Check out the 26th Edition of the World of Soccer Newsletter 

“Communication” is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as “a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior.”

For coaches and administrators at the grassroots of the game it is soccer’s biggest headache. We start a 3-part series this month to identify and then find ways of meeting soccer's communication challenge. Click here to read "Communication".

Is small-sided soccer a phenomenon of the 21st Century? Don’t you believe it. They most likely played 3 vs. 3 in China 2000 years ago when a version of soccer was first recorded. In the Boot Room we trace the evolution of small-sided soccer through the eyes of Coach Waiters – from the old to the new world. Click here to read "SSG? What is it? Where did it come from?".

Similarly in the Practice Section we show how a 3 vs. 3 game can be extremely beneficial for 6-year olds and 16-year olds.

Click here for 3 vs. 3 for 6-Year Olds

Click here for 3 vs. 3 for 16-Year Olds 

Finally, we stumbled across a website called Soccer-for-Parents put together by a soccer coach who knew nothing about soccer or coaching until his son went into a U8 program in 1999.

Hope you enjoy

Welcome to the Byte Size Coaching July 2008 Edition!

A mother in Ontario was charged for punching out the father of 14-year old girl referee, who was officiating a game in which the mother’s 8-year old son was playing. At the end of the game the mother was verbally abusing the referee when the girl’s father when he came to her rescue. What can community soccer organizations do to help prevent this type of behavior?  Check out "We have to do More for our Referees" .......

"What goes around comes around?" We've got a really interesting article out of today's Soccer America's Youth Insider by Dr. Dev Mishra on that controversial issue of Warm-Ups.  

"First Time Coaches" The Online Learning Program for First Time Coaches made its debut on the Byte Size Coaching website two weeks ago and we been delighted with the feedback.

Enjoy 

Come and check out the first edition of World of Soccer Occasionally Newsletter #1

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By Grahame L. Jones, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 21, 2008

So here we are, one year later, and David Beckham is strolling across the grass toward a handful of writers huddled like obedient sheep waiting to hear his every word.

It is a Beckham "availability" moment, in the words of the Galaxy, which, one year into the English midfielder's five-year-tenure in Major League Soccer, still has not quite grasped how to handle its one and only superstar.

The captain of England calls the shots, not the team that pays him $6.5 million a year to lead it to a .500 record.

And so, with the morning's training session done, Beckham approaches. He smiles. He almost always smiles. It is a tactic meant to disarm, and it invariably works. Twelve months into his MLS stay, he has yet to be asked a difficult or discomforting question.

There have been many ludicrous and simpering ones, but none that raise the hackles.

Click here to read the rest of the article

Hired to be Fired!

Coaches at the pro, college and elite level know that if they don't get results for their #1 team they're toast! It doesn't give a great deal of incentive to build a long-term development program. But that is what we are talking about this week. We've highlighted in two articles the roles of the USSF, the NSCAA & the CSA, who all need to address this area if the game is to continue to grow as well as it has done on this continent over the past 20 years.

Click here to read "Reach down for Success"

Click here to read "LTPD"

Zonal Defending or Sweeper/Man Marking? Which is the best system? In reference to the coaches above, it is the one that produces results. But in the overall scheme of development understanding Pressure, Cover and Balance are essential to any system of play. This is the area we address in this month's practices. Click here to check out the practice topic this month.... 

In the Boot Room we find "Little Steve Wonder." But you won't get any singing from this "Stevie." Nevertheless, he is able to entertain in a different sort of way.

Hope you enjoy and please let us know your comments.

Since when did the postgame (or, in some cases, pregame and halftime, too) snack become the focal point of youth recreational soccer games? And when did it become the latest installment of "Keeping up with the Joneses"?

After talking with some mothers, a few fathers, and several youth sports coaches, I am convinced that the snack situation has gotten completely out of hand. Some of the stories I heard were enough to make me scream -- or at least drop my jaw. I submit to you the following examples:

Click here to read entire article.....

Amateur sports team travel makes a major impact on the leisure hotel industry in the USA as teams travel to the tens of thousands of tournaments across the country each year.

f you are the contact who makes the hotel reservations for your team or club, then fortunately your challenge is simple: to satisfy the needs of every family within the varying demands of quality, location and price each has.

Just kidding, of course. In reality you have the volunteer-job-from-hell. If you and the team/parents make the decisions on hotels democratically, then it's hard to come up with a consensus that makes everyone happy. On the other hand, if you are the one who makes the decisions for the entire group

Click here to read entire article 

Welcome to Edition #24 of the World of Soccer Newsletter.

We have deliberately delayed the publishing of this month's newsletter because of the announcement last week of the Canadian Soccer Association's Long Term Player Development program.

While Canadian Soccer has had its ups and downs (mainly downs) over the past 20 years, this project gives Canada a real chance of once more challenging its friends and neighbors across the border, the United States. Realistically that will take a long time and it will remain a David and Goliath situation. Read the article "Wellness to World Cup"   and then the full report.

World Superstar and larger-than-life soccer character, Brian Budd, passed away on June 11th of this month at the young age of 56. The Boot Room tells the story of Brian and why he needs to be remembered.

In the Practice Session we look at long passing - not the Route One, Hit and Hope Soccer.  Click here for Circle Game - Long Passing & Tennis Games and Square Pegs – Long Passing.

We do an untypical promo for a soccer camp - only because it is different and for the right child/family a unique experience we know they will enjoy.  Click to read about Shawnigan Lake.

Where will it end? We know it won't. As technology butts heads with the "Beautiful Game", how much is artistic expression versus scientific methodology?  Click here to read "Technology and Soccer." 

Hope you enjoy and please let us know your comments