Sports Path Innovation in Grassroots Football

Quick Self Evaluation : Which sort of Soccer Program do you run ?

Research by Danish FA of 100 children's matches recommends 8v8 for 10-13 year olds

This research is based on a total of 100 children’s and youth matches, which were recorded, analysed, and reviewed.In total, around 600 U8 to U14 players participated in the study (including both boys and girls)

'We noted that although there were many ball possession per player in the 9v9 game  most passes occurred across the field - a type of passes which cannot be considered as particularly challenging for the players.'

English Version of Report Here  Download Spilleformer_Banestørrelser_Supplerende_undersøgelse_ENGLISH_2013_HV

Danish FA website including videos here http://www.dbu.dk/spilleformer

Free Chapter of New Book : ' Soccer Coaching and the Web: A Guide to support Player Development '

 

The basis of player development has always been face to face interaction between the coach and the player, but our analysis of feedback from over 500 practicing Soccer Coaches at all levels in Europe, Asia and North America, clearly shows that this is not the only way coaches are now engaging with players.

In this first ever Guide for Soccer Coaches on how to use the web to support the development of their players, we explore WHICH Web Tools coaches use, WHY and HOW they use them

The top 5 reasons given by these coaches as to why they use the web to support the development of their players are as follows:

1. The Player is encouraged to take  more OWNERSHIP  of their own  development
2. It’s an EXTENSION of the coaching session for the players
3. An opportunity to REINFORCE MESSAGES when they are away from the coach
4. It’s  an opportunity to provide ADDED VALUE to  the coaching they receive from our club and this DIFFERENTIATES us from other clubs
5. It maximizes the CONTACT TIME  the coach has with the players

 

The book is therefore grounded in – PRACTICAL APPLICATION and includes

- Over 100 examples quoted by coaches at all levels

- Recommendations for 200 FREE TOOLS

- References to over 250 FREE websites

Free PDF of Chapter 1 here Download Soccer Coaching and the WebChapter 1

Scott Armstrong Director of Coaching, Space Coast Utd. Soccer Club,Florida,posted this review on Amazon for the Guide:

‘I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The book is a blueprint on how to establish a well functioning blog.It gives lots of very useful resources to find great information that encompasses how to set up the blog, what software to use and where to find useful and specific tools to find your information and then share it. I am in the process of starting my first blog and after reading the book I feel I can take my blog from the idea of what I want to present to adding my first post with useful info.The author has made this book very reader friendly and whether you are a novice or experienced blogger you will find lots of great ideas in this book for your players.I highly recommend this book’

Phil Abbott,Director Academy Soccer Coach said of the Guide :

'This Guide clearly provides coaches at all levels with a valuable resource on leveraging technology to develop their players and themselves’

 Jacob Daniel,The Director of Coaching for Georgia Soccer commented :

'A Great resource. This is an area in which I need to educate myself more so your book was timely'  

The Guide is now ready and can be seen here on Amazon  at $19.95 ( £12.48) but we have an special Introductory Offer of 20% discount for our blog readers.To take advantage of this offer at a special rate of 20 % discount then follow these simple instructions:

• Go to : https://www.createspace.com/4513337

• Click on ‘ Add to Cart’
• Enter this Discount code in the box provided - LGEAGQDP-  and click on ‘ Apply Discount’
• Check Out!

Everything you ever wanted to know about Digital badging and how to use this with young players

Great article here on Digital Badging http://online.qmags.com/TJL0513/default.aspx?pg=14&mode=1#pg14&mode1

See Video of new App launched by Wayne Rooney

Fivestar is revolutionizing the way young athletes learn and train, making the world’s most accomplished athletes and trainers affordable and accessible to all. Anyone. Any time. Anywhere.

http://fivestartraining.com/

Philadelphia Union youth academy opens its own high school

Philadelphia Union youth academy enters brave new world as club opens its own high school

AUGUST 21, 2013

Dave Zeitlin

MLSsoccer.com

Reddit

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64     Comments

Courtesy of Philadelphia Union

CHESTER, Pa. – The Philadelphia Union are currently right in the thick of the playoff race, sitting one point out of first place in the Eastern Conference.

