Whether you’re a coach, a parent, or an interested observer, you bring more than your lawn chair to a game. You bring your ability to spot leadership, form a thought about that leadership, courage to share your thoughts, and an ability to express yourself. These are powerful tools! Accidental leadership may not even be noticed by […]
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Putting the ball up in the air… should be do it, or should we keep it on the ground? Choosing what to train in youth soccer and when to train it is a combination of science and art. US Youth Soccer gives us some useful guidelines, but how closely we follow those guidelines requires a […]
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In every group, there are the “insiders.’ If you’re a true soccer insider, you can often tell the difference pretty quickly. If you can’t tell the newbies from the insiders, chances are you’re one of the newbies. There is nothing wrong with being a newbie, of course. We’ve all worn that title at some point. […]
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All birds have to leave the nest or they will die. Our kids have to find their own lives too. They are going to leave. It’s not a matter of if they will leave. It’s a matter of when AND how well prepared will they be when they do. Letting our kids go is a challenge […]
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If I told you that a 13U or older soccer team has more than 11 players on the field during a game, you might question my knowledge of the game. You might think I’m trying to be clever by telling you that unless a referee issued a red card, there are always 22 players on […]
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In Episode 34 I first revealed our partnership with Global Image Sports and the Stoke City Potter. I interviewed Andy Foxall from the Stoke City Academy after we spent a few days together running the Maryland ID Camp together. Then in Episode 40, I talked about taking my kids to Atlanta for the National Soccer […]
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Mental Health in Soccer runs deeper and more silent that most of us have given much thought to. In this episode, I share my thoughts and research after a discussion with a mental health nurse in a UK training camp, then I share three things that we can do as parents or as coaches to help our kids manage some mental health issues before they become issues.
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Youth Sport is bigger than any player. We do our best to let them go and let them play when they’re on the field. That’s a good thing. But coaches only get kids for at maximum, 2 or 3 hours at a time. Parent drive them around, pay for their access, eat and play with […]
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Not enough kids have access to the game. Language barriers, cultural differences, and financial paywalls are leaving significant numbers of kids on the sidelines. How big is the problem and what can we do about it?
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“What do you remember about the best coach you ever had?” John O’Sullivan asked. He had passed out yellow sticky pads to all tables in the room and asked us to write down our top five characteristics- one per sticky. He stood in front of a room full of coaches, team managers, and a few […]
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