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Aug, 2013

Coaching Philosophy

Coaching Philosophy
My primary goal is to promote teamwork, decision making, creativity, and confidence among the players. I strive to expose all players to all field positions (forward, midfield, defense). I strive to afford equal playing time for all players, presuming they regularly attend practices. None of my players have ever desired to be a designated goalie, so I'll probably look for several volunteers to rotate through that position. I also promote good sportsmanship to the players and the parents.

Practice
I understand that players will occasionally have conflicts, but I strongly encourage players to try and attend as many practices as possible. This will greatly improve our teamwork and fitness. Please be early or at least prompt, and please ensure that your player brings lots of water to practice, as they will be playing a lot of soccer.

I try to keep my practices fun and fast-paced, involving a few varieties of small sided soccer games. I will emphasize to the players that when they receive the ball or attempt to win the ball, they have 3 options: dribble, pass, or shoot. I will encourage them to make these decisions before they get to the ball. We will try to foster good field awareness, communication, decision making, planning, and execution. I want to promote confidence in the players and encourage them to take risks in the game. I will ask all players to remain focused on soccer for the duration of practice. These practices are all team-oriented, and any lack of focus or clowning around is detrimental to the team. I know that part of the team experience is to be able to socialize or clown around, so sometimes its beneficial to let the kids stick around for 10 minutes after practice to give them that opportunity.

Game Strategy
We will emphasize smart, deliberate soccer and stress a possession-oriented game; we want to win the ball, control the ball, and execute a coordinated attack. Only in panic situations in front of our goal will I ask them to clear the ball. Otherwise, I expect them to gain and maintain possession of the ball so that we may execute an attack. I hope you will see that evolve as the season progresses.