OUR SOCCER CULTURE IS THE CULPRIT
The lack of soccer culture in the USA is the biggest hindrance to becoming a consistent performer at the world-class level. There is truth in all being said, written, and done regarding the ‘No Need To Re-Invent The Wheel’ article. How many youth players were glued to the screen during the World Cup this past […]
Addressing Our Referee Shortage
After reading James Scaglione’s article “A Constructive Response.’ An overwhelming number of concerned individuals sent their thoughts/ideas on retaining and gaining referees. Here are a few … Maybe if USSF spent more money on training new refs and less on training the higher-level refs, we’d have sufficient retention that the decrease in training would […]
RESPONSES TO CRAIG WINANS ARTICLE
It’s just a matter of understanding the player’s age and cognitive and physical development. The youth national was fantastic, and I know we’ve switched models. However, it’s still interesting to watch parents yelling at their kids. Like Pat says, what do you do? Well, you praise them and play them. The lessons they will learn […]
Addressing Our Referee Shortage
You challenged me to come up with a solution to the referee shortage. This after I commented on an article, “TWO SOLUTIONS,” suggesting using a 2 man system of refereeing. While that idea does offer a short-term solution to covering more games with fewer referees, it still doesn’t address the underlying issue causing the shortage. […]
Referee of the Year – COMMENTARY
How/Why did you become a Referee? When I was 13 years old, my soccer coach, Russell Gonzalez, introduced me to refereeing. He informed my team of the opportunity to become certified by attending Pat Ferre’s class. I decided it would be a great first job because of my interest in the game. I had no […]
Answering the Question
Reactions to my article, “Words Communicate More Than Information,” gathered a gamut of responses. Here are two of them … I hated “drills,”, and so did every child I ever coached! It goes beyond buzzwords. As you said, it denotes a mindset on how we coach and train kids. I VAGUELY remember my childhood, but […]
TEN BASIC PRINCIPLES
START BY DOING WHAT’S NECESSARY THEN WHAT’S POSSIBLE AND SUDDENLY YOU ARE DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE St. Francis of Assisi If one could learn and implement these Ten Principles in their coaching life, success will stand an excellent chance of succeeding. These principles operate all the time, much like the principle of gravity. When you drop […]
SIDELINE ETIQUETTE
Let the Coaches Coach! Suppose you are telling your son or daughter – or any other player for that matter – to do something different from what the coach is asking them to do. You may create confusion for the player. Let the Kids Play! If they have been well-coached, they know what to do […]
READERS’ RESPONSES
Ric’s ideas fit right in this ‘Belyi’s Chart’: I do have a modest proposal. Rather than assigning the presumed best coaches to older age groups, why not scatter them across all age groups, emphasizing ages 3-9? Rich Jablonski Most clubs do not (and many should not) offer programming at the crucial 3-6 age group. That […]
