Parent Emails and How to Respond
As humans, we're not going to get it right all the time. Some parents like to cause problems, those of all people in all walks of life. They have a vested interest in how they are concerned with the well-being of their children, and are paying money to see them improve and have fun. Many believe that they are capable of doing it better. You have not coached if you have not encountered a parent. Too many do not understand that there are actually qualifications and other learning processes involved, but most will come from an environment where any idiot in a tracksuit can become a coach. It is also very frequent that we see them measuring improvement in terms of winning.
Have a look and see what you make of it all.
First of all I present myself, I am FATHER'S NAME, Father of SON'S NAME of the team and I offer an apology for taking your emails from previous e-Mails that we received from Coach Will to get in touch with you. By this means, but I would like to share some ideas regarding the team that our children make up.
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| Bloody kids. |
Today I had the pleasure of seeing several of us being able to be orienting the children from outside the field, since from the language barrier to the lack of intention to want to do it on the side of Will shore "to lend a hand from the outside ", Seeing that the goals fall, fall, fall and fall and we can not pass the middle court.
Also, today I noticed that we are facing a team of very similar physical and technical characteristics, although without doubt (and in my opinion) our deficiencies in the tactics inside the field cause the team to enter a terrible disorder that triggers in A thrashing and completely depletes the operation of it.
It is more than clear to think that there is no clear idea of what to do when clearing from the goal, who is the step ?, to the next steps after taking the ball and begin to build a play, or without To mention the insistent occasions of the children trying to "shoot at goal" to get out of the middle of the field (after receiving a goal) which should be training and practice during the week, not to get to improvise in the game Sunday.
Will (con todo el respeto que me merece) nos pide a los papás nos mantengamos al margen de “gritar” desde fuera de la cancha así como de dar instrucciones técnicas, lo cual bien sabemos que de su parte es nulo, insisto entre la barerra del idioma hasta por su forma de ser, ya que es muy limitada su participación y dirección técnica durante el juego, lo cual al compararlo con otros DT de equipos rivales a los cuales nos hemos enfrentado, todos gritan y hasta se pasean dentro del campo a la par del árbitro.
Since a few weeks / months I have been commenting with my wife the fact that I see the previous thing from our current "coach" Will (I prefer to call you technical director - DT), together with sometimes I have the possibility of being able to go with Luciano To observe the training during the week and I see the same ones oriented to I do not know that thing, since I do not understand if they focus to the technique, tactical or physical, but in none of the previous cases one sees considerable achievements in the course of the weeks, already That we always see that our children are weaker at the moment of a physical contact, that they do not hit the ball with the same force of the rivals (that is part of the technique, I insist) to the tactical disorder they have inside the court.
I am telling you frankly that today at the end we talk among a group of Dads interested in reversing the above, plus Jessi has told me that in a group of wwhatsapphan there existed similar comments to what I write in this mail, without losing The understanding that we are guests of the Club and therefore join in what you also dictate, since our intention as all is to see our children feel progress and improvement in their performance as well as foster that spirit of competition, so favorable to Sport as for any other aspect of their lives.
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| Playing in a new 5v5 tournament. Remember, the number of players should be minus two. |
What can I think of and propose?
Based on my experience playing football since I was a kid, in these cases (which apply to any team), when things go wrong, it's more work, there's no other, so I think it's good to have maybe one more day of training During the week, which does not affect the daily activities of the children as well as the availability of the school to make more efficient the extra day that we would be adding, for example:
Tuesday
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Tactic
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Wednesday
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Technique
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Extra day
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Thursday
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Tactic
|
Now, what to do with this extra day ?.
Veo una gran oportunidad de comenzar a aplicar conceptos básicos del fútbol, es decir, primordialmente las reglas de juego, ya que son contadas las ocasiones que sale la pelota y los niños no tienen ni idea que hacer, es decir, veo que siempre se preguntan: ¿fué saque de meta, tiro de esquina, saque de manos, media cancha, falta, etc.?, y al momento de ejecutar el regreso de la pelota a juego tampoco se entiende bien como se debe de hacer correctamente; y en un segundo plano (no menos importante) conceptos y ejercicios de táctica.
As for tactics, they are training as such tactical, from constructing plays from the bottom to begin to place inside the court to each child in position, which will already know what will be their location on the day of the game more clearly without need To have to hear so much scream from outside the court.
