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Bobbo0212

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About Bobbo0212

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  1. I think one of the funniest things I have ever seen would at at the Camp I directed this summer. I was the Camp Director for the Modesto Youth Soccer Association in Modesto, Califorina. It was day four and was hanging out with the middle age group. The ages ranging from 8-11. My sister was an instructor for me at age 16, and had this great idea, but wouldn't tell anyone. That day, she brings some music and a boombox, and tells me to come and watch their dance/soccer competition. It was the funniest thing I have every seen, they played popular music and the kids had to dribble around, do some soccer moves and dance moves all in one. The Judges of the competition were our 5-7 year-old campers and the reactions and excitment on their faces were the funniest I have ever seen. My Sister was truly a genius at making the best out of the situation and captivating the campers attention. Something else we did that week was make up a skit about how someone would challenge me to a bicycle kick competition. It was pretty funny, all my staffers just made up a part and we just carried on as if it had really happened. We used lines from many of their favorite movies and songs, and just had fun with the whole thing. The campers loved it so much, I can't tell you how much fun I had with it. I mean me being the eldest at 20 and the rest of my staffers being 15-16 it truly was an awesome experiance for the kids.
  2. The biggest thing that most youth coaches tend to forget is how they felt and thought when they were the same age as these kids. When you coach a team or teach a class, you cannot assume these players know where you are coming from, you need to understand where they are coming from. You need to understand that for many of these kids, they are just on the team cuz mom or dad decided it would be fun for them. So get the best out of every child and you'll do fine. Remember they aren't going to do anything special if you don't practice it, and at this age they probably won't progress as fast as you wish, but do they progress? If they have then you have progressed as a coach. Remember the character traits that you teach these children are far more important to them than the skills of the game.
  3. How do you spark the interest? It's not by letting them play organized soccer at a young age, its the game being a part of their everyday lives. These children have to play on their own. You can do all you want to make the children love to play when you are there, but what do you do to make them play when you are not is the question. I am sorry but as a coach you have only a certain amount of influence on a child. Its what the child does on an everyday basis that determines how they will prepare. I deal with kids on an everyday basis and I can say they love to play the game around me too, but do they go play the game when I am not there?
  4. Bobbo0212

    Tripping

    Tripping is something that happens almost on accident many times. One thing people need to understand is that the game of soccer is very aggressive we can't hold the kid's hands. I am sorry but at a 4-5 year old game the only thing I am calling is out-of-bounds because that is the only thing that is actually going on. These kids just want to get the ball and they have no clue about the enviroment around them. Plus tripping is only tripping if the Referee interprets it as that. There are no rules in the game of soccer, only Laws and they are under the subject of interpretaton by the referee. Its no different then if a cop is to pull you over for speeding. If you are go over the speed limit you could get a ticket, but does the cop feel that you are driving dangerously within the enviroment. IF 'no speeding' was a rule, then you could never do it period. That's what you need to look at next time, what is the referee watching, and why maybe isn't he/she calling it.
  5. The biggest thing that makes it I guess expensive is the Cost of Insurance, it cost these organizations a lot of money for insurance, plus after that they must provide the funds for field rental, equipment(ie. goals, nexts, flags), and Referees. At the end of the day they barely break even.
  6. Have you ever set up target in which the defensive team must hit. Maybe to get points or maybe to move on. What you should do is to have a clearing game with teams of three, your center, and two outside backs. Have two ten by ten grids set up on both sides by midfield or where ever you would like them to clear it and count them as points, everytime they don't make it in the grid count them at negative points, the object is to get the most amount of points to win the game. As a result of them getting better, maybe start to throw in some offensive pressure. You can progress from one attacker, two attackers, three attackers, to 11 in you want, the idea is to pressure the center so they have to put it to the outside.
  7. First of all, never put 4-5 year-olds into positions. They are too young to understand what they are supposed to do. By telling them where they are to go and what they are to do, you are restricting their creativity. Just let them go out there and touch the ball. Thats what you want, the more they touch the ball the more they are learning. And guess what, you don't even have to teach, they are learning on their own. Who cares if they are in a bunch, thats natural at this age. Just let them touch the ball and have no restrictions, let them have fun.
  8. What is the age of the children, 7 to 8. You know what, I bet you ask them what the game of soccer is to them and they don't know. It's because they are too young to realize what they are doing. At the age they are at it is totally indivdual. These kids don't have any idea of team concepts and will not understand these concepts until they get older. So you have to be focused on dealing with each of these childrens individual needs, because they have to focus on their individual development before anything else. So when it comes to discipline they still need individual attention, if any at all. You need to make the game fun to them, because if it is not fun, they will not want to learn, and you will still have the same problems you are having right now. Get their attention, make it interesting, and don't assume that every child learns at the same pace, because they don't. You are teaching them the game of soccer, its no different than teaching them Mathmatics or English. I have been a director of the Modesto Youth Soccer Association for the past two years, and that has been my philosophy I have passed down to all my instructors, as well as many other coaches. I know that you want control so that you can teach, but lets not forget who we are teaching and why we are doing it.
  9. In Reply for developing soccer in the US. One of the many reasons for why soccer in the United States is not a strong as in other countries is because it is simply not in our culture. The sport is growing and the teams developing, but as we are developing, so is the rest of the world. What I mean by in not being in 'our culture', is seeing it as a part of our everyday lives. There are too many other alternatives in this country, such as the big name sports like football, basketball, and baseball. Our young players are not out in the streets at age 7 and 8 playing soccer, and learning the fundementals from experimentation, they are learning the other sports. Why have for the longest time have we been the world powerhouse in these others sports? Its because our youth are developing their fundementals at a young ages. While in the rest of the world it is the game of soccer, so that when they are ready for the recreation aspect of it, the coaches do not have to enforce these fundementals as much as we do in soccer in the states. They can go on to other aspects of the sport such as tactics and strategy. In the game of soccer, while the rest of the world is teaching their 13 and 14 year-olds tactics, we are still teaching fundementals of the game. The point is, to get better at something you have to do it on an everyday basis. Overseas kids play on the street daily. They are trying to pull the moves of Michael Owen, David Beckham, and Zindane. While in the US kids are trying to pull the moves of Kobe bryant, Shag, Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, Tim Hudson, Barry Bonds ,and other famous athletes in the US. This is the reason why we are so good at basketball and baseball, because our kids are doing it everyday, it's part of their everyday lives. The only time they work on their skills with a soccerball is the two to three times a week they practice the sport in an organized fashion. So until society, and especially the media shows soccer the same respect as our other tradictional sports, it will be very hard for growth to develop faster than it is.
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