This is a review of various items from our web site, plus aspects of our Junior Academy philosophy that we reviewed in our summer orientation presentation.
Bad weather?
At some point down the road, we’ll face bad game day weather. Rain itself won’t stop us, only lightning or unplayable fields. General rule of thumb: assume all games are “on” and will be played as scheduled. If anything changes, we’ll update our Junior Academy Girls web site’s News page. Link: bad weather procedures
What can you expect during the games?
Anything can happen, and probably will! Our new players are making an adjustment to a faster, more aggressive game. Some will thrive, some will struggle. Some of our returning players will hit the ground running, some will show rust since they haven’t played a “real” game in several months.
The first quarter is likely to be very chaotic. It’s common for young players to start out with all energy and no purpose. They’ll settle in as they burn through the initial adrenaline rush.
5v5 play:
We will play with four field players and a goalkeeper. We’ll have four 12-minute quarters. (If kids start to wilt, we may shift to 10-minute quarters.) We’ll use standard soccer restarts: kick-offs, goal kicks, throw-ins, corner kicks, and free kicks. (Restarts often lead to lengthy delays due to lack of familiarity with restart rules. Be patient; kids will learn these, usually by late September or October.)
Some exceptions from standard soccer rules: all free kicks are indirect, the offside rule doesn’t apply, and the defending team retreats to their own half of the field on goal kicks or goalkeeper possession. When we play outside competition, if our opponent has different expectations on the rules, we’ll try to find a compromise.
Referees are in short supply, so we may play without a referee. If we don’t have a ref, coaches will referee the games. (It’s common for U8 coaches to self-referee when needed.)
How will we define success?
We ask the girls to play with skill (“feet: keep the ball”), with desire (“heart: show enthusiasm and desire”), and with intelligence (“brain: be creative, make decisions”). Skills and intelligence develop over time through purposeful practices. Our new players are only a month into a long journey, so some players may struggle with the feet and brain aspects of the game. The heart aspect comes from within, though.
For many new players, the ball is a tougher opponent than the players on the other team.
New players will be successful if they try to keep the ball:
- Go meet the ball when it’s near you.
- Keep the ball moving.
- Get your head up.
- Find open space, an open path to goal, or an open teammate.
Common mistakes: Some players may freeze with the ball like a deer in headlights, some may dribble with their head down directly into the nearest opponent (or teammate), and some may just kick the ball aimlessly. This quote can help keep us all sane as kids make these mistakes: “Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.”
More experienced players will be successful if they keep the ball more often than not (instead of just trying to keep the ball), turn possession into attack, and do so at a decent pace.
Spacing (team shape):
Young players want to be where the ball is, so bunching is absolutely normal at this stage. Our emphasis so far has been on keeping the ball. As the girls develop success keeping the ball, we’ll start layering in activities that emphasize spreading out.
What will we (coaches) do to help the girls?
We’ll focus on things the girls can handle now, and offer lots of encouragement for effort and creativity. We’ll offer advice during “coachable moments,” and we’ll ask the girls questions to prompt them to think, but we won’t constantly direct them as if they were players in a video game. More details: game day guidelines
What can you (parents) do to help the girls?
- Pre-game: Make sure they drink plenty of water the night before the game, get a good night’s sleep, and eat a healthy breakfast and drink plenty of water the morning of the game. Link: Nesquick simple Game Day Eating guide
- During the game: Cheer them, encourage them, make them feel good about themselves! We like to say “Be your daughter’s biggest fan, and the other girls’ 2nd biggest fan!” But please don’t coach them during the game (i. e., yelling “shoot” or “pass” or other directions). More details: game day guidelines
- Post-game: Child development experts advise against post-game critiques of your daughter’s performance. A supportive post-game conversation starts with “I enjoyed watching you play!”, followed by asking your daughter if she had fun, and then asking what she wants for lunch. Link: articles from child development experts about being a supportive parent and helping your daughter get the best out of her experience as an athlete
Mismatches:
Every now and then, there’s a one-sided blowout game. We could be on either end of a lopsided score. If we get a big lead over an opponent, remember that the next goal we score isn’t the winning goal of the World Cup. If we’re way behind, don’t despair. It’s one game, and if we’re getting pounded, we should be able to learn a lesson from the experience.
If an intra-academy game is a mismatch, we may shift players between teams to make the game more balanced.
If we’re playing a team from another club, coaches may occasionally pull a player off the field (or add an extra player) to make a blowout game more competitive. This is done “on the quiet” with only the ref and coaches being aware of the change. If you notice a numbers mismatch, please keep that observation under wraps.
Uniforms:
Players should bring both uniforms to all games. (“Wear one set, have the other in a zip-lock bag in your backpack.”) Each game day web page has details about what to wear for each game. But if there’s an unexpected color conflict, we may need to change colors.
Good luck to everyone, and have fun!