'Relate to the kids' (Q&A with NSCAA's Ian Barker, Part 1)

Interview by Mike Woitalla

Ian Barker became Director of Coaching of the 30,000-member National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) in February. A longtime ODP coach, he served as Minnesota Youth Soccer Association Director of Coaching (1997-2007) and spent more than two decades coaching college ball. In Part 1 of our interview we spoke with Barker about youth coaching in America.

SOCCER AMERICA: What advice would you give to someone about to start coaching youth soccer for the first time – whether it’s a parent without soccer experience or someone with an extensive soccer background who has never coached children?

IAN BARKER: Do not force it. Instead feed off your strengths as a parent and communicator and relate to the kids. That is not to say you should not try to acquire some knowledge of content and method. To get started see if you can effectively copy someone who keeps things flowing and keeps the kids engaged. The less, despite reasonable angst, you can make it about you and more about being with kids in a sport environment the better. Do not be afraid of your "ignorance."

SA: What is a common trait of youth coaches that you would like to see less of?

IAN BARKER: I really think many youth coaches would do better with less formal structure and that includes lengthy verbal explanation or revision of the obvious. If the youth coach can manage a safe environment and find activity that reflects the "organic" nature and flow of the game I think kids can learn and enjoy.

SA: When you observe youth soccer practices at the younger ages what would make you think the coach is doing a good job?

IAN BARKER: A good job would see the kids moving, that the activity is soccer relevant and that frequency touching the ball and making decisions is very high. Certainly the coach must be engaged, but that does not mean they have to be moving or talking a great deal. Kids moving, experiencing the game with minimal, but pointed interjections from the coach is a session I would look for.

SA: Besides the NSCAA, other organizations such as U.S. Soccer and U.S. Youth Soccer, offer coaching education courses. How should youth coaches decide where to take their coaching courses?

IAN BARKER: As many of our youth coaches are parents then I think look for role models among your peer group and find out how they got to a level of proficiency you respect. Perhaps consulting a paid, experienced club director is less helpful than seeking to emulate someone "like you."

For the younger coaches, high school and college players, the same applies, observe what you like and do not like and understand how these behaviors were trained. Very often the things that impact us most as effective coaches are acquired in formal coaching schools through the presentations and the interactions with other candidates, and also outside of schools by observing good practices.

SA: How much of a problem is an emphasis on winning games in American youth soccer?

IAN BARKER: It is a real problem, but one I feel is much easier to fix than we understand. Rather than wholesale changes in the structures of competition, coach training, rules and regulations etc., I think it comes down to how adults act and how you can impact a culture by continual examples of good practice.

I believe the more coaches and parents who make the effort to keep things in a context, the more that others will see that and will follow the example. Wanting to win is not the problem; it is the overemphasis that is placed on winning and losing relative to kids playing, learning to love the sport and learning to play it effectively. The problem is placing value in winning so far ahead of a long-term development of the child, the player and the sport.
 

Every player at  1st and 2nd Place team (U-10 to U19) Girl and Boys will

receive a Trophy. Hope everyone  knows ?

Several 1st and 2nd Place teams did NOT pick up their Trophies !!!

Please contact Kurt at Tri Star Sports. Tel:  586-977-0007

Or e-mail info to:  tristarsport@comcast.net

Thanks,

Adolph

 Sportsmanship makes fleeting appearance

By Paul Gardner

LONDON — German striker Miroslav Klose has been much praised — and rightly so — for his recent act of sportsmanship. He put the ball in the net for Lazio against Napoli only three minutes into the game. The referee signaled the goal — and then annulled it when Klose owned up to using his hand to score.

OK, the Napoli players did kick up an almighty stink before Klose confessed and, as things turned out, Lazio was soundly beaten, 3-0, anyway. Never mind, what Klose did was so unexpected, so rare in these days, that it seemed almost shocking. And that’s where we are these days when, in the world of professional sports, a simple act of honesty comes as a stunning surprise. We are much more accustomed to cynical silence, like that of Thierry Henry, whose deliberate hand ball ensured that France, and not Ireland, progressed to the 2010 World Cup finals.

