Soccer Coach Weekly

Soccer Coach Weekly

The Soccer Coach Weekly team discuss all things youth soccer coaching in the Soccer Coach Weekly podcast.

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The Journey to Training | How youngsters learn - and how you can help them

The Journey to Training | How youngsters learn - and how you can help them

John Allpress is ex-assistant head of academy player and coach development at Tottenham Hotspur and a Former national coach at the English FA. He has decades of coaching experience, and a keen interest in how players learn and take on information.Here, he shares his knowledge on how youngsters learn, and how we, as coaches, can use that information to help them get better. Find this in written form: https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/coaching-advice/how-youngsters-learn---and-how-you-can-help-themRegister for John's webinar on October 25: https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/coaching-events/how-to-help-your-players-get-better---cpd---------------------------------------------- The Journey to Training is a series from Soccer Coach Weekly, sharing advice, ideas, inspiration and opportunities for coaches to reflect as they head to their next training session. Or, as they head anywhere, really.Ultimately, we want to help you become a better coach, and solve some of your coaching problems. Wherever and whenever you listen, we hope to do just that.Find more from us: www.soccercoachweekly.net

Episodes

The Journey to Training | How youngsters learn - and how you can help them

The Journey to Training | How youngsters learn - and how you can help them

John Allpress is ex-assistant head of academy player and coach development at Tottenham Hotspur and a Former national coach at the English FA. He has decades of coaching experience, and a keen interest in how players learn and take on information.Here, he shares his knowledge on how youngsters learn, and how we, as coaches, can use that information to help them get better. Find this in written form: https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/coaching-advice/how-youngsters-learn---and-how-you-can-help-themRegister for John's webinar on October 25: https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/coaching-events/how-to-help-your-players-get-better---cpd---------------------------------------------- The Journey to Training is a series from Soccer Coach Weekly, sharing advice, ideas, inspiration and opportunities for coaches to reflect as they head to their next training session. Or, as they head anywhere, really.Ultimately, we want to help you become a better coach, and solve some of your coaching problems. Wherever and whenever you listen, we hope to do just that.Find more from us: www.soccercoachweekly.net

Moritz Kossmann - Covering

Moritz Kossmann - Covering

Moritz Kossmann is DStv Diski Challenge coach and head of youth at Cape Town City in South Africa.Here, he speaks to Soccer Coach Weekly about the skills of covering and recovering – how the approach to them differs depending on position, how we sell the skills as positive actions and the role leadership and communication plays...

Moritz Kossmann - Challenging

Moritz Kossmann - Challenging

Moritz Kossmann is DStv Diski Challenge coach and head of youth at Cape Town City in South Africa.Here, he speaks to Soccer Coach Weekly about the skills of challenging - how it has changed over the years, the role of strength in the challenge and the information that goes into decision-making around challenging…

Moritz Kossmann - Intercepting

Moritz Kossmann - Intercepting

Moritz Kossmann is DStv Diski Challenge coach and head of youth at Cape Town City in South Africa.Soccer Coach Weekly caught up with Moritz to discuss the crucial skill of intercepting. He covers whether it’s a natural action for players, how important communication is alongside it, and how players can build up their knowledge around it as they progress...

Moritz Kossmann - Marking

Moritz Kossmann - Marking

Moritz Kossmann defines the act of marking as "the act of tracking the movements of an opponent player and looking to close them down in a 1v1 situation or to intercept the ball as they are receiving or are about to receive the ball".Moritz - DStv Diski Challenge coach and head of youth at Cape Town City - speaks to SCW about what marking looks like for different positions, the decision-making process, the physicality required and how players learn about marking over the course of their development...

Moritz Kossman - Pressing

Moritz Kossman - Pressing

For Moritz Kossmann, pressing is the primary defensive action in soccer.It is, in his words, “an attempt at putting pressure on an opponent who has the ball so that they can't progress the ball up the field easily".Moritz - who has now moved on from his role at Ubuntu Football Academy to become DStv Diski Challenge coach and head of youth at Cape Town City - sat down with Steph Fairbairn to discuss collective pressing strategies, individual pressing principles and how to coach it all...

