What a game, what a night, what an occasion!

In front of a record crowd, our team ended their season in a heartbreaking way...it was suddenly all over.

We played the semi final of the conference tournament seeded #2 against the #3 seed. Previous encounters this season went to OT with us winning one and the other remaining a tie.

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So, how do you prepare your players for the biggest game of their lives so far?

We play in a few hours, we play the semi final of our conference tournament at home in front of the biggest crowd of our careers.....

Last night we gave them the night off from practice so that they would be rested and refreshed for today.

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We finished the regular conference games this weekend extending our unbeaten run to 11 games. We have only conceded 6 goals in the last 10 games, so our defense deserves a lot of credit.

When I say our defense, I should really say our defensive play. We have to defend from all positions all over the pitch and the hardwork our forwards put in pressurising the opponents in our attacking third deserves as much credit as the defenders working hard in and around our penalty box.

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Sometimes you just have to win ugly. Do whatever it takes and just get the job done. In what was our worst performance of the regular season we ran out 2-0 winners away from home to qualify for Play Offs with 2 games remaining.

This was a tough game for us. We were playing on the worst field in the league, rock hard, bumpy, bone dry, uneven.

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Wow, this team continues to break its own records, we have now won 6 and tied 2 of our last 8 games!

We put in a very solid and professional performance this weekend running out 3-1 winners. The opposition had beaten us in the previous 24 games before this season. We tied them away from home earlier this season 0-0 after double overtime.

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In another incredible performance the team extended their unbeaten record to 7 games made up of 5 wins and 2 ties.

What a game! We were tied 0-0 until the 73 minute and were awarded a penalty to go up 1-0. The opposition came back and tied the game up in the 83rd minute. We won the game in the 88th minute from a header from a deep free kick into the box.

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Wow, we are having a great season. The stats show this is the best season for this team since 1995! We are currently enjoying a 6 game unbeaten run with 4 wins and 2 ties.

I have learned a tremendous amount this season so far and I am sure over the remaining 5 games of the regular season I will learn some more very valuable lessons.

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CBC Dutch Touch International Soccer Program
Presents

Team Tactical Training Seminar
January 16, 17, 18 – 2010
Saturday Monday, including Martin Luther King Holiday

Where: Midwest Soccer Academy (5247 Fyler Avenue St. Louis, MO., 63139)
Presenters: Harry Jansen and Theo Derks of the Dutch FA
Cost: $150 per coach

Deadline : November 15, 2009

We need a minimum of 40 coaches to offset the costs of bringing the 2 coaches from Holland.

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Saturday saw my college players win 7-0 against conference rivals. We made the decision over a week ago to devote at least half of each practice to finishing and set plays. As a result we have scored 12 goals and conceded 4 in our last three games.

I have a number of effective and demanding drills for shooting and finishing and the players really enjoy them.

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Yesterday my players played away at a conference rival's and ended a 24 game losing streak. During this time the team scored a total of 14 goals and conceded over 100 goals!

We played very well, we were disciplined, kept our shape and held the opposition to a 0-0 tie. The game went into golden goal overtime and the game remained 0-0.

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The skill of a soccer coash is mainly determined by the quality of his drills and training exercies. Although discipline is important, any coach can rule with an iron fist. There are not many coaches who can smoothly integrate the appropriate soccer drills into a practice. Soccer drills aren't just a way to keep the players [. Click to continue reading...

After losing on Wednesday 1-0 away from home, we decided to dedicate Thursday and Friday's practices to shooting and finishing...boy did that idea pay off!!!

We played away against a school who had a record of 19 wins and 1 loss against us over the last 10 years. In that time we only scored a total of 4 goals to their 80 goals!

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Wow......what a start to our college soccer season!!

Home game against the reigning conference champions, actually they have won the conference for the last 8 years.

They have beaten us for the last 21 games straight.

Until last night that is!!!!

Last night had to be the best game of my life as a coach.

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OK, we are now two games into pre season and we came down to earth with a bump last night.

We played against a school with three times the enrollment we have, a school that has had its best start to a season in their history, a team that was 3-0 and had scored 14 goals conceding none....we lost 4-0.

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Ok, today is all about recovery, repair, review and fine tune. Fortunately it is not about going back to the drawing board.

This morning we had a team meeting, then the players who were used last night did their recovery run. At the same time I had a meeting with the players who did not play last night to make sure they understood their roles within the team.

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Ok, we got the season underway and ground out a win, posting a 4-3 victory.

We went 3-0 up, then 4-1 and died a little in the last few minutes of the game and gave up a tap in and a penalty.

Most importantly, we notched our first win of the season and we are very grateful.

We looked fantastic for about 70% of the game.

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OK, all the hardwork has been completed and the players are rested, refreshed and raring to go.

Tonight we entertain a fellow NCAA Division III team from Rhode Island.

We have completed our final preparations albeit hampered a little bit with the fires here in Southern California.

The players got to sleep in a bit this morning and then we had a team meeting at 9.

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OK, so we are now on our official 48hour countdown to our first game on Thursday. Today we had a decent practice, working on our midfielders and finishing.