In less than two weeks, the franchise will begin something they believe will keep them in more playoff races for many years to come: a unique high school that will be the centerpiece of the Union’s ever-growing youth academy.

“We’re the only ones [in MLS] that have started and deployed our own high school program,” Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz told MLSsoccer.com. “I think that’s going to be a game-changer for us.”

Other MLS teams like Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas have partnered with outside schools in the surrounding districts, but when researching what model would be best for their club, the Union decided to build something new in an office complex across the street from YSC Sports, the Union’s youth development training center in Wayne, Pa.

• READ: Union youngsters logging meaningful minutes on USL PRO loan stints

The renovations were recently completed and the school, dubbed YSC Academy, is set to open its doors on Sept. 3, with the Union’s first team, coaches and team executives in attendance for the momentous occasion.

“What the school allows us to do is really drive the cultural identity of the club,” said Richie Graham, the owner of YSC Sports and a partial owner of the Union. “We considered partnering with an outside school, but an outside school has its own culture.”

The school consists of grades 8-12, but there will be no 12th graders enrolled for 2013-14 while the club grows the attendance up from the younger grades. There are no girls currently enrolled, but Graham told MLSsoccer.com the club might be open to the possibility of admitting girls in the future.

For Graham, who has overseen the project, it’s been a long road to reach this point. Among the challenges that go into starting a private school are working with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, hiring teachers and settling on a curriculum.

But Graham believes the right steps were taken along the way to provide the best educational and athletic opportunities for the 32 boys enrolled for the 2013-14 school year, all of whom are part of the club’s youth development programs (either on the U-14, U-16, U-18 academy squads, or in the Union Juniors Program).

• READ: Visit the Union's YSC/academy home page to learn more

A lot of sports science went into the students' schedule, which includes a training session in the morning before classes begin and another one in the afternoon after school gets out, as well as four nutritional meals per day.

The school will also have a modern feel, with a progressive curriculum, a digital library, small class sizes and classrooms that look more like a modern Internet startup company than what you'd expect to see in a traditional school setting.

“One of the big elements is we are really big on giving kids a voice and a choice in their education,” Graham said. “It’s the idea that kids are a part of their educational process and take ownership of it, just like we’re asking them to do on the field, where they’re pushing themselves to be the best they can be.”

The Union briefly considered setting up a residency program with dorms but, after studying some European models, decided it’s best for high school-aged kids to have a home life. Some students could still come from outside the club’s catchment area and live with host families, but the main purpose of the school is for standout players from the Philadelphia region. And many of the students will receive financial aid, as provided on a need basis.

• Find more Philadelphia Union news at PhiladelphiaUnion.com

“I’m not saying our model is better, but I do think it gives us the ability to really focus on driving through the culture of what it means to play for the Philadelphia Union,” Graham said. “A dream come true for me would be that someday these boys are representing the Philadelphia Union at PPL Park, they score a goal, that they run in the corner and they’re the kid that’s kissing the badge.”

Of course, many of the club’s academy players won’t be good enough to score goals for the Union first team some day. But the hope is that those that don’t are still in good position to play college soccer and succeed in life. And the Union believe that the few who do get to PPL Park will make this ambitious project worth it in the long run.

“This is not an inexpensive venture,” Sakiewicz said. “This is multiple millions of dollars over a long period of time. But our dream is to put as many starting-11 players as we can from our local area. And this is how we can do that.”

Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. E-mail him at [email protected].

‘Potentialing Your Child In Soccer: A parent's guide for helping kids maximize their potential in soccer and in life’

 This best selling book is now available on Amazon here or via our E Store here

About potentialing from Robin.Russell

 

‘Potentialing Your Child In Soccer: A parent's guide for helping kids maximize their potential in soccer and in life’

Now availbale from Amazon. View Details here 

Potentialing cover 3[4] (1) from Robin.Russell

 

Excellent Report on Youth Soccer Academies in Europe with Case Studies

First Class Report from the European Clubs Association here 

Examples of Blended Learning in School Physical Education

From Forbes Magazine

What’s digital learning got to do with physical activity?