These workouts are more repetitive but make them completely change the orientation of the team, based on the basic concept of this sport, play the ball and play the set .
I enclose a video that will see how they illustrate a departure from the defense as part of a tactical training, which for example today was impossible to achieve.
As you will see in the video are bigger guys than ours, but I have no doubt that they can do it, I have seen at least 3 rival teams with those who have played and I do not see why we can not do it, with work can be achieved , I assure you.
As you could see, the exercise consists of starting playing from below, and being able to free the rivals and reach the half court is over and starts again, this exercise is basic to play, which today we NEVER succeeded in doing.
Like this exercise there are many more, with different methodologies and tactics, but all add up to a better collective performance of the team, not to do differentiated jobs for goalkeepers (I mean for the goalkeeper and if some other child is added to protect the goal, So that they work together) and finally begin to have basic disciplines of the sport, such as getting there and heating, which makes me pretty bad that is never applied correctly, this habit is great to be able to count on a physical performance at Over time for them.
Anyway, I think they should have a thousand more comments and they are all valuable, I just dared to share an idea in favor of looking for an improvement of the team, because I love football and because I know without hesitation that these children have talent and about Everything wins, the rest is a matter of directing them and ready, the results will be favorable in the short term with work and dedication.
I do not know how to carry out the above, availability, a field or place available to do the above, if it is our current DT who should do it ?, if so, who supports it ?, etc., several issues but I see We are parents that we are side by side with our children, and for that reason I dare to think that it can do and it must do.
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| Ooh aah it's Ambrosia. |
This is what we propose (MY WIFE AND I) with all our respect towards the team, towards you, towards the club and to the work of DT Will that deserves us so much.
It is a pleasure to be able to greet you by this means and we remain attentive to your comments on this as well as what you indicate as following cases for a plan of action and thus to reverse the situation.
That they finish well this weekend and I say goodbye with this phrase of a great:
"No player is as good as everyone else." ALFREDO DI STÉFANO
Greetings.
Here it is translated into English, and corrected a little to make more sense as Google never gets it 100% right:
First of all let me introduce myself, I'm FATHER's NAME, Dad's SON'S NAME and I offer an apology for taking his post earlier. E-mails we receive from the "Coach" Will get in touch with this means, but I would like to share some ideas with the team that our kids play in.
Undoubtedly, it is increasingly evident with underperformance of our children that we see in the games, I consider it beyond us trying to be number one in the league, we would like to see them progress in the general development of the team, which is Certainly not being viewed.
Today I was pleased to see several of us to be guiding children from outside the court, because since the language barrier to lack of intention of wanting to do so will put us to "lend a hand from outside" seeing that the goals come, Eat, and eat, and we will be able to move from midfield.
Also, today I noticed that we face a team of physical and quite similar specifications, but certainly (and my opinion) our shortcomings in terms of tactics on the field make the team play in a disordered fashion that triggers a win and undermines the entire operation .
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| Hehehehe. |
Will (with all due respect ) asks us dads why we stay outside "screaming" from off the court as well as provide technical instructions, which we know that his part is zero. Again between the language barrier and his personality, as it is very limited participation and technical direction during the game, which when compared to other coach from opposing teams to which we have faced, all shout and even walk on the field to give instructions.
In a few weeks / months I've been discussing with my wife the fact that I see the above by our current "coach" Will (I prefer to call technical director - DT), coupled to have the possibility to occasionally go with my son to observe practice during the week and see the same instructions, but the boys do not know anything because they do not understand if they focus on the technical, tactical and physical, but in none of the above aspects do we see enough work being done, and we see that our children are always weaker physically than the opponents, cannot hit the ball with the same strength, (that's part of the technique,) to the tactical mess they exhibit during games.
They are commented frankly because today the completion talk among a group of Dads interested in reversing the above, plus the fact that my wife told me that there have been similar comments in a group of whatsapp to I am writing you this mail without lose the understanding that we are guests of the Club and therefore join with what you also decide, since our intention, like yours, is to see our children progress and improve in performance and feel the spirit of competition, so favorable for sport as any other aspect of their lives.
Beyond the complaint, I expose a tempting solution, a plan of action.
