Lionel Messi was just named as the FiFA world player of the year. The awards were based on the votes of the coaches and captains of national teams as well as global journalists. Messi scored more than any other player in Europe's top five leagues in 2010, with 42 goals in 36 La Liga games,
Continue readingThis is a game that I've used as a warm-up and in the main part of the session. I like it because of how many different things you can coach depending on your focus. As with most small-sided games, the kids really enjoy playing it so they get a lot out of it. Here is
Continue readingThe NSCAA Convention is an incredible event. It is a happening where thousands of coaches get together at this time every year. As usual, WORLD CLASS COACHING will be there and have a booth in the exhibition hall. It's something we never miss. We look forward to seeing lots of our customers. Every year, we
Continue readingWarning. This blog includes a blatant plug for a $50 coupon. As I have mentioned in previous posts, the Member Drills Database is now fully operational. And we've been getting tons of great feedback. We've also had lots of questions so let me try my best to break it down. The printed WORLD CLASS COACHING
Continue readingWe came across an article recently that points out that we often do our children a disservice by protecting them from distress or difficulties. Allowing our children to fail, and learn from that experience can be the best thing for them. Why allowing failure can raise successful children By Gregory Ramey, Ph.D. 2:29 PM Friday,
Continue readingIt's a few days late, but happy New Year to everyone. I hope it is successful on and off the field for you. We here at WORLD CLASS COACHING have a lot going on to start the year. 1. First and foremost we are getting lots of customer questions about our new Member Drills Database.
Continue readingWell, it has taken plenty of time and effort, but we have finally got our new Member Drills Database up and running. I wrote about this in last Friday's blog. If you subscribe to the printed version of the WORLD CLASS COACHING Magazine, you already have instant access to the Member Drills Database, so take
Continue readingWe have some exciting new developments that we can share with you in the next week or so. Some of you have already connected the dots and seen our new database of online drills and exercises. It is actually the world's largest online searchable database of drills and exercises and we are very excited about
Continue readingThis is a post from the Soccer Fit Academy. It is from Missy Geha, SoccerFIT Academy trainer. Her post reflects her thoughts on a recent article from goal.com. Most young soccer players react in the same way as the professionals do in tight games. One would think after playing for so many years that keeping
Continue readingStats don't often tell an accurate picture. In sports like American Football and especially baseball, stats can be more indicative of the true story. I have noticed that over the past 10 years or so, statistics in soccer are becoming more widespread. I think it goes without saying that they are pretty widespread here in
Continue readingOkay, here's a quick quiz. No looking online for the stats. Just give a quick answer within five seconds. The EPL's top four teams in order are, Arsenal, Man U, Chelsea and Man City. Which team has the fewest wins? Which team has fewest losses? Which team has the best goal difference? Which team has
Continue readingBasic passing exercises like the one below are great for focusing on the technical aspects of passing the ball but it's easy to get stuck in a rut of doing the same progressions over and over. I was playing with different ways to add movement as well as force the players to think about where
Continue readingLet me start by saying that I kind of guessed that both England AND USA would not get chosen to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. I just couldn't see FIFA giving consecutive World Cups to predominantly white and English speaking countries. I didn't really know too much about England's bid, but I thought
Continue readingThis weekend is Women's Final Four, College Cup. I take particular interest in Notre Dame, who are making their 5th consecutive Final Four appearance. The reason I take interest in Notre Dame is that three of my former players play there. Lauren Fowlkes is in her senior year there. I coached Lauren from when she
Continue readingUEFA has charged Jose Mourinho with improper conduct following the controversial second yellow cards earned by Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos in Real Madrid's 4-0 victory at Ajax in last weeks Champions League game. Here is the situation. Both players had been yellow carded earlier in the game (Mourinho claims they were "soft" debatable decisions).
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There are a number of high level coaches that use a lot of circle drills in their sessions including Barry Gorman (long time coach at Penn State) and David Williams (Manchester United Academy). I've had the opportunity to watch both of them run sessions at our International Coaching Seminar so I've used some of their
Continue readingI'll keep this short and sweet. Is the experiment in the Champions League games of having the two additional officials on each goal line working? I don't recall seeing them having to make a crucial decision in any of the games I have seen. So no game changing decisions either way. Has anyone seen anything
Continue readingI often think about rule (laws of the game) changes that could be made to improve the game of soccer. For instance, during the World Cup, I posted about changing the red and yellow card system, by maybe having a sin bin or using video replay after the game to catch the cheaters who are
Continue readingThere are times that I'll have a practice on a Thursday when the team has a Friday game. This is a session that comes from our Brazilian Academy Journal that I have used. It provides a relaxed environment where the players can have some fun and express themselves. The small-sided games give the players a
Continue readingThe USA Women's National Team has probably been the number one team over the last 20 years...basically the length of time that women's soccer has had serious worldwide competitions. If not the number one team, then they certainly have been one of the dominant teams along with Norway and China. USA have really had an
Continue readingIn England the climate really didn't make a difference or give one team an advantage over another. Usually if the weather was good or bad in one part of the country it was similar in the other parts. Sure, there were times when it snowed in Birmingham but not in London. But no team had
Continue reading“I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.” Marlene Dietrich This is a great explanation of why I use quotes with my teams. I use them in different ways. Sometimes right before a game or at half time.
Continue readingThe ACC and NCAA slapped fines and a suspension on Florida State Women's Coach, Mark Krikorian on Friday. His crime? He felt the NCAA post season tournament was more important than the regular season ending ACC Tournament so he rested many of his starters. In fact, he left nine of them at home and traveled
Continue readingWhen I make teams in practice how I do it will depend largely on the type of team I’m working with. When the team has a large disparity between the top players and the weaker ones, I try to balance the teams by putting the top players with the weakest ones and then work my
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