Success begins with energy, enthusiasm, and passion for coaching

Coaches,

The start of the fall season begins on Monday with teams starting their official training sessions.  While there are many returning coaches, that are familiar with your teams, there are also a large number of new coaches. This first week is the best time to begin to know your players, establish your relationships, set the tone for the season ahead.

There are a couple of things that will be a tremendous asset as a coach-energy and enthusiasm. A good number of these players have either not played soccer in the past, or have limited experience.  Still others may be brand new a new level of soccer within CASL's challenge program. Make the effort to come into the new season with a burst of energy, positivity, enthusiasm, and passion.  As coaches, that is why we are out there on the field, to make a positive impact in the lives of the youth in which we coach by teaching the game of soccer.

I am attaching a link on training sessions from SAY soccer (Soccer Association for Youth).  Attached are several age-specific links to training sessions and activities,
http://www.nscaa.com/news/2012/08/say-soccer-training-sessions

With planning, preparation, energy, and excitement you can all get your CASL soccer season of on a positive note for your players.

I wish everyone a fantastic CASL fall season ahead.

CASL Kickoff Event Coaching Education Schedule

CASL Annual Kickoff Event

August 16^th

Wake Med Soccer Park

3-6pm on Field #3

Coaching Education/Clinic Schedule (in process)

3-4pm	Bryan Farnsworth Director of Coaching Education and Player Development U7-U8 coach meeting
4-4:30pm	Andy Tait U9-U11 Girls Youth Director “When to Dribble and When to Pass”	Bryan Farnsworth Director of Coaching Education and Player Development U5-U6 “Grid Activities”
4:30-5pm	Matt Brown Director of Goalkeeping “How to integrate goalkeepers into a possession session”	Bryan Farnsworth Director of Coaching Education and Player Development “How to plan, layout, and transition efficiently through a training session with the end goal in mind”
5-5:30pm	Tim Evans U12-U14 Boys Program Director U12-U14 Boys Director “Passing Combinations	David Costa and Steve Cox NC State Men’s Soccer Session 1
5:30-6pm	Wake Med - Discussion about Concussion Awareness	David Costa and Steve Cox NC State Men’s Soccer Session 2

What Makes Great Teachers!!!

Quick. Take a moment and thing about the single greatest teacher you ever had.  Someone who inspired you, engaged you, and maybe even changed the trajectory of your life.

Perhaps it’s a coach, maybe a high-school teacher, maybe a relative—it doesn’t matter.

Now, picture their face. (Got it?)

When you think about this person, which of the following come to mind?

1. A.      A life lesson that person taught you?
2. B.      A goal that person helped you to achieve?
3. C.      The way that person made you feel?

If you are like most people, it’s no contest, the answer is C.

The lesson of this simple exercise is simple—the greatest teachers aren't great just because they deliver information; they are great because they create lasting connections.  They’re not about the words they say, but more about the way they make you feel.

As volunteer youth soccer coaches, you have the opportunity to make lasting impressions with young people on a weekly basis.  You have the ability to connect with players and be the impressionable person in someone’s life that can have a profound impact in the trajectory in one’s life.  You have the opportunity in front of you to BE that special and profound teacher and coach.

I believe that there are two important aspects to being an impactful teacher and coach—what you say and how you say it.  In being a youth soccer coach there are many different situations that present themselves, either in training or in games.  You have the choice as to what type of teacher, coach, and mentor you will become with what you say and how you say it.  The same phrase can be screamed at a 10 year old boy 50 yards across the field, or it can be done more personably with your arm around them.  You have the choice as to the type of teacher and coach you will become.

This is a very important aspect to consider as a volunteer soccer coach, because of the lasting impact and connections that you are able to make with your players.  As a recreation and challenge soccer coach, you may have the good fortune to have a player or two that may develop into a high level soccer player who plays in college or even at the professional level.  Most of your current and future players will not achieve this level of success in their soccer careers, but they are the future of the game regardless.  Every player that you have the opportunity to coach and mentor, is a potential future soccer coach, soccer dad or soccer mom so the environment you create today, no doubt has potential long-range impacts on that player for future generations.

