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Youth soccer coaching: picking a good formation for U11 teams

May 17, 2010 2 comments

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There are many different opinions about what the best formation is for teams that play in a youth under 11 league. Typically these leagues will feature seven field players and the goalie, and the question is what formation will allow us to achieve our goals?

A coach would be well served to sort out his or her goals for the season when selecting the formation to use. You should consider the skill level of your players and their familiarity with each other along with their overall skill level. No matter what though, choosing a formation can go a long way towards helping you realize your season’s goals.

My recommendation is to use a 3-3-1 formation throughout the season in order to begin learning the roles of each of the four different positions on the field. A 3-3-1 formation features three defensive backs, three midfielders and a single striker or forward. In this formation, you can emphasize the importance of team defense and positional play while identifying your attacking forward as a target player to receive outlet passes from the defensive zone. Although a single striker can limit your immediate offensive opportunities, you can still use your excellent defense and midfield density to bring the ball out of your defensive zone and slowly build your attack with team play.

This formation will feature a defender and a midfielder on the left side of the field, a defender and midfielder in the center, and a defender and a midfielder on the right side of the field. These sets of two players get to experience a partnership on their side of the field with the responsibility for covering for each other if they create a hole when they pursue the ball. The possibilities for overlapping runs require these partners to play with an eye on each other the entire game.

In addition, the three defenders must learn to play as a unit by staying on the line and covering for each other if one is out of position in pursuit of the ball. Three midfielders must play in a similar fashion: online in covering each other in case one gets out of position.

In the attack, the outside midfielders must run forward to support the lone striker by getting into the box. This puts their fitness levels under stress and you can expect to have to rotate these two outside midfield players most often when using this formation.

As another coaching point, you want to make sure that your outside defenders fill in the open space behind the midfield players when they make a run for. In this way they get in the habit of joining the attacking play and taking over a midfield role.

This formation is stable and sound on defense, solid in the middle, and features a target player in the striker who can receive the outlet pass and set up 18 attacking play. It is a conservative yet ideal way to begin teaching the roles and missions of each of your field playing positions.

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Youth soccer coaching: preparing your halftime speech

May 17, 2010 5 comments

A typical youth soccer game.
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It should be the goal of every soccer coach to develop players who take personal responsibility for their play and the play of their team throughout the game. In  soccer, however, sometimes it is too easy for the adult coach to become the dominant personality on the side of the field and become very dictatorial in the halftime speech. If you want your players to develop emotional resilience and maturity, it’s important that you let them take responsibility for evaluating their play in the first half and deciding on what things they should improve on in the second half.

When the referee blows the whistle to signal the end of the first half, every player on the field should hustle smartly over to the side and get their drink without being told. It’s important that we go on and off the field with a high degree of energy to indicate our fitness for play and their positive attitude. Hustle doesn’t mean just on the field; it’s also the tone that we set in everything we do.

After the players are refreshed, they should sit in a circle around you as the coach and you should initiate the halftime discussion by asking them to grade themselves in five different areas:

Playing hard: this is the most important grade, because it asks for self-awareness and personal responsibility. You’ve players that you 11 are capable of evaluating their play on a letter grade basis just like in school. If anything, I will tend to agree with the lowest level of grade but never a failing grade because we want to build on their emotional strengths. A grade of C- through  B+ allows them to grow into an excellent second half, especially if it’s their idea. It’s important that we play hard first, so that we can then have fun. We can’t have fun if were not playing hard.

Having fun: ask them how much they’re enjoying the game. By asking this question after the playing hard question, we reinforce the idea that first times ever then comes enjoyment. You can ask them what they can do to have even more fun and it will usually relate to scoring more goals are playing better defense. Encourage those ideas.

Support the team: after they give themselves a grade, ask them what they can do to improve on support of the team. This will normally lead them to say partner passing, getting back on defense, improving their formation, covering for another player, were talking to each other on both offense and defense.

Love the game: we want to connect to their passion for the game because, after all, it is the beautiful game.

Respect the other team and ref: ask them to describe one or two things the other team is doing particularly well in which we can learn from in the second half. We also want to be aware of their strengths so that we can develop ideas on how to counteract them. Reminding them to respect the referee reinforces the rules of the game and civilized behavior.

This set of five questions, with the players honestly evaluating themselves will go a long way towards developing the emotional resilience, sportsmanship and personal responsibility which is the hallmark of excellent teams and great sports.

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Youth soccer coaching: improving the confidence of your individual players with 1000 touches a day

May 17, 2010 4 comments

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There is a tendency in American youth soccer to emphasize winning and losing at all costs and at the earliest ages. This tendency should be combated in order to develop players who have the emotional reselling is to try things out and who have an innate love of the game.

