In my eighth year of coaching college soccer, it never ceases to amaze me as to how unprepared freshman are to playing at the college level. I have been preaching to the club coaches to emphasize speed of play along with getting club teams to be more organized defensively for a long time. It never [...]

Specialization reluctant choice for 2-sport star No more whiplash when she checks the calendar to decipher her practice and game schedules. No more guilt wondering if she’s shortchanging one of her teams to play with another. This doesn’t mean she’s completely happy. The Geneva sophomore believes it’s a shame she skipped basketball this winter to [...]

Players may only go forward on the dribble. They can make square passes and back passes, but never a forward pass. Players match up with an opponent and can only defend the player that they are matched with. This will encourage your players to go at their opponent on the dribble and engage in 1v1 [...]

by Greg Maas ACTIVITY #1 Set up: Begin with two goalkeepers positioned in the penalty box, and two target players (i.e., outside backs) positioned outside the penalty box near the touch-lines. The coach is positioned centrally approximately 40 yards away as shown. Instructions: Play begins with the coach passing the ball back to the goalkeeper. [...]

By Lawrence Fine While some may consider the difference between trapping a ball and receiving a ball to be an exercise in semantics, I see them as two different terms. When I hear people say they want to learn how to trap the ball, I believe what they really are asking for is how to [...]

By Lawrence Fine Most players don’t think about what kind of pass they are making : is it safe or creative? That lack of consideration is apparent by the total lack of regard players have for the safety of some of the simplest passes. When this concept was first explained to me a long time [...]

the following was published by Bruce Brownlee and I found it interesting. I think that all teams are of a different level and it does not specify that this is solely for elite teams or players; but, with a few exceptions, I thought it to be well done. Enjoy: This table was offered as a [...]