Correct the Mistakes Immediately. There are certain things that young people are apt to do on the field. One of them is swarm the ball. Regardless of the training received and skill developed, there is always the instinct, at this age, to chase the ball. What usually happens is that a coach will allow it to happen in games/practice, thinking that the kids will eventually un-learn this behavior as they get more mature. While this may be true, my years of soccer playing told me that this wasn’t right. Whether it was a game situation or practice, either the kid doing it came out or we stopped practice to get it right.

Another example is turning the ball inside while facing their own goal (allowing a smart opponent to come take it from him). When a boy did this (and, almost all of them did at some point), I had to talk them immediately about it. In practices, we would stop and talk about it as a group. In games, I would substitute the kid, thus giving me an opportunity to discuss during a live game. By the second or third week, we weren’t making that mistake any longer.

Team Focus. While it certainly seems obvious, this concept is probably THE most important. What I have in mind here is a concentration on getting better as a team, not just individually. Some coaches see the U08 level as the place to concentrate on individual skills. While this is important, if the focus is taken away from the team, then individuals don’t develop a sense of responsibility for the team and the roles they are being asked to play.

If there’s too much attention paid to individual skill development (dribbling, running, moving the ball side to side, throw-ins, goalkeeping, turning, etc.), then the overall development of the team – passing to each other, moving for one another (not just to the ball), talking to one another, knowing the responsibility of a certain position – will suffer. These are the things that win games and, even if they aren’t winning, will develop confidence in the group. A kid knows that his team is getting better and working toward an objective. As much as you emphasize individual skill development, an 8-year old won’t see it. He WILL see the team getting better or worse.

Coincidentally, I also think this is where training for soccer is much different from other sports. At least in the USA, coaches are apt to concentrate on running drills and teaching “fundamentals”, i.e., individual skills. It’s a generalization and I have seen U08 teams that have been taught the right way, but focusing on team play is different for soccer and, I would think, basketball.

Confidence. Eight year olds can get down on themselves. Negativity can be contagious. Once it sets in, its hard to get them to think differently. And, simply talking about confidence and giving accolades can only go so far. Individual confidence is actually a (surprising) corollary to Team Focus. All of my players (yes, all of them) got better individually because their confidence was developed in the team. Even when we lost games, the boys were able to see that the team was getting better. Losses became learning experiences, wins were confirmations, and each practice was one more step to getting better as a team.

Right now, we’re on Winter Break and some of the boys are playing on indoor teams and participating in other sports. I’m very eager to see if the team spirit remains in the Spring. I’m positive it will.

First, I’m exciting about two different online businesses that we’ve been developing over the past couple of months. I don’t want to get into details until they launch, but they both include things that Joy and I are passionate about. I know that the word “passion” gets tossed around a lot on the interwebs, especially when it comes to startups, but I don’t want to call it anything else.

Second, these two businesses will lead into the launch of our own web development and consulting business. It’s yet to be named, but Joy and I will be the principals – she will develop our online presence and marketing and I will take care of the analytics and technical background stuff.

Please stay tuned as we get closer to our 2013 launches. I will be blogging about our development here. Look for our first ramp-up in January 2013 and a second following right behind.

Meanwhile, this blog is also in development and there will be enhancements/additions in the next couple of weeks. Please let me know if you find anything that needs fixing. It’s much appreciated.