Everyone Should have Written Session Plans – Even Ex-Professional Players!
I Played Professional/Collegiate Soccer so Why should I Plan a Session? As a growing soccer nation, we are starting to realize the rewards of soccer experience with our youth coaches. Now we have a...
View ArticleTeaching the Laws of the Game in Your Sessions/Practices
The Laws of the Game have been in place in some for or fashion for over 150 years. Taking root in the Sheffield Rules of Football in 1858, the Football Association (F.A.) approved the Laws of the Game...
View ArticleInterview with Man United Legend Brian Greenhoff!
Brian Greenhoff Brian Greenhoff was capped for England 18 times. He played and was a regular in the starting eleven for Manchester United from 1972-1981. Following his career at Manchester United, he...
View ArticleAn Inside Look at Barcelona’s Youth Training System
From the book, Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World, Chapter 9 “The Breeding Ground” by Graham Hunter I have been reading this book and, while the entire book is wonderful, Chapter 9 is...
View ArticleRepetitive Headers and Brain Injury
As I have posted on here before, I am concerned with the risk of brain injury to young players not necessarily resulting from head-to-head contact, or contact with the ground or goal post, but because...
View ArticleLessons from National D Course
I recently finished the National D Course. As the instructors noted, the course material has changed in recent years. Each license is progressively more difficult to obtain than in the past. I...
View ArticleSebastian Giraldo: Developing Creativity in Youth Soccer Players: Three...
“I do everything through instinct, I play like a child … I think about myself on a small field, or in the street, I see myself with the ball in the same way as I am now. I have not changed at all. You...
View ArticleSebastian Giraldo – The Often Overlooked Role of the Trainer as Teacher, Part I.
The following is part of a 3 part series from Sebastian Giraldo regarding the importance of Teaching when you train or coach. I love this piece by Sebastian and it is special to soccerthought.com. As...
View ArticleCan a parent-coach be a professional soccer coach?
***Note on this blog*** I realize now after writing this that I have wanted to get this out for a while. This is a bit more personal than my usual entries, but these ideas have been banging around my...
View ArticleParent-Coaching: Perspectives of an Elite Player’s Parent (College-Bound Player)
This comment was left to my post on Can a Parent-Coach be a Professional Coach. I received a lot of email regarding that post – Sam Snow, our U.S. Director of Coaches, distributed it to all 55 State...
View ArticleCoaching 442 – My “Aha” Moment
You can follow my education on coaching soccer on this blog. I was a clean slate starting in ’06 and relied on coaching experience and coaching education to form my foundations. At that time, the US...
View ArticleMVP of Premier League
Great article about “the most effect player in the EPL.” http://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/22/football/kante-chelsea-roi-football-stats-win-percentage/ Love this article because of the point it makes....
View ArticleWhy You Should Have 2 Center-Mids in Small Sided Formations (9v9)
Our league (United Soccer Club) transitioned from 8v8 to 9v9 this year. In any event, in any league you play, you will encounter variations of small-sided games. As you balance development versus...
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