Moritz Kossman - Passing

Moritz Kossman - Passing

Passing is more than just transferring the ball from one player to the other. At the elite levels, in particular, it is like a secret language, full of non-verbal signals and triggers, underpinned by players' ability to see the bigger picture in their heads.Moritz - who has now moved on from his role at Ubuntu Football Academy to become DStv Diski Challenge coach and head of youth at Cape Town City - sat down with Steph Fairbairn to discuss how passing can be used as a form of communication, the decision-making that goes into it and why the actions after a pass are so crucial...

Moritz Kossmann - Turning

Moritz Kossmann - Turning

Moritz Kossmann defines turning as: “A change of direction on the ball while you are in possession of the ball".Moritz is a coach at Ubuntu Football Academy in Cape Town, where he coaches the U21s, who play in the third tier of South African football, and oversees the senior section, made up of U18s and U16s.Having previously discussed receiving the ball, moving with it and finishing, he now talks to SCW about turning – why it is so important to the game, how players off the ball can support the player in possession while turning and what the building blocks of learning turning techniques are…

Moritz Kossmann - Finishing

Moritz Kossmann - Finishing

Goals win games. But attempting to finish, never mind actually scoring, isn’t easy to do.Moritz Kossmann is a coach at Ubuntu Football Academy in Cape Town, where he coaches the U21s - who play in the third tier of South African football - and oversees the senior section, made up of U18s and U16s.In our May 5 and May 26 issues, he spoke to us about receiving the ball and moving with it.This time, it’s all about finishing. Moritz covers what it is, the techniques and the building blocks for players learning the skill…

Moritz Kossmann - Moving with the ball

Moritz Kossmann - Moving with the ball

When to do it, what parts of the foot to use and how underloads aid attackers' dribbling development. Moritz Kossmann shares his expertise on moving with the ball...

Moritz Kossmann - Refine your players' receiving technique

Moritz Kossmann - Refine your players' receiving technique

Receiving is such a vital skill in soccer.A good first touch can beat a player in an instant, get a team out of trouble or create a chance on goal.But how can we support players to improve their receiving?Moritz Kossmann is a coach at Ubuntu Football Academy in Cape Town. There, he coaches the U21s, who play in the third tier of South African football, and oversees the senior section, made up of U18s and U16s.Moritz lent SCW his expertise on receiving – what it is, what good receiving looks like and how we can coach it…

Joanna Fennema - 'I was mad at soccer – but I love it too much'

Joanna Fennema - 'I was mad at soccer – but I love it too much'

As a player, Joanna Boyles Fennema performed at the highest level.She spent her four college years with the North Carolina Tar Heels, represented the U17 US national team and played for the Orlando Pride in the NWSL.Alongside success, Fennema’s playing days came with a lot of challenges – she was drafted by the Boston Breakers just before the team folded, suffered two ACL injuries while at college, discovered she has severely degenerative discs in her back.This back injury, and subsequent hip labrum tears, led Fennema to retire at 24.A chance encounter led her back into the game, and she is now thriving as an assistant coach at Columbus State University (CSU).SCW caught up with Jo to talk about the transition from player to coach, and how coaches can best support players going through injuries...

Mark Jenkins - Mark's mission to tap into players' psyches

Mark Jenkins - Mark's mission to tap into players' psyches

Mark Jenkins is the U15s lead coach at Weston-super-Mare AFC, a semi-professional club based on the southwest coast of England.Having been ready to keep working with his current crop of players for a few years, Mark was told that he would be given a new group for the 2023-24 season.It spurred him to start early with his season planning, and give him the best chance of getting the most out of his players.SCW caught up with the Uefa B-qualified coach to find out more about how he is going about preparing for next season...

