Day 4 - the final round of coaching in Albuquerque ending a great week of soccer. The aim for this day was to take the players through a decent warm up maximizing touches, run a fun one-on-one drill and let them play.

All the groups ran the circle drills with warm up exercises and touches really well. It’s the fourth day of this and I was looking for that comfortable rhythm from all the players while keeping an eye on their vision and  awareness. Asking the players to ‘check’ over their shoulders is a daily mantra. For the youngest players we concentrated on knowing everyone’s name so the game later would be easy. Nothing worse than playing 8v8 and wanting the ball but not being sure who the other team-mate is! Every time they worked with a different player around the circle they had to exchange names (just to make sure). It was another way of having them think and communicate while executing a skill.

The youngest group had done a fabulous job on the ‘pass and replace’ drill. It’s a simple circle in which one (to start) is in the middle. If you pass to the middle you replace the middle - when you pass out of the middle you replace that person, who passes back to the new person coming in. So it runs round in either direction. The aim is playing it first time - but taking a touch is fine. It’s actually important to know when a touch to bring the ball under control is necessary. I’m sure as coaches we’ve all worked towards playing the ball first time and over emphasized it - sometimes you have to throw an extra touch to keep it going. The youngest group did really well as you can see below. The managed to run the drill making the circle  smaller in and then bigger again with 3 balls (so 3 people in the middle simultaneously) - the blue ball even left the circle briefly but they got it back in and kept going.

The concept of how drills / practices are explained became a discussion point with the oldest group. I was pleased to hear they knew we all learn with a bias towards the manner in which the information is delivered. My descriptions were started with verbal and then visual information. Some learn kinesthetically, by doing too. I’m a visual learner, so a picture actually does speak a thousand words for me. Many of the players were aware of their preferred style, like Chase, who said he liked doing something rather than just having it explained. Of course, in soccer actually doing the skill is essential! You can’t learn to play by reading a book - but that is still an important source of information. We are lucky that the US has a lot of soccer on TV now. I would recommend to all the players on the camp that they watch as much soccer as possible. Domestic, European and International. Get the kids to focus (for a while) on one or two players. Although the typical media coverage will pan the camera in too close (you often miss the movement off the ball to see the detail around it), there is still value in trying to pick someone out on and off the ball. In the best scenario video a game that shows all the play. The average soccer player covers a lot of ground but at different intensities of effort. Distance covered is around 5 miles per game, but that includes walking to sprinting pace. Lots of effort is required when in possession. I like to incorporate this into training by including the ball in different types of pre-season fitness training. However, with 22 players on the field a lot of running is without the ball. Players at the academy have run drills where physical exertion is followed by skill execution. The example would be the right midfielder who makes a handful of pitch length runs at pace to support play (running forwards, changing direction etc), then track a defender back while monitoring the ball. It takes great effort and concentration to have to control a 40 yard cross field ball immediately off that exertion, bring it down and play an accurate pass into a forward’s feet (oh, and then make a wide overlapping run to support...).

Anyway, too much talking. Let’s make good on that promise to show some action. Here is a collection below....
The youngest group running a 3 ball 'pass and replace drill - two clips ('cos I'm not a techno whiz to stick it in one).

Here's a clip of the middle group running the touches warm up..

 Here is the same drill with the oldest group...

Endzone with the oldest group...

Finally, it has been a wonderful week and I truly hope all the players enjoyed themselves and take away a handful of experiences that make them a better player. My role is also to select a few to be invited to the National Camp in California. That is not something I take lightly or over emphasize at the camp. The primary purpose is to take the players through the same drills / games as the players in the West Ham United Academy in London, improve their vision and awareness, give them a taste of how you can maximize touches on the ball and have fun. A few will be offered the chance to attend the National Camp, which is attended by Tony Carr MBE, the longstanding Director of the Academy. The ‘MBE’ stands for ‘Member of the British Empire’. It’s a honor bestowed on a person by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Tony got his for ‘services to football’. I am petitioning for Paul Heffer to be next. He is a wonderful coach who has brought Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Glen Johnson and Frank Lampard through their footballing youth careers. There is a new crop coming too. Look out for Alfie in about 10 years time....

Thank you to everyone in Albuquerque and especially the coaching staff at Rio Vista FC. Thanks to Matt and Chris for looking after me - and for two great authentic Mexican meals. I’ll be asking for ‘green and red’ in the few decent places to eat here in Indy. Thanks to the players for their wonderful effort and enthusiasm - keep playing. I hope to see you again some day soon. Thanks to the parents, especially those who spent time talking about how to help improve their son / daughter in the coming months. Great interview below - Mady talking Mateo - both smashing soccer players...

I’m back in Indy now after a ridiculously early flight across the country. Today (Monday) I’m rolling into work as the normal Matt Self - Assistant Principal at the International School of Indiana. Come visit one day. In fact, I’m working very hard on a plan to bring a lot of you in Indy in 2012. Stay posted on the one - just check the West Ham United International Academy Website - and, of course, join the Facebook group too.

Clean boots? A first at Indianapolis Airport...

Last pic - on top of the world looking down. Beautiful. Cheers all.
Matt

Albuquerque Day 3 - a visit from an unexpected superstar...

Group 1 - 8:00am - 10:00am

Day 3 of the Regional Camp - beautiful clear skies and 85F sunshine. Everyone in WHUIA t-shirts and two days under our belt. Hoping for a pretty decent day. Today’s blog might be long - sorry for that! I've got a lot of video but many of the clips are long - so I'll be editing them and posting starting tomorrow.

The early gang didn’t disappoint us and the mid-morning group were great too. We did have a scare at 10:30am as an official looking lady walked over. Oops I thinking, here goes the ‘are you a New Mexican card carrying licensed soccer coach’ or ‘have you paid the $500 a day to run a camp here’ or even ‘we’re expecting the wildfire to be here in 5 minutes, run for your life...’. