SOCCER TACTICS – BASIC DEFINITIONS

Players, this is what we will talk about tonight during our Tactical Traning... These are some of the basics you need to understand...

With our conditioning program we will be most fit team... and with our tactical training we will be the smartest team!

“Passing to OPEN SPACE and movement off the ball” - Being able to pass to open space, anticipating passes to open space and your teammate’s "movement off the ball"


Playing this way allows a team to have a much faster, more fluid and more creative attack. It is a way of thinking, as opposed to "passing to feet". A player who can only pass to feet and who doesn't know how to pass to space or move to create space is very limited.


“Center of the field" - The center of the field is the area between the 2 goals (as opposed to the "wings" or sides of the field where the sidelines are). The center of the field is where the "Center Fullback", "Center Midfielder" and "Center Forward" mostly play. When your coaches say "center it", we usually mean to kick the ball to the area in front of the goal.
“Middle of the field" - The middle of the field is the area of the field that includes the "Halfway Line". Many coaches say "go to the middle" when they really mean "go to the center".


"Attacking Third" - The Attacking Third is the third of the field that is closest to your opponent's goal (i.e., the goal the opposing Goalie defends). When our team attacks, we want our Forwards and our Midfielders to get the ball into the Attacking Third. When our opponent is attacking our goal, we will not have any players in the Attacking Third, since our Midfielders will probably have dropped back near your "Penalty Box" line to help defend and your Forwards will have dropped back to the Halfway Line or to the inside of the "Center Circle" so they are in position to win "cleared" balls. This “shifting " with the ball is very important so you have "support" on offense and defense).

"Middle Third" - The Middle Third is the third of the field that includes the "Halfway Line" and the "Center Circle". When we attack, if our Fullbacks (Defenders) "Push Up" they will come up into the Middle Third. When our opponent is attacking our goal, our Forwards should come back into the Middle Third to the Halfway Line or even to the inside of the Center Circle so they are in position to win "cleared balls".

"Defensive Third" - The Defensive Third is the third of the field that includes our goal (our goal is the one your Goalie defends). Our Fullbacks (Defenders) will spend most of their time in the Defensive Third unless our Fullbacks "Push Up" when we attack. Our Midfielders should drop back into our Defensive Third to help out when our goal is under attack, but our Forwards should not come into your Defensive Third, because if they do there won't be anyone in position to win the ball when our Fullbacks or Midfielders "Clear" the ball.

Coach Jim

Great Practice Last Night! ...Conditioning and Tactical Training Moved to Friday PM @ ND, 6:30-7:30pm

Hi guys, fantastic practice again - full attendance and loads of hustle - good work!

This is to confirm that Conditioning and Tactical Training this week is MOVED TO FRIDAY PM (6:30-7:30 pm) at the ND Track. 

NO cleats - running shoes only for the track, and bring lots of water... Parents are welcome to run and workout as well... last week a couple of Dads ran with the boys and I'm told some Moms will join us this week too!

Running on a Track Quick Facts and Player Targets:

• 1 x = 400 metres or 1/4 mile
• 4 x's = 1.6K or 1 mile
• 5 x's around = 2K
• 8 x's around = 3.2K  or 2 miles
• 10 x's around = 4K
• each player able to jog 5x's around (2K) without stopping, by end of May
• each player able to jog 10x's around (4K) without stopping, by end of June
• these Targets are minimums - I am sure most (if not all) players will do more!

See you Friday night at Notre Dame!
Coach Jim

Soccer Pitch Dimensions



Players: make sure you understand all the areas and size of the full 11v11 field!
-Coach Jim





Our first year on the full field!

Coach Jim

Our Basic Formation: the 4-4-2

Players, this is what I will be handing out tonight at our Tactical Training... I will give you your own copies but posted here as well so that you will always know where to find it...Study it and memorize the positions... we will learn about:

• the responsibilities of each position
• all the variations of the 4-4-2 
• and how to transition to more defensive or attacking formations based on what is happenng during the game! 

Coach Jim

Conditioning & Tactical at ND Thursday PM

Hi guys, thanks for a GREAT practice last night! Coach Marty and I are very pleased with what we are seeing - you are learning lots and hustling... well done!

Remember, Conditioning and Tactical Training tomorrow (Thursday) night at Notre Dame from 6:30-7:30pm... NO cleats - running shoes only for the track.. bring lots of water and dress for the weather (looks like 8 degrees and cloudy)... and parents are welcome to run with us well !!!

See you at ND,
Coach Jim

"Nike Deadly5" with Arsene Wenger

Hi guys, I found these videos on youtube related to the "Nike Deadly5" Tournament. The "Deadly5" was a Nike sponsored 5v5 futsal style world-wide skills tournament.