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| Are you threatening me? |
Based on my experience in playing soccer since childhood, certainly in these cases (which apply to any team) when things go wrong is to work, there is no choice, so I think perhaps good to have one more day of training on a weekday, which does not affect the daily activities of the boys and can count on the availability of the field to include the extra day we'd be adding, for example:
Tuesday
tactic
Wednesday
technique
Extra day
Thursday
tactic
Now, what to do with this extra day?
I see a great opportunity to begin to apply basic concepts of football, ie primarily the rules as they are few occasions that the ball leaves the field and children have no idea what to do, ie you always see them wonder: was it a long goal kick, corner kick, kick from hands, kick off, free kick etc. And when executing the return of the ball, the game is not well understood and is often done incorrectly. And in the beyond that (not least) concepts and tactical ideas.
As for tactics, with good tactical training, from building moves from the back, to begin to understand their positions at restarts, which they should already know what their location is on game day without having to be told what to do from those off the field.
These workouts are more repetitive but will completely change the understanding of how to operate, based on the basic concept of the game, play the ball and the game overall.
I attached a video to be output as a game game from the defense as part of a tactical training, which for example today, we found it impossible to achieve.
As you will see in the video are larger than our guys, but I have no doubt they can do it, I've seen at least three rival teams we've played and I see in the reason that we can not do it. With work you can achieve it, I assure you.
As we can see, the exercise has to start playing from the back, and be able to fight rivals and reach midfield ends and begins again, this exercise is basic to playing, which we NEVER do.
As this exercise there are many more, with different methodologies and tactics, but they all add up to a better collective operation of the team, without doing different jobs for goalkeepers (I refer to our keeper and if another child will join to protect the goal, to work together) and finally start having basic disciplines of the sport, how to get and heat, which is bad enough that I never applied in a proper way, this habit is great to have a physical performance throughout time for them.
Anyway, I think I must have a thousand comments over and all are valuable only I dared to share an idea in favor of seeking improved team, I love football and I know without hesitation that these children have talent and all win, the rest is up to lead them and voila, the results will be favorable short-term work and dedication.
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| Look at how upset they were after losing. |
This we propose (my wife and I) with all our respect for the team, towards you, to the club and to the work of DT Will we both deserve it.
A pleasure to greet you in this way and were awaiting feedback about and what indicated as following cases for a plan of action and thus to reverse the situation.
To finish well this weekend and I say this phrase of a large:
"No player is as good as all together." ALFREDO DI STEFANO
Greetings.
Hi everyone,
I have been aware of the email that has been sent to all the parents of our team, and I wish to address some issues. Obviously no one is happy with the recent defeats, and the nature of those performances. We all want what is best for the boys, and it is a privilege to have such a caring and supportive group of parents behind this team. Some of you have heard me talk at length before, and others may not. From here on I will serve to acknowledge the points made, the issues raised, show some of the ideas we are working towards, and look at the path for the future.
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| Useful coaching tools in Mexico. |
Everything that has been highlighted is something that I have recognized needs to be worked on, as well as many others. Not all the problems can be solved in the short term, and so will be prioritised and then worked upon the time goes by. A lot of the problems have their roots in basic more fundamental issues, and thus we need to tackle the root of the cause first.
I never look to make excuses. It is very important to know what you are up against, and then rise to the challenge, but never use an excuse to hide the poor performance. One of my favorite phrases is "You can have results or you can have excuses, but you can not have both." So let's look at what we are dealing with:
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We are a squad of twelve that plays 9v9. If a player or two goes on vacation, we are significantly weakened. It is possible to borrow players who are eligible from other teams, but this should not become a source that we depend on as they have games themselves, and the family may have other commitments which take priority.
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The team is a lot smaller and physically weaker than a lot of our opponents. The last three games in particular, we have been outmatched in strength and speed by at least seven or eight of their nine players. I can produce technical proficiency, but I can not produce muscle mass, bone density, or height.
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In this league, a lot of our opponents come from schools, and thus have a larger pool of players to select from. This enables them to have a selection policy, one that we do not have, and one which we will never have. Development is our philosophy, and how will a player improve if he does not play? I always do my best to ensure that our players have a fair amount of time on the field.
