Shomit’s Youth Soccer Training Tips

Image details: Linesman waving a flag for offside served by picapp.com

Players who are often targeted, with penetrating passes in the attacking third of the soccer field from their teammates, must keep a watchful eye on the offside flag being raised. As an attacking player, it is always wise to be sure that the opposition’s last defender is between yourself and the goal, while also maintaining sight of the soccer ball.

Players who are more advanced are also able to see the potential for surrounding support based on the positioning of their teammates. Attacking players should certainly never let an offside call affect them in terms of their attacking mentality.

The offside may (or may not) be called, depending on a variety of factors. Some of those factors would include the timing of the run in relation to when the ball was released from the passing teammate.

Certainly, good teams will have crisply timed runs with balls played into dangerous spaces so the awareness of the flag must be there.

Don’t let an offside call (or non-call) get you down during the course of a game. Continue to attack and the goals will come.

Please see the link below to find out more about the importance of hydration in young soccer players. It is important for coaches to monitor their players’ fluid intake during training sessions and dictate to the players when to hydrate at the proper times. If a young player remains poorly hydrated, on-field performance is likely to be poor also.

Here is the link

Image details: Schalke 04 v VfB Stuttgart - Bundesliga served by picapp.com

Anyone who is interested in becoming a soccer referee can find more information here:

http://www.atsc-va.org/resources/referee_information/index_E.html

The U-15G Arlington Express have concluded a twelve month period between March 2007 and March 2008 with an overall record of 27-7-5. The team has appeared in five consecutive tournament finals during that time period, winning two titles. The Express won championships at the 2007 Arlington Spring Invitational and Mid-Atlantic Cup while earning runners-up honors at the FPYC Labor Day Patriot Cup, Dulles National Tournament, and 2008 Arlington Spring Invitational.

In league play, the Express are entering spring 2008 coming off of back-to-back league titles in ODSL Division 1 and WAGS Division 5.

Congratulations to all of the players and parents of the Express for their time and dedication to the team.

The Under-15G Arlington Express and Arlington Blitz both reached the tournament finals in the classic and premier groups. The Express lost a close game in the Classic group final 2-1 to the Chantilly Arsenal and the Blitz lost a close game in the Premier group final 2-1 to Rochester Rhinos.

All of the players on both teams deserve congratulations for making it to the finals with such tough competiton in each of their groups.

“A champion is someone who does not settle for that day’s practice, that day’s competition, that day’s performance. They don’t live in the past. You can’t step out onto the field and expect anyone to roll over because of what you did a year before. Champions think about that everyday. You need to stay on the edge of your game. You need to get better every year. You need to leave them in the dust and leave no question of who is the best. That’s what a champion is, that person who perseveres and doesn’t ever get satisfied with what they have done in the past.”
– Brianna Scurry, 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist

“We have to do what is best for the players.” The phrase that all youth soccer coaches should live by.

Soccer is a team sport. This is often lost when talks arise in regards to individual player development. I have even heard youth club leaders mention a “player development centric” model as opposed to a “team development centric” model. My feeling is that player development and team development are woven together in ALL team sports. If a group of soccer players are actually developing, I believe that it will show when their team plays in games against other teams. Of course, the opposite is also true. If players are not developing, I think that will show when the team is playing against other teams as well.

What soccer actually is often gets lost in all of the “player development” jargon. In reality, soccer is a game in which there are 11 players on the field who are trying to score more goals than their 11 opponents that are standing across from them…..even at the highest levels.
Coaches should certainly focus on ball mastery at the young ages, but there are several other aspects of player development as players mature: Communication, Defending, Off-the-ball supporting angles, Vision, etc, etc..

What good is it for a player’s development if he/she can juggle the soccer ball twenty times, but cannot stop an opponent from dribbling around them? Or cannot communicate correct information to a teammate quickly in a game situation? Is that part of player development? Yes.

Soccer is a team sport that requires great attention to detail. If players are developing together, it will show when their team plays.