The tournament motto was:
"Individually you are unstoppable, COLLECTIVELY YOU ARE DEADLY..."

The videos below show Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger running drills with players in preparation for the Tournament...

ASSIGNMENT FOR PLAYERS: watch and study the technique in these videos... I will be running similar style drills in our practices... it's great stuff !

Section One: Control
Section Two: Shooting
Section Three: Tournament - 5 Minute Games

Again with Wenger, check out his take on building a great soccer player

Nike5 Break Your Opponent - futsal from Brazil, how many of you will learn this move?!

See you at practice on Tuesday at the Club... keep Thursday nights open - we will start our running sessions next week - I will confirm soon!

Coach Jim

Updates - Coach's Thoughts - Plans for April

Hi everyone, an update (further to my Feb 21 post on plans for the summer), some thoughts on the year and plans for April:


PRACTICE SCHEDULE FOR APRIL (WSC Dome)

• April 6 (Wed 6:00-7:30pm), 
• April 12, 19, 26 (Tuesday’s 7:30-9:00pm)

Total Cost for Dome Rental will be $20.00 per player ($5.00 per session)... I would appreciate if you could bring the $20 to the April 6 practice.


TEAM AND LEAGUE UPDATES

• Please Register at the WSC ASAP if you have not done so already.
  If you did not play Select last year for the Welland Wizards, please provide the Club (front office) with a picture (passport size, head and shoulder) for the Players Identification Book and your birth certificate ASAP.
• Season to start last weekend in May with games likely to be Thursday evenings with practices Tuesday evenings and Sunday mornings.  I will confirm all dates when I receive the schedule from the NYSL
• We will be in a 10 team league, playing an 18 game schedule (home & home) vs. Fort Erie, Grimsby, Lincoln, Niagara Falls, NOTL, Pelham, Port Colborne, Roma, and West Lincoln
• Our Team Blog will be my primary communication tool for Players and Parents (with training videos, news and updates). Parents, please ensure the boys have access to our blog amd that you save the URL in your Favorites!
• Parents Meeting set for Tuesday April 12, 8:30-9:00pm (NOTE time correction, meeting will be during practice at WSC)
• Team Building Retreat Weekend at Sherkston Shores set for May 13,14,15 with Elite Soccer Development Academy (at a cost of approx $205.00 per player) 
• Competing in 3-4 Tournaments meaning budgeting approx $75.00 to $100.00/ player for total Tournament Costs (i.e. West Lincoln Pre-season, St Cath Ti amo, Niagara Falls Douglas, Welland, Tottenham). Given we will have a full 18 game schedule we can discuss at the Parents's Meeting the number of Tournaments we should enter.
• Cost-neutral Organized Team Activities (OTAs) will be planned with parents to emphasize team building and togetherness...please bring your ideas to the Parent's Meeting (BBQs, CSL Roma Games, Pool Parties etc)  
• Practice plans include Dry-Land Circuit Training to emphasize conditioning for the big fields this summer. I will also bring in Guest Coaches (e.g. GK Specialist) to offer the widest array of training and coaching techiques for the players. 

APPROX COSTS FOR THE YEAR

• Registration $265, Tournaments $100, Team Building Retreat Weekend $205, April Dome Rentals $20 = Approximate Cost for the Year of $590.00 (Registration and April Dome Time included).

Fund Raising is vital for our team.  We hope to raise enough money to cover a significant portion of this cost for parents - but we need everyone to chip-in and help. As an example, if each player can raise $200, the cost of the Weekend Team Building Retreat at Sherkston will be covered!  Please bring your ideas to the Parents Meeting. 


PARENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Parents, as Coach I can't do it myself -  I need your help!  We need Parent Volunteers for the following:

• Car Pooling (with our "Soccer Family" working together, rides to practice and games should never be an issue!)
• Social Committee (to organize OTAs and social activities for team building)
• Fund Raising Committee (the more $$$ we raise together, the less the season will cost for the parents)
• Team Manager (coordinate ordering warm-ups/bags and assist with team administration
• First Aid Rep
• Volunteer Linesperson - for games
• Parent Rep (to act as a spokesperson for the parents)

Based on our discussion on March 30, some of you have already contacted me with your ideas and I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH! ....

Sincerely, thank you... Someone once told me: "You get out of it what you put into it"... working together as a "Soccer Family", we will make this a great soccer season for our boys!

I can't emphasize enough, if you have any questions, concerns, or ideas to help make this a great summer for our boys, please call me...See you at practice on Wednesday and at the Parent's Meeting on Tuesday April 12!


With ALL my thanks,
Coach Jim