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Some of our players have only been playing football for six months or a year. This means that they are behind in their technical proficiency. When we look at kids, we should not focus on their age, but rather their experience, something I dub "football age". In a lot of cases, we have kids with a football age of maybe six months or a year playing versus kids of three or four years. The winner in this situation is obvious. It is also a lot of our opponents possess far greater balance, coordination, and all round motor skills. They have simply been playing for longer.
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The team has just moved to the 9v9 format, when most experts will tell you that 7v7 is too much for this age group, let alone 9v9. We are looking at a ratio of eighteen players to one ball. Only one player at a time can have it, and only one handful actively engaged in that time. So from eighteen players on the field, it is roughly around fourteen or so they are not being engaged within the game, simply because the numbers are too big. I know that the other teams also play with nine, so they have to deal with this problem also, but a lot of our team could barely handle the physical and tactical demands of 7v7, let alone 9v9.
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| But you can never share your lunch with kids. |
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A lot of our players are just not that into football. They like it, but for some, it is not the most important thing in their life. Some boys will have to stay behind after practice regularly and play with their friends. They play at school, they play at home, they take every opportunity they can to kick a ball. They will watch it on TV and they will play it on Xbox or PlayStation. In their rooms will be posters of their favorite team or player, and their most prized possession is the shirt of their hero or their favorite team. If they were allowed, they would wear that shirt to school. Very few of our players have that love and dedication. To them, it's just a bit of fun. They do not dream of scoring the winning goal for Mexico in the World Cup final. And thus, the point of motivation becomes very different. Shouting and screaming at a child who does not love, but only likes football, will not suddenly turn them into Lionel Messi. Instead, they will not be playing for the intrinsic motivation of fun and enjoyment, but they will still be playing from the extrinsic point of view of stopping their coach from shouting at them. This is perhaps the most destructive thing we can do to a young player.
The key point that often gets brought up in Mexico is usually along the lines of "You do not shout at them enough". Precisely. My job is to coach them, not to shout at them. As for entering the field, why would anyone do that? I'm not a player, therefore I do not belong on the field. This is not just my approach, or my way of doing things, but these are parts of the best practices guides from both the NSCAA and the FA Coaches Association, two coaches associations that I am members of. To quote Premier League manager Sean Dysche when asked about coaching kids, he said "I do not shout at them when they are trying to learn their homework, so why would I shout at them while they are trying to learn football?"
Essentially, it's their game. It is for them to win, or for them to lose. I can help with guidance, but I can not do it for them. The decisions they make within a game must be theirs, and theirs alone. If you constantly tell them what to do, then you are what we call an Xbox coach. The kids are not learning anything, they are just doing what you told them, yet have no understanding or reference point. If you were not sure what to do, you would not be able to do it. If you do not know what to do, Because my dad told me to. " We aim to create intelligent players that understand all aspects of the game, but we can not do that if we are constantly giving them the answers.
These are some of the guidelines when it comes to my instructions:
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I never give pointless instructions. An example would be shouting at the goalkeeper "Save it!" After the striker has just taken a shot at goal. This is absolutely no purpose, and it is just stating the obvious by telling them what they are about, while they are already doing it. The implications it gives are that you do not trust them to be able to make that simple decision themselves. I trust my players, and if they make a mistake, I will address it afterwards. It is not a mistake if it is addressed before it happens.
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I do not tell them what to do while they are on the ball. The decision of what to do is entirely theirs. If they look like they are struggling I may offer some guidance or suggestion in the form of "Who can you pass to?" Or something similar. It is already difficult enough in the moment of the game as they are being overwhelmed by sensory input. They are considering the speed of the ball, the position of their teammates, the direction of play, the relative position to the diameters of the field, the off the ball runs, the approach and positioning of the opposition, and much more. It's a lot to take in. The last thing they need is someone screaming instructions to them as they try to way up the risk and the reward in each maneuver available to them.
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| Is that Billy Badger's middle finger? |
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When it comes to shooting from the kick off, this is a problem that rose last season. It stopped. It came back recently, and despite protestation from myself, they still did it. Now, since we have the rule that if a player shoots from kick off they will be taken out of the game immediately, it has not happened again.
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At times I do not get my point across due to the language. If I want to tell a player something a bit more complex, they often will not understand it in English, and I can not trust that I would say the right thing in Spanish. Often this leads to just reassurance or a thumbs up. It's not that I do not want to say anything, or do not know what to say, it's just I do not know how to say it.