Quite a lot I believe.

A couple weekends ago I had the privilege of presenting at TEDx Manhattan Beach where I heard another presenter, Dr. John Ratey, speak about the importance of physical exercise in increasing brain plasticity and boosting student learning. His book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, details the connection.

Although I normally write about digital learning’s potential to transform our education, as a Crossfit enthusiast myself, I believe in the importance of living a healthy life with physical exercise.

One of the biggest misconceptions about the rise of online learning is that a student’s schooling will be spent primarily in front of a computer, with a student clicking away relentlessly as though she were playing eight hours of video games a day.

This couldn’t be further from the truth, however, if the rise of online learning fulfills its potential and creates a truly student-centric education system—which should be the ultimate goal.

As I’ve traveled around the country observing blended-learning schools, the ones I’ve been most struck by are those that give individual students the proper flexibility so that they can have the right experience they need when they need it to boost their success—both in that moment and in life. In the future of education, digital learning should be the platform that facilitates each student having a customized learning experience for her distinct learning needs—whether that experience is online or offline.

Carpe Diem Collegiate Middle and High School, one of my favorite blended-learning models, has no physical education class. Instead the school has what might be described as a fitness center with an on-site trainer who works with each student not on random mandatory athletic units but instead on a tailored program for how to live a healthy life. When students are growing antsy at their desks and need to get some physical exercise to let off some steam and reboot for more learning, they have the autonomy to go to the gym and work out.

The Silicon Valley Flex Academy, which has several elements of what I think the future of schooling will look like, is located across the parking lot from a Crossfit gym. The school has contemplated a formal partnership with the Crossfit affiliate to offer the students a Crossfit for Kids program, which, in my opinion, would be far superior to the gym classes offered at most schools.

My biggest personal surprise in online learning came several years ago when I learned that one of the more popular classes that the Florida Virtual School offers is online physical education. I struggled to imagine what this might mean, but what I ultimately learned is that the class involves a teacher working with each individual student on her daily fitness routine (from running to lifting to playing team sports) to realize her fitness goals and live a healthy life. Recalling my own experience in middle school PE, I could see the immediate benefits of having this sort of an experience instead of an awkward communal one that teaches a student virtually nothing about living a healthy life—and may even discourage that by creating negative associations with physical exercise.

It’s not just physical exercise that should see a healthier balance with the rise of digital learning, but lots of activities. Many schools are increasingly using blended learning to free teachers up to spend more time working with students in project-based learning. I’ve been struck by how much students collaborate with each other naturally—often peer tutoring each other—in the blended-learning schools I’ve visited. Whereas “socialization” often appears to me to be a negative thing in many schools, in blended-learning schools the social interactions appear to me to be far healthier and around helping each student improve. I don’t have hard data on this, but it’s my observation that this is one of the exciting—and often unintended—effects of using a blended-learning model.

To this end, when many people think about full-time virtual schools, one of their biggest fears is about students in their younger years. They ask how could students possibly have a fully online experience when they are so young. What are the downsides of spending so much time in front of a computer? The answer is that in the programs of which I’m aware, most of the learning for students in the younger years is actually offline—with books and manipulatives. The online learning mostly serves as the platform that helps the student’s family communicate with the student’s teacher and individualizes the learning, in addition to providing some exercises and games to build some basic skills.

In an age where the arts, athletics, and other so-called extracurricular activities are increasingly on the chopping block in public schools, digital learning ought to change the equation. Various blended-learning models, for example, should create more flexibility and free up more funds so that schools can offer an array of experiences, including physical exercise.

According to Ratey’s research, that’s something we can’t afford to lose if we’re serious about boosting student achievement. Student-centric digital learning provides a means to make sure that it doesn’t fall by the wayside.