Soccer Bag

Positive

• The first thing that struck me was the size of the bag.  It has ample storage space to carry up to 10 balls, plenty of vests and cones and other soccer coaching equipment.  For example, if you purchased some of those fold away poles, they would also fit nicely into the bag.  Although the bag is roomy, it is by no means cumbersome.

• I like the idea of having a separate pocket within the bag to keep vests or cones separate from the rest of the bag.

• There is also a pocket on the outside that I found handy for putting a notepad in or ball pump or other smaller item.

• The bag comes with handles as well as a shoulder strap which I found a more efficient way of carrying it when fully laden.

• I also liked the sturdiness of the bag.  It is tough.  It is made out of good quality material and the zippers also appear to be strong and of good quality.

Improvement

• As the bag is quite big and with a full load of soccer balls, vests, training cones and sometimes strips, the bag can get quite heavy, especially if everything is wet.  I would recommend that the bag has wheels on it similar to what some travel luggage has.  A small handle on the end would allow you to easily pick it up and wheel it.

Summary

I highly recommend the bag, I must admit, it certainly had positive comments from those that saw it, including soccer players and coaches.  It is more than a ball bag and should not really be classified as one as it is far more versatile than that.  It should be an essential part of any soccer coaches’ kit.  Have a look at the soccer coaching equipment that is available at Soccer Pro, I am sure you will find something suitable for you.

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I was recently given the opportunity to review a couple of products from Soccer Pro.  If you have not heard of Soccer Pro, they are now one of the largest online suppliers of soccer equipment and clothing.  The first review we will give you today is for goalkeeping gloves.  The review is done by my son Matthew who is a Goalkeeper in a local U16A competition.  We have summarized the feedback into Positive (good points) and Improvement (where we think the item can be improved).

I gave Matthew a pair of Reusch Contact Gloves to try out under all performance conditions including both training and match conditions.

Positive

• Matthew found that the grip was good.  This was in both dry and wet conditions.  He has far more expensive gloves and he found that the grip of these gloves were equal if not better than the most expensive brand.

• Matthew also found that the gloves were comfortable.  They were a good fit and felt good on.  He thought they were ‘Part of his hand”.  This is obviously an important criterion for a goalkeeper when assessing any goalkeeping glove.

Improvement

• The main area that Matthew felt that these gloves could be improved on was the amount of padding.  While the grip was good, he felt that the gloves lacked sufficient padding in particular around the palm of the hand.

Summary

Matthew found the Reusch Contact Glove to be a good glove under all conditions and represents good value for money.  Have a look at the Reusch Contact Glove and let me know what you think.  Also, while you are there, take a look around some of the other great deals that Soccer Pro has on goalkeeper gear.

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In Australia, we are currently in our off season.  Things are pretty quite, well they are suppose to be anyway.  We still have our National competition, the Hyundai A League underway, so this gives everyone an opportunity to get along and support their local teams.  My local team is the Central Coast Mariners and they are in the hunt for a semi-final position again this year.  As I did last year, I will provide you with an update on how they go leading up to the finals.

I am president again of our local club, so this time of the year starts to really get busy.  This is where the local soccer club committees come into their own.  Preparation for registrations, gradings of teams and appointing of coaches amongst numerous other administrative duties.  Our local competition kicks off on the weekend of the 4th of April, so there is plenty of planning and organising that needs to be done before then.

This year, I will be coaching my younger sons team which will be a U16A team and I will also be coaching our local Premier League Reserve Grade team.  This Reserve Grade team has won the Premiership for the last three years in a row and as the previous coach has decided to have a break,  I am taking over.  Do you think I am under pressure or what? - lol  It looks like a busy year coming up but I love it and cant wait until the season kicks off.

I would love to hear from you as to where you are at in your soccer season.  If you are a soccer coach, how has the season gone or if you are a soccer parent, how has your child enjoyed the year.  Of course as always, if you have any questions or stories you would like to share, please leave a comment and share them here as I’m sure we will all learn from each others experiences.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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Juan Jose Aranguri, 46 and director of the South America Soccer Academy, has stepped down as coach of a girls’ team with the Bethesda Soccer Club and he has been suspended from other coaching duties with MSI soccer, which is one of the county’s largest soccer clubs, pending the outcome of the criminal case against him. He was arrested last week for allegedly inappropriately touching a girl in July while she was a student at the academy.