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Due to the difficulties of the communication, I sometimes use pictures to get my point across. There are three types of learner, and wish to maximize my efficiency of communicating with all three types. The ones with more football knowledge will understand the pictures better than others, but this also serves to show them shapes and positions, and in a way that they can relate this to the field.
All in all, this is a philosophy that we are very clear on. Shouting and screaming from the sidelines is not coaching, and it is in no way beneficial to the learning, development, or even the fun of the player. If I have not made this point clear enough, please have a look at these two videos. They are not very long, and are quite entertaining, but do make a serious point.
Have a watch of this one, and click on the links below to view the others individually.
Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61-Pax5cF8A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRcv-ZRMCXI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86LmKa1Sig4
https : //www.youtube.com/watch? V = lOf81jcqyYc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zia1qExd8ZE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcEPMygIXiM
https: // www. Youtube.com/watch?v=q2VcHmZS0cA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbEx1pbZLkg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRcv-ZRMCXI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86LmKa1Sig4
https : //www.youtube.com/watch? V = lOf81jcqyYc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zia1qExd8ZE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcEPMygIXiM
https: // www. Youtube.com/watch?v=q2VcHmZS0cA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbEx1pbZLkg
The training we do has its primary focus of developing players technically. The best tactics in the world are completely useless if our players can not successfully pass or control the ball. They are at the age where they should be understanding tactical concepts a little better, but still, our focus is on technical development. The way it works is as follows:
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Arrival activity. This is usually in the form of a fun game that resembles a match, but maybe with one or two silly rules. I understand that parents have difficulties in getting to Reform for 15:45, and we do not want to wait for all the players to arrive before we start. So that we can play, any newly arrived players can just join in. It also serves the purpose of beginning the session with fun. Kids play for fun and nothing more. Let's appeal to that motivation and have them enjoying the session from the start. It also means that they are more excited and more focussed going into the practice. With the younger kids especially, they have a lot of energy, and an immediate game helps dispel some of that.
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We then go into the dynamic warm-up. I'm not sure how this part of the preparation has been missed as it is one of the first things I taught them this season, and is something we now do before the start of every game and every practice. We are two lines about sixteen meters long, four meters apart, and the boys perform a variety of game relevant movements. There are about four players in the team who know most of the movements by heart, and who I can trust to lead this.
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In every session I devote time to technical skill development. Here, you will see every player with a ball, performing some of the basic and fundamental ball manipulation movements. They are more difficult than others, and they are given more difficult challenges after they have completed the initial task. A ball each allows the players to progress at their own rate, and what they get out of it is directly proportional to the work they put into it.
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Each session has a technical theme, provided by the curriculum set by FutAcademy. We look to improve all aspects of the technical game, such as shooting, passing, dribbling, heading etc. We begin an exercise that is fun and grabs their attention, allowing them many repetitions with the aim of mastering these techniques.
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Small sided games are one of the most beneficial exercises we can do with young players. A 3v3 or 2v2 means that all players are involved in the game at all times, and are provided with many more touches of the ball. If you do not touch the ball, you do not improve. It thrusts them into situations such as 1v1s, which is the most fundamental challenge within a game of football. How can you beat or dispossess your immediate opponent? Small fields also provide great opportunities for transitions from defense to attack, allowing them to experience or learn the roles and responsibilities from all the different areas of the field.
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We finish with a small sided game, which is usually 5v5 or 6v6, but with a challenge or rule which promotes use of the technical topic we have been learning that day. For example, shooting may lead us to play a game with poles in the corners of the goals, and that if they shoot in the corner, between the pole and the post, they score two points. This is an incentive to apply the technical learning objectives for the topic of that session, such as "Aim for the corners while shooting".
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| You may have been since you were a kid, But have you ever met David Pleat? |
Sometimes we can apply adult standards to kids. We think different, we experience the world differently, and we have different goals and objectives. At the end of the games we lose, the parents are often far more upset than the kids. This is why you see them running round and playing with each other, or shooting the ball in the goal, or is quite common, jumping on or fighting with me. The best example I can think of from a game last season. We lost 14-0, and with the parents, it felt like we had witnessed a death. The boys themselves were running around the field, hitting each other with inflatable sticks, pretending they were swords. If you had asked what they had been doing before, they would have forgotten the sticks.