The only way to develop players with these qualities is to emphasize the enjoyable aspects of play and innovation in practice. By structuring your practices to ensure that each player gets to touch the ball 1000 times with their feet, over time you will develop players who are confident and relaxed with the ball and are willing to try new things. This will lead to a love of the game and excellence on the soccer field.

Although most youth soccer practices last between 60 and 90 minutes, there still is plenty of time to get 1000 touches of the ball in every practice by ensuring that everything you do features contact with the ball in some way. You should never have your players running for fitness without a ball.

Your warm-ups should include many hundreds of touches with both feet. Her passing drills in receiving the ball drills allow them to quickly accumulate their touches.

Small sided games and high intensity short duration passing drills allow you to get your touches in early in the practice while still leaving time for scrimmaging at the end of the session.

It’s extremely important that our players are not intimidated by the sight of the ball coming to them. We want them to have a positive attitude towards possession of the ball. We want them to seek out the ball and to fight for it and we can only get there if they have confidence in themselves that they know what to do with it once they have the ball.

By structuring your practices to feature 1000 touches a day, over time you will develop that love of ball possession that is the hallmark of the truly exceptional player.

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appreciative intelligence improves youth soccer coaching

May 17, 2010 9 comments

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Coaches must be concerned with the development of their players both on the field and off the field. In order to build strong young girls who can stand on their own 2 feet in life, we can leverage the insights from the field of positive psychology and specifically appreciative intelligence. Appreciative intelligence in girls youth soccer can help you build the emotional strength in young girls that they need to compete on the soccer field, in school and in life.

Appreciative intelligence simply means that we choose to focus on the positive elements of our most successful experiences as individuals and members of the team. By focusing on these areas we set the tone and shape the agenda for the emotional development of our players. By emphasizing the positive we ensure that we don’t backslide into thoughts of negativity and regret.

Appreciative intelligence has a long history of success in many different areas of business, government and education and is a proven technique for getting the most out of your people and your teams. It began with studies of the emotional reselling its emotional intelligence found in high performing entrepreneurial enterprises and business startups and has broadened into a wider appreciation of positive psychology.

Try this technique after your next game and see if it doesn’t work wonders on your teams attitude, whether they won or lost. Gather the girls in a circle and ask each one of them to think about their favorite memory on a positive note about one of your other players. By doing so, each girl is emphasizing the positive and each girl gets to hear their friends and teammates praising them for something that they did that was worthy of recognition.

I’ve tried this dozens of times after games and we invariably finish the experience on such a high note that it carries us through the rest of the week and into the next game. This positive result occurs whether we won or lost. We all leave the field with a very positive feeling and of thankfulness for the quality of the members of our team who we support and to support us in good times and bad.

Give it a try and see if appreciative intelligence will work for you in the same way.

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Reflecting on surveys for organizational feedback

May 15, 2010 5 comments

Understanding, mural by Robert Lewis Reid. Sec...
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Discuss the usefulness and limitations of survey feedback. What are the key issues/problems the OD practitioner has to be aware of while feeding back data?

Usefulness of survey feedback (when it is effective) (Cummings & Worley, 2009, pp141-2):

  • Motivation to work with the data: organization members have to believe in the purpose and efficacy of the feedback system, We are finding it extremely important for the surveyed population to get feedback on HOW the data is being used
  • Structure for the meeting: Because of the challenges and possibilities of interpreting data and connecting it to action plans, there needs to be a thoughtful and satisfying means of examining discussing, interpreting and then acting on the data, in a process that satisfied all the tiers in the organization
  • Appropriate attendance : people affected by the interpretation of the data should be represented in the meeting: This can validate the assessment of the data and the legitimacy of the action steps decided upon
  • Appropriate power: feedback process must have the authority to get the data needed for action, but also the authority to act as suggested by a fair reading of the data
  • Process help: Because the sense-making of the feedback process stakeholders is a political process with connections to the deepest values of the organization, it is necessary that the process be above board and managed/led properly.  Social & political justice is an important part of legitimizing the decisions that come out of the feedback process. We don’t have to agree with every decision but we must be satisfied by the process that got us to the decision.

These elements are timely as we are conducting a process action team project for the college’s feedback system this month.

Limitations of survey feedback (Cummings & Worley, 2009, pp 147).