Sarah Brady - Connecting talent with opportunities

Sarah Brady - Connecting talent with opportunities

Sarah Brady had aspirations of making it as a player.She went through Everton’s academy before playing for her beloved Liverpool for a brief time, and then moving to Leeds United for a short spell.When, she says, her "body didn’t really want to comply with the ambition", she took a step into coaching. It led her to the USA 14 years ago, where she has “done everything, from tying the shoelaces of three-year-olds all the way up to the collegiate game”.Last season, she was head coach of AC Connecticut in the inaugural USL W League, a pre-professional women’s league. Now, she is the USL academy director for the women’s pathway.SCW caught up with Sarah to find out more about the USL Academy structure, the Academy Cup, and what challenges coaches face working in the set up…

Matt Spear - Put 'mental fitness' first to foil burnout

Matt Spear - Put 'mental fitness' first to foil burnout

Matt Spear has had numerous different lives in soccer – as a player at NCAA Division I program Davidson College, a sports marketer, returning to his alma mater as a full-time coach for 18 years, and president and general manager for the third-tier US pro side Richmond Kickers.During his time at the Kickers, a number of things collided, resulting in Matt experiencing what he calls a "dark depression" as the result of burnout.It is what led him to his current role – a life coach and wellbeing advisor. He works with a number of clients, including the United Soccer Coaches' national office staff and various athletes and coaches.SCW caught up with Matt at the United Soccer Coaches convention to chat about why coaches are so susceptible to burnout, what some of the signs might be, and how open coaches should be about their mental health in front of their players…

Katie Smith - 'They're people first, and players second'

Katie Smith - 'They're people first, and players second'

Katie Smith, based in Memphis, Tennessee, started coaching straight out of high school, alongside playing at community college.Now, in a situation that might sound familiar to a lot of coaches trying to make their way, Katie juggles numerous roles.She coaches at Collierville High School and Collierville Middle School, has two youth teams at Lobos Rush, is a volunteer assistant at Northwest Mississippi Community College and also works with USL 2 club Tri-Cities FC. Katie is also a full-time student and, this semester, a student teacher.SCW caught up with Katie at the United Soccer Coaches convention in January to talk about what is similar and different across her roles, her person-over-player philosophy, and some of the challenges she has faced…

Kyle Martyn - 'Soccer provides an equal playing field'

Kyle Martyn - 'Soccer provides an equal playing field'

Kyle Martyn is senior girls’ academy director for the Ukrainian Nationals Soccer Club in Pennsylvania, the place where he grew up. Martyn played high school and college soccer in the state before going professional for a few years. Now, as a coach, he gets to give back to the game he says was such an integral part of his childhood. SCW caught up with Kyle at the United Soccer Coaches convention - coincidentally held in Pennsylvania, back in January - to talk about the importance of soccer for kids, how he creates a safe space at his club, and what it’s like coaching in your home state…

James Wagenschutz - Tips from coach who coaches the coaches

James Wagenschutz - Tips from coach who coaches the coaches

James Wagenschutz is an applied sports scientist and sports performance coach who has been in soccer for almost 25 years. He holds a USSF A license and has used it to coach in the college game, including notable stints as assistant men’s soccer coach at Colorado College and Regis University, and his daughter’s U5s team. He is now a coach educator for United Soccer Coaches and the USSF, and runs his own consultancy, W Sports Performance, working with MLS players and Olympians. SCW talked to James at the United Soccer Coaches’ convention about how players and coaches learn and develop…

Haroot Hakopian - Create a climate and define a team culture

Haroot Hakopian - Create a climate and define a team culture

Dr Haroot Hakopian got into coaching by accident when he suffered a significant knee injury - tearing his ACL, MCL and PCL - and requiring four different operations.A move into coaching followed, alongside entering education. Thirty years later, he is still involved in, and loving, both worlds.Dr Hakopian celebrated 20 years as an AP English teacher and girls’ soccer coach at Winston Churchill High School in Maryland last year. He also holds numerous other roles, including sitting on the United Soccer Coaches’ board of directors.SCW caught up with him to talk about culture, climate, and the importance of telling your players when you’ve messed up…

Jeremy Tosaya - 'Kids must be centre of your environment'

Jeremy Tosaya - 'Kids must be centre of your environment'

A love for the work of his college coaches was what led Jeremy Tosaya to go into the profession himself.Jeremy coached the college game for 18 years, including a notable seven-year stint with Dakota Wesleyan University, before moving on to coach in club soccer.Since Covid, Jeremy’s full-time job is outside of coaching, but he continues in a part-time role as director of coaching for Nebraska State Soccer, and has just taken on a high-school coaching job.SCW caught up with Jeremy to explore what a good coaching environment looks like, the delivery of coaching points, and how the attention span of players is likely a lot shorter than you think…