Basic Info

Basic info team parents will need

(We are not affiliated with the local
Blue Wahoos baseball team, although we are fans.)

Practices: Every Tuesday and Thursday at 7 p.m., at the Langley Ave. YMCA.

Games: First game is Thursday, Feb. 28 at 5:30 p.m.  We're on an odd schedule this season, with most games on Saturdays, but several on other days. Check here for the full schedule in a later posting.

Format: Teams will play with 8 players on the field at all times. That's a goalkeeper and 7 other players. I will most likely use a 3-2-2 formation most of the time. That's 3 fullbacks, 2 midfielders, and 2 forwards (plus a goalie). I will rotate players through positions, so that every player gets to play at least 2 positions in each game.  I will also try to give all players a roughly equal amount of on-field playing time in each game. If a player gets short-changed in one game, I'll try to make up for that in the next game.

See also: Rules and Team Info (What's a Wahoo?)

My Coaching Philosophy

I'll try to make practices FUN -- especially during a couple long stretches of the season in which we have several practices between games.  And, on game days, I will not be focusing on beating the other team, but rather on teaching the kids the game of soccer and good sportsmanship.

As a recreational league, with young players, the Y has a policy of focusing on learning and fun above victory.  Of course, I'll try to give them a good chance to win each game, because it's not fun to lose too often, and we want the kids to love soccer. But, if we aimed mainly to win, I'd have to put the players in fixed positions, rather than rotating them around, and we'd probably focus more on sneaky trick plays, rather than good techniques. Most parents would not be happy with those approaches.  So, I'll teach skills and some higher level stuff, like positions and formations and a few simple plays.  But, we're not aiming to outscore our opponents by 10 to 1 in every game.

The 3-2-2 Soccer Formation

I am planning to teach the kids what a soccer formation is and what the most common soccer positions are (forwards, midfielders, defenders, and goalkeeper). In order to teach this, we will be using a 3-2-2 soccer formation in our games (unless I change my mind).  A 3-2-2 formation is an arrangement of the players with 3 defenders at the back, 2 midfielders in front of them, and 2 forwards in front of them (and a goalkeeper in goal).

The 3-2-2 soccer formation.

This plan could change, depending on the interests, skills, and needs of the players.