Whoa! There are some bulging eyeballs and dropped jaws pointed in the direction of this one particular dad on my sideline. For crying out loud, for the good of the team, for the sanity of your son, for our peace and quiet... ZIP IT ALREADY!!!
So last year we'd be working on "back door" awareness a lot. My kids were fixating on the ball, forward slips in far post, ball is crossed and BOOM, the back door scores. We worked on it during practices and of course parents and kids hear me yell it, frantically, during games. This particular dad clearly has never played a game of soccer in his life, yet feels particularly useful when he yells and screams directives at his child. One episode during a game is now pretty entertaining... His son plays defense and there was a breakaway right at him. A one on one with only the goalie behind him. As he steps up to and delays (just as he'd been taught...no #$%^&* stabbing THIS time), his father SCREAMS at the top of his very large lungs: BACK DOOR, BACK DOOR!! My assistant coach and I look at each other and say "what?". So what does this child do? Of course. Disengages, looks behind him, throws his hands up and yells "where?". See ya! The attacker slips right on by while our goalie has to pick his jaw up off the ground before saving a wide open shot. I marched down the sideline (hearing a few "uh ohs" as I stomped) and not so politely asked him why he said that?! His answer? "Because you are always yelling "back door" to him." Through gritted teeth I informed him that there was no thief at the back door, this time he was coming through the FRONT DOOR right at your son!
So last week, this same father provided more opportunity for a coach to practice self control. We were winning 5-0 so we had some serious positional changes on the field. Kids were scratching their heads all over the field in their new spots. I moved yellers son up to forward and he was doing great! At one point I heard dad's voice again and looked over to see what was going on NOW... Dad is yelling at his son to move up to "all that space back there". Son of course is ignoring dad which causes dad to yell it louder. Now you should see the look on the Assistant Ref standing on the line nearby. Finally enough people get sick of hearing it and yell at HIM that his son would be offsides. Well, now his feelings are hurt that people are yelling at him so he mumbles about how it makes no sense, how is someone supposed to score if you can't ever go past the defender, etc....
There are so many more episodes to choose from... but I'll leave you with an example (from Screamer Dad) of how NOT to hydrate your player. I tell my kids during summer and early fall practices about how important it is to stay ahead of the hydration curve, not to try and play catch up during a game. I tell them to carry a water bottle around and drink some all day. Apparently my way is not efficient enough because Screamer Dad just had his son get it done and over with all at once and made him drink at least a quart of water all at once, right before practice. That always feels good and prepares one for a good hard, running practice. Not. This happened over and over again even though I told BOTH of them not to do it this way. Well, he WAS well hydrated, till he barfed it all up in middle of the penalty box. Now he's not, and we have 4 cones oddly positioned in the penalty box to keep kids away during the scrimmage.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
How Much Practice Time???
Last year, as U10, we practiced 2 times a week for 1 1/2 hours each time. This left me feeling like I definitely needed more time! My son's Spring lacrosse team went undefeated the last 2 years and I think a huge part of that success came about from WAY more practice time compared to others. Most teams practiced 2x a week and his practiced 3x a week for 2 hours each.
I bumped my U11 kids up to 3 days a week for 1 1/2 hours each this year, much to the annoyance of some of my parents.
So are we a much better team because we have that extra practice AND because we started 2-4 weeks earlier than everyone else? Or is that time not really necessary? I often wonder that.
We run the kids hard on Monday and Wednesday but very little conditioning (beyond practice games) on Fridays, before our games. I think the extra day of conditioning has also helped. They are usually soccer related such as "rob the nest", relay races, pass and run drills, etc.
Most teams I know only practice 2 times a week. Busy coaches only practice 1 time a week and that annoys both parents and kids who both feel like they are not getting enough time on the field!
I'm curious how much others practice and what your thoughts are on that. Drop me a response!
I bumped my U11 kids up to 3 days a week for 1 1/2 hours each this year, much to the annoyance of some of my parents.
So are we a much better team because we have that extra practice AND because we started 2-4 weeks earlier than everyone else? Or is that time not really necessary? I often wonder that.
