Last week, I published a post titled “Is Possession the Anti-Development Model?” I suggest reading it before continuing. In that article, the underlying principle was that dribbling is the foundation upon which all else is built. The word “possession” was used almost synonymously with “passing.” But does possession really equal passing? Absolutely not. All skills are required to possess the ball. In fact, someone could dribble, shield, or juggle for the length of an entire

When you ask a group of coaches what their least favorite part of coaching youth soccer is, one of the most common answers is “parents.” Why do coaches find parents to be a burden? In reality, it is probably only a handful of parents, and the majority are great. However, it only takes one person to influence an entire group. Almost all parents are well intentioned. But not all parents understand the best way to handle their role in their child’s experience. In a previous

Often times, the biggest enemy in youth soccer is, unfortunately, parents. Before you stop reading this or start calling for my head, please consider the following: The reason that parents are often the enemy is because they should be the number one ally, but, more often than not, they aren’t. As parents, it is our obligation to take care of our children and raise them to be the best people possible. Although no one ever gets it “perfect” and pretty much everyone is figur

“I don’t know anything about soccer. I never played it. But my kid LOVES it!” If I had a dime for every time I heard someone say this… Soccer is the second-most popular sport among youth in America. This is a major statistic, especially given that most parents never played, kids never watch it on television, and kids are simply not exposed to it as much as other sports. --Side note: This statistic is based on registered youth players. There are thousands of children whose

How many times have you debated with someone else about the best formation to play? Or a manager’s formation of choice in a particular match? Have you ever spent hours trying to think about the best system to play with your team? Stop wasting your time. Systems hardly make any difference when it comes down to the match. In the end, it doesn’t matter where you draw people on a white board or where your players line up at the kickoff. This isn’t foosball – players can move