🎭 This Isn’t Broadway
I’ve seen T-ball games where adults are standing out on the field, positioning players, telling them where to throw, where to run, when to swing. And every time I see that, two questions come to mind: First, why aren’t more parents just playing catch with their kids at home? Or kicking a soccer ball around […]
From Challenges to Solutions
In his thought-provoking article “From Crisis to Comeback,” Rob Baan, Dutch Director of Coaching, addressed a pressing challenge facing youth soccer players in the Netherlands and shared what worked to overcome it. After reading Rob’s insightful piece, Diana Boettcher, Soccer Bon Vivant, felt compelled to respond, bringing these innovative solutions into the context of youth […]
ANYONE FOR LUNCH?
Diane Boettcher, Soccer Bon Vivant, shares her expert insights after reading, Inadvertently Failing Our Players – and Intentionally Supporting Our Players! In much the same time and place as basketball, volleyball was invented in the United States. In the early 1900s, the Spalding sporting goods company came out with rule books, balls nets, and backyard […]
Assignment: Coaching Girls
First and foremost, what we coach is Soccer. Jimmy Dugan didn’t get it in “A League of Their Own,” and that’s the farce that makes the movie. Nowadays, coaching girls is no novelty to men, and soccer dads seek some insight into the tribe of girls they are leading. Leading truly is the assignment; as […]
Escape Isolation With Flair
Covid got you down? Can’t get to the gym, can’t play soccer and can’t work with your team? Well, a few years back, there was a Dutch coach who needed to recover from a heart attack. His doctors wouldn’t allow him to play and his wife wouldn’t allow him out of the house. His name was Wiel Coerver. The […]
Running Hills for Soccer Fitness
Studies show no deleterious effects on elite 10 year old athletes when they engage in 30 minutes of sustained running at up to 8% grade under a psychrometer reading differential of 4 or higher at 22 or fewer degrees centigrade. Okay, I made that up. But, does it really matter? Parents and non-elite 10 year […]
Winning vs. Development (Part 1)
Back in the 1990’s, a famed sports psychologist polled kids about their motivations for playing soccer. The study became a classic in youth sports and served to wake up overbearing parents and coaches. To paraphrase, they found the number one reason kids played soccer was to have fun. Second, they played to be with friends. […]
She Is Ready for the “Power Step”
She Is Ready for the “Power Step” Question from Reader: My daughter is the goal keeper for a U-12 team. She is very enthusiastic and willing to learn, but my issue is knowledgeable instruction. For most of Megan’s keeper career she has not had formal training. I have learned from online sources and from clinics […]
Coaching During the Game
In the FUNdamental SOCCER philosophy, we firmly believe the game is for the players. In our sliding scale of active coaching, we are least vocal when the performance anxiety and competition are the greatest and more vocal only when competition is secondary to learning. Thus, we decrease performance anxiety and enable learning in the training […]