CASL Fall Kickoff Event - August 16th

CASL Fall 2014 Kickoff Event

August 16th

Wake Med Soccer Park field #3

3-6pm

CASL Annual Kickoff event is scheduled on August 16^th form 3-6pm at Wake Med soccer park.  Immediately following this event is a Railhawks game, so this is a great way to “kick off” the new CASL fall season.

Distribution of team packets and information will be held from 3-6pm on Wake Med field #3.  For any coaches that are interested in attending the Railhawks game this evening, we have secured 150 parking spaces in the VIP lot (parking passes will be provided).

Highlights of the event:

• ·         Multiple door prizes will be awarded to any coach that attends the event (each coach gets a raffle ticket with drawing as the end of the event)

o   Ex: Training goals, Ball bags, Coach dry erase boards, training bibs, cones, coaching kit, etc.

• ·         Scheduled coaching education session for recreation and challenge coaches from 3-6pm

o   Specific schedule will be updated and communicated

• ·         Free play area setup for your kids that come and attend
• ·         Opportunity to meet and greet the CASL staff
• ·         Carolina Railhawks players will attend to engage with players and coaches

CASL Recreation Families,

Reminder that the NCYSA is hosting a recreation-only camp July 28- August 1 at the WRAL Soccer Center.

CASL Recreation Camp July 28-Aug 1, 2014

3 Most common mistakes first time soccer coaches make and how to avoid them

If you are new to world of soccer coaching and the challenge feels daunting then here’s some great advice on some of the most common mistakes and the steps required to avoid them.

1. Planning
Choose drills that are fun. All kids need to have fun otherwise you will loose their attention quickly. If you choose drills that are fun then the players will focus allowing you the coach to concentrate on teaching.  One of the greatest skills that a coach of young soccer players can develop is how to create fun, engaging activities that allow the players to learn and develop at the same time.

2. Over-coaching
Over-coaching means talking too much or in the wrong place. Trying to do too many drills or moving on too quickly. Don’t try to put too much into each session. You will often find that drills go on longer than intended. A good idea would be to have a buffer in place. For example an extension of a drill that can be skipped or included depending on whether or not the session is running to schedule.

One observation that I often see with coaches of very young players is that they talk too long.  Training sessions should be about the players playing and developing skills, not sitting in a circle on the ground with long conversations by the coach.  Additionally, spending only a few minutes speaking with the players before the game at at halftime and keep focus to 3 points.  Too much talking and addressing too many ideas can be overload to young players.  You will keep their focus and attention with brief, concise conversations better than long talks.

3. Focus
Finally focus. Remember that you are a development/youth level coach. It is therefore key that the players are developing each session. Even if the team isn't winning its important that the players can identify progress in their game and overall ability. Structure training sessions and the activities in each session to progress through a particular theme.  This keeps the players focus on one topic and allows you as the coach to focus on key coaching points over a 90 minute period of time.  

Hello Coaches,

Here are some thoughts and ideas for a U7/8 training session with multiple activities that use the same training grid for the first part of the session.  I highly recommend that you allow the players the opportunity at every training session to just play (20+ minutes) with very little coaching.  Let them have fun and see if they can utilize some of the ideas and focus in the game phase that you work to teach them in the teaching phase of the session.

The first activity is essentially a square grid, either 10x10 or 15x15.  Use your best judgement on the size as you can always adjust it as you go along.  Have each player inside the grid with a ball with the coach on the perimeter driving the moments and activities.

1. Start with players killing the ball (stopping with the sole of their foot) and then restarting their dribble.
2. Next have the players "Kill the ball" and then move in the opposite direction.
3. I use the explode command as well to get the players moving more actively.  When the coach calls explode, the players "Kill the ball" then must explode outside of the grid and then back to their ball.
4. Finally, the coach can call "Switch" with the players killing the ball and then switching balls with a team mate.

There are countless different activities that you can have your players do in a similar setup.  Examples are you can have the players touch body parts to the ball, after killing the ball (butt, head, elbow).  Players can "kill the ball" then run a quick circle around the ball, players can "kill the ball" then hop over the ball.  You can incorporate specific turns, changes in direction, tag activities just to name a few.  Be creative and vary it up with your players over the course of the season.

