The Well-Rounded Soccer Coach by Ashu Saxena

The Well-Rounded Soccer Coach by Ashu Saxena

Author:Ashu Saxena
Language: deu
Format: epub
Publisher: Meyer & Meyer
Published: 2018-11-15T00:00:00+00:00


DEVELOPING A YEAR-ROUND PROGRAM

“Hard work does not guarantee you success, but without it, you don’t stand a chance.” – Pat Riley

To develop a culture of player development, a coach must establish a year-round program beyond the timeframe of the primary season of play. This is particularly important in competitive club, high school and college programs. The rhythm of the season is established by league guidelines and the specific program’s leadership that sets the timeframe permitted for activities. For most coaches in these situations, there is a lot of time when players are out-of-season and must buy into alternative training to continue on the path of player development. Examples of year-round programs for club and high school coaches are included in this chapter, but it is important for coaches to stay informed through soccer coaching organizations as guidelines and formal recommendations begin to take shape (in the United States); these organizations include US Soccer/Developmental Academy and US Club Soccer/Elite Clubs National League. In addition, coaches must consider the level of competition, age, season, extra participation (e.g., ODP, camps), and other factors to modify these examples to fit player needs. There is much debate about how early a child should specialize; adults must be realistic, empathetic, visionary, and supportive on all sides of ongoing discussions in this area. Again, the hope is that the following examples provide skeletal frameworks for coaches to work from.

For a club team example, I have chosen a situation where the State Cup is in the fall for a team that plays in the U15-U18 age groups. U13-14 age groups often have State Cup competitions in the spring (except for U19). Of course, the year-round programs of the Developmental Academy and ECNL are operating without State Cup competitions and therefore teams in those arenas will have varying needs depending on the mandates of those organizations.

•Early August to end-of-August: Pre-season block of three weeks – skills and fitness testing; includes 5-day high-intensity mini-camp, 6 regular training sessions, and 2-3 match-condition scrimmages. Mini-camp descriptions and score sheets are given in later sections.

•September – early November: Regular season with an average of three training sessions and one match per week; State Cup play in some weeks increases matches to two per week.

•Mid-November – mid-December: Showcasing season with one week off during Thanksgiving; generally 2-3 training sessions per week with 2 showcases as match-play competitions. Players will work on getting “fitter, faster, stronger” with and without the ball after taking days off to rest.

•Mid-January – mid-February: Saturday morning “off-season” conditioning with and without a ball (fitness, agilities, jump-rope, games); one day per week of indoor training (focusing on technical skills and playing small-sided games with fluid play/limited instruction) and sometimes an additional day per week for futsal or indoor soccer league play (not for anything more than playing the game, getting touches, skill development, maintaining match sense, decision-making, and team chemistry). Skill and fitness testing given at the beginning of February.

•Mid-February – May: high school soccer pre-, regular, post-season; very limited club



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