The evolving game | december 2016

E M A G G N I V L O THE EV December 2016

Issue 37 Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Coaching Newsletter

Constructing New Education Plans at the Grassroots Level We recently had a visit in Eastern Pennsylvania from Frank Tschan the newest member of US Soccer’s Educational staff. Frank brings to the United States a strong back ground in not only soccer but with education as well. He was the Director of Sports and Physical Education at the International School in Dusseldorf. Frank was also Club Manager and a Coach Educator in the DFB. He has coached at youth, high school, college and semi-professional levels in both the U.S. and Germany. He earned the NSCAA “Master Coach” Diploma in 2011 and was the International Relations Coordinator in the NSCAA/ DFB Partnership.

Frank’s role in the United States will be aimed primarily at the volunteer coaches who works with players from U6 to U12. His goal is to bring coaching education to those coaches in a more practical manner in order to provide quality training and appropriate developmental activities to all children; no matter what their ability level may be.

During the time he was with us he listened and took notes on a variety of subjects affecting clubs and their members. It was refreshing to hear Mike Barr Eastern that he sees his role as learning and Pennsylvania Youth Soccer understanding the problems facing Technical Director clubs throughout the United States and utilizing resources available within individual states to come up with a strong curriculum for volunteer coaches and recreation players.

Too often decisions affecting players and coaches alike are made without understanding what changes are really needed and how those decisions and policies affect the grassroots level player. I am a firm believer that bringing strong coaching to our younger players will bode well for soccer in the future. Having a coach like Frank take the reins of educating the younger players and their coaches, appears to be a winning formula for US Soccer.

Since joining the US Soccer staff Frank has visited numerous states to meet technical directors, coaches, parents and also observe training sessions. In the two days Frank was with us he met with coaches and administrators from four different clubs and watched a team of U13 girls from Rose Tree Soccer train.

Frank on a visit to Rosetree Soccer Club

DIGITAL COACHING CENTER (DCC)

UPCOMING COACHING COURSES National E License

Palmyra, PA

Dec 16, 2016 - Dec 18, 2016 Watch the website and the next issue for 2017 dates

@EPaCoachingEd For more information, details and registration, please visit EPYSA.org

Game Watcher LA LIGA

SERIE A

Dec. 18, 2:45PM Barca v Espanyol

Dec. 12, 3:45PM Roma v AC Milan

Dec. 18, tba Valencia v R Madrid

Dec. 17, 2:45PM Juventus v Roma

BUNDESLIGA

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER

Dec. 11, 10:30AM Schalke 04 v Bayer Dec. 20, 2:00PM Monchengladbach v Wolfsburg

Dec. 10, 8:00PM Toronto v Seattle

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE (BOXING DAY SPECIAL)

Dec. 26, 7:30AM Watford v Crystal Palace Dec. 26, 10:00AM Arsenal v WBA

Dec. 26, 10:00AM Burnley v Middlesbrough

Dec. 26, 10:00AM Leicester v Everton

Dec. 26, 10:00AM Swansea v West Ham

Dec. 26, 10:00AM Chelsea v Bournemouth

Dec. 26, 10:00AM Man Utd v Sunderland

Dec. 26, 12:15PM Hull City v Man City

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MEET THE COACH

Sue Barr - ODP Head Coach, NPL & ECNL Coach What is your soccer playing background?

I grew up playing soccer and many other sports in Ithaca, New York. A lot of it was playing with boys teams as the girls programs were developing.

There was some organized soccer but always a lot of pickup. It was quintessential Ithaca: a diverse group of players from different backgrounds, ages and abilities. In high school, the better opportunities for competitive play were in Binghamton and Syracuse, and I began commuting one hour for those teams. I played ODP with Western New York, which was a great experience competing and going to the regional camps.

I committed to Cornell University and enjoyed four amazing years, winning the Ivy League along with two appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Not ready to hang up the boots at 22 years old, I continued to play with amateur and adult leagues in Cincinnati and Indiana until moving back to the east coast in 2000. I played in the Philadelphia area on competitive amateur teams like UGH and Danubia, as well as in the Tri-County Women’s Soccer League. I enjoyed many years of competitive Thursday night coed at YSC. I’m so in love with the game that I’m still playing here and there and hoping the medical community can find me some new cartilage!