I just used the word “sportsmanship” and I’m right now wondering when was the last time I had occasion to use that word — not in an abstract sense, but as an accurate description of a real-life action by a real-live human being?

Not for a heck of a long while. We’ve grown used to accepting a rather different attitude, a cynical attitude that regards sportsmanship as a romantic dream. Our acceptance is really something that we should be ashamed of. There has been in England recently a neat, and sad, exposure of the modern attitude to sportsmanship.

Let us pay a visit to the village of Bashley, in southern England. There is a soccer club here, but this is very definitely not Premier League territory. Welcome to a much tinier Premier League, that of the Evo-Stik Southern League — which the BBC lists as “three steps below” the pro fourth division — i.e. seven steps below the EPL.

Bashley’s stadium holds just 4,250 spectators. The big game of the year came on Sept. 8, a first-round Cup game against Gosport. Bashley tied that game 1-1 and on Sept. 11, in the return game, was looking for a win at Gosport. Late in the game, with the score tied at 2-2, Bashley scored. Or maybe not. The ball went into the net where the Gosport goalkeeper, in a moment of petulance at having conceded the goal, whacked it hard into the side netting. In which there was a hole. So the ball ended up outside the netting. That was where the referee saw it. Neither he nor his assistant had seen it enter the goal, so all that Bashley got was a corner kick.

The game, still tied at 2-2, went to overtime, with Gosport coming out on top 3-2. Bashley felt cheated, not only of a famous victory, but of the $15,000 that advancing to the second round of the Cup would have brought in.

The story of the phantom goal was not really in dispute. Bashley vice chairman Tim Titheridge told the BBC: “A number of Gosport players, management staff, supporters and officials admitted that a goal should have been given, expressed sympathy and some even apologized to members of our club.”

Bashley felt so aggrieved that it announced an intention to write to the English Football Association (FA) to request a replay. But there is little chance of that. FIFA disapproves of replays, as do most soccer authorities — they upset schedules for a start, and there is the dreaded possibility of “setting a precedent” that would open the floodgates for numerous other replays.

Titheridge said the referee was horrified when later informed of his error. But he exonerated the referee while criticizing some of the Gosport players: “We don't blame the referee for not seeing it, but we do blame the Gosport players for not owning up.”

But there was no Miroslav Klose among the Gosport players to speak up. “I could not see what happened,” said the Gosport coach Alex Pike, “but after the game I asked my players what had gone on and two said they didn't know, two said it wasn't a goal and seven said it was a goal. The indication is it was a goal.”

But Pike then swept sentiment and sportsmanship aside and spoke with the measured, rational tones of the modern game:

“There is a lot of prize money at stake and I would not expect my players to own up. These things happen in soccer.

“I attach no blame to my players. I can't speak on behalf of the club, but if they asked me I would tell them I am not willing to re-play the game.

“I don't agree that it is an extraordinary circumstance, this sort of thing happens in soccer all the time. A replay would be a futile gesture. What would they do? They are only writing to the FA because they ended up losing. They had the same opportunity to score in extra-time as us.”

Pike’s last remark, of course, completely overlooks the solid fact that it was the phantom goal that took the game to overtime. Without that goal, Bashley was likely a 2-1 winner after the regulation 90 minutes. But even with that huge injustice, it is Pike’s voice, Pike’s view, that carries the day.

 Vardar 02 Boys score 31 goals enroute to the Genessee Cup Championship. 

The U11s only gave up two goals during the tournament.

The Archetypes: Loners, Little Guys, Mathematicians, etc.

By Dan Woog

I coached my first youth soccer team in 1975. For the first decade or so, I handled a couple of teams each spring. Then I came to my senses — I mean, I tapered off — to one. In the first falls there were junior high squads; then came high school freshmen, junior varsity and, now, varsity teams. That’s probably 1,000 different players. But I feel like I’ve worked with only a few.

