The Soccer Sidelines

Youth Sports is a rallying point in the community for many families. In this episode, we look at a real-world scenario where a family in trouble reached out to a Club, and the Club came through. More than 15 volunteers delivered a FUNd-raising tournament that raised 4 digit donations and sent a message loud and clear to kids and others of how powerful community and youth sports can be in support of families.

After the crowds go home, the final scores are tallied, and our youth athletes leave the field for the last time, it's on to real life. Whatever education they were able to pick up; coupled with the tools they got from their youth sports, home life, volunteer, and other club activities; are all that our kids have to dress themselves with as they enter the workforce.If former players have a good grasp on the most important things: teamwork, initiative, drive, work ethic, empathy, positive self-talk, self-discipline, etc. they are going to have a noticeable advantage over peers who don't. They going to handle stress better, use mistakes as teachers and not be demoralized by them, collaborate better, rise faster in the ranks, etc. If we accept the premise that youth sports add value in the form of life skills to our kid's lives, then we have to consider how we might go about being intentional about developing those skills. Leaving them to serendipity seems to me a weak position to take on something so important.The question is How. How can we be intentional about something that happens inside our player's hearts and minds? A lot has been written about the physical impact on young bodies by sport. In this episode, we explore a good article published in June of 2013 in the Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine titled Youth Sport: positive and negative impact on young athletes. The Author, Donna L Merkel, did some research and found, for example, a strong correlation between youth sports and health. She speaks about the positives such as youth sports effect on reducing the obesity problem in our kids, how it decreases the risk for a number of diseases like heart disease and diabetes. And she mentions negatives like increased risk for repetitive or overuse injuries and the damaging psychological effects of being exposed to parents that place too much emphasis on winning.She does mention lifelong lessons, but the treatment of this aspect of sports is lighter - almost in passing. She says: "It appears that an emphasis on fun while establishing a balance between physical fitness, psychologic well-being, and lifelong lessons for a healthy and active lifestyle are paramount for success." The lifelong lessons she calls out are related to a healthy and active lifestyle. I've not yet found a great deal written about the more mundane life lessons that I think youth sports equips our kids with.This isn't uncommon in studies. The development we're hoping for is te kind that will help our young people become successful in life no matter what they do: bankers, teachers, public safety... We want superstars who understand teamwork, empathy, cooperation, and integrity.How do we get intentional about this kind of development? That's the key question to answer, right? Leaving something this important to serendipity doesn't make sense to me. What are some practical things we can do to pull this level of foundational development from the shadows and into the light?In this episode, I tell you what I've done so far, and I invite you to leave a comment - either in the comment section of the podcast app you're using to listen to this program. In either case, I want to hear about what you or you're Club is doing to make character development an explicit part of your youth sports experience.For me, I wanted our program to be as explicit and easy to use as the United Soccer Coaches 5 stages of development model.  USC has tables we can point to. We can print one out, put our finger on the age we’re working with, and scroll down the column to find all of the skills we’re supposed to be working on in that year. As a coach, I find this really helpful for planning and as a reference.Why don’t we see sportsmanship, respect, or empathy on a chart like this? Why can’t I run my finger down and column and find exactly what I’m supposed to be working on to help my players deve...

Please connect with me here: https://thesoccersidelines.com/connect/. You're the reason I do this!Please support the show here: https://thesoccersidelines.com/go/. Every dollar counts!Shortly after picking up my first futsal license, I thought to myself: I've been coaching futsal like I've been coaching outdoor soccer for three years! How many others have the same questions I did? Maybe you have been asking yourself what is futsal? In this episode, we get to know the game and pass one your knowledge and new found insights to those in your life who have some to love the game or use it to enhance skills for the outdoor game! Know exactly what is futsal in the next 29 minutes. The game of futsal looks like a simple game of soccer on an indoor court, but there is more to it than this. In this episode, I break down the game of futsal and will compare it in some ways to the game of soccer. When you’re done listening to this episode, you’ll have a good idea what futsal is from each of the main perspectives. History of Futsal [Time="00:03:11"]:Learn about the history of futsal – a game that has been around since 1930. The name Futsal is actually a combination of words from the Spanish and Portuguese FUT comes from the word Football as in European Soccer, and Futsal.com says the abbreviation SAL comes from the French or Spanish words Sala or Salon. No matter what we call it, the idea of kicking a ball around indoors = fun. Many moms would agree, however, some changes to the ball go a long way in preventing broken windows.The game of futsal has many similarities to soccer. Both games are played with the feet. No hands. And both games are played in a rectangular playing area with the objective for each team to put the ball in the opponent’s net. However, there are a lot of differences between the two games. Let’s break them down a little bit:Surface [Time=”00:05:42″]:The playing surface that futsal players play on makes a big difference in the speed of the game and in the way players receive and pass the ball. In outdoor soccer, the surfaces come in some form of turf or grass. These natural and even artificial surfaces have a profound effect on the ball movement. When a player is on natural grass fields, for example, normal bumps in the ground can make a ball’s behavior unpredictable. A little bump can bounce a ball in any direction at the last second or two before a player takes a touch. Playing on natural fields demands that players open larger surfaces to the ball in order to be confident that they will make contact and influence the ball’s direction.Grass itself slows a ball down. It creates friction. The peaks and valleys of natural grass fields and the grass slowing effects are minimized on artificial turf fields, but even turf fields offer more resistance than a wooden basketball court. The surface of a wooden basketball court is very consistent, and this changes the way a player takes their touch on the ball. Please: support the show and join our community as a Patron through my Patreon pageUsing the Sole of the Foot [Time=”00:07:17″]:In outdoor soccer, we teach to use the inside of the foot, for example. In futsal, we teach players to use the sole of the foot. Older or more sophisticated players in soccer will sometimes use the sole fo their foot to control the ball from a pass, but this is more of an exception than a rule. In Futsal, using the sole of the foot is more the rule. The sole of the foot, in this environment,

[spp-player]

The throw-in is a basic maneuver that all soccer players, parents, fans, and coaches need to be familiar with. There are rules for the throw-in: where they are relevant, body position, physical position relative to the field, the movement itself, what other receiving players can or can not do, whether offsides rules apply during a throw-in. It's equally important to know what happens if the rules are violated, and what happens if the ball goes into one of the nets from a throw-in.

In this episode, we reveal the ins and outs of the throw-in. Being familiar with this common play action will help anyone getting to know the game to appreciate the game more.

* Foot placement

* Distance from the touchline

* Drawing the ball up over the head

* Distance field players must maintain from the player throwing in

* Penalties for violation of the various throw-in rules

* Offsides rule during a throw-in

* The longest throw-in

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

* “Soccer Throw-In.” The Soccer Bible, 20 June 2014, www.football-bible.com/soccer-info/soccer-throw-in.html.

My first day of coaching started off, literally, in a lawn chair on the sidelines of my kid’s soccer game. The coach’s assistant, a dad of one of the kids on the field, couldn’t make the game. The coach, another dad of one of the kids on the team, needed someone to keep the time. I didn’t realize that one needed to keep time at asoccer game, but I agreed to help out. Besides, I thought it might be cool to be on the coach’s side of the field with a stopwatch, and I figured… how hard could this be?The answer to any question involving the word "should" really depends, as the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland so cleverly points out, on where we want to go. Where we want to go isn't limited to the World Cup. In fact, so few soccer players will end up playing in a World Cup, that it's hardly worth talking about.We're not focused on college scholarships either. According to ScholarshipStats.com, the odds of playing sports in college in any division are 13:1. For Division I, odds drop to 87:1. The odds of going pro are 835:1!So if we're not focused on the World Cup, college scholarships, or going pro, what are 450,000 boys and 388,000 girls playing High School sports for? Why are there over 3 Million youth soccer players in the United States?The answer is bigger than scholarships or pro opportunities. It has to do with character development, skills development, and fun. Tell me what human being is more dedicated to Character and Fun for kids than a mother or father? The skills development piece can be outsourced or learned, but the rest of what a youth coach is primarily focused on comes along with the parent title. This makes moms and dads ideally suited for coaching in the youth soccer space - with the caveat that they invest some time to understand the coaching craft. Coaching isn't something that comes without study, and the old paradigms of what a coach was when the current generation of parents grew up has evolved.Then we have the memory making benefits of coaching. Coaching provides powerful memory-making opportunities that last a lifetime.I remembered my father being assistant coach for my little league team. I know now that he wasn’t particularly good at baseball, but he was out there on the field with me, and even though I personally hated baseball, I enjoyed looking over and seeing my Dad out there with me. It made me feel good to know we were doing something together. He’ll always be there in my memory - larger than life. Playing catch with him was about the only thing I liked about baseball - and it had nothing to do with the ball or the game.Fast forward a few decades, and I’m watching my kids on the soccer field. From the coach’s side!I literally couldn't figure out how to make my cell phone countdown on a 7-minute timer, but I was coaching. My kids noticed that I was part of their world - right there in the trenches with them. Memories of my father were strong with me that day. I was giving that gift to my kids now. Pretty cool.Last season, we launched our transition academy. This is a grouping of kids who are 7 and 8 years olds. They’re transitioning from an academy style of play - where all the kids basically parallel play in a big group - to a more team structure. We introduce rules of the game, coaches, individual fields for games, scores, team Web sites… the whole nine.Our Club is a not-for-profit, all-volunteer organization. We’ve paid a few coaches, but our fees are so affordable to the community that we can’t afford to run the Club without volun...

In this episode we're going to talk about dehydration effects on athletic performance. Dehydration decreases mental and physical performance both on the field and in school in dramatic ways. Not staying hydrated, for example, cut performance by nearly 50% in laboratory studies for patients who were just walking!Dehydration affects the body and the mind in many ways that extend well beyond the soccer field. Listen to find out how dehydration decreases mental performance in school, decreases endurance, and can lead to significant medical problems.

What's the problem?

One study I read showed that 70% of high school football players were dehydrated before practice even started. This affected not only their performance on the field, but also in school, and had a significant negative impact on their health. A strong correlation exists between hydration and learning performance - both in the sports environment and in school. It turns out, our brains and even our immune system needs plenty of water too!

Water makes up 50-65% of the average athlete's body weight. When we're dehydrated, it's kinda like driving a car without oil. The lack of proper hydration for lubrication, circulation of blood (for thermal regulation and nutrient distribution) makes it difficult for our bodies and brains to function, and that leads to early fatigue. 

Please: support the show and join our community as a Patron through my Patreon page

What are the general effects of dehydration on athletic performance?

Dehydration creates the following conditions:

* Reduction in blood volume (blood flowing around the body)

* Decreased skin blood flow (meaning we can exchange heat efficiently in the cold or the heat) Think about the radiator in your car.

* Our core temperature goes up

* Decreased sweat rate

* Increase rate of muscle glycogen use (our muscles burn sugar faster) which leads to fatigue

When thinking about the general effects of dehydration on athletic performance, it helps to know that these effects are compounding. As our core temperature goes up, for example, stress on the body increased, which increases the demand for more "coolant" water. 

Performance test results

Let's look a little closer at the effects of dehydration on athletic performance. In a study referenced below in the resources section, scientists took a group of subjects through a test. The asked each of them to complete a 140 minute walk. In the table below, you can see the results of that test in terms of completion rates. 

Dehydration %

Completion Rate

Comments

3% Dehydrated

100%

Everybody completed 140  mins

5% Dehydrated

88%

12% could not complete the test

7% Dehydrated

25%

75% stopped after 64 minutes!

When subjects were dehydrated to 8%, they were only able to complete only 55 minutes of the test. This should speak volumes about the effects of dehydration on athletic performance!

Emergent effects of dehydration

Dehydration is well known for creating additional, more obvious effect on athletic performance and on our well being. If left untreated, this progression can lead to hospitalization and even death. Conditions like heat exhaustion and heat stroke might be in your athlete's future if we're not watching for the warning signs such as:

* Headache

* Thirst

* Muscle cramps

* Weakness

* Nausea 

* Irritability

* And even goosebumps!

Mistakes are a part of life. When we stop making mistakes, it usually means we stop trying to do anything. Without mistakes, we stop growing and we encourage those around us to stop growing. So why are we so bitter about our mistakes?In this episode, we talk about the value of making mistakes in youth sports and how we can send an empowering signal to our kids with the right message.Youth sports allows us the gift of creating thousands of teachable moments in a safe environment. In this episode I share some practical tips for what to say to kids (for parents and for coaches) when we come across mistakes.Those of us who make more mistakes, improve a lot faster. We grow faster. And we give ourselves permission to be human.A Young Man Learning to Shoot 

Understanding the system of play being used in a soccer match provides a whole new layer of appreciation for the game. There are four things we need to consider when choosing or evaluating a system of play:1. The team makeup. How well suited are each of the players for various positions around the field? What does each player bring to the table in terms of speed, work rate, knowledge of the game, tactical awareness, control, etc?2. What we can train. We don't always have the luxury of training multiple systems of play. Maybe the players are still learning the basics. Maybe the team would be confused. Especially in a recreation league, we often have to choose the best fit for a given team - even when, depending on how we mix players on the field, one group may be more effective in a system other than the one we chose. We chose the system that best matches the abilities of our players.3. The maturity of the team. A young team may be best introduced into the 11v11 format through "a flat four" A.K.A. a 4-4-2. A more mature team that has mastered the basics of the various lines may be ready to play in a different system - perhaps migrate to a 4-3-3 or a 4-5-1.4. Specific tactical strategies. Here, we consider both the skills of our own team and the strengths/weaknesses of our opponent. A strong attacking team with good penetration in the 4-3-3 might be countered by shutting them down in the midfield with a 4-5-1, for example. This pulls one or two players into the midfield to act as the first line of defense or as a dominating center field presence that makes it difficult for the more aggressive 4-3-3 to penetrate - easier for slower players to get back on defense.At the end of the day, the game can be appreciated on a whole new level when we see the systems of play in action on the field.In this episode, we walk through a few examples and leave our listeners with a better understanding of the concept of Systems of Play.

Striking a balance between under and over challenging players on the soccer field can mean the difference between a good experience and a bad experience. Too much of a challenge can lead to frustration. Too little of a challenge can lead to boredom and a lack of engagement. We call the sweet spot being "Age Appropriate."

Knowing what is age appropriate and what is not is something that changes over time as we get smarter about human anatomy and physiology. We now know, for example, that kids advance their skills more quickly when they play more small-sided games. We know that little craniums are not very good at taking repeated hits with a soccer ball until they mature (thus no heading in the younger ages).

Coaches credentialing courses from United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as NSCAA), US Youth Soccer, and others do a good job of helping coaches understand what is age appropriate and what is not. But how about coaches or parents without credentials?

Can parents and coaches inadvertently make things more difficult when they don't understand what is age appropriate vs what is not?

It makes sense that a coach who runs practice sessions designed for 9-year-olds might have trouble containing players who are 12 or 14, right? Of course... many will not be having fun because they are bored.

The same would be true for parents or coaches who want to push too much too fast. Putting 10-year-olds on a full-size field normally reserved for 11v11 play is kinda like putting kids in an ocean in a canoe. Everything is big and scary to them. Players can be frustrated that they can't run that far or kick the ball hard enough.

Rules in soccer exist to keep players safe during games: header rules, field size rules, ball size rule, etc - are all safety rules first. Staying within age-appropriate boundaries also makes the experience a lot more fun!

We touch on "play up" and "play down " situations here because it's relevant, but we'll cover this subject in more detail in a future episode.

You can learn more about keeping things age appropriate through US Youth Soccer and United Soccer Coaches (U.S.C).

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/search/?keyword=age+appropriate

https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/

 

Culture affects everything about the youth sports experience. In this episode, we will explore the two primary cultures found in youth sports: the Entertainment Culture and the Development Culture. Which one you chose or create depends on the outcomes you want.In an Entertainment culture, attention centers around the game. Practices are preparation for games. Games entertain the sidelines an establish team track records. A good day = a win. A bad day = a loss. After game speeches are often centered around X's and O's - what went right and what went wrong.In a development culture, attention centers around the youth. Practices and games create thousands of teachable moments that we the system makes best effort to capitalize on. Mistakes are celebrated as stepping stones to growth. A win = physical, mental, emotional and/or core character growth. After game speeches are often centered around Johnie and Joe's - what we learned today across the spectrum.We've got some great episodes coming up that are going to dive deeper into the subject of culture, college scholarship opportunities, what to look for on the pitch, from coaches and Clubs, at home, and specific things we can do to make sure that anyone who looks at us knows that we're just a little bit different. We do well. We play hard. We work hard. And we place emphasis on the stuff that matters.Resources Mentioned in this EpisodeYouth Sports as a Development Zone by Jim Thompson: https://youtu.be/cHSbb_w2V-ETedx Talks: Changing the game in youth sports by John O'Sullivan: https://youtu.be/VXw0XGOVQvwThe One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard "Catch them doing something right."