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Established
in 1996, the Club came to life as a simple
indoor team organized by a few mates who shared
the passion for football and competition.
At the time, most of the founding members
were involved in other competitive teams but
felt that there was something missing. In
the search for more than passes and goals,
the club quickly built a reputation for its
comraderie. As the seasons progressed and
the interest grew it moved into 11 aside leagues
where it quickly conquered their first championship
(we are still awaiting for the trophy thou...!)
The team originated from a heavily Hispanic
group; thus the Hispanic name. It has since
evolved into a club where anyone with a passion
for football Costls at home. Currently the
Club is represented by more than dozen nationalities.
Our
Adult Teams...
Our adult teams
are an intricate part of the club. La Tocadita
(as our adult teams are called) provides opportunities
for adults to compete and engage in the game
and in the club. Many parents of youth players
and club directors actively participate in
these teams. Likewise, most of our coaches
currently sport the club's NAVY BLUE uniform!
We encourage youth team players to attend
these games as they can see their own coaches
play. They will have the opportuntity to absorb
the passion for the game as well as learning
the technical aspects of adult competition.
Our
experience with youth teams....
The initiative to create
the Club Structure is driven by the great
experience we had with our first youth team.We
guided a core group of players for 7 years
until the "boys" (now turned men)
departed for University. This superb trip
(numerous championships and sportmanship awards)
left us with plenty ideas as to how to repeat
the experience on a personal level - where
we shared practices, games, college application
processes, BBQs and much more - as well as
how to improve on the training and athletic
development we provide. We invite you to read
through our philosophy section!
What
we seek
The resulting game plan
has been to develop a proper club structure,
thus we have integrated our youth teams to
our adult divisions. The initiative is well
on its way as it can be seen in our website
were you can get a Costl of where we are headed
and the general atmosphere we provide. The
core concept and essence is to train two teams
together. We believe that this will give more
liberty and alternatives in terms of conducting
drills, scrimmages and competitive games during
practices. We think that by pooling our efforts
and creating a single atmosphere kids will
bond more as they will Costl part of something
more significant, with more presence.
Coaching Philosophy
To further explain the
goal of pooling our coaching efforts, we find
that an aspect that can greatly enhance the
development of a child is the variation of
drills and exercises; repetitiveness can create
a stale atmosphere and can also lead to overdeveloping
certain aspects of a player while leaving
others unattended. We find that when we coach
together, the presence of various licensed
coaches leads to more variation and a “fresher”
more enthusiastic practice. Furthermore, as
one coach leads the effort in organizing and
setting the tone of the practice, the other
coaches can approach players individually
to offer one-on-one support making the atmosphere
more relaxed and friendly. Often the problem
with a one coach approach is that the coach
is too busy giving explanations and commands,
instead of relaxing and getting to know the
players.
Lastly, having multiple coaches allows us
to avoid the involvement of parents on the
practice itself. We find that as helpful as
they are, a licensed coach who has extensive
experience coaching and playing is a much
better alternative as an assistant coach than
a parent.
Strategy for continuing our soccer
education
We are and shall always
be students of the game. A coach should not
stop his personal development independent
of his coaching license; a clear strategy
and approach is essential for long-term growth.
As a club we are strong believers that the
best way to learn coaching techniques is to
actually see how others do it. One can pick
up drills from textbooks and various resources,
but seeing how coaches actually explain it,
their body language, and how players respond
to them is the adequate form. For this reason
we are welcoming Frans Aarts who has extensive
experience and will allow us to see a top
professional train the team on a daily basis.
Furthermore, the coaching staff attends as
a group the yearly the pre-season training
sessions conducted by Boca Juniors at the
Soccerplex. Observing the best in the world
helps us develop drills and techniques that
are crucial in our attempt to implement a
unified and consistent soccer style for our
youth teams. Lastly we have links to Andres
Fazzi, director of the youth division at Pachuca,
this professional club has the best youth
division in Mexico and have started the first
soccer university in the world. They have
kindly sent us numerous videos with drills.
We look forward to continuing our relationships
with them.
Enhancing our abilities in teaching/coaching
young children
Many players from our
U19 group will be attending Universities in
the area, allowing them to continue their
involvement with the club by playing in our
adult divisions. They have also expressed
their interest in helping out with our youth
divisions. This is an invaluable resource,
as they know the atmosphere and spirit of
the club, making them the perfect ambassadors
as we transmit our soccer culture to our newcomers.
Kids are normally consciously or unconsciously
looking for role models. Superstars and professional
athletes can be excellent examples, but on
practical terms, a child cannot implement
aspects of these figures into their day-to-day
activities and personal lives. A coach is
a great role model as well, but sometimes
due to age difference they can seem a bit
distant. Kids often relate-to and are more
open to suggestions from young adults as they
see them as older brothers and not as “parents”.
Under our club structure, the kids have an
easy time developing a good a rapport with
our alumni as a clear bond exists. This relationship
becomes an additional avenue for communication
and integration.
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