In order to have a successful and fun year together...I believe it's important that we get to know each other a little bit.  I want you as a parent/guardian to make an informed decision upfront if your child is presented with an offer to join the team.  I do not want you or your child to think mid-way after committing yourselves "Did we do the right thing?" It is for this reason that I provide you with some information now so that there will be few surprises, if any later on...and I must say from experience that this approach has worked marvelously year after year for all parties involved.

Coaching Philosophy and Objectives

I intend to focus heavily on the following:

1. Basic Fundamental Soccer skills
2. Tactical strategies including positioning, defending & striking
3. Fitness/endurance

I am a very calm person with both a friendly and serious demeanor and generally display all 3 traits simultaneously. You will rarely (if ever) see me yelling from the sidelines. I believe very strongly in ‘coaching’ the kids at practice, on the sidelines and at half time break during a game and giving them freedom during a game to apply what they learned. 

My coaching style is pretty consistent...I am very active and hands-on during practices. A typical practice includes several minutes of ‘classroom style’ whereby the boys are sitting and listening/observing as I present or demonstrate a technique or tactic.  We follow up with appropriate drills – ideally I will ask assistant coaches to 'run’ the drill while I offer personal attention/guidance/correction to EACH player. There will also be a number of quasi-classroom style lessons where I use a projector to demonstrate (i.e. animations/videos) and teach tactical strategies and movements to offer players an alternate visual approach to learn and grasp various concepts.  My focus will be to break any bad habits, teach and reinforce proper technique throughout our training and season. I pledge that players WILL improve under this regime.

In addition to soccer development, players will develop leadership skills.  They will respect each other, develop friendships and camaraderie with each other.  They WILL see that their hard work will produce results which I will use to reinforce the concept that they CAN manufacturer their own success through their own learning, dedication and commitment to a task and my soccer curriculum.  My soccer curriculum draws its inspiration from several international organizations who have published guidelines and drills for youth ages.  My fitness regiment is based on guidelines published by FIFA specifically for our youth age group. 

My Background

I’ve played competitive soccer (at the club level, high school, post-secondary & old-timers) most of my life and have been fortunate to have participated and ‘captain-ed’ many championship teams including MVP awards over the years.  I have many years of coaching experience with both Salfleet and Stoney Creek. Professionally, I’ve worked in the education system as a teacher and worked several years with young offenders in correctional facilities.  

I may be looking for 1 or 2 assistant coaches to help run the practices that I organize and possibly a team manager. I may ask the assistant coach to stand in my place if I cannot make a game or practice for some reason. There is a section in the Tryout Registration form where you can indicate if you have any interest in helping out in any capacity. Thank you.