  • Ambiguity of purpose: If the purpose of the feedback process is not clear, then it stands to reason that the design of the experiment, the survey questions, the interpretation and the focus of action steps. Having an explicit plan that is clearly understood upfront seems non-negotiable before we proceed any further along the feedback path.
  • Distrust: it seems to me that distrust could come from either purposeful or accidental  circumstances. We might distrust the leaders’  true purpose or the skill of the practitioner in achieving the technical standards of designing and administering the survey properly. Either source of the distrust will clearly sabotage the ultimate actions that derive from the feedback.
  • Unacceptable topics: Culture, tradition, values, leadership-imposed constraints, or perhaps even an agreement among stakeholders to hold certain areas off limits may give us only par5tial insights. These off limits areas may not be critical to the system, but in complex social organizations it may prevent us from achieving a holistic and satisfying understanding. My experience has been that the off-limits areas really degrade the usefulness of the survey.
  • Organizational disturbance: we know from science that the act of measuring alters the system in some way so we must take into account how, so we must make trade-off decisions about how much to measure and how often, and in a manner that minimizes the cost of querying.

Key Issues/problems: It seems to me that whether your survey data and feedback processes are useful or problematic depends on how your system  “scores” on the 9 qualities of the survey data identified in Cummings & Worley,( 2009, pp139-141). I think that the organizational members perceptions of these  are as important as the technical merits of the survey/experimental design.

  • Relevant: do the data connect with the area under study?
  • Understandable :  are the stakeholders satisfied with the clarity?
  • Descriptive : do the data give us meaningful and identifiable characteristics
  • Verifiable: are the data reliable and repeatable?
  • Timely: can we get the data quickly and within a timeframe that they remain valid?
  • Limited: is the scope is narrow enough to allow focus and analysis?
  • Significant: are we working on important issues concerning core processes and values?
  • Comparative: do the data allow us to make meaningful distinctions? And infer cause and effect so that we can take actions?
  • Unfinalized : do the data lead us towards significant action? Or dlo they leave us at a dead end?

(Cummings & Worley, 2009).

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Haitian Women’s national soccer team needs help

May 11, 2010 3 comments

{{en|1={{en|1=Haiti}} Orthographic projection ...
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This is a request for help to me that came from a close, personal friend of mine, Gaspard D’alexis, that I feel compelled to share with you.


Gaspard is the coach of the Omega Soccer Club here in Kansas City, and he is a pure and gentle soul, who has answered the call for help from his homeland of Haiti to help them rebuild their lives. Our teams have shared a partnership over the last few years and I ‘ve gotten to know him well.


Latest news http://www.kansascity.com/2010/04/20/1890727/kansas-city-coach-picked-to-restore.html


The soccer community in Kansas City is mobilizing to help him, but I thought I would do more by sharing his story with you.  My daughter plays on his team and I am helping his teams while he is in Haiti. Your thoughts and prayers are welcome; if  you can do more, I can testify to the need and the integrity that touches everything Gaspard does.


here is a moving ESPN documentary story of the Haitian women’s nation team that says it far better than my words can: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=100427/Haitisoccer


Hello Friends,You are receiving this email because you are among the special people I have had the privilege to work with, directly or indirectly, either in the past or in the present time. You might not know, but last month I was appointed Head Coach of Haiti ’s National Women’s Soccer Team by the Haitian Soccer Federation.  I am filling one of many voids created by the terrible earthquake that ravaged Haiti . The Head Coach, a friend of all Haitians, was one of the federation members who perished during the earthquake.

There are no words I can use to describe the current situation in Haiti and there are no words I can use to describe the way I feel about it. However, if I could have given my life in exchange for Haiti ’s misfortune, I would have done so without hesitation. Since the tradeoff did not happen and God put me on a different path, I promise to do my very best in what lays in front of me as the head coach and as a fellow Haitian and that is to help the Haitian people. It will take time, but with hard work, effort, and help “a lot of it” there is hope for a better tomorrow for Haiti .

My job description is not only to coach the women’s senior national team, but also to build the women’s soccer program in Haiti . I am doing so with very little money and few resources. One can ask why the importance is on the Haitian Soccer Team when the country needs everything.  The response is that soccer is a passion for the Haitian people and it brings unity among them. It reinforces hard work and common goals that give hope of improvement for all Haitian people.

“Walking together united in memory of you

We want to play regardless the circumstance
We may not have a field left to practice
We may now be living on the grass of our stadium
We may not have the proper equipment
We may, for now, only eat to survive
We know we are the lucky ones
We want to play because we are thankful for what we have
We know that surviving is our friend for a reason
We know that you are looking upon us
We want to make you proud of our effort
We want to make you smile wherever you are
We want to give you reasons to hope
We know hope is all we’ve got for now.
We know that hope is what we can afford…”

I’m trying to raise enough money to create a monthly allowance of $50.00 for each player on the national programs. We have currently sixty girls in three different age groups. The yearly budget stands at $36,000 and would cover all players for a year. The allowance will impact directly and positively sixty families. For most of the Haitian players it would be their only income to buy the bare minimum like water, soap and rice among others. Please, go to our web site at:www.haitiwomenssoccer.com if you would like to help me help Haiti . And then, you should please send to me an email to let me know the level of your help.