The session demonstrated in the YouTube video is valid, and it is something we would like to achieve, but we are a long way from that. Firstly, and most importantly, that we are not good enough to pass so effectively over such distances. Looking at the session itself, the first thing I noticed is that the defender was receiving the ball in the center, just outside the penalty area, with his back to the field. We never, ever want to do that. Ever. The opponents in this scenario were not applying any pressure, seeing how they were four versus seven. That's completely unrealistic to the game that we play. Now if we imagine that this session was being played with seven year olds, let's think about what the left defender would do while doing the right defend the ball. I would be picking his nose or chasing butterflies. Young kids need to be engaged at all times. The goal of the session was to get the ball over the halfway line. What about the defending team? Just take the ball, and the game is over. If kids can not score or win, they are not interested. That's why they play football and not yoga.
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| Support from the family is essential. |
Developing a second goalkeeper is a difficult issue. We are lucky to have Mario, and he has certainly performed well for us. During practices, and when Mario is absent, there are plenty of kids who wish to play in goal. They do this regularly, and some of them have proved to be adequate replacements, but they do not want to be goalkeeper all the time. It would be unfair to force a child to play in a position or train for a position he does not wish to play. There are some teams at Reforma that have three goalkeepers, and then, like my 2001 girls, we do not have a keeper, and must take it in turns. In six halves of football, the girls have gone five halves without conceding a goal. Pretty impressive for a team that has no keeper. It demonstrates that the girls can effectively defend well enough that our goal is very rarely exposed to an opposition threat. Throughout the time of Barcelona's dominance, spectator would imagine that Barcelona could play with goalkeeper, and still be just as successful. Dealing with the problems on the field, in front of the goalkeeper, mean that we do not have to rely on them so much to get us out of jail.
A suggestion raised was that a player trains the week prior
to the game for the specific position that they will play. One major problem
from an organisational point of view is that youth football by its very nature
is unpredictable. We don’t know when the game will be until a Wednesday, by then,
we have missed one session. To add to this, not every parent is quick with
their response to let me know if their boy can play or not. It is sometimes not
until the Friday or Saturday that I will know which players are available.
Looking at a football point of view, players at such a young age should not be
typecast into one position. You will notice that during a game, most players
will play two different positions. This enables them to learn much more about
all the roles and responsibilities required all over the field, thus becoming
more complete players. Much like with the goalkeeper, forcing a player to play
a position they don’t like will only serve to have a negative effect. All the
best academies in the world will develop their players to play in multiple
positions. We don’t know until they are adults which is their best position, as
anything can happen to their learning and understanding of football along the
way. This is a philosophy utilised heavily by the likes of Ajax and Barcelona.
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| The underdogs that made it to the end. |
The problems from the playing side that have been mentioned are true, and I have some more to add, including the following:
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Players do not understand or stick to their positions well enough.
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Our goalkeeper distribution has given our opponents too many easy goals. We cut that problem out, and we reduce the deficit by three goals per game.
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We do not fight hard enough for loose balls.
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We do not know how to challenge the ball in the air.
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We can not mark or cover effectively when defending throws, free kicks, or corners.
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Players do not understand their roles or responsibilities from restarts.
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We do not pressure the opponents when they have the ball, and often let them travel a long distance before we engage them for a challenge.
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We do not make any passing sequences. The most likely you will find in sequence will be one. I believe we had a sequence of two in our previous game, but it could have been a fluke.
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Our players bunch up and swarm around the ball.
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Our players just kick the ball forward without any real thought or decision making.
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We duck from the ball rather than blocking the shot.
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A lot of players still kick their toes, or miss the ball completely.
These are just some of the problems we have, but they must be prioritised. Not all of them can be solved in one game, and it is a process that must be taken step by step, little by little. As mentioned, our expectations can not be beaten. We are so far from that. But it is not unrealistic to achieve much smaller defeats, and to experience more wins. This can be done, but it will take patience. We are behind our opponents and have some catching up to do.