When did you get involved with coaching soccer, and what team or teams are you currently coaching?

I began coaching in 1996 in Columbus Indiana with a U10 Boys team from the club, Columbus Express. I coached various teams within the club and coached high school, often with my oldest son in a baby carrier on my back! In 2000, I

got involved with local Pennsylvania clubs Spirit United and Lionville Soccer Club. I coached the Lionville boys team from U9-U17. One of those special teams is still intact from the earliest of days.

From 2009-2013, I worked at YSC Sports when it first opened, starting YSC Kids (2-6 years) and FUNdamentals (6-7 years) program and worked with the Union Juniors and Player Development programs for older players.

I am currently coaching with Penn Fusion. I’m the 2004 Girls NPL Coach and 2001 Girls ECNL assistant coach, and I am head coach of the U14 Girls Eastern Pennsylvania ODP program.

As an A Licensed coach, can you describe your experience as a female coach as you went through US Soccer Federation’s coaching pathway?

I acquired my NSCAA National Diploma in 2010. It was challenging and left me wanting to learn more.

There were actually quite a few women in the NSCAA National course, mostly fresh out of college and interested in getting coaching credentials to assistant coach at smaller colleges. In contrast, there were very few women coaches pursuing C, B and A USSF licensing.

With approximately 40 candidates at each course, there were five women pursuing the “C” License in 2012, four the “B” in 2014 and two women in my “A” License in 2015.

The course pre-work, testing environment and physical play were intense, thorough and rewarding.

The USSF Coaching Education staff coaches were true professionals. I learned a great deal. These are master-class teachers: improving player development by improving the quality of coaching. The gender differences in the coaching pathway

was subtle but present. I can say that I felt very well-received, equally challenged and expanded my knowledge. There are upsides to having women in the coaching courses, and I hope more women pursue advanced accreditations. My overall view is simple: Give me an instructor who is going to make me better. I’m comfortable with men but walking into a 38 to 2 ratio presents a unique dynamic. The industry is mostly male.

But that dynamic seemed to dissolve as day 2 moved to 3, 4, 5 and through day 9. The testing environment was stressful for everyone. I found the women handled the stress well, asking for help when needed and quick to offer help to others.

In the spirit of diversity, the coaches come from every continent and collaboration of ideas and experiences is an important part of the course while studying methodology, styles and formations.

The reality is that there are not e n o u g h q u a l i fi e d w o m e n i n coaching.

The ones that are qualified are then encouraged to coach girls under the assumption that girls need female role models.

This bias is odd to me. I know as a player, I prayed for a coach that would make me better. Gender was not on that short list of wants. To this end, whether youth league, high school, academy, college or pro level, the USSF accreditation process will make you a better coach. Young, old, male or female…

It is so worth the effort.

MEET THE COACH Sue Barr - ODP Head Coach, NPL & ECNL Coach Can you provide any insight into why more women do not pursue US Soccer Licenses, and can you think of solutions to this problem?

If you look at the big picture, most youth coaches begin at clubs that have Directors of Coaching (DOCs) with soccer connections in the community.

Those DOCs are typically in contact with local colleges and adult soccer programs that attract talented soccer players in their 20’s that have potential to coach in clubs. Most tend to be men. I would challenge the clubs and soccer communities to actively seek talented female players to coach in their programs while mentoring them along the way. The Assistant DOC at Penn Fusion is regularly observing sessions and giving written and oral feedback to coaches.

If the clubs have a minimum requirement of the F and E License, this will open the pathways to the more advanced licensing, which in return benefits the players and club.

Another obstacle that women face while pursuing their higher licensing is family responsibilities, as was my situation. Coaching youth sports is not exactly family-conducive.

It takes commitment in the evenings and weekends, which can be a serious challenge no matter what the age of your children. In addition, the upper level courses require a tremendous amount of time doing

session planning, video-recorded sessions, self-analysis and match analysis of national teams. That’s all prior to attending the course.

