Intramural Soccer Parents,
Thank you for entrusting your child to us. We will do
everything we can to make our soccer program a positive experience for players
and parents alike. We would like to give you a little information about our
approach to youth soccer.
First things first: Learning soccer Technique (skill)
and Tactics (thought) through playing and experiencing the game is extremely
important to us,
Kicking the ball in a given direction, running and
moving the ball with your feet, stopping the ball without using your hands,
shooting at the goal and blocking shots: These are the basic elements of soccer
that we aim to teach children by leading them in various exercises and by
simply letting them play the game.
However, we consider it just as important that they
learn the following skills in our program:
∙Working together as a team
toward a common goal,
∙Dealing with the demands of
the game as well as victory and defeat,
∙Respecting opponents, coaches and
referees,
∙Accepting and obeying the
rules of the game.
In addition, your child can:
∙Develop his own style of
handling the ball,
-Learn decision making through playing the game,
∙Learn how to move in a variety
of situations,
∙Improve his coordination
(mobility, agility, reaction speed), and
∙Have fun playing the game of
soccer and being part of a team.
Through our
coaching education program we will introduce training techniques and exercises that
will develop basic skills which have
been designed to play a role in the long
term development. Practice sessions will be organized to prepare your child for
continued development, so your child will experience the game at its fullest.
Of course,
we also play matches against other teams! But for us, the point is not to win
as many games as possible. We want every child to be physically active and have
fun playing the game.
Preschool-age
children are not good at sticking to assigned positions or duties-for them; the
drive to play is much stronger. And we don’t want to restrict them to positions
yet anyway, just as you wouldn’t want to decide yet what your child should be
when he grows up. However as your child gains skill position development will
be introduced.
Children
learn best when they can experience every position on the field. At the youth
level we try to introduce the difference between “up front,” “in back,” or
offensive and defensive transition, so it’s natural for kids to switch
positions from game to game, or even during a single game. It’s also natural
for every child to be switched out at some point so that others can play. In
the interest of all the children, substitutions must be made regardless of how
well a player has been playing. And anyway, in our games, every player always
plays well!
Don’t get
us wrong: We like to win too! But we don’t want to win at the cost of
substituting weaker players, keeping some of the players out of the game
entirely, or restricting players to positions they hate.
Our
philosophy is important enough to us that we wanted to share it with you in
writing. We encourage you to attend practice sessions anytime you want; Become
as involved as you you can with your child’s team, volunteer to be a part of
the program in any capacity so your child sees the interest you have in them
and what they are doing.
I would
like to wish every parent and player much success in the future, remember
development lasts forever.
If you
should have any questions please speak to your child’s coach or a board member.
Yours in
soccer,
Pat Lordi
Director of
Coaching
Warrington Soccer
Club