That’s because the same boys show up again and again. Well, not the same ones — they’d be too old, and even worse they would know all my tricks — but the same types. Not every team has every one of the same kinds of players, of course, but enough do that I can make some generalizations. For example, nearly every team contains:

The Boy With Total Recall. He is the one who, when I mention a particular opponent — Redding, say — will erupt in a torrent of information. “Blue-and-gold uniforms. The first time we played them was up there, the field with the Port-a-Potty all the way in the woods. We won 3-1. Grant, Greer and Hulliman scored. Hulliman’s was a PK. Way left — it hit the post and caromed in. Could have gone either way. Dan, you were so pissed he went left, because he usually goes right. You told him if he couldn’t be consistent with his penalties, you’d find someone else who was. Great burger joint on the way home. The second time we played them …” The scariest thing about The Boy With Total Recall is that he grows up to become The Man With Total Recall.

The Mathematician. The instant a match ends, The Mathematician can tell you what the result means. This talent is particularly valuable at tournaments, when he turns from his spot on the bench (The Mathematician is seldom The Starter), and says, “Dan, we don’t need to score any more, but we have to keep our goals-against to finish first in our group. But, if we let up another goal, then we should probably let up three, because that would place us third overall, not second, and that would mean we would get to play Hamilton in the next round, and they’re easier than Hicksville.” Hearing a roar from the field behind us, he learns that Hamilton is at that very moment pulling off an upset. The Mathematician recalculates instantly, like an Excel spreadsheet in hyperdrive.

The Little Guy. Everyone has always told him he’s too small to play; having had dozens of these players, I’m amazed at everyone’s stupidity. The Little Guy is tougher than boys three times his size. He has blazing speed, boundless energy, great touch and no fear whatsoever. He has studied the game — often from the bench, because previous coaches favored bigger players over him — and his passion for soccer is boundless. His teammates look down at him physically, but up to him emotionally. No matter what his name is, he is always called Little Guy.

The Boy Who Does Things Differently. There are many variations of this archetype: the kid who rides a unicycle to practice when everyone else is chauffeured by mommy; the one who listens to classical music while the rest are into hip-hop; the soccer player who hangs out only with football players. But all Boys Who Do Things Differently are integral parts of their squads. Their teammates may not understand them, and they may be the center of curiosity, comments and jokes, but when the whistle blows they are as much a member of the team as anyone. And for some reason, they are the ones who grow up to have the strongest, most positive feelings for the time they spent playing soccer.

The Loner. A sadder version of The Boy Who Does Things Differently, The Loner is a soccer player who off the field hangs out with no one. He has no group of friends, either in the team or outside. As an adult who remembers how cruel teenagers can be, I try to make sure The Loner is included in group activities. But as an adult too, I know my ability to help him fit in is limited. Some loners, as they grew older, gain confidence and become comfortable in their own skin; others never do. The saddest loner I recall was the boy whose mother drove him to every game, because (I found out later) he was certain no one else would want him in their car. I never knew.

The Foreigner. I don’t think I’ve ever had a team without one boy from another country. Their homelands vary — Holland, Germany, Brazil, Norway, Israel and India leap to mind — but the acceptance process seldom does. Initially wary at first, the youngsters open their arms the moment they see the newcomer can help. Their joking stereotypes — “Where are your wooden shoes?” “Does your mom drive a ‘Fjord’?” “Have you ever headed a ball wearing a turban?” — help bring the new boy into the fold. Eager to fit in, the foreigner quickly becomes more American than the Americans. He wears a Duke baseball cap backward, picks up the slang of the day, and forgets his soccer shoes at home. Is this a great country or what?

Great News,

The Vardar 01', Boys U-12 finished with a perfect record, winning 5 games

on their way to claiming the Mead Cusa Cup 5-Star U-12  11v11 Championship.

