NEW blog for "Coach Barger"

For the summer 2013 season and all subsequent seasons, please see my new "Coach Barger" blog at http://coachbarger.blogspot.com/.

Practice 8 done. Next: Final practice, then the final game.

We had another hectic practice as I tried to squeeze in a couple activities that I thought were important. One was designed to focus on good throw-in technique. The other was designed to focus on the idea of moving the ball forward by dribbling and passing, to get in scoring position. We also had a short scrimmage at the end, in which I stopped play now and then to point out what was happening and what should happen.

I've read repeatedly that one shouldn't try to teach the kids much about passing at this age, because their brain development and/or social skills just isn't quite ready (with most kids, but, of course, not all). So that activity in which they were passing the ball forward was more about kicking up-field rather than looking all around and finding a good passing angle. When I was playing soccer, passing was my favorite skill, but I'll admit I probably don't remember how I was thinking at the age of 7 or 8.

I'll try to keep the last practice more focused on fun. And, I'll probably keep it short and try not to squeeze too much into the time.

Practice 7 done. Next: A week off.

Note: In spite of what I wrote before, today was not our last practice of the season. See prior posts.

Moe says...

Today, we did a few "activities" to help the kids learn to spread out on the field in useful positions ("Spread Out," in which they throw the ball and cannot run with it); to get in scoring position to receive the ball ("Sprint and Shoot"); and to emphasize being more aggressive near the goal, so they'll go after the ball ("Come and Get It").

In the short scrimmage at the end of practice, some of the kids did seem to be doing a little bit of what I had shown them in the activities. So, that was very encouraging.

Some of the kids are still very distracted during practice. I think this is common for kids this age, especially boys.

At least our practices never get quite this bad.

At the first couple practices, it isn't as bad, because they don't know each other well and aren't so comfortable horsing around together or pestering each other. But, once they become more familiar with each other, it's a real challenge to keep them focused. And, it only takes one or two "unfocused" kids to create a domino effect and a huge amount of wasted time. We'll keep working on it.

CORRECTION: Two more practices after next week's Spring Break

It turns out we do still have two more practices after today. Those will be after next week's Spring Break (it's spring break for Escambia County schools next week). Then, after those 2 practices, we finally have our last game of the season.

The reason I confused myself was that we initially did not have that week between Spring Break and the last game. But, then the Y changed the date of our last game, moving it one week further away, so now we do have time for 2 more practices after the break and before the game.

Here's the remaining schedule: 

• March 24-30: spring break (based on Escambia County schools schedule and the Y)
• Tuesday, April 2: practice
• Thursday, April 4: practice
• Saturday, April 6: final game

Practice 6 done. One more practice. One more game.

EDITOR'S NOTE: After writing the blog below, I realized we actually have two additional practices in the week following Spring Break, and only then, after those, do we play our final game. So, some info below is incorrect.

During our sixth practice, we did some activities geared toward helping the players think about staying in position and getting the ball to their teammates.

I also tried to impress upon the kids that they need to focus on what I'm saying. This group gets a bit over-excited much of the time, which wastes time during practice and during those minutes between quarters in the games. But, I think this is typical for 7 and 8-year-old soccer players who are having fun.

It's hard to believe we only have ONE more practice and then, after spring break, our FINAL game of the season. I hope to see some of the same kids back next season, so we can build on what we've started this season. It has been fun.

Game 7: post-game report

The Soccer Wahoos played a solid game today, resulting in a shut-out, in spite of some odd formations that I tried today.

The opposing team only had 7 players, so I agreed to also play only 7 at a time, even though it meant scrapping my pre-planned player rotation. And, since our team had the game well under control the whole time, I also experimented with some different formations.

We usually have 3 defenders, 2 midfielders, and 2 forwards (plus a goalkeeper). But, in this game, at various times, I tried 2 defenders, 1 defender, 3 forwards, 1 forward, 3 midfielders, etc. All of it worked fine. If I had been able to use my originally planned 8-player line-ups, I think we would've had even more points.

Our team has now won 2 games in a row, and 3 of their last 4 games. Tomorrow (Tuesday) and Thursday, we will finally have two practices in one week, as we had planned to do every week. Then we have Spring Break, and then our final game of the season.

Game 6: post-game report

Another awesome game for our kids. It was a close game, with the teams pretty evenly matched, which is great. In the end, we had more goals, including an impressive penalty kick by Nathan that any goalie would have found difficult to reach. The team mostly did what I've been asking them to do, and the game was fun to watch. Two normally scheduled practices next week, then Spring Break, our final game after that.