Subject:
ASA Weekend Review - May 6, 2008
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
Special Double
Feature | |
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Observations from the
weekend:
After
missing a weekend review on last Tuesday - here is a
special double feature Weekend
Review. Twice the observations
and twice the information - still the same low
price!
The
previous Saturday (4/26), I was busy most of the day at
the Arlington County Sports Festival at Bluemont
Park. While not well attended, it was a great day
of activities for the whole family. Look for this
event to grow in future years.
I did
make it out to a fun-filled weekend of games this past
weekend. I hope everybody enjoyed the weekend and
their soccer games.
A few
observations:
*Once again, I am so impressed with all the
parents that are out on the field helping our u6 and u7
players. These parents really make the game fun
for the kids and help all the children. Thanks so
much.
*Once again, I am so disappointed with the comments
and behavior of adults on the sidelines of youth soccer
games. Comments such as "that's a horrible call"
or "this ref stinks" are overheard by young ears and
mimicked. That is not what we want our children
immitating.
Even well-meaning parents who try to
'help' their child with coaching comments from the
sideline - are actually doing some damage. Let the
coach coach - and the parents supply encouragement, not
instruction, from the sideline.
Coaches - please pass this along
to the parents on your team. Often, educating the
parents is just as much part of your job as educating
the players. Thanks.
*It was
great to see so many players enjoying their games.
Most of the coaches I saw were doing a fantastic job of
getting their players into the game. Many coaches
are burdened with large roster sizes - but are still
doing their best to get each player into the game.
Part of player development is game experience - and the
ASA recreational rules state that all players must be
playing. Thanks, coaches for doing a great job
with
that. |
Team(s) of the
Week:
I did
see many, many fine teams showing good sportsmanship,
fighting spirit and playing some great soccer out there
this weekend. Congrats to all the players,
coaches, referees and parents for making
Arlington Soccer
the
BEST!
Under 6
Category
Both the NW Lions and the
Lightning
under 6 teams at Key School had a tremendous
amount of fun and played some exciting soccer on
Saturday. Thanks so much to Miguel Penella and Kristen McLean
from the Lions and to Shawn
Norton, Doug Lindholm and Mikey Samoya from
the Lightning for helping make the game enjoyable for
these little soccer players.
Under 11 Category
I was
very impressed with the way that Eric Pages' u11
Boys Civitans team passed the
ball around and defended. While the game result
might not have been what they wanted, this team is well
coached and is playing some great soccer.
Congratulations!
Under 17
Category
I had the opportunity to watch a great soccer game
on Sunday between the under Arlington Action
and the Arlington
Titans, both fantastic under 17 boys
teams that play for the travel soccer club of
the ASA. This was a top level game between two
very good teams. Both these teams compete
in Division 1 and represent Arlington in
a first class manner. Congratulations to
coaches Luis
Gendive and John McCauley for doing a
fine job with these
players.
|
| Activity
of the Week:
Coaches - here's some activities to try at
practice. I think your players will love them
- and get some real soccer benefits.
**1 bounce
juggling. Player tries to keep the ball
in the air, allowing one bounce between kicks. The
object is to kick the ball straight up (so it will come
straight down) - so the player does not have to run
around to keep it going.
Player must have good body
position and foot position (toe pointed out, ankle
locked, raise foot high, eyes on the ball) to strike the
ball correctly.
**Try it in
pairs. Alternate turns and try to keep
the ball in one area.
**Soccer Volleyball. Divide
your group into 2 teams. One team on each side of
a 'net' (can be a line, a line of bags, whatever).
Boundary lines all around. Played like volleyball
- but soccer! Keep the ball in the air & get
it over the net. Each team gets 3 touches (1 touch
per player) and 1 bounce to get the
ball over the net to the other side. The ball
cannot bounce over the net. Serve from the
back. Get a point if your team serves. First
team to 11 wins.
**6 vs 3 Keep Away. Inside a
large area, 6 (or 7) offensive players try to keep the
ball away from 3 defensive players. The 3
defenders must win possession of the ball three
times. When they do, they get to pick 3 new
defensive players.
*If the defending team never
gets the ball - make the field smaller;
*If the
defending team is getting the ball too easily - make the
field bigger.
**Rapid Fire Shooting.
Divide your group onto two teams. One group in
front of the goal; the other group behind the
goal. The shooting team picks one 'server'.
That person goes out wide, on the endline, about 10
yards from the goal. The server has all the balls
(as many as possible). The rest of that group
are 15-20 yards out in front of the goal.
For 1 minute, the shooting team tries to score as
many goals as possible. All goals must be scored
from a cross by the server; have to be 15 yards out from
the goal; and have to be one at a time. The server
sends in crosses as fast as possible.
The other team
can pick 1 goalkeeper (good luck!), but the rest of the
team is behind the goal. They have two jobs - to
get all the balls out to the other team's server; and to
score points from behind the goal. They score a
point if they can catch a shot from the other team out
of the air.
After 1 minute, teams switch
roles. | |
|
Arlington Soccer
Association | 4918 North 28th Street | Arlington | VA |
22207-2712 | | |
