Last week I talked about the different options for playing soccer indoors during the winter. My teams played their first Futsal games last weekend. The beginning of the Futsal season is always a challenge because the players haven’t adjusted to the speed of the game. They usually try to play too fast and think too...

It was great to have a week off from coaching for the Thanksgiving Holiday here in the U.S. It’s always fun to catch-up with family and friends, eat WAY too much foot and watch WAY too much (American) football. But as always, I looked forward to getting back on the field and preparing my players...

Over the last couple of week’s I’ve been completing referee re-certification courses for both outdoor and Futsal. We all complain about the quality and shortage of referees. I think it’s important that coaches don’t just talk about it but do something to correct the problem. I’m not able to referee a lot but I pick up...

It’s hard to believe that this is the 80th episode of Coaching Soccer Weekly! That’s more than 38 hours of training sessions, commentary and interviews. I really appreciate everyone who takes the time to listen and especially those who contribute to discussions in the comments section of each episode, review the podcast on iTunes or...

The end of the fall outdoor season is a great time to evaluate the progress of your team. I had one of my teams finish the season 8-0. That might sound great but I think it also begs the question: Where they in the right division to maximize their development? There are many factors that...

This was our last week of training outdoors. The season has gone really quickly. It doesn’t feel much like fall right now so it’s hard believe that it will be the holiday season before we know it. We still have one league weekend remaining and then a season ending tournament before we move indoor for...

Everything is easy when you’re playing on good fields. Last week I had a game on an aweful field in a wicked wind. We started off the game trying to play our normal game but it quickly became apparent that it was going to be an exercise in frustration. I explain the change I made...

The weather was really unsettled last week. We ended up having to cancel a number of practices. Outdoor training sessions in the midwest each spring can often be interrupted by bad weather but it’s not usually an issue in the fall. Luckily we didn’t have a busy weekend of game scheduled so it didn’t affect us too...

Thanks to the coaches that took the time to give the podcast a ranking and review on iTunes. I really appreciate your support of the show! One stood out because the coach commented that they would like the show to be longer because I sometimes gloss over important points. This got my attention because if...

I’m Sorry, but I had to get some thoughts about sponsorships off of my chest. I think it matters who’s sponsoring organizations and events. You may disagree but if you do I’d ask you where you draw the line? Which companies or products do you think would be inappropriate to have as sponsors for activities...