This next activity can use the exact same grid you used in the first activity, but with the addition of many gate goals.  If you are able, ensure that you have 2 more gate goals than you have players.  If you want to make it more game-like for your players, divide the players into two teams before you begin.  

Start with having the players dribbling through as many gate goals in 30 seconds.  This gets the players acclimated to the space and activity before you give them additional constraints.  You can add up all of the gates that one team made it through compared to another.  Variations on dribbling through the gates are to have players dribble through a gate and make a circle around one of the cones.  or have a player dribble through a gate, then turn around and dribble through the same gate in the opposite direction.  You can also have the players dribble up to the gate, "kill the ball" (leaving the ball in front of the gate) the player must then run through the gate and then come back to collect his/her ball.  Again, there are many different variations that you can use and be creative for the players to remain engaged and active.

One last activity that you can use with the same space, before just allowing the players to play 4v4 is a 2v2 game.  Using the same grid, create 2 very wide gate goals on each side of the grid.  Divide the two teams of players as shown with the coach on one side with all of the balls.  The coach starts the activity by playing a ball to a pair of players.  The team then tries to dribble through either gate goal with possession of their dribble.  If the defending pair wins the ball, they can then dribble through the 2 gate goals on the opposite side for a goal.

Session - Technical Passing and Receiving

Hello Coaches,

Throughout the season, I will be updating this blog with information to serve as a resource for you as the season progresses.  With this week being the start of the season, I have added a complete session from Tracie Foels, one of my assistants, entitled Technical Passing and Receiving.  You can find this session on the left side of the blog in the "Complete Sessions" tab.  Please note, that this session was designed for 11v11 teams with up to 16 players, but please have a look and modify/adapt as necessary for your teams and age groups.  For example, if you have a roster of 12, use 4 lines on the outside of the grid (instead of 8) and then play 4v4 in the middle with 4 support players on the outside throughout the progressions.

Session-Technical Passing and Receiving

Hello Coaches,

I started this blog as a means to reach out to the CASL coaches and provide a forum for which I can relay information, thoughts, and ideas.  This log will be a dynamic one that will be continually updated  weekly throughout the season.  Being on the preseason, with the start of training for most teams a few weeks away, I wanted to start this communication with a question.

If I were to ask, how would you answer : What is your coaching philosophy? 

I realize that there may be many new or novice coaches, alike we have many veteran coaches. Whether you are a new, novice coach or a veteran coach, you should be able to answer this question.

A coaching philosophy is central to define how you want your team to play in games, which in turn defines what you need to do to prepare these players in training.  For example, if I want my team to attack on the wings, I better focus on developing wingers, crossing, and finishing.  If I elect that I want to focus my team on possession and build up play, I need to ensure that I focus my development in those areas.  I recommend that coaches think about the end goal first, and work backwards to define and formulate a plan.

There are a number of different coaching philosophies and components of coaching philosophies.  Therefore, with this time in advanced of training think about some of the following and what is important.  Factors to consider:

• How do you measure success?  Wins? Players developing? Player passion for soccer? Fun?
• Are you a coach that wants to develop players?  Win at all costs?
• Are you a players coach? More authoritative?  What is the best approach for your age of players and the program level that they currently play?
• Do you want to develop the individual player? Or focus on the team?
• Do you want an attacking-focused team or defensive?

Take some time and put in some thought before you step out onto the soccer field with your players and have a plan.  Know what you are going to do with your players before you do it. 

My recommendations for all coaches are that before you step onto the soccer field, you need to have passion, energy, enthusiasm, and structured preparation for your players. 

Bryan Farnsworth

Director of Recreation and Challenge.

Hello CASL Recreation coaches,

With the start of a new season on the horizon, I wanted to start my communication.  I first wanted to make everyone aware of an important date, February 16 which will be scheduled the spring CASL kickoff.  At the WRAL soccer center, from 3-5pm we will have all coaches packets and uniforms for new players.  As part of this event, I have two separated coaching education activities scheduled.

