In this week's installment of 'Five for Friday' we welcome the Travel Team Soccer Coach who recently started a blog and a twitter account detailing his passion and commitment to youth soccer. This blog is the definition of great banter and the five questions below give a little insight into the Travel Team Soccer Coach. The blog can be found at http://diaryofatravelteamcoach.blogspot.com/ and can be followed on twitter @travelteamcoach
Soccer Banter: What is your philosophy in regards to youth soccer and what are your goals for this season?
Travel Team Soccer Coach: My philosophy is simple. Ignore all the perceived wisdom. Don’t listen to anybody with a foreign accent, especially Spanish or Dutch. What could they possibly teach me about this game? My goals for the season are the same as every season, win every game at all costs. Too many coaches talk about improving youngsters and developing talent. Call me old-fashioned but I think winning improves everybody and helps them develop fast. Never mind all the nonsense about growing their skill-sets and making them comfortable on the ball.
SB: How did the team do this past weekend?
TTSC: We won 3-0, a victory slightly marred by an incident involving one of my less intelligent players and some misplaced Gatorade Gel. I’ve introduced the energy drink as a way to jolt my boys into starting better than previous weeks. After the success of this initiative, this week I may try five-hour energy or one of the other dodgy caffeine-boosters they sell at the counter of 7-11. Some of these kids are only nine. They need the extra bit of help to get their blood pumping.
SB: Who are you playing this weekend and what is the strategy for the game?
TTSC: This weekend we are playing one of those annoying teams that try to pass the ball to each other repeatedly. Their coach is one of those Champions League devotees who wants his boys to be all Xavi and Iniesta. My strategy for this encounter is so obvious I don’t mind sharing it with you. I will encourage the lacrosse players in my line-up (who can’t kick the ball to save their lives) to hit their opponents with impunity early on. Nobody ever gets sent off in our league! This will break up the rhythm of the opposition and allow my own team to impose themselves physically. The less soccer that is played the better our chances. A few long balls over the top later, we should emerge winners by at least two goals.
Soccer Banter: What is your philosophy in regards to youth soccer and what are your goals for this season?
Travel Team Soccer Coach: My philosophy is simple. Ignore all the perceived wisdom. Don’t listen to anybody with a foreign accent, especially Spanish or Dutch. What could they possibly teach me about this game? My goals for the season are the same as every season, win every game at all costs. Too many coaches talk about improving youngsters and developing talent. Call me old-fashioned but I think winning improves everybody and helps them develop fast. Never mind all the nonsense about growing their skill-sets and making them comfortable on the ball.
SB: How did the team do this past weekend?
TTSC: We won 3-0, a victory slightly marred by an incident involving one of my less intelligent players and some misplaced Gatorade Gel. I’ve introduced the energy drink as a way to jolt my boys into starting better than previous weeks. After the success of this initiative, this week I may try five-hour energy or one of the other dodgy caffeine-boosters they sell at the counter of 7-11. Some of these kids are only nine. They need the extra bit of help to get their blood pumping.
SB: Who are you playing this weekend and what is the strategy for the game?
TTSC: This weekend we are playing one of those annoying teams that try to pass the ball to each other repeatedly. Their coach is one of those Champions League devotees who wants his boys to be all Xavi and Iniesta. My strategy for this encounter is so obvious I don’t mind sharing it with you. I will encourage the lacrosse players in my line-up (who can’t kick the ball to save their lives) to hit their opponents with impunity early on. Nobody ever gets sent off in our league! This will break up the rhythm of the opposition and allow my own team to impose themselves physically. The less soccer that is played the better our chances. A few long balls over the top later, we should emerge winners by at least two goals.
SB: What has the focus been on training the last few weeks and how are the players responding?
TTSC: The last few weeks I’ve been trying to wean my players off this idea that they should be using the ball in practice. I mean, some of these nine and ten year olds are so out of shape my primary focus has to be their fitness and stamina. I don’t mind being outplayed but we won’t be outrun. I like to do 40-45 minutes of hard running, followed by a few minutes on long throws, a keepy-uppie contest (usually won by myself, for the record), and a ten-minute scrimmage. A lot of coaches like to make sure the teams are evenly matched in scrimmages. I do the opposite. I let the better players run rings around the weaker ones, just to build up their confidence for the next game.
SB: What advice would you give to other youth soccer coaches?
TTSC: Treat the parents harshly at all times. It’s the only way they’ll respect you. The biggest mistake coaches make is being over-friendly with the parents. My advice is be gruff, be impolite and refuse to discuss anything related to the team with them. Parents must be made to understand coaching kids at this tender age is a job so serious they can’t be allowed to meddle or stick their noses in. I’d also advise coaches never to underestimate the power of shouting. It’s the only things kids understand. If you aren’t leaving the game with a sore throat after roaring your head off all through, well, you aren’t doing your job right!
TTSC: The last few weeks I’ve been trying to wean my players off this idea that they should be using the ball in practice. I mean, some of these nine and ten year olds are so out of shape my primary focus has to be their fitness and stamina. I don’t mind being outplayed but we won’t be outrun. I like to do 40-45 minutes of hard running, followed by a few minutes on long throws, a keepy-uppie contest (usually won by myself, for the record), and a ten-minute scrimmage. A lot of coaches like to make sure the teams are evenly matched in scrimmages. I do the opposite. I let the better players run rings around the weaker ones, just to build up their confidence for the next game.
SB: What advice would you give to other youth soccer coaches?
TTSC: Treat the parents harshly at all times. It’s the only way they’ll respect you. The biggest mistake coaches make is being over-friendly with the parents. My advice is be gruff, be impolite and refuse to discuss anything related to the team with them. Parents must be made to understand coaching kids at this tender age is a job so serious they can’t be allowed to meddle or stick their noses in. I’d also advise coaches never to underestimate the power of shouting. It’s the only things kids understand. If you aren’t leaving the game with a sore throat after roaring your head off all through, well, you aren’t doing your job right!
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