So what is the solution?

No creativity here…. “JUST DO IT.” For every five reasons why you can’t go through the arduous licensing process, just find one reason to go for it! Get your family on board, get the help you need and make time for a great educational journey!

A few additional thoughts: 1. Find a mentor. Observe and ask lots of questions.

2. If you’re working in a club, ask you DOC for advice and to observe your sessions.

3. Eastern Pennsylvania Yo u t h S o c c e r i s a resource. I met with (Assistant Technical Director) Gary Stephenson and (Te ch n i ca l D i re cto r) Mike Barr to review my match analysis for the B License. They helped me immensely and proved to be an outstanding resource for me.

4. Practice what you have learned. After you have gone through a course, challenge yourself to maintain creating highlevel sessions.

5. W h e n d o i n g y o u r practice sessions, plan on working with both boys and girls teams at the higher levels. The speed of play is quicker, and it will better prepare you for the type of teams you will work with at the courses.

6. Go above and beyond in your preparation. It will make for a less stressful experience at the courses.

You have been very active and successful with coaching U6 players. How do you temper parents’ expectations if their child shows real promise?

A parent’s love knows no bounds!

While working with young players (ages 2-7 years), I experienced the deep love parents have for their children at these young ages. I, too, felt this for my children. This is important, as we know that the path to greatness comes from a good support system. In our pay-for-play soccer culture, the parent is, in fact, the customer, and the player is the consumer. It’s important to listen and validate what the parent has to say.

My recommendation to the parent is to have realistic expectations of the program. Even for those rare children showing great early progress, children develop at different times and in different ways.

Be careful not to over-coach and keep it fun. There is plenty of time later to learn how to split defenses!

What else can you, the parent, do to foster your children’s game? In my very un-scientific opinion, try different sports: baseball for quickness and depth perception. Or basketball for jumping, lateral movement and accelerating past defenders.

My all-time favorite recommendation for your young athletes is to design your very own obstacle course with lots of soccer elements! Tap into their creativity by finding items in the garage to create hurdles and tunnels while adding in different balls to manipulate with dribbling and shooting and going 1v1 to goal, creativity and deliberate practice all in one!!

MEET THE COACH Sue Barr - ODP Head Coach, NPL & ECNL Coach As the game changes, and the philosophies around it change, how do you adjust your coaching style accordingly? Are the formations you consider now that you didn’t in past years?

The reality is that my coaching style should evolve over the years based on increased knowledge and experience. For example, there is a lot more attention to developing the more cognitive player with greater game awareness. If playing a smallsided game, two-touch possessionbased activity, a “command” style approach is “John, play quicker.”

This isn’t going to be as effective as an “Active Learning” style: “John, what do you need to know before taking your prep touch, and how will you do it?” We can tell John what to do or give him thinking tools to make better decisions. At the same time, we have our players for such a short amount of training time that we need to be very clear what we want out of them. For example, if my topic is “Defending in Wide Areas”, I should

be very clear what I want the team to look like and this will require more Command style, coupled with Guided Discovery for reinforcement.

At the professional level of soccer, I’m obsessed with formations, eagerly waiting to see how the teams line up at the start of the game. How will Pep Guardiola line up this week? Three in the back, four in the back?

Center backs high, deep? Wingers tucked in or playing wide? It’s enjoyable to see how the greatest coaches and players play their chess matches.

Having said that, I coach at the youth level and it seems far more critical to teach them one or two formations. I want them to really understand their roles and responsibilities.

Within those formations, you teach your style of p l a y.

Possession-based, aesthetically pleasing soccer is a must for me. The 4-3-3 allows freedom and creativity in the midfield and of course attacking from the outside backs. Teaching

the outside backs when to get higher into the attack is critical for youth players in learning how to create overloads through the thirds of the field. I have toyed with the 3-5-2 when we were playing down a goal in critical games.

While vulnerable to gaps in the back line, we had a particularly strong central defender that covered a lot of ground, making it difficult to penetrate. A narrow pitch has its merits for playing a 3-5-2, further reducing those gaps. Finally, with older teams, it’s important to practice playing a man down as these are game-like situations. I tried a 4-4-1, which is defensively cautious but we certainly weren’t threatening with the one man up top.