We had to cancel tonight's practice due to the fires here in L.A. so we had a chalk and talk session regarding attacking set plays.

Here are some useful facts about attacking set plays:

1.

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Ok, so we are now well into our pre season training and the team is looking good. I gave the players the rest of the day off today as they are looking a little beaten up.

The shape of the team is coming together and our starting line up is beginning to emerge.

Today we worked on our midfield play both attacking a defensively.

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OK, we just completed our second day of pre season soccer training.

Here is the format:
8.15am-10.30 Practice #3 Topic, Running with the Ball and Beating Players

1.00pm-2.00pm Team Meeting #3

2.30pm-4.30pm Practice #4 Topic, Crossing and Finishing

7.00pm-8.00pm Team Meeting #4

The format for the team meetings were as follows:

Housekeeping
Review of the previous practice including Key Points
Briefing on the upcoming practice
Watch 20 minutes of a tape of Man Utd's Treble Winning Season 1998-99

I can outline the practice plans for both of the above, simply send me an email and I will share them with you.

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Firstly I want to apologise for the lack of posts over the last month or so. I have had a very busy summer and I have had some health issues to deal with as well.

I am now back fully in the swing of things and this time of year I am doubly focused on soccer. The English Premier League has recently kicked off and alongside that, my college soccer team reported for pre season training yesterday and we had our first practices today.

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Don't miss this year's 19th Annual Coaches Clinic to be held on Friday, August 14, 2009 at Hopkins High School. Registration fee after August 1: $60. Registration fee includes lunch for all participants and a t-shirt for the first 250 registered coaches.

The soccer coaching clinic is open to all interested soccer coaches.

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The 19th Annual Coaches Clinic will be held tomorrow Friday, August 14, 2009 at Hopkins High School. The soccer coaching clinic is open to all interested soccer coaches.� You do not need to be a high school soccer coach to register and to attend this clinic. The choice of sessions provide options that youth coaches will find beneficial despite the fact that the clinic is targeted towards high school coaches at all levels.

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The photo above was taken by Howard C. Smith at isiphotos.net.

Let's Identify Ways to Support Women in Coaching

The lacking presence of female coaches at the highest levels of sport is a challenge that the American soccer coaching community is actively looking to improve.

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Using 2v2 has proven to be a great way to introduce soccer to four year olds. Duration : 0:6:44 Technorati Tags: 3v3, celtic, coaching, dribbling, goals, knvb, passing, real, recreational, small-sided, Soccer, ssgs, street, Training, youth Click to continue reading...

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and has literally become a mass phenomenon. The game of soccer involves two teams of eleven players, a referee, a ball and two goals. The objective of the game is to put the ball in the old onion bag using your feet or your head. The [...] Click to continue reading...

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and has literally become a mass phenomenon. The game of soccer involves two teams of eleven players, a referee, a ball and two goals. The objective of the game is to put the ball in the old onion bag using your feet or your head. The [...] Click to continue reading...

Soccer skills and coaching tips; learn a fun game you can play with your youth soccer team to get them more comfortable with heading the soccer ball in this free online video guide to coaching a soccer team. Expert: Glenn Holzer Contact: www.revolution-sc.org Bio: Glenn Holzer has been coaching soccer at the youth and college level for more [. Click to continue reading...

Soccer drills are the backbone of all training sessions. If the soccer drills are not suitable for your players then your training methods cannot be effective. Exposing young players or kids to difficult drills will lead to a decline in enthusiasm and motivation. Also the enjoyment levels and fun will diminish creating a platform of [. Click to continue reading...

A quick look at how setting goals back and allowing kids to choose between dribbling and passing at restarts helps player development Duration : 0:8:51 Technorati Tags: 4v4, coach, coaching, development, football, footy, games, learning, sided, small, small-sided, Soccer, ssgs, Training, youth Click to continue reading...

Chances are if you participate in Soccer you attend training at least twice a week. Depending on the standard, or your commitment, twice can easily blow out to 4-5 times a week. The purpose of training is to improve your game and maintain your fitness. Only through repetitive training drills and practice can you escalate your [. Click to continue reading...

Soccer skills and coaching tips; learn a good exercise to help your team improve their passing skills in this free online video guide to coaching a soccer team. Expert: Glenn Holzer Contact: www.revolution-sc.org Bio: Glenn Holzer has been coaching soccer at the youth and college level for more than 20 years and holds a USSF "B" License. Click to continue reading...

This video looks at three key questions about coaching. These form the basis of the small-sided games coaching philosophy. Duration : 0:6:5 Click to continue reading...

Dont be afraid to come out..but if they do come out..they need to be going full blast and focusing on getting that ball...they cant stutter..either go out..or stay in... Click to continue reading...

Wow, who would have thought we would be seeing Brazil facing off against the USA in the Confederations Cup Final? Proves again why soccer is the greatest sport on the planet!

All credit to the USA, they were savaged by the press and fans on twitter for their first two performances, yet they pulled off one of the greatest upsets we've seen by advancing to the semi finals.

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