Interval Train to use Recovery as a Training Tool
Recovery. Every athlete needs it. Suzy Germain says it’s missing from her son’s topnotch team and that’s taking a toll. Wayne Goldsmith, in his January 4th blog post, has a great mnemonic to help us think about how recovery – that is, time off from sport-specific conditioning and training – re-charges the elite athlete so he can go […]
Can Your Kid Handle College Soccer?
When Suzy Germain and her freshman class (1980) teammates were recruited by Anson Dorrance to play for the UNC Tarheels, they were a force to be reckoned with. Describing it, Suzy says, “Practice was a battle. We took over every starting position. We knew we were better.” She says this matter-of-factly, with the confidence I’m sure gave […]
The “Coach-Athlete” Conversation about Playing Time
One of the hardest issues for kids in today’s competitive youth sports setting is playing time. No one likes to spend time on the bench; the fun is in playing the game. But, the more competitive the team, the more important the win. Coaches whose jobs and reputation depend on fielding a winning team play their starters. Maybe only […]
We Need to Give Kids a Break in the Season
Here’s a riddle: What do you call something you do almost every day, all week, year round? … work, right? What do we call it when our kids do it? … sports. Is anyone laughing? Neither are our kids. They’re paying the price in exhaustion, stress, injury, and burnout. The scenario sounds very much like the […]
Youth Sports: What Happens When Money Wins?
How much is your kid worth? Surely, there’s no answer to that question; they’re priceless. But what I am seeing in youth sports clubs lately makes me think that priceless is getting more expensive. We’re paying for them to do everything and at younger ages. The gear, the fees, the uniforms, and the professional trainers. A few […]
Bishop’s Titans: Girls Soccer Champions in a League of Their Own
Lisa Bishop started coaching the CYA Titans when they were pint-sized and grew them into the girls who graduated high school this fall. So how do you say goodbye to girls who have been family for nearly a decade? You take them on a service trip to Costa Rica where they have an experience that will change […]
Team Tie-dye Bonds Girls into a Winning Mosaic of Fun
A dozen girls from the CSC Inferno were tie-dying t-shirts in my driveway last weekend. This weekend, they recorded their sixth win in as many games. They’re undefeated in the division of the Old Dominion Soccer League. Now, I’m not taking credit for those wins. But I do know that bonding as a team off […]
Coaching Well: Saturday Only Travel Soccer
My friend and fellow coach Kimo Kaloi has formed a new U9 travel Soccer team with Chantilly Youth Association in Chantilly Virginia. They’re called the CYA Purple Blaze and they play on Saturdays. Only Saturdays. He petitioned the club and then submitted a request with the Old Dominion Soccer League (ODSL), promising to supply the field if […]
How to Get Girls to Communicate on the Field
Do the girls you coach clam up on the field? Mine talk all the time…on the sidelines and during warmups. But on the field? It’s like pulling teeth. In a newsletter I read recently, a fifteen-year-old observed that girls were happy to pitch in on impersonal, non-relational topics but were sometimes reluctant to disagree with another girl […]
Resistance Band Fitness for all ages
Resistance bands are one of the best training tools for the fitness games we play and home exercise programs we teach and recommend. Bands are perfect because they are portable, inexpensive and adaptable. Purchased in 3-4 foot lengths or cut to this length from 75 foot rolls, we use them for both upper body and lower […]