Switched to a 4-3-2, not dropping too deep, pinching the outside backs in and getting more support up top.

It seemed a bit more balanced.

Who knows?

Always open to learning!

US Soccer PDI: Formations for Small-sided Play

The U.S. Soccer Player Development Initiatives (PDI) outlined rules and methodology for small-sided games. The Under-8 and younger age groups will play 4v4, the U9&U10 age groups will play 7v7 and the U11&U12's will play 9v9.

Above, we've put together playing formations for 7v7 and 9v9 to help acclimate coaches who may be new to small-sided games.

The PDI is available in its entirety on our website here.

Jurgen Klinsmann In Context The moment that defined Jurgen Klinsmann’s run with US Soccer came in a 2015 friendly.

Brek Shea, one of the many promising American youngsters whose progress stalled in the last several years, was back in the mix after a sabbatical from the National Team.

He scored 35 times in 48 games for the US Under-17 and U20 teams but failed to turn that promise into senior success.

Injuries didn’t help, either. The winger watched from the sideline as a parade of contemporaries surpassed him on Klinsmann’s depth chart. So Klinsmann attempted to redefine Shea’s role. He made him a left back.

On this night almost two years ago now, Shea looked lost in his new position. He was tentative with the ball. He couldn’t figure out what runs to make from the back and when to make them. But Klinsmann remained positive at a period when the good vibes following the 2014 World Cup waned. “ Ye s , B r e k ! ” t h e T V microphones caught him saying at one point. The problem was the play he praised became a turnover in the midfield. Shea flubbed a 10-foot pass.

The scene was a microcosm of the Klinsmann era. He had grandiose ideas of what the United States should be as a soccer nation and, as Technical Director, set about reaching those goals. He just failed to match his micro role with his macro one, whether it was questionable formations, personal bias against proven players (Landon Donovan the

most famous example, Benny Feilhaber a close second), or a dangerous tethering to form over results. Such a mindset works on the development level, or over a 40-plus game season, but not when World Cups are on the line.

Klinsmann also picked too many fights. He flaunted his background implicitly if not explicitly. MLS is not equal to European soccer. We know that. He reminded us anyway.

On more than one occasion he s c o ff e d t h a t a p o r t i o n o f American soccer fans didn’t understand the game. He was and is probably right. But it’s not their job to understand the game. It’s their job to cheer.

US Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati could no longer support a man who continually undermined American soccer, especially when the results stopped coming. Gulati ran out of patience.

That’s something we’ve all been good at (or not good at depending on your perspective). There’s no great line of demarcation for when US Soccer as we know it emerged as a serious regional contender.

The 1990 World Cup was the Americans’ first appearance since 1950. That’s a good place to start. The next year John H a r k e s b e c a m e t h e fi r s t American to play in the English Premier League. In 1994, we hosted the World Cup with record crowds. MLS came two years later, while more players debuted for European clubs.

With all due respect to the extensive history that preceded

the 1990’s, US Soccer is essentially in its mid-twenties— Dillon Friday Sports Journalist at least, on the Eastern Pennsylvania world stage. It Youth Soccer i s s t i l l v e r y Marketing Coordinator young. We should be proud of the strides we’ve made not only in reaching the knockout stages at four World Cups (1994, 2002, 2010, 2014) in that span but also in that we can fire a Klinsmann and not have the operation start at zero.

Here we find ourselves in a similar place as the departed German. Just as he shouted at Shea all those months ago, we, too, are reconciling expectation, action and optimism. The most prosperous nation in the world has millions of soccer players and yet can’t achieve more than moral victories. Too often we relish the underdog role when the bully would be a better fit.

We may get there. Part of Klinsmann’s legacy will be his efforts in revamping the youth development teams. Well, the U17’s just smoked the field at the Nike Friendlies in Florida, while the most prized product, Christian Pulisic, continues to shine at Borussia Dortmund.

There are signs that the direction of US Soccer remains firmly forward despite the sorry start to the World Cup campaign.

