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CLUB |
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Our
Philosophy |
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Before
we jump into our philosophy, you may be interested
in understanding perhaps what drives this initiative.
Past
experience
The
U-19 team will be “graduating” from
the MSI ranks after 7 years of competition. Our
experience with this group has been literally amazing,
we have seen this group of boys grow since they
were 12 years old, the core group intact from that
first season! As they move on to college we are
excited and looking forward to have the opportunity
to start with a new group of kids. We are looking
forward to sharing time in practices teaching the
basic and advanced soccer concepts, we are looking
forward to sharing barbecues with their parents
and family, we are looking forward to helping them
in their college applications seven years from now!.
Those seven years of coaching have left a lot of
lessons and plenty ideas as how to not only repeat
the experience but also improve on it. Without a
doubt we would like to repeat the experience in
terms of the personal bonds and ties. But we also
think we can improve tremendously in terms of the
structure and training we provide. Although the
results have been great (numerous championships
and sportsmanship awards), we are aware that we
can do more for the kids. The first step was to
identify exactly the areas of improvement, thus
we held various meetings with parents and we met
with an experience Licensed coach, Frans Aarts who
will be leading our efforts. |
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| What
we seek |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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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