The main priorities right now are positioning at restarts, particularly goalkeeper distribution and throw ins. It is now a rule that the right defender takes the throws all the way up and down the line, and that the left defender does that on the left side. We should then look for three players nearby to form a diamond shape. If we can not play forwards, then we can look at pass sideways, or even backwards. Maintaining possession is key to winning the game. Have the ball, control the game. Once they understand this and start to initiate such a play more frequently and more successfully, we start to look at the next step, which is to work on the positioning of the other players in further away positions, and then look at how to retain The ball, and what we actually can do with it once we have it.
During the past game, our main focus was to improve goalkeeper distribution. The players were instructed to find space in the wide areas on the field, with both the central defender and midfielder covering the space in the middle, acting as security. The attached Picture 1 and Picture 2 explain what I am trying to achieve in this aspect.
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| At least they were not drawing a penis. |
Throughout the game I am constantly making notes. I record
all of this information on paper, and then input the data into my computer, as
seen on the attached Picture 3 and Picture 4. Every player receives a rating
out of ten for every game, as well as details about their performance. Notes
are also made on team performance, including the good and bad. The time of
goals scored and conceded is another aspect that I record as it gives clues to
when we are at our best and worst, both in defending and attacking terms. A
trend noticed is that in each game, regardless of the score, we concede in the
first two minutes of both halves. This demonstrates that we need better focus at
the beginning of the periods. For every practice, I take an attendance list.
The 2007s have the best attendance percentages out of all three of my teams. Up
until the week before last, for the first half of the season, we had an average
attendance of 87%, meaning that we are getting 10.5 kids from 12 for every
practice. No one had a rating of lower than 73%, which is very good.
All of this should demonstrate that I am on top of matters,
and I am fully aware of where the team is, what they are capable of, and where
we need to go from this point on. Any interpretation that I do not enjoy being
with this team is completely false. I thoroughly enjoy working with the boys. It
has been challenging at times, but I now have a great relationship with them
all, and have seen improvements made. These are not as great or as rapid as I
would like to see, but it is my job to change that. One suggestion that I will
make is that I would like someone with me who has a good level of both Spanish
and English. That way, any instructions I need to give can be given
immediately, both clearly and concisely. For practices, where we are supposed
to do most of our improvement, I recommend that an older player from another
Reforma team aides me in this. The ideas and the explanations can be said
quickly and without hesitation, allowing us to get down to business. For most
of the boys, when I am speaking English, they just switch off and stop paying
attention. When I speak Spanish, due to my limited abilities, a lot of the
meaning is lost or confused. I have used the better English speakers within the
team to translate, but this isn’t always successful, as when they are in a
silly mood, they often make toilet references, rather than translating what I
said.
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| Even my Subbuteo trophy means a lot to me, |
That's a pretty comprehensive response, do not you think? Well over four thousand words. The guys in charge asked me to respond to the email before anything got out of hand. I drafted this and it took them a week to read it. They said it was fantastic, but it needed to be shorter. In the end, it was never felt, too much time elapsed, and the moment was gone.
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| Yay second place. |
What did happen to a few of the dads took me out for tacos and we had a discussion about all these issues. It was two days after I had been accepted to study Coaching Education at Ohio. That one was ready just in case anybody wanted to doubt my coaching abilities. I found it all very helpful, and we talked at length about what was going on. They were incredibly supportive, and no one there had delusions of grandeur that we should all be conquering world champions, and that each kid should play like Messi. They just want to see them have fun and maybe win a couple games here and there, without getting spanked. That's very reasonable. Pretty much everything I said in the above email was covered, although some of them still maintain I need to shout more and show passion. It's seven year olds that shorts too big for them. What is there to be passionate about? I love my team and want to see them well, but this does not need to be expressed through aggression. Kids need to play without pressure and without fear. That is the very essence of play. They're too young to have motives other than fun. We all grow up too fast, just let them enjoy it.
I feel like some perspective needs to be applied, life always looks better with perspective.
Last season we were slaughtered regularly. The worst being 18-1 versus the Barcelona franchise. This team had a plethora of kids who were able to bring the ball down with their chest and volleying it before bouncing with their laces, into the top corner, from twenty yards. At the age of seven.
Our biggest success was having the string of games where none of the kids pulled their shorts down.
We entered a new league which will not have such disparity in quality between teams.
Our team is smaller and weaker than most of our opponents. Most of the birthdates of the boys are towards the back end of the year. Remember how much difference it makes at that age.
