Note: Opinions expressed in the NC Youth Soccer blog (web log) are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the North Carolina Youth Soccer Association (NCYSA). Links on this web log to articles do not necessarily imply agreement by the author or by NC Youth Soccer with the contents of the articles. Links are provided to foster discussion of topics and issues. Readers should make their own evaluation of the contents of such articles.
Wow. I still feel like I'm burping up turkey from thanksgiving. Oh wait, that's not the turkey, its the sweet potato casserole. Or maybe it's the cranberry sauce. Has anyone had the green marshmallow dessert stuff? My family has always called it "idiot salad". Apparently, its called that because even an "idiot" can make it? I don't find that a very appropriate name, and after I eat 3 plates of it, it doesn't exactly boost my self-esteem that I love it so much. And as I eat this scrumptious platter of flavor in obvious delight, I feel like everyone around me is staring at me saying to themselves, "oh yea, that makes sense." Anyways, I hope you had as good of a thanksgiving as I did. I appreciate the history of our great country, and I also realize that most of the true history is not found in history books. But that is a different topic on a different day.
Speaking of beginnings, do you know how soccer started? Early evidence of soccer being played as a sport finds occurrence in China during the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC. In China, it was during the Han dynasty that people dribbled leather balls by kicking it into a small net. Recorded facts also support the fact that Romans and Greeks used to play ball for fun and frolic. Some facts point to Kyoto in Japan where kicking of the ball was a popular sport. It is said that early growth of the modern soccer started in England. Some amusing facts even mention that the first ball used was the head of some Danish Brigand. It is said that during medieval times, the old form of soccer used to allow many ill practices like kicking, punching, biting, and gouging. The main aim was to carry the ball to a target spot.
Pretty neat how far the sport has come from then until now! Whether people understand the sport or not, they are forced to respect it. It has stopped wars. It has held countries together.
If a person would take the lessons learned through the sport and apply them to life, not only would he find success, but would enjoy it after he found it! I think one of the most famous soccer players said it best... "Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do." Pele
The 91st Minute is BACK! Below are the top 10 NCYSA Halloween Costumes for 2011! Get creative this Halloween and POST YOUR SOCCER THEMED HALLOWEEN COSTUMES TO OUR FACEBOOK PAGE!
I hope this blog finds you doing well. With all of the rain we have had recently, I'm sure your soccer star has been forced inside! Well, great news. The rain has stopped. It is time for him to return to the back yard and to practice. With Halloween right around the corner, kids really do start acting goofy. Neighbors start to adorn their front porches with fake spider webs and kids immediately smell candy and go into a sugar induced scream of joy. Their mouths begin to water and go into an over eager jubilation of celebration. They celebrate the celebration that is Halloween. I heard the other day that Halloween decoration sales have now surpassed Christmas decoration sales. Even though that includes costume sales, thats still staggering to me. I guess the Griswolds are now the Adams Family... "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" is now "I'm Dreaming of a Reese's Cup"... I guess Christmas Carolers are taking a backseat to Count Chocula... but atleast its still soccer season!!! So, thats a positive to take away... Ok, most of you are not even reading this anymore. You have scrolled down to the Top 10 NCYSA Halloween Costumes... I would have to... So, I don't blame you. I guess I could talk about anything right now... since nobody is still reading this... I could ask age-old questions... but I won't... ok, thats enough... scroll down and read the Top 10 already!!!!!
Top 10 NCYSA Halloween Costumes
10) A shin guard
9) A small sided goal
8) A Sideline
7) A soccer-mom minivan
6) Whiner
5) Your favorite local referee
4) Jurgen Klinsmann (US Men's National Team Head Coach)
Do you remember the movie, "The Big Green"? It was by far the best soccer movie that had ever been made for soccer players under the age of 14. It had it all... the funny guy, the random mascot, the little kid that was too small and too young to play but came to everything, and the superstar that nobody expected. If you haven't seen this flick, you need to watch it. Its like a combination of the world cup and... well... Carowinds. Go grab a bag of popcorn and watch the short clip below...
This part of the movie is classic. The team is terrible. They lose every game. They don't resemble a team at all. The school gets a new teacher who happens to be from England who has agreed to coach the soccer team. They get a new student, Juan, who has just moved there with his mom. Once they realize that Juan is a great player, they turn all of the focus onto convincing him to play on their team. Juan's reluctant mother gives in and the movie quickly progresses to their next game. Everytime the team gets the ball, they pass it to Juan and just stand. One player even has a wide open shot inside the box, hesitates, then unsuccessfully passes the ball to back to Juan. Halftime! Everyone is mad at each other, the assistant coach is calling them "midgets". Its a mess. However, you need to catch something. The coach comes in and talks about teamwork. The players write off what she says until she makes the comment, "if 3 guys are marking Juan, how many people are open on our team?" You see the light bulbs go off and the heads begin to nod. They get an ounce of hope and they begin to take ownership. And the second half is better, and includes scoring goals from other teammates instead of just the "star".
(Rabbit Trail) How funny, yet appropriate, is Larry's visions of the other team turning into bad guys and paralyzing him with fear? This clip shows the opposing team having a break away, then all of them turning into Terminators on motorcycles. They score with Larry basically falling out of the way of the ball. What would you do if this was your player? How would you help him work through it?
Every coach wants to make their team better. I think that is a given. Of course, that standard of what it means to be "better" is completely different for each coach, unfortunately. I was watching a game this past spring, and a coach was screaming at his U9 goalkeeper for not picking up the ball with his hands, and instead chose to kick the ball away first touch. Now, I'm sure you have seen this happen a few times, and as a coach it may be frustrating. But how quickly do we forget that U9 is typically the first year that goalkeepers are even used! 3v3 and 4v4 do not utilize goalkeepers yet for numerous reasons (Handbook).
So, whats the moral of the story? How well do you do at monitoring your team's improvement? What are your standards? Development of our youth is fragile in my opinion. Figure out what you are trying to accomplish, and why you are trying to accomplish it.
Parting Thoughts:
Your #1 job as a coach is to build belief! Give your players something to believe in themselves. There is always something positive to find in every player. Speed, athleticism, communication, first touch, vision, courage, leadership, servanthood, comical relief, loyalty, discipline. Find something that your player can take ownership of. Build their belief that they belong on the team, and hold the power in their own hands to perform.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
How cool is this picture? This was sent in to us by an HFC parent that snapped it as their young athletes arrived at the field. I miss these days when the soccer bags were half the size of my whole body, I carried a thermos filled with high quality H2O to every event, and I began to develop my pregame superstitions. I don't know if you have any pregame rituals like I did, but mine were regimented. Roll out of bed, take a shower, stretch, eat a protein filled breakfast which always included eggs of some sort (rabbit trail... how can there be so many ways to prepare an egg?? I'm recently enthralled with over-medium cooked eggs. I think Cracker Barrel controls the population of quality chickens because I could eat there over-medium cooked eggs for every meal, every day), clean off my cleats from practice, fill my thermos, pack my bag, and get in the car. When I got to the field, I had to immediately put on my shingaurd sleeves, followed by the socks. Finally, I threw my boots on, followed by my super cool SweetSpots to hold the laces down. (Rabbit trail... those sweetspots were the biggest thing since sliced bread for a while. Where else can you get functionality with keeping the laces down and tied, efficiency with the point at the end of them to give you a guide to kick the ball, and style with so many colors? On the other hand, they are glorified rubber bands. I think I was the last one to give up on the SweetSpots fad. I say we bring back the fad. Who is with me????)
Ok, so now that none of you are going to back me on the SweetSpots fad, lets move on.
Nothing helped me prepare for a game, however, like words spoken to me from my parents and coaches. And by words, I mean encouraging boosts of confidence such as "I know you will play great!" or "I'm proud of you!" We have to be committed to providing the ideal environment for all youth to grow and excel through soccer. What is the environment like that you are creating? Is it rigid and pressure filled?
Check out this video that Publix had as a commercial... sums it up pretty well!!
One of the most beneficial courses I have taken have been the Youth I and II Modules, and the "E" License course through NCYSA. http://www.ncsoccer.org/NCYSAbeta/programs/coaching/index.html The training staff gave me the tools I needed to give the game back to the athletes! Sometimes a player gets to the game on Saturday, and the coach or parent puts so much emphasis into winning, that they overlook how to properly prepare a player. We have to get better at understanding where a player is at developmentally, instead of expecting them to perform as we did during our glory days! The secret to good coaching is servant leadership. If you figure out how to lead through serving, you will contribute to not only changing our soccer culture, but our communities across the state beyond the soccer fields! Are you in it for you or for the players? "Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth." -Muhammad Ali
Find a way to give the game back to your NC Youth Soccer player and you will empower them to think. A player that can not think for himself is one word... BORED! Give them the opportunity to make their breakfast, or pick out which shirt to wear to practice, or which activity to play in the backyard and at practice (or if we travel back in time, which colored SweetSpots they want to use!) If you slowly integrate some of this, you will begin to allow your athlete to mature not only in soccer, but in life.
Check out our Parents Connection page at the link listed below...
This is the most exciting part of the year. The Bermuda grass is finally starting to fill up the pitch. Thousands of players across our great state are getting back in shape for preseason. Its like we are on the incline of a roller coaster at Carowinds, about to crawl over the top, and drop 100 miles per hour into total chaos that we call the NC Youth Soccer Fall Season. If you're not getting excited, then you're not a soccer fan.
My name is Bryce Kenny and I am the Assistant Director of Recreation, and I handle the Discipline and Appeals for NCYSA. Born and raised in North Carolina, where gravy is still considered a beverage! I played High School soccer at Wesleyan Christian Academy, NCYSA club soccer at Piedmont Soccer Alliance, and college soccer at Campbell University. And yes, I have 3 first names... James Bryce Kenny. However, Ricky Bobby (Talladega Nights) and I have more in common than that.
Everyone here at NCYSA is still recovering from the Women's National Team loss to Japan in the WWC Final. It seemed as if they had staged all the drama and the US was going to once again win a nailbiter in true 2011 WWC fashion. And then we missed our first 3 penalty kicks, and I snapped out of my dream world. If you were like the rest of us, you were saying "there is no way the US is going to lose. They are going to pull it out in the end." This was the first WWC that actually consisted of me pacing the room, anxious. It was great. Regardless of the result, this put Women's soccer back on the map. There has been so much uncertainty in the women's professional leagues over the past 10 years. Now the world is aware that not only do we have a Women's National Team, but that they are dominant.
I hope you are enjoying the summer. Play foosball indoors to beat the hit. Which reminds me of a great quote by Mitch Hedberg, "I think foosball is a combination of soccer and shish kabobs."
Play some soccer. Grill some shish kabobs and burgers. Enjoy the family. At the end of the day, its the relationships that you build that matter the most. That is the best aspect of our sport. You have a bond with your teammates and friends that connects you for life. Enjoy!