According to police, Aranguri began massaging the 12-year-old’s legs after she developed leg cramps and then proceeded to inappropriately touch the child, prompting her to repeatedly push his hand away, said Lt. Paul Starks, a spokesman for the Montgomery County Police, citing the statement of charges against Aranguri.

Lt. Paul Starks said police have received numerous calls from parents expressing concern on both sides of the issue including from some parents seeking advice for determining whether there had been any inappropriate contact between Aranguri and their own children.

“This is simply probable cause for arrest and charging him,” Starks said. “It doesn’t rise to the level of conviction.”

Members of Bethesda Legacy, the girls’ team associated with the Bethesda Soccer Club, has come to his defense.

Families of the players recently held a meeting to discuss the charges, at which the sentiment was one of support for Aranguri, said Mark Lauda, team manager and the father of a team member.

“It’s absolutely the general perception – we think he’s going to be vindicated,” Lauda said.

“The parents all saw this as a time to come together, rather than the opposite,” said Doug Schuessler, executive director of MSI soccer. Though Aranguri was not employed by MSI, he coached one of the organization’s teams, and has been suspended from his coaching duties, Schuessler said.

“We’ve taken the appropriate protective action — which is imperative,” he said. “But beyond that, we’ll let the process play itself out before drawing any conclusions.”

Aranguri, was arrested Aug. 11 and charged with sexual abuse of a minor and two counts of third-degree sexual offense, according to a statement issued by Montgomery County Police.

Lauda said his daughter had never complained of an inappropriate incident involving Aranguri. “I’m certain if something like that was going on, we would have known about it,” Lauda said. “I know my daughter wouldn’t keep quiet about something like that.”

Schuessler said that Aranguri, like other coaches, had been subject to routine background checks. “There were no flags raised,” he said.

A preliminary hearing for Juan Jose Aranguri, was postponed to Sept. 19 in Montgomery County District Court.

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Young children need a disciplined environment to learn effectively but they also need that environment to be both fun and encouraging. The important thing to remember is that a successful youth soccer coach spends time to plan training sessions carefully. Having a plan that lays out the fundamentals that will enable your team to achieve success now and in the future will set you on the right road towards becoming a successful soccer coach. There is nothing worse than being unprepared for a coaching session.  It doesn’t matter if you are coaching the U5’s or an U17 team, as a coach, you need to be prepared for the session.

When planning training sessions for your players you will need take into account their ages and skill levels. If the children you are coaching are especially young, the sessions that you plan need to be highly focused on ensuring they gain the most fun and enjoyment out of the experience. The majority of soccer coaching sessions tend to follow a similar patter that covers all of the basics.

Soccer training sessions will usually start with a warm up. This will help raise the children’s heart rate and stretch their muscles. This can be followed by a demonstration of a particular skill or technique that the coach would like them to learn. The session will then move on to a period of fun exercises that encourage the children to practice the skill or technique that they have just learn t. A small-sided soccer game in which the children are able to express themselves and enjoy without any intervention from coaches will most often end the training session.

Successful youth soccer coaching requires that you understand the importance of the fun element in the children’s training sessions. Try to maintain a relaxed atmosphere that allows the children to express themselves and just play soccer. Although an element of discipline is of course important with ground rules that everyone understands you don’t want come across in the style of a P.E teacher.

A successful youth soccer coach always treats everyone of his players with the maximum respect, listening to the children’s views and ideas when they express them. Coaching youth soccer is about letting the children develop their technique and individual playing styles in a fun, relaxed environment lead by a soccer coach who understands their needs.

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I have written a post some time ago on a similar topic which can be viewed Here , however I thought it was a timely reminder that I write another post on the involvement of parents in a game. This has come about as a result of an experience I had last weekend at a game I attended.  At the outset, I would like to add that from my experience, I have never had any trouble with 99% of the parents of children I have coached.

In the incident I witnessed on the weekend, there was an overly vocal parent on the sideline that was yelling and berating not only their child but the opposition players along with their own coach. Unfortunately, this then lead to another parent having their say as well along with the coach and in the meantime the game was still going on. What a mess! Believe it or not, both the parents and the coach were close friends and these parents attended each training session and assisted the coach in running the sessions. The bottom line is that these parents felt that as they were assisting during the week at training that they then had the right to also assist at the game on the weekend and were yelling out instructions that were negative and contradictory to what the coach had planned. End result, confusion for the kids and an unsatisfactory result.

