GREAT BIRTHDAYS 

Today, February 5th 2016 is Cristiano and Neymar's birthday. The soccer world and family would like to wish these two great players a very happy birthday. Even though they are rivals, they're still one of the players to ever play the game. Whether you support Barcelona or Real Madrid, I would like for you to put aside your bias and take a moment to recognize the talent and amount of hard work players from both teams have. 

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SOCCER AND WINTER 

As the soccer season approaches, one of the worst things that make the wait seem way longer is the winter season. Waking up in the morning and looking out in the window seeing 4 inches of snow is not the best views for a soccer player. The snow makes it feel like the soccer season is months away. Blankets of snow prevent some players from practicing outside due to the bad weather. Even though the conditions are never great to play soccer during the winter, I think it's a good idea to go out once in a while to get some touches on the ball and get your feel on the ball back. I wish winter could go by fast soccer that it could prevent high school soccer season from seeming months away. 

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LOOKING FORWARD TO THE 2016 VARSITY SOCCER SEASON 

Soccer is one of the best things to do in the world. The beautiful game is one of the best if not the best thing that have happened to me. Playing the beautiful game makes me and hundreds of millions of people around the world happy. I enjoy every single aspect of the game-maybe not so much the conditioning part- and I always look forward to playing whether it be in my room, garage, living room, backyard, club and especially High school. One of the worse things I hate about the beautiful game as referred to by the greatest player ever, Pele, is the fact that I can't play it all time. Myself and other lovers of the beautiful game always look forward to the upcoming season. As there are only 6 weeks left until the 2016 season starts, it feels like the season is so far away but yet so close. 

              As they say, the moments that lead up to the main event are always the most fun parts. It's true that its fun but it also could be very frustrating. Having sleepless nights thinking about all the hype, determination, and commitment all  the players will bring in to the table is phenomenal. I often sit and think about the previous season and all of its ups and downs. I think about how we all did as a team, which includes our record, poor games we could learn from, great performances, team chemistry, players we lose to colleges, and players we welcome from middle school. I like to look at my progress to see where I stand from the previous season to the upcoming one. I watch our previous games to analyze all the aspects of my game. I analyze my difference in effort from start to finish, pass completion rate, off the ball movement, defending, offensive threats I created, and defensive work. I mostly focus on my weak parts of the beautiful in order for me to initiate some drills in my practice sessions to make my performance better.  

Every year as the season comes up, I put on my big boy pants and stand up to lead my teammates. I always try to keep as much people as I can in shape, by getting them to come out during open gym to work on some technical sessions, conditioning, speed and agility, and most importantly, build team chemistry. We try to hold regular meetings at least once a week in order to make sure that everyone is on the same page when it comes down to information, things we need to work on in practice, and sometimes just to hang out and get to know each other more. We put a lot of emphasis on the conditioning component because of a couple reasons. For one, conditioning is a character test. I personally do not enjoy conditioning but it is such a vital part of the game that I need to set my mentality right and see it as just any other drill. Two, when the whole team is in good shape-at least for game level- new players can fit in easily due to the fact that their mentality is set right from the conditioning and they are forced to believe that anything in life can be achieved with hard work, dedication and commitment. What I enjoy most about the "pre season" part of the regular season is the hype, love, and commitment all the players bring in to training everyday.  

We talk about regular soccer stuff such as going against a defender, scoring a hat trick in a sub state final, scoring the equalizing goal on a state championship game, or assisting the game winning goal of the championship. We're big on talking about the fans and running into them after scoring the game winning goal against a rival. One of the things we think about the most is debating whether or not we're getting new jerseys and other equipment for soccer, and not to forget on pitching ideas on what the new soccer posters are going to look like.  After all the fun chatter and hype, it all comes down to one thing, making varsity and actually earning a spot on the starting lineup. We never let out our true feelings on a goals of starting during the season, or who our main opponents (teammates playing the same position hoping to earn a spot on the starting lineup) are and what work needs to be done in order to achieve that goal. It is true that everyone on the team wants to win state and have a good record but we tend to neglect the fact that we fell in love with the beautiful game by playing. Everyone wants to have as much playing time as possible and contribute to the team's success to the best of their ability. 

My teammates and I look forward to the upcoming season and all the ups and downs it will bring along with it. We hope to end the regular season with a great record, win our sub state division, win the state championship, and get a couple of players on the first team all state roster. It will definitely be a hard season due to the amount of competition we have this year whether it be in our own team or opponents. The 2016 soccer season is going to be our year to shine and we are going to redeem what we've worked for. 

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SOCCER STRIKER 

Soccer forwards play in the offensive half of the pitch. They often receive the most scoring opportunities. 

Forwards defend less than other positions. They apply pressure when the opposition’s defenders have the ball but usually stand and watch when the ball is in the defensive half of the field. 

Good forwards score goals and make defender’s jobs tough. Playing forward is incredible when you score consistently but is frustrating when you have a cold streak. In order for someone to be considered a good forward, one must have striker traits. A forward needs to have good shooting ability, ball control, physicality, speed and ability to strike the ball with your head from all sorts of positions. If a striker has these traits, he or she can score more goals and help their team win more games. 

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Wing Defender Wing defenders must be versatile enough to contain attacks along the wing, and then quickly collapse into the center of the defense to intercept crosses. Wing defenders are tenacious man-markers who don’t get over-aggressive or make costly mistakes. They play containment, get low to the ground, and cycle dribblers toward help or toward the sideline. Sweeper While the sweeper is technically part of the midfield, his role is vital to effective defense. The sweeper often marks the opponent’s toughest attacker, and he must be a willing tackler in the middle of the field. The sweeper works with the defensive unit, falling back into vulnerable areas of the field. He also looks up quickly for a counter-attack after gaining possession of the ball. Defenders have to be quick, agile, aggressive, and smart. They must be willing to use their bodies to deflect passes and shots, and have the toughness to tackle sturdy forwards. For these reasons, defenders are often physical, fast players who keep their bodies in top condition. Knowing how to play all positions on the soccer pitch give a player an extra edge over his or her opponents. Defending is one of the most important positions on the game.  

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BALANCING THE BEATIFUL GAME 

What is most important? Teaching young players individual skills or a tactical understanding of the game? It is a debate many coaches have, and often a stark contrast you can see between two teams when they play against each other. Although both sets of coaches want their players to be successful, there may be a difference between WHEN they want their kids to have success and the type of “tactics” being taught. 

So, what is more important? Simply, it is not one or the other. The answer is both are important, but too often, it is the “tactics” that takes precedent over skills. 

It is critical young kids develop necessary skills to play this game in order to be successful later on. If you cannot control the ball, you do not have a mastery of the skills, you cannot play this game to your full potential. With that said, as you are teaching young kids the skills to play the game, you also teach the ability of how to use those skills in games. 

When you are working on 1v1 skills, it is not just how to beat the player, but WHY and WHEN? Is it best to dribble or pass in that situation? When working on passing and receiving it is not just the technique of how to do it, but WHY and WHEN did you take a certain type of touch in a certain direction with a certain foot, or why did you play that pass, at that angle, at that moment, in that direction, with that speed or with that texture. 

When playing and training, you talk about finding space, and helping them see what is going on around as part of the skill development and ability to use them and that is learned over time. The biggest complaint I hear about coaches of older players is not about the players' understanding of the game, although it can always be better, but their lack of ability to do the simple things well enough, all the time, to play at a speed that is necessary at higher levels of competitions. Their control touch and competency on the ball is not good enough to deal with the high speed, unpredictable, pressures of the game. 

With that in mind, and I think this where some coaches of young players make a huge mistake, sometimes a false or "rehearsed" type of tactics is taught to young players trying to learn to play. Players only move and stay exactly where the coach asks them to, not having to think, make decisions for themselves, or respond to what is happening in the game. It cosmetically looks great when you watch the team play, and it is often assumed that the players have a great understanding of the game. But the understanding is shallow, it is only on the surface, as it does not show a strength in competency, but rather a demonstration of the players ability to follow instructions. The players cannot solve the problems of the game. They can only do what the coach asks. 

It is like teaching a kid that 2 + 2 = 4, but that is it. You never teach the child why, so he has no idea why that is the case. The kid has no idea about the actual value of each number, or that you are adding up its value to get to 4. So if you phrase the question differently, "If you have 2, but you need 4, how many more do you need?", the kid would not know the answer. All the kid understands is the statement that 2 + 2 = 4 because that is what he was told. 

At times, coaches with young teams will teach the skills needed only to play the way the coach wants them to, and only allow the players to do exactly what the coach wants. But what about when the coach is no longer the coach, and the next coach asks them to do more? Or what happens when the game evolves, and there are more players, playing in different positions, more decisions to make, and the speed of the game is increasing? In the moment, a very well organized U8 year old team can have a lot of success in terms of results, but how many of those players have the same type of success later on as circumstances change and the game gets harder? 

Helping players use space properly and how to make decisions on the field can start at an early age, but it cannot be done in a way that limits players options and ability to explore and learn the game by trial and error. Simply, neither skills or tactics can be taught in a vacuum, and both need to be done at a cognitive level that is both appropriate and promotes growth. 

As kids move up levels, coaches will continue to look for important qualities in players. Do the they have the skills required to play the game? Are they intelligent players who understand the intricacies of the game? Can they make decisions on their own? Can they learn from mistakes and make adjustments? Can they compete and mentally handle stresses of the game? 

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Under 12 months from the time Adidas shocked the soccer world by introducing their brand-new Ace silo, of which acted as successor to the long-serving Predator range, the German brand have gone back to the drawing board to design and produce the follow-up generation to showcase the Ace 16 collection.   Alongside seeing general modification to each cleats technology and construction, Adidas have also stepped-up their game by dropping two brand-new models within the collection donned the Ace 16+ Purecontrol and the Ace 16.2 Primemesh. The remaining cleats return for a second spell including the Ace 16.1, Ace 16 Leather, and Ace 16+ Primeknit. What do you think of  this new innovation? 

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