We just have to be patient: look at the smaller picture when analyzing development, the big picture in context of a larger one when judging progress.

Created by Roger Baldino

Last Update: Nov 23, 2016

TRAINING SESSION: DEFENDING AGAINST THE COUNTER ATTACK Objectives Compact playDon't let opposing team turn with ballApply pressureProvide coverAlign to be balanced

Technical warm up: Defending against counter attack Coaching Points Defend the counter attackCompact playQuick reaction on attack

3v3 4 cones, bibs, 4 balls Intensity: 5 15:00 min (6 x 02:00 min, 00:30 min rest)

Description 3v3 (2,3 vs 7,9 in the playing area)2 additional players serve ball inEach team is attempting to pass to dribble across opposing teams end lineTeam that is scored upon quickly serves ball into playCreate transitional play and counter situations

Small Side activity: Defending against the counter attack Coaching Points 1v1 defendingPressureCoverBalance

4v4 4 balls, bibs, 2 small goal, goal Intensity: 6 16:00 min (4 x 04:00 min, 30:00 min rest)

Description 4v4 (1 group has GK,2,3,6 and other has 8 serving ball in only to 7,9,11)6 starts even with ball being served in and recovers to a defensive position7,9,11 are scoring on goal and are in an attacking role2,3,6 are scoring on small counter goal at midfieldTraining area 55Wx65L

Expanded Small sided activity: Defending against counter attack Coaching Points Defend the counter attackDon't let the attacker turn with the ballPressureCoverBalance

8v8 2 goals, bibs, 6 balls Intensity: 7 20:00 min (4 x 05:00 min, 00:30 min rest)

Description 8v8 (Blue 1,3,4,2,6,7,8,11 and Red has 1,3,4,2,7,8,10,11)Training area is top of penalty box to top of penalty boxAfter each shot or goal the shooter needs to run behind and around the goal they shot on and rejoin playkeep score

Game: Defending counter attack 11 v 11 2 goals, bibs,AR, 4 balls Intensity: 7 26:00 min (2 x 12:00 min, 02:00 min rest)

PAGE 1/1

Coaching Points Defend the counter attackDon't let the attacker turn with the ballPressureCoverBalance Description 11v11 game

Created by Sal Carbone

Last Update: Nov 15, 2016

TRAINING SESSION: DEFEND ZONALLY Objectives Improve teams ability to defend zonally

Zone Defense Warm-up Coaching Points Shuffling technique, dropping technique.

Communication

8v8 Cones, pinnies Intensity: 6

Description Set up 8 cones across 4 on one end and 4 on the opposite. 40 x 50 yards. rotate players, Coach announces commands initially, allow players take over commands.

10:00 min (5 x 01:00 min, 01:00 min rest)

Zone Defense Guard your goal 8v8 Goals, pinnies, cones Intensity: 6

Coaching Points Communication, Zone your area which mimics potential through balls. Understand how to intercept the the pass between each defender.

Description 30 x 50 yards using 8 goals, 4 on each side.

Both teams can score.

18:00 min (6 x 02:30 min, 00:30 min rest)

Zonal Defending Using a point 8v8 Large goals, cones, pinnes Intensity: 7 25:00 min (2 x 12:00 min, 01:00 min rest)

Coaching Points Zone defense against the through ball, Understand how to prevent a through ball from the rear and also in front of the defensive player. Understand how to remain intact and not allow teams to split the defensive.

Description 60 x 50 yards. two large goals, split the area in half. 4v4 in each half. Offensive players can shoot on goal.

Zonal Defending Scrimmage 8v8 Large goals, cones, pinnes Intensity: 7 25:00 min (2 x 12:00 min, 01:00 min rest)

PAGE 1/1

Coaching Points Zone defense against the through ball, Understand how to prevent a through ball from the rear and also in front of the defensive player. Understand how to remain intact and not allow teams to split the defensive. Defensive players must communicate with one another in order to organize themselves in order to maintain a strong defensive line.

Description 60 x 50 yards. two large goals, split the area in half. 4v4 in each half. All players can shoot on goal.