We are now playing 9v9 on a big field, so the kids are not even technically ready, and yet they are being made to think tactically now, trying to take on board concepts that are far too advanced for them.
Before the season, we had a friendly versus a team that beat us 7-1 previously. We only had 8 players for this friendly, but had matched them to 3-3 by half time. In the second half, we were all over them, but they were losing energy quickly. They scored three goals on the counter attack to beat us 6-3. The parents were thrilled to see such an amazing performance, and a great improvement since the previous season.
Our first game of the season finished with a 12-3 win.
The next three games we went on to lose 11-2, 11-1, and 10-2. The perspective we need to apply here is that we had two of those games without our goalkeeper, and they also happen to be the best three teams in the league. This is when the sudden outbreak of butthurt arose.
The emails are written.
We then have the talk.
A few parents started to bicker a little bit about commitment. Calm down everybody.
The following game, a forty minute drive to an middle of nowhere location, for an eight in the morning kick off, and we have players pulling out right and centre. Who wants to get up early on the weekend, drive so far, and get beat? Certainly not us, with only eight players, we won the game 6-1.
The next game after that was a spirited 2-2 draw.
So what We had qualified for the playoffs for the first time ever, finishing 7th place from 13 teams. We had one game remaining against a lesser opponent, but they defaulted, giving us the points. There was also another game in the season that was canceled. My fault. Lack of communication. So from eight fixtures, we achieved ten points and made the finals. Not bad. All that considered, I went round looking like this for about three days:
Crisis? What crisis. See you in the playoffs.
So they day came, and we in 7th had to play those in 2nd. They beat us 10-2 previously, and that was without a keeper. The game that that's given to a lot in his email. Now our keeper is available, and all our best players are playing. Let's do this.
One of the parents was looking for a rallying call to really motivate the players and pump them up psychologically. He was largely ignored. My message was that the boys already understand what is stake in the game, so let's not apply any extra pressure. Just let them enjoy it, and hope for the best.
After just one minute we were a goal up. HOLY HAMBURGERS THIS MIGHT ACTUALLY HAPPEN OMFGGGGGGG !!!!!!!!! Settle down. There's still (however long the referee feels like) to play. Our opponents came back strong, but our defenCe was rock solid for the next eleven minutes. Eleven minutes without a goal in kids football seems like an eternity. Then the goals started to come. I had taken off some of the better players to get the weaker ones into the game, hoping we'd stay level, and they would get their minutes out of the way, then I could put the good ones back on. It did not work. We were 4-1 down at half time. Not a big deal. That's not much at this level.
The second half began, and we scored the first goal to make it 4-2. After a lot of pressure from our attack, an opposing defender tried to clear it, and ended up lobbing his own keeper. We're back in the game. We were still underdogs and still on the backfoot, but we had a chance. There was tangible excitement. And then the goalkeeper forgot how to goalkeep. One of our better and more consistent players, it was as if his brain turned to mush. So unfortunate as he has been a top performer. The game ended 9-2 after many individual and unforced errors.
It was an improvement from 10-2, but what really made the difference is that we looked like we were actually in the game. A huge difference from the game previously. Hoping the loss would be less for their sake, the parents were pleased with the spirit that was exhibited. We did reach the quarter-finals after all.
The results, in isolation, look like this:
3-6
12-3
2-11
1-11
2-10
6-1
2-2
2-9
Now let's filter in some information, and include only the games in which we had a keeper:
3-6 (with only eight players)
12-3
2-11
6-1 (with only eight players)
2-2
2-9 (playoff game)
That looks pretty average. Kids football is so on. There are so many variables and different things that can impact performance. It largely depends on who turns up on the day. Some teams are very reliant on one or two players, and they being away can make a huge difference, as we can see with the inclusion of our keeper. There is also a strong correlation between wins and losses, and having less crap players available. For instance, the 6-1 win with only eight players was a day where the four weakest players were missing. What does that tell you? Sometimes it's better to have no one than a player who pulls his shorts down and chases butterflies. And another positive correlation, the parents of the weakest players have done the most complaining.
There we have it. Let's not lose sight of what's important, that at the end of the day, it's about the kids, out there, on a Sunday, playing football, not being stuck at home playing on their X-Stations.