A soccer parent who is throwing out overly negative instructions to their child can destroy his morale, making the whole experience distressing. Children want to hear praise from their parents. Unfortunately, most of the instructions given by your self-appointed assistants will be completely wrong. It’s especially disruptive when they are shouting out the exact opposite to what you have been working hard on with the children in training.

The soccer coach needs to be extremely tactful when trying to deal with this situation to ensure there are no misunderstandings. After all, everyone involved will have the best interests of the children at heart. The best way to resolve this problem tactfully is to organize a preseason meeting, however in the case above  a meeting with everyone concerned immediately.  Make it clear to the parents that the children need to be able to use the soccer games as a learning experience. Explain that criticisms coming from the stands will only hinder their children by making them feel like failures when of course they are not.

The only thing that the children should hear from their parents on game day is general praise such as well-done, great job, unlucky and so on. Soccer parents shouldn’t shout criticisms at the opposition or referees either. If this is occurring you should politely nip it in the bud. Make sure that your assistants at soccer training understand how much you appreciate their help but on game day you need them to take a step back and let you as coach get on with your job. Make sure that they understand that when the children hear instructions coming from every which way, it is only going to confuse them and spoil their game.

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Have you seen the size of some of the trophies that are handed out? Some of these trophies are bigger than the kids themselves. The pressure to excel and win in soccer can push our kids to be more competitive. They’ll work hard to become fitter, stronger and more skilled than their counterparts.

There needs to be a balance in a child’s soccer training program. The development of fitness and technique is important but it must be managed correctly in order to prevent over training. When any type of athlete is asked to do too much both physically or mentally then this could lead to over training.

It is important for parents to maintain awareness of how their kids are responding to the physical and mental strains that participating in soccer can entail. Changes could be a sign of their child being pushed just a little too hard. This can often lead to injuries such as muscle strains.

There are some tell tail signs of over training that we can watch out for such as poorer technique than normal, lack of motivation, getting tired easily, irritability towards team mates and an unwillingness to cooperate with their soccer coaches. It is common for some of these tell tail signs to be misinterpreted.

Parents and soccer coaches may believe that the child is just being difficult or is simply lagging behind due to lack of practice. They’ll then push the child even harder to try to generate improvements in the kid’s performance. Any increase to the amount of soccer training the child is put through will only make the situation worse if the child is suffering from over training.

Pushing our kids too hard in this type of situation could lead on to injuries in the future. These types of injuries are called overuse injuries. Damage can occur to the bones and soft tissues because the body isn’t allowed to have enough time to recover from the demands placed on it by the repetitive physical demands that are involved when participating in soccer.

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It’s hard not to let their attitude rub off on you. Just watching their smiling faces hunt down the soccer ball like a swarm of bees in the wind and rain will do wonders for your own enthusiasm. No matter how complicated we like try and make this sport these kids do well to remind us of just how much fun it is to play, especially in it’s most simplest of forms.

When soccer coaching with children this young you’ll have to deal with a bunch of other experiences that you’ll seldom come across with older kids. There are huge differences developmentally between coaching kids under 6 years old and kids just 2 or 3 years older.

Many of your players will often cry when they get hurt. They’ll cry when they can’t get the ball, when they miss a goal or when they miss kick the ball. Some of them will cry for no reason whatsoever. Don’t expect to see any passing either. It doesn’t matter how much you shout or how much you try and drill it home to them in training they will never pass the ball.

It is always handy to have toilets close by when coaching the U’6s. There will always be one that needs to come off for an urgent trip to the toilet. Moreover, don’t be surprised if the odd kid stays on the field when they should be in the toilet. It happens regularly. If you’re playing with a keeper, you can usually expect him to keep his position. Don’t expect anyone else to though. Teaching these young stars positional play will be a waste of time.

What tickles me the most every time though is when the whistle is blown at the start of the game. Ten or twenty seconds later every player on the pitch will be within 5 yards of the soccer ball and it pretty much stays that way for the duration of the game. Soccer coaching with the U’6s is a completely different experience than coaching any other age group but it is an enormous amount of fun.

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