Hands down the best coaching course I’ve taken. The theory is extremely rich and provides a solid foundation for why  and how to create developmentally appropriate training sessions and youth programs. The week is definitely demanding because it gets coaches out of the normal “coach centered” approach of running a practice and introduces the concept [...]

The below was taken from the CYSA May 2011 newsletter. Submitted by Philippe Blin, CYSA ODP Technical Director One of the difficulties that players face is realizing how coaches are assessing their talent and potential as a student-athlete. How you perform under game conditions sets the yardstick on how you will be measured. The game [...]

Dan Coyle is the bestselling author of “The Talent Code” a book that discusses and highlights the learning recipe he’s found necessary to create talent. Those things are: Deep Learning (10,000 hours) Immediate feedback Repetition Coaching to oversee and direct the learned behavior   Here is a quick video of his presentation for U.S. Soccer. [...]

These five principles of defensive play are the key to good team and individual defending at all levels of the game. Pressure/delay – To prevent attackers from penetrating your defense, the first defender (the player nearest to the ball) should apply immediate pressure to the ball carrier. His objective is not to win the ball, [...]

I recently took the NSCAA Director of Coaching Diploma and enjoyed the 2.5 days of intensive instruction very, very much. The course is full of information and the coaches, both the instructors and the course participants, have a lot of valuable information and perspectives to share. The DOC course is meant for those coaches who [...]

I’ve been talking to parents recently, because tryouts are upon us, and I keep getting the “I thought competitive soccer’s goal is to win.” I love this because the point of playing any sport is to try to win, otherwise why bother playing a game. The difference is the perspective taken by the coaches and [...]

Paul Gardner, a Soccer America columnist, recently wrote an article where he said, “We can only base our judgments on what we see from the coach’s team in action,” — Actions speak louder than words, so stop listening and start watching. If the coach says something but keeps getting the same result on the field, [...]

Coaches, does this sound familiar?

Mike Woitalla interviewed Albertin Montoya, the FC Gold Pride head coach and MVLA technical directory, about the WPS Championship and about youth soccer. You can read the entire article here. But, for my take on things that he said, keep reading: I [Mike Woitalla] asked him [Montoya] why the USA isn’t producing Martas. After all, [...]

Yesterday I had the great fortune of spending the day at a Playday Tournament. A Playday is a one day “tournament” where U8-U11 teams get to play three games on small fields (7 on the field and one in the goal). It is a great way to get teams together, have a great atmosphere and [...]