We run the kids hard on Monday and Wednesday but very little conditioning (beyond practice games) on Fridays, before our games. I think the extra day of conditioning has also helped. They are usually soccer related such as "rob the nest", relay races, pass and run drills, etc.
Most teams I know only practice 2 times a week. Busy coaches only practice 1 time a week and that annoys both parents and kids who both feel like they are not getting enough time on the field!
I'm curious how much others practice and what your thoughts are on that. Drop me a response!
Official Scoring induces CRAZINESS!!!
So this is the first year my boys U11 team is officially keeping score. Of course, we all have those kids who have been keeping score, goal count and differentials since they were 4, but I'm talking about officially. Coaches have gone MAD! We've done well and won our first 3 games which puts us with 4 other teams out of 24 who have what a fellow coach called "perfect records". Really? We've been scored on 7 times and we've barely pulled off some of the wins. I don't think "perfect" is very accurate.
My kids spent one particular game getting cussed out. My son didn't even know those words were cuss words yet! At the end of the game, they informed me of the litany of words spewed at them (all in code... A word, S word, D word, F word, JA word, K word (???) ). After we shook hands with the coach I asked him to have a word with his boys about it and his response was "So?". I just laughed and said "Really? That's all you have to say?" Well, I could go on about this incidence but you've probably all been there. But I realized what was to blame.... his points had dipped almost off the chart with that loss... a tie for them the week before and now a loss to us. He's at the bottom of the pack!! And that FREAKED him out! I'm sure his kids left that game excited and ready for more (dripping sarcasm).
I can't claim to be exempt.... I am embarassed to say that I have a very detailed spread sheet that I update religiously every Saturday evening/Sundays after the games. I even email coaches who haven't posted scores online and ask them the scores so I can update my own spread sheet. I am writing this with my head lowered in shamefullness- I know how ridiculous it is. BUT I have a coach friend who ALSO does the same thing, but his spread sheet wasn't as pretty as mine- mine are color coded by division. Wanna see my spread sheet? Don't do it unless you want to become as ridiculously obsessed as many of us have become. I warned you....
Here it is!
I did have an epiphany last week though. My family does highs/lows at dinner. First my son said that soccer practice was his high. Then he quickly changed it to his low. We asked him what that was about and he said "Well, my coach is starting to panic because the game tomorrow so it wasn't as fun as usual." My other son said "Just like you do." OUCH. 2x4 upside the face. Not my proudest moment. I'm a work in progress...
My kids spent one particular game getting cussed out. My son didn't even know those words were cuss words yet! At the end of the game, they informed me of the litany of words spewed at them (all in code... A word, S word, D word, F word, JA word, K word (???) ). After we shook hands with the coach I asked him to have a word with his boys about it and his response was "So?". I just laughed and said "Really? That's all you have to say?" Well, I could go on about this incidence but you've probably all been there. But I realized what was to blame.... his points had dipped almost off the chart with that loss... a tie for them the week before and now a loss to us. He's at the bottom of the pack!! And that FREAKED him out! I'm sure his kids left that game excited and ready for more (dripping sarcasm).
I can't claim to be exempt.... I am embarassed to say that I have a very detailed spread sheet that I update religiously every Saturday evening/Sundays after the games. I even email coaches who haven't posted scores online and ask them the scores so I can update my own spread sheet. I am writing this with my head lowered in shamefullness- I know how ridiculous it is. BUT I have a coach friend who ALSO does the same thing, but his spread sheet wasn't as pretty as mine- mine are color coded by division. Wanna see my spread sheet? Don't do it unless you want to become as ridiculously obsessed as many of us have become. I warned you....
Here it is!
I did have an epiphany last week though. My family does highs/lows at dinner. First my son said that soccer practice was his high. Then he quickly changed it to his low. We asked him what that was about and he said "Well, my coach is starting to panic because the game tomorrow so it wasn't as fun as usual." My other son said "Just like you do." OUCH. 2x4 upside the face. Not my proudest moment. I'm a work in progress...
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