Thank you very much,

Gaspard Dalexis

Haiti National Women Soccer Team: 9807, Woodland Lane , Kansas City , MO 64131 913-484-1595


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Reflections on the draft

May 11, 2010 2 comments

List of military tactics
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The Volunteer Army concept allows our citizens to offload the risk to certain economic classes and remove personal interest in the effects of foreign policy. Intuitively, I’d guess that those who rise to positions of policy making are least likely to have served in the military and lack a visceral connection to the consequences of their ideas. I’d trust policy makers who have carried a rucksack more than those who study game theory while others serve.

Compartmentalizing the risk to certain demographics drives a wedge between a society and its Army.

If framed along these economic lines, it is a short step to contractualization of the force, and we can already see evidence of the effect of widespread commercialization of formerly military functions on the professional ethic.

Charley Rangel, a veteran, has articulated the moral argument for the draft, and it is easy (and maybe  even true) to describe that position as posturing., but themoral argument is larger than the specific purpose he may have for making it.

I favor the draft for moral reasons; it makes foreign policy a personal issue, forces debate into the public consciousness, invigorates morality, supports democracy, and reveals character

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Erasmus: the last educated man?

May 11, 2010 5 comments

Portrait of Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam wi...
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There are some who say that Erasmus was the last man about whom it could be said that he knew all that there was to know (available at the time).  Ever since then the amount of knowledge being developed daily is increasing more rapidly than our ability to find, assess and add it to our personal knowledge base. The comes a tipping point when our cognitive strategies must shift from brute force knowledge acquisition to something else that retains the wide diversity, and the ability to go as deep as needed to satisfy the requirement deep with authority, rigor  and competence. I think of Mapquest cognitive maps in this regard: broad surveys with the ability to zoom in as requires.

This approach to search and navigation of the knowledge network places a premium on the quality of the indexes and tags and context sensitive search functions to give confidence that our netcast is appropriate for our knowledge need. It also suggests that team based learning will be a crucial skill, more so every year.

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Military Acquisition: a political process?

May 11, 2010 1 comment

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If acquisition is a political process (and it should be since the military is subordinate to the civilian, AND is in support of the values of the political system), then  effectiveness is probably more important than efficiency.  Effectiveness is may have to be defined as the “best” political compromise, ie one in which all parties are equally irritated, but not so much that they decide to secede.  You will see this sensibility reflected in the Colin Powell approach to “equally shared pain” in budget cuts, as opposed to engineering approaches which aim for optimised force structure which leaves some parties frustrated or out in the cold.

Our own political structure, arguably the most successful experiment in democratic self-government so far, is characterized by heights of inefficiency and bureaucracy, partisanship, checks and balances, and an open press to embarass anyone who gets overly greedy.  There isn’t a lot of overt trust in there, although I am not cynical enough to say that somewhere in the deepest recesses of the governing class there surely is a spark of love of country and patriotism. Even the Grinch had that.

“In God we trust,” all others pay cash; or “Trust but verify” are more likely to be principles of enduring organization for our acquisition process.

Every element of the DIME conspires to muddy up the waters of “perfect” acquisition stategy. Administrations change faster than major equipment programs.

Resourcing levels will always be driven by economic necessity, and economic variability will always put the revenue stream in jeopardy. So, turbulence will be par for the course. MIlitary innovation is happening faster every year as technological change accelerates; The Information Age creeates uncertainty all of its own due to the shrinking half-life of knowledge  while the increasing number of channels of discovering and disseminating infomation becomes a battlefield variable all of its own.

So, if uncertainty is given, a political process of muddling through, and following MAJ Robert Rogers‘ advice to “dont take no risk you dont have to” creates an acquisition system pretty much like what we have; one that requires idealists and purists to struggle mightily for the best of all possible solutions in order to come up with something that will do in a pinch.

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Managed risks?

May 8, 2010 3 comments

Stock market capitalization in 2005
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The risks now?

  • Risk of being left behind if the fear was an anomaly and there is now the mother of all buying opportunities: my strategy? Continue to trade intraday with no overnight risk, at my usual levels of risk, in large cap US companies, and broad index ETFs, in either direction based on daily directional momentum.
  • Risk of being crushed in longer term positions. My strategy: honor the ruleset of ETF2, and take up to 2 signals per cycle in the mechanical ETF systems at usual risk levels.
  • Combination of 1&2: this is what I ALWAYS do anyway; I conclude that the combination is robust and useful. Particularly when circumstances conspire like Wed-Fri to produce over 100R in 3 days will no overnight risk.
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