The team scored 24 goals, while giving up only 1.

Thanks ,

Karen Read

P.S.  Keep the good News coming for my Newsletter. 

Azteca win another boost for American psyche
By Ridge Mahoney Friday, Aug. 17, 2012

If there’s been a common theme to responses supplied by American players regarding the last year under the tutelage of Jurgen Klinsmann, aside from universal admiration of his playing career, the younger contingent all come back with variations on the same theme: “He’s giving guys like me a chance.”

In this context, “chance” is not the odd invitation to training camp and maybe playing a few minutes, if that, before being shuffled back down the depth chart. Rightly or wrongly, those who were on the outside looking in believed that predecessor Bob Bradley was “locked into his guys,” as one player put it, and reluctant if not adverse to giving extended runs to others.

This topic would have to be examined on a case-by-case basis, and those Bradley critics may forget that Charlie Davies, then just 20, debuted for the USA in a pre-Gold Cup 2007 friendly against China before he had scored a professional goal, and Jozy Altidore debuted for the senior team aged 18 years, 11 days. The stigma applied to Bradley, of course, is that he handed undeserved starts to his son, Michael, at the expense of other players and didn’t always adhere to his decree that a player needed to be playing regularly to get starts.

This is the sentiment of some fans and reporters, and hasn’t been expressed by any national team players, per se. Yet regardless of whether or not Klinsmann can transform the national team into something more pleasing and stylish, he’s been able to inspire younger players who may have been discouraged by the previous regime as well as retain a spirit of resilience.

The Bradley Era included an upset of Spain in the 2009 Confederations Cup semifinal, winning the Concacaf Hexagonal for the first time, and also topping a World Cup group for the first time. Since Klinsmann has coached the team in just two competitive matches, there can’t be any reasonable comparison in this regard, but as friendlies go, beating Italy in Genoa and Mexico in Azteca Stadium are difficult to downplay regardless of the circumstances.

Of the two games, beating Italy might have been a better performance from a soccer standpoint, though in both matches, the home team didn’t seem terribly motivated until it fell behind. More importantly, the Americans melded poise with intensity, and managed to absorb the pressure they couldn’t always alleviate by keeping the ball. They didn’t allow an unfamiliar environment or talented opponents to faze them, and in the case of Mexico, when its fans started to get antsy and the players started to sputter, the USA took advantage. A couple of excellent saves from Tim Howard, some vital defensive plays by Geoff Cameron and Graham Zusi, and a scything run by Brek Shea to set up the only goal did the trick.

Regardless of tactics or systems, or even personnel, teams that make plays at critical times win a lot of soccer games, but one can never be sure when that moment will arrive, or who will be called upon. For Mexico, Javier Hernandez had numerous chances to score the goal that might have won the game, but failed to do so. The Americans got their winner when three subs — Shea, Terrence Boyd and Michael Orozco Fiscal — seized the moment.

Maybe Klinsmann had contributed to a sense of Mexican smugness by acknowledging the “gap” that had opened up between the rivals at the youth levels as well as the senior team. Maybe all of Mexico had been distracted by the gold-medal-winning Olympic team, which was presented and honored at halftime. Playing at night instead of under a broiling midday sun helped the Americans, too. In any case, Mexico showed little if any of the fire and passion with which it had roared past the USA, 4-2, in the 2011 Gold Cup final after falling behind, 2-0. If the gap didn’t close by the USA beating Mexico on its home soil for the first time it certainly narrowed.

There were defensive heroics, of course, and a lot of lung-busting work as well. All such elements will be needed in the 14 qualifiers — four in the current semifinal phase, 10 in the Hexagonal — that lead up to the 2014 World Cup.

After a year in charge, debate rages over whether Klinsmann has, or ever will, transform the national team into something more pleasing and stylish. Glimpses of that have been seen, yet to date, his greatest accomplishment is convincing another class of players they cannot only do the job but conjure up methods to master the moment of truth.