the girls reacted and grew from the experience.

Funny tidbit – when one of our coaches wanted to give younger girls on our coed Rec teams a chance to play with just girls to get a feel for it, he called the informal program ‘Kick It Like A Girl’. It was very successful and I probably should write about it sometime!

Look for the premiere on HBO May 28th, 2009. Here is the film’s website (Warning – the trailer auto plays!) and also their entry in IMDB. The director of the film noted in an email that the DVDs should be available in late June. Should be fun!

H/T @stickersisters

UPDATE: I’d be remiss if I didn’t share my own little tale of the girls taking on the boys when my U10 Rec Team participated in the NC Recreation State Cup. Lot of fun.

One of my soccer teams had a rough weekend this past weekend. It had been building for a while and reached a breaking point on Sunday. It involved team chemistry, respect, and trust. It also cast the team in a less than stellar light. One of our parents summed it up quite nicely.

The team we played was professional. We were amateurs.

He wasn’t talking about the play, though this was a very good team. Instead he was talking about how the teams carried themselves, treated each other on the field, and how they acted. Now my team is a wonderful group of girls, who are VERY good sports. Our issues related more to how they treated each other, not the other team. But sportsmanship can go way beyond a post match handshake.

So it got me thinking about the little things that can go a long way towards instilling a sense of professionalism in your soccer team. Some of these can also help your players improve their sportsmanship.

Obviously this list is not all inclusive and is geared more toward older teams than younger, but there’s nothing wrong with trying some with younger teams.

• Shake hands with opponents afterward and mean it. Kids don’t understand how their emotions can bleed through (slapping hands harder, sneering, etc.) when they lose, so teaching them to be true sports in the handshake line can be difficult.
• Even better? Saw this last weekend – have your players go to the referee crew and thank them personally after each match. Classy.
• Have the players run over to their parent sideline and applaud after the opponent/ref handshakes. Other variations I’ve seen include girls going over, linking up arm and arm and bowing to their parents. Harder to do this after a loss, but can also perk kids up.
• My teams have done this in Rec and Travel – when you line up for an equipment check, already have your jersey tucked in, stand straight and still, and have your hands behind your back. Saying “No Sir” or “No ma’am” when asked if they have any questions = bonus.
• If your league requires player pass checks, my U12 girls team started doing something on their own and it shows solid team camaraderie. As players are called, they turn to show their jersey and walk behind the referees. As more of their teammates arrive, they stand arm in arm until the entire team is there. That’s when I give my prematch pep talk. They came up with this all on their own, but a subtle suggestion to a team captain might trigger in on your team.
  
• Wear pinnies on the bench if you’re at a level that calls offside. This accomplishes a couple things. First, it helps ARs trying to make offside calls when they are opposite your bench, especially if the players stand up or warm up. It also helps with substituting if you’re known to substitute large groups. Nobody goes on the field until they hand that pinnie to someone coming off. I have four different colors which helps, including pink, which the girls hate. I break that out if they’ve been slacking off or disrespecting each other. Subtle, but they notice and we have a good laugh about it.
• If your team has backpacks – ensure they get lined up. Not only does this help keep you and them from tripping over them strewn all about, it just makes things look more organized. Trivial, for sure, but makes them easier to find for water bottles and less likely to be underfoot. Bonus tip – screen the player’s number on one of the straps or the top flap – makes them MUCH easier to find.
• My girls have always formed a tunnel for their opponent after the post match handshake, win or lose, something they started on their own. It seemed to be appreciated more in the lower travel division, but now that we’ve moved up, not so much. I may have the girls reconsider this. Sometimes a team after a hard loss just wants to be left alone.
• Before the kickoff, have the players on the field up on their toes, moving their knees back and forth. Helps them get ready to play and shows they’re ready.
• If an opposing player gets hurt and play stops, give their team possession on the restart. Some refs will do this on their own. But if they kicked it out of bounds, have your players throw long towards their goal and allow their defense to possess it. If it’s a drop ball in their end of the field, let their player take the drop. If it’s in your end, then obviously you need to participate in the drop. But that shows an amazing amount of class and teaches great sportsmanship.
• When your players make a mistake on the field (errant cross to a striker, etc), have them learn to say ‘My Bad!’ or something like that. If a teammate scores off a nice pass/cross – make sure the goal scorers know to thank whoever gave them the assist. I’m still amazed at how intense the intra-player rivalries and emotions can be – so stuff like that helps.
• Shake hands with your opposing coach before kick-off. I’m amazed how few coaches do this, though I’ll admit I forget to do it sometimes.
• If your player takes an opponent down and play stops, encourage them to extend a hand to help them back up.
• Obviously on field behavior is a big part of appearing professional, though most of the time kids aren’t mouthing off (though parents and coaches certainly may be). But still helps to instill the idea that they talk only to each other, not opponents, parents, or referees (except for captains).

These are mostly minor things, but can have a big impact in how your players view themselves and obviously how others do as well. What other things have you seen or does your own team do to come across professionally and to instill good sportsmanship in your players?

My U12 Girls team had a rough weekend this weekend, and one of my parents snapped a picture of me during one of our matches.

Ever had one of THOSE weekends?

In good fun I responded to the whole team telling them they should caption the picture. One of the Dad’s even added graphical bubble clipart to it and I’m told it may be an end of season party game for the girls to fill in that bubble. That should be entertaining!

How was everyone else’s weekend? Have any tales from the pitch to share? Post them in our forum via the link below!

Tales From The Pitch 2009 – Week 11