1. First, from 1:30-3pm on the Durham Bulls stadium, I have a classic staff coach conducting a coaching education clinic entitled "Numbers up Attacking". 
2.  The NCYSA will be conducting age-specific training for U6, U8, and U10-12 recreation coaches from 1:30-3pm.  
3. The NCYSA will be conducting a coaching education clinic from 3-4pm on "Parent Education and Coaching Education for the Volunteer Recreation Coach".  
4. Finally, I will plan to conduct a informational session from 4-5pm for all U7-U10 recreation coaches (rules, policies, tips, advice, etc) specifically targeted for any new coaches to CASL within the past year.  

Please make an effort to stop by for one or all of these activities if you are able.

Bryan Farnsworth
Director of Coaching Education
Recreation and Challenge Divisions
Bryan.farnsworth@caslnc.com

Hello,

I hope this communication finds all of you off to a great start to the New Year. My name is Rusty Scarborough and I am the Director of Soccer for CASL. Since we do not have our Annual General Meeting anymore it may be that we have not met or seen each other in a while.
Beginning this month, January, 2014, I will include a post, monthly, on the CASL Challenge and Recreation Division blog. Each month I will have a theme to discuss and this one is just to say hello and make a few announcements for the upcoming season. I will also include a Technical Training segment each month, provided by Sean Nahas, our ECNL Director at CASL. The ECNL is our Elite Clubs National League that our top female players play in throughout the year. In future post, I will have themes on Coaching Education, Parent Education, Player Development and different announcements recognizing our teams, players and coaches form all of our playing divisions.
This post is the first of many and I want to thank each of you for all you do for CASL. I hope you join me in saying that we are a part of one of the best youth soccer clubs in the country. I feel fortunate to be able to work with so many quality people, day to day, that show the Character, Attitude, Success and Love of the game it takes to be great.
Now I would like to make a few announcements that will help you prepare for the next 6 months and catch you up on some exciting news. If you ever have anything that warrants inclusion to my monthly communication please do not hesitate to send to me.

February 17^th – Start of spring training
June 13-15 – NSCAA and CASL will be hosting a NSCAA Level 6 coaching course for our Recreation and Challenge coaches. Because of our partnership with NSCAA and CASL being the only Platinum Club member, the first 75 CASL coaches that register will be able to attend at no cost. This course will be held at our WRAL Soccer Center and I will be the lead instructor along with additional staff assigned at a later date. Please stay tune for more details about how to register.

• Damon Nahas, CASL Technical Director just got back from another stint as the U15G National Team coach and also has been involved with the US Full Women’s National team as a Technical Trainer
• Sean Nahas, CASL ECNL Director continues to be involved with the U14G National team as a staff coach and also was a clinician at the NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia
• Taylor Otto, CASL player for the U16/U17 Girls ECNL teams received the Youth All American award at the NSCAA Convention 

Come out and support our partner the Carolina Railhawks at all of their home games. We will be sending out a calendar of all CASL and Railhawk game events very soon. Let’s make this season at the CASL Towers a big success.

Coming soon will be an announcement of a new NSCAA/CASL Co-Branded CASL Badge – Special Topics course to be taught in August, 2014. This will be an exciting new Coaching Education piece for us all

Finally, I have included a Technical Training segment from Sean Nahas, CASL ECNL Director for your enjoyment and education. Again, I will have one of these each month.  This session will also be stored in the "CASL Technical session" located on the left hand column of the blog.
Once again, thank you for all you do for CASL and if you have a question or something to include in my monthly communication, please do not hesitate to email or call me directly.

Rusty Scarborough
CASL Director of Soccer
Rusty.scarborough@caslnc.com
919-834-9899

Coaches,

We are now progressing through our second week of training sessions heading into our first weekend of games this weekend, so I wanted to reach out to everyone with some thoughts, ideas, and tips.  One thing that I will be doing this season with both the recreation and challenge divisions is that I frequently go out to observe training sessions.  Similarly, both of the staff working with me will be doing the same thing and we will be sure to get out to Garner, Cary, Raleigh, and Wake Forest.  So, you may see me out walking around the training ground.  On occasion I may stop over to speak with a coach, but very seldom as I do not want to interfere with your session, but I may follow up with you via email if there is anything that I want to pass along.

Here are some of the things that I look for with coaches/teams during training:

• Energy and passion from the coach or coaches.  This is one of the most important aspects to coaching as players are going to feed off of and emulate the personality, energy, enthusiasm, and passion of the coach.  If you as the coach carry yourself as though you do not want to be there, your players are going to follow suit.  For the 90 minutes of your session with your players, bring the energy, passion, excitement, and love of the game of soccer.  
• Organization.  Coaches need to be organized with their activities in order to maximize the value for which the players can learn and develop.  Good coaches have great organization and are able to have very minimal transition time between activities, which also helps to keep the players focused and on task.  Most silly incidents and injuries at practice will occur in the time between activities, so minimizing this time with good organization not only makes more effective use of your 90 minutes of training, but will also minimize silliness and accidents with players during this "dead time".
• Communication:  At training I really like to find examples of coaches that are coaching and teaching.  For anyone that has been through any level of coaching course, one of the most prominent aspects of these courses are finding those coachable moments and making corrections and teaching.
• Training session flow:  Within any training session there needs to be a connection of activities that all relate to one primary topic.  An awful training session will be one in which there is a dribbling activity, followed by a passing activity, then a shooting activity, and then some game.  Example of a session that focuses on 1v1 attacking:
• Technical warm up with lots of touches on the ball to include a few 1v1 moves (no pressure).
• Activity 1:  Simulate 1v1, such that the defender must apply no more than 50% defensive pressure.  
• Activity 2:  Live defending of 1v1 play with line soccer.  Divide the team up into 2 and play 3 minute games between the teams.  Add a competitive element to the 1v1 attacking game.
• End game.  Play a game as normal for the final 25-30 minutes.  Since the focus of the day was 1v1, award teams a bonus goal each time they successfully beat a defender with a 1v1 move.
• Lines at training:  Far too often do I see coaches running an activity in which too many players are standing.  For example, I observed a team this past week doing a "running with the ball activity".  This was an older girls team of about 14 players.  The team was divided in half with 7 players on one side facing the other 7 players.  One player at a time had a ball and would speed dribble across to the other side and then it would repeat.  The problem with this is that with 14 players, only one is working with the ball at any one time, with 13 girls standing.  
• Any activities involving lines should have no more than 4 players per line.  
• For example, if I had a team of 12-16 players, I would split them up into 4 groups of 3-4 players each and each group gets a ball.  This ensures that the work to rest ratio is much higher with one player working and 3 actively resting.  This not only gets more touches for the players more frequently, but you can also add the component of fitness with higher work rates.

Training Activity - Rotational Possession and End game option

Title: Rotational Possession with active neutrals

Equipment:

·         6 cones

·         6 training bibs (one color)

Setup:  Create a rectangular grid as shown such that the length of the grid is divided on the long sides.  Divide the players into 2 teams.  12 players are shown in this setup.  Position 6 players on the outside of the grid, 3 from each team.  Players in yellow are on opposite sides of the length of the rectangle with one player from each team on one of the end lines.

·         Players positioned on the outside of the grid are coached to move laterally between the cones they are bound to create angles to receive the ball.

Activity:  The activity shown is with a total of 12 players, 6 on each team.  3 players on each team are inside the grid with the other players positioned on the outside of the grid.  Inside the grid, play is always 3v3 with players on each team trying to keep possession, attempting to get 7 passes for a point. 

·         When a player on the inside of the grid passes to a player on the outside of the grid, the player passing the ball sprints to replace the player’s position on the outside of the grid.  The player receiving the ball on the outside of the grid penetrates with the ball into the grid, maintaining 3v3 inside the grid.  Each pass from a central player to an outside player results in rotational replacement of the 2 players.

Progressions:

1.       Begins with the player on the outside penetrating with speed, dribbling into the central grid to connect with team mates.

2.       When a central player passes to an outside player, the player initiating the pass must support the pass and get a quick 1-2 combination from the outside player. 

a.       A central player passes to an outside player.  The central player sprints to get the pass back from the outside player who then returns the ball back to his/her feet.  The players then switch roles.

3.       When a central player passes to an outside player, the players switch roles, but the outside player must pass 1-time to any other player inside the grid.  Therefore, the outside player still comes into the central are, but he/she only gets one touch to play the ball when passed to him/her.

a.       You must coach the supporting players inside the grid to make runs to the player receiving the ball, so that he/she is able to play 1-time and the team can maintain possession.

End Game Activity:

A great final activity that I like to utilize after the rotational possession is the following:

·         Use the same grid but place two small goals in the center back to back.

·         Teams are divided into 2 teams

·         Depending on the number of players, you can have neutrals on the outside, either on the shorter or longer sides

·         Teams can score in either goal once they win possession

o   If the soccer is not good, then put restrictions on making a minimum of 3 passes before a goal, or on a change of possession the team must find a neutral before scoring.

Technical - What to teach and why?

Coaches,

I want to pass along some of my thoughts as it relates to player development and specifically technical skill development.  Over the past 10+ years of coaching, I have spent the majority of my time with younger players, thus I have developed a strong interest and focus on player development.  My coaching philosophy is centered around this framework, and thus all of my training sessions are linked to what I try and develop and focus with my players and would be consistent if I were coaching recreation, challenge, or classic level players.  Therefore, I want to share a couple of thoughts that I use as I approach a season with a team.

Technical Skill Development....What do you teach and why?  I ask this as there really are a great deal of unique skill sets in which you could focus your players.
Are you a huge proponent of the Anson Dorrance UNC philosophy in which you focus on developing the 1v1 artist? Are you a coach that plays direct, with defenders and mids taking one huge kick to get the ball as far up the field as possible as fast as possible?  Are you a coach that focuses on possession between the thirds and laterally across the pitch?  Are you a coach that wants to penetrate into wide areas of the pitch and create chances on goal via crosses?

Depending on how you would answer the questions above leads me into identifying which technical skills are most critical to your player's and team's success.  For example, I focus on possession, speed of play, and putting players in situations in which they have to make soccer decisions.  I teach my defenders to play out of the back and link up with my midfielders, essentially playing their way out of trouble.

Player scenario - my right back has the ball at his feet:

• If the player has space in front of him, he must dribble for speed and penetrate into space
• Technique 1: Running with the ball
• If the player encounters a defender, he has 3 options available to him:
• 1-Take on the defender (technique - 1v1 to beat an opponent)
• 2-Pass to a team mate to keep possession (technique - passing technique/ short or long)
• 3-Turn and shield the ball and pass negative to keep possession
• techniques - turns and change of direction, Passing
• Assuming option 3 is selected, the player receiving the ball must have the technique to properly receive the ball
• Technique - receiving the ball, 1st touch control

Summary:  Dribbling, running with the ball, passing, receiving, 1v1, 1st touch, receiving the ball across the body, etc.

Bryan Farnsworth

Director 

Communication

Hello Coaches,

Frequently I will plan to post here thoughts, insight, and perspective about a variety of things, hopefully for you to think about and possibly benefit.  Myself, I am a sponge for learning as I am always open to ideas, thoughts, and observation to learn and develop, none is more true that that when I am wearing my coaching hat.  Much of the philosophies that I have developed over the years have been from observations, reading, videos, and conversations with fellow coaches, but I use these as tools in which I tweak and modify to use with my players and my professional development.  I hope that you think of the posts contained here on this blog as information and tools, from which you can elect to use or learn and apply to your coaching.

As the start of the new season is on the horizon, I wanted to address with you some thoughts about communication.  Being a good communicator as a coach is of paramount importance, whether it be how you teach and coach players, engage with referees, address fellow coaches, or interface with parents.  I tend to be an over communicator with my team parents as I have found that informed parents are content parents.  I usually will send out an email to my teams every other week during the season to address concepts and focus of training, problems I may be having, as well as successes that I may be experiencing.  I do this in part, especially with younger ages so as the ideas that I am focusing on can be readily apparent and visible to the parents during the games.  For example, I do not allow my U10-12 goalkeeper punt the ball, ever, as I want to develop players that can make soccer decisions and play out of the back.  I make sure that I communicate this style and philosophy to my team in advance, partly so they know I am focusing on this aspect of player development, but also so that parents know why I do not punt the ball.  Some parents may be unfamiliar with the game, so by me expressing my coaching philosophy, they know the reason why and the benefit not to punt the ball.

Good team communication is also vital in other areas that may not be readily apparent, especially for a new or inexperienced coach.  Players and parents are going to emulate the coach, and this is especially true in the way he or she communicates.  Far too often I will observe a coach or group of coaches on the sideline that are of of their minds screaming and yelling.  What often accompanies this are kids and parents which do the exact same things.  Teams that have coaches yell and berate referees, will also have issues with parents and sometimes players that do the same.  Please be mindful of the communication style you readily use as your players and parents will follow suit.

Just some thoughts, more to come.

Bryan Farnsworth
Director of Coaching Education and Player Development

Hello Coaches,

Please read this message in its entirety.

This past Saturday I was out at WRAL observing several games and have some observations that I wish to share with the community.  In future weeks, I will be sure to visit Wake Forest, Cary, and Garner.

Pre-Game Warmup

By far the most common warm up that I saw on almost every field was a shooting line.  Players would stand in a long line and take turns shooting on goal.  A pre-game warm up should prepare the players mentally and physically to perform in the game.  There should be active moving, changing directions, and multiple touches on the ball.  Players should be put into situations in which they will be exposed to in the game, to allow the players opportunities for success.

Example:  5mins - dynamic movement and warm up.  10 mins- dribbling, turning, passing activity 10-mins possession activity 5 mins - shooting

U9/U10 Goal kicks

Observing several of the U9/10 games, I have a thought that I want to pass along to the coaches to improve the goal kick restart.  Having all of the defenders back to the midline is intended to give the team in possession opportunity to pass and play the ball up the field.  I encourage you to have your kicker pass the ball to a team mate and work the ball out of the defensive half.  I saw too often the keeper trying to kick the ball as far forward as possible, which is not the intent.  If you look to keep possession, your players will benefit.

Numbers on Uniforms

I saw one team that had numbers pinned to their uniforms.  I am not sure if there were any other teams at other locations, but this is not allowed.  Please be sure that the uniforms all have numbers on the uniforms without any safety pins.

Official Printed Rosters

CASL rules require all U9 through U19 recreaton teams to provide a printed "official match roster" to the referee before each game. The reason for this is to be able to track warnings and ejections of players as well as to ensure that only registered players, covered by insure, are competing in the game.  Failure to do so by rule constitutes a forfeit.  I recommend that each coach make multiple copies of their roster and have with them at each game.

Training-Important!!

If you train on a field that is a game field, DO NOT TRAIN IN THE PENALTY BOX!!!  If you need to do something to goals, pull the goal out of the penalty box.  This is the area of the field that takes the most wear, so if teams train in these spaces on their training days, the fields are going to deteriorate for offical games.  Please do your part to protect the fields.  Also, while I am out observing training sessions and I see teams training in these spaces I will ask you to move.

Thank you for all that you do!!!

Bryan Farnsworth

Director of Recreation

Coaches,

Please read this message in its entirety and pass along any pertinent information on to your families.

Well, the season is all set to begin tomorrow!!  With that in mind I wanted to get out a communication to all coaches on a few items that I believe are critically important to having a successful season.  I will be out for the majority of tomorrow observing games, so if you see me feel free to stop me to chat, ask questions, or anything you like.  I am here for you!!!

Important for this weekend:

1.      Regardless of how nice it the weather is today and in the morning, please be sure to check the weather hotline before departing for your game. 

2.      Know exactly what field you match is on and the exact location.  Also, be sure to allow yourself plenty of extra time to arrive before your first game. 

3.      When travelling in and around WRAL soccer center, please slow down.  There will be kids everywhere, so please be extra cautious.

4.      Ensure that if you are the coach for a U9 or older team that you must have a printed copy of your match roster and your match report for the game.  Please do not forget.

Rules:

Please, know and be familiar with the rules for your age group before showing up to the field.  There have been a few changes in both the 4v4 and 6v6 format.  An updated link to all the rules can be located on the recreation blog.

Community:

This item is probably the most important of everything that I wish to communicate with you and will continue to do so this season and in seasons to come.  It is my vision that each coach and team to develop a mindset that the CASL recreation is a community.  Do everything that you can to work together, to compromise with other coaches and teams, to communicate always with respect and professionalism, and most importantly of all, facilitate a positive and enjoyable soccer experience for the players and families.

Something that I expressed at the recreation coaches meeting was that soccer pathway of a typical older CASL player.  While not all of our graduating soccer players played CASL recreation soccer, I can bet that a tremendous majority started playing soccer in a recreation league of some town/community.  At one time the players were dispersed throughout many different recreation teams, competing against one another with their dad’s and mom’s coaching.  Now, many years later, several of these players are playing, competing, and traveling together.  It all starts now in recreation soccer, so we, the CASL recreation community, needs to foster this idea of community while you compete and develop your current roster of youth soccer players.

Code of Conduct:

Simply, if you are a coach, you need to be familiar with the code of conduct.  If you have not read it, read it before coaching this weekend.  You can reference the general code of conduct and the coach’s code of conduct in the CASL Rule Book. 

“Ignorance of the law is no excuse. That's the standard line motorists hear when they say they weren't aware of the speed limit.”

U7 and U8 coaches/teams,

I wanted to follow up on the mass email that was sent yesterday as it relates to games this weekend for U7 and U8 recreation.  Because we have had such bad luck with the weather over the past 2 weeks, the CASL administration worked to come up with a solution that hopefully will be of benefit to a majority of our membership. 

All U7 and U8 games are cancelled for this weekend, so no official games will be played.  If you had a game scheduled for this weekend, it is your choice to show up during your game time and use the game field for training or scrimmage.  Please recognize that 2 teams are slotted for each field, so you will have to work together to come up with your plan for Saturday.  If for some reason you are on a field and the other team elecs not to show, you then have full use of the entire space.

If you happen to coach an older team or have a child that participates on an older team, everything will proceed as normal with those ages. 

Only use the field and time that you are assigned to for your specific match.

This decision will allow teams the opportunity to train on a game field on Saturday and also get their normal training in next week, so that these teams may have 2 training sessions before a first official game.

Please recognoze that all training field closures will be handled in the same manner as always, via the weather hotline.  

Summary:

• All U7 and U8 games are cancelled this weekend and only U7 and U8 games.
• It is your choice to show up and use your scheduled game time as training/scrimmage time.  Do not contact CASL, just simply have your team show up as usual and take advantage of the allocated space
• This decision has zero impact on training days and times.  This will be handled as usual via the weather hotline. 
• Please work together with the opposing team to share the field space and be respectful to be off prior to the next set of teams to arrive.

Bryan Farnsworth

Director of Recreation

Hello Coaches,

With the new season upon us, I wanted to reach out to everyone to pass along some important information and reminders.

IMPORTANT :  Recreation Team Packet distribution and Coaches Meeting

What:  New Player Uniforms (U5-U12 New Players) and Packet (U5-U18) Distribution

When:  This Saturday February, 23

Location:  WRAL Soccer Center Radford Building

Time:  Coaches meeting to be held 11:30-12:30 with distribution from 12:30-2:30 

Team Packets will not be distributed during the coach meeting

Additional Information

·         Be sure and check the CASL weather hotline before heading to your particular training or games.  On occasion, even if it is sunny out on a particular day, the fields could be in poor condition from rain on the previous day.   To save yourself and your families a trip, please call in advance.  919-248-9516.

·         I also want to stress the importance of only training on your particular training day, time, and location.  Because of the limited space and the number of teams in the CASL system, training schedules are set to accommodate all teams.  If you are not training on your particular training time and location, you MUST notify me and Mike Walters (field scheduler). 

·         DO NOT WAIT until the start of the games to know your team’s playing rules.  Become familiar with them now.

·         KNOW the code of conduct and adhere to it always. 

Last season I made myself available to coaches and teams to come out and run a training session, and I will be doing the same this season as well.  If you would like me to come out to run a session, please contact me so that I can get you on my schedule.

Bryan Farnsworth

Director of Recreation