Monday 22nd October

Brazilian Soccer Schools

Year 5/6

Session 7

Today’s session required a lot of equipment to be set up, I therefore arrived earlier than usual in order to set up the venue to become prepared and organised for the players arriving. Marco and Aschermann (2007) suggest it is good practice to arrive early as a coach to set up and be there to greet each player as they arrive. Potrac et al (2002) suggest that coaches gain respect by their personal manner, professional knowledge and also professional image thus being another reason for having the session set up for players on arrival. Our sessions try to capture the essence of Brazil so as the players arrived I had some South American bosanova music playing; I always like to start the session off with a game of possession in a square where the players can beat each other with tricks and show boat. Along with the music this creates a good spirit amongst the players. Karageorghis et al (1999) suggest that music helps to increase motivation due to its motivational qualities. In addition to this Priest et al (2004) suggest that the music chosen should be characterized by a strong rhythmical component. The beginning of the session when players have a small amount of time to themselves helps to play an important role as it allows all players to greet each other and have fun without interrupting the session when we are focussed. The possession at the beginning of the session is part of a routine that happens at the beginning of every session. In relation with Beswick (2000) he suggests that by having a routine it allows players to clear their mind and become focussed.

Today’s main session objective was to work on moves to beat players. I wanted to strip this down to a basic drill, focussing on one or two coaching points keeping things simple and straight to the point (Jones et al 2003). I began with a warm up and then core ball work as usual; (Pain 2007) suggests that maintaining routine can has a positive effect on performance. I set out an area with cones spread around a 20 x 20 grid the objective was for the players to dribble with the ball and perform one of three moves specified by me, beat a cone and then move onto the next one. Anderson (1981) suggests that practice brings improvement, and more practice brings further improvement. I highlighted to the players that the timing of the move is important when trying to beat an opponent; we used poles as an opponent. Knapp (1977) highlights the importance of accuracy and timing when trying to beat an opponent. We progressed from cones to poles and then eventually we can move onto real payers. I had the players running in towards the poles at a fast but comfortable pace performing one of the three moves previously specified continuing to focus on the timing of the move. This in enjoyable for the players and I feel that when they enjoy a drill they seem to perform it better with a greater intensity, this coincides with research found by Strean &Holt (2003), they suggested that skill acquisition and fun are interlinked when coaching young children. This drill helped set the intensity for the 1 v 1’s which followed. I wanted to continue with the timing of the move as the coaching point in the 1 v 1 drill. The drills we done prior to the 1 v 1’s were performed well with a good work ethic and intensity. The players took this intensity into the 1 v 1’s and performed them well with great enthusiasm, however I tried to stress the timing of the move continually but it was difficult for the players to grasp under full player pressure. I feel the only way we can develop this is by working on 1 v 1’s on a regular basis. It is a fun and enjoyable drill for the players and allows the players to bring out their creative flair.

On the whole I feel the session went well and we will continue to work hard in coming sessions in order to continually make progress as players. I feel that our players are far advancing the suggested Long Term Player Development model. It suggests that at stage 3 players should be developing practice (FA.com 2007). Stage 3 is ages 11-14; I would argue that players at our soccer schools are developing practice at around the age of 8. We have players aged 3 years old after advancing from the Socatots program, the world’s first soccer specific child play scheme, confident in using both feet to kick the ball and performing toe taps on a ball or domed cone. We have a player aged 9 who can perform over 4000 juggles with the ball and has been able to do over 1000 since the age of 7. I feel this is far advancing the guidelines the governing body is providing.

Anderson, J.R (1981). Cognitive Skills and Their Acquisition. Lawrence Earlbaum Associates

Beswick, B (2000). Focused for Soccer. Human Kinetics

FA.com (2007). Long Term Player Development. The FA. [online] [Accessed 04^th Jan 2008, 19:25hrs] http://www.thefa.com/GrassrootsNew/Player/Postings/2007/02/LTPD

Jones, R.L, Armour, K.M, Potrac, P (2003) Constructing Expert Knowledge: A Case Study of a Top-level Professional Soccer Coach. Sport, Education and Society, Volume 8, Issue 2, pages 213 – 229 [online] [Accessed 03^rd Jan 2008, 16:25hrs] http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a713696102~db=all

Karageorghis, C.I, Terry, P.C, Lane, A.M (1999). Development and initial validation of an instrument to assess the motivational qualities of music in exercise and sport: The Brunel Music Rating Inventory. Journal of Sports Sciences, Volume 17, Issue 9, pages 713 – 724 [online] [Accessed 03^rd Jan 2008, 16:25hrs] http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a713776199~db=all

Knapp, B (1977). Skill in Sport: The attainment of Proficiency. Routledge

Marco, J.S, Aschermann, K (2007). Coaching Kids to Play Soccer: Everything You Need to Know to Coach Kids From 6 to 16. Simon & Schuster

Pain, M.A, Harwood, C (2007). The performance environment of the England youth soccer teams. Journal of Sports Sciences, Volume 25, Issue 12, pages 1307 – 1324 [online] [Accessed 04th Jan 2008, 19:25hrs] http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a779321351~db=all

Potrac, P, Jones, R, Armour, K (2002). 'It's All About Getting Respect': The Coaching Behaviors of an Expert English Soccer Coach. Sport, Education and Society, Volume 7, Number 2, pp. 183-202(20) [online] [Accessed 03^rd Jan 2008, 16:25hrs] http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/cses/2002/00000007/00000002/art00006

Priest, D.L, Karageorghis, C.I, Sharp, N.C (2004). The characteristics and effects of motivational music in exercise settings: the possible influence of gender, age, frequency of attendance, and time of attendance. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 44(1):77-86. [online] [Accessed 03^rd Jan 2008, 17:35hrs] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&uid=15181394&cmd=showdetailview&indexed=google

Strean, W.B, Holt, N.L (2000). Coaches’, athletes’, and parents’ perceptions of fun in youth sports: assumptions about learning and implications for practice. Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. 6(3) [online] [Accessed 03^rd Jan 2008, 17:55hrs]

http://www.rgalberta.com/coachingResources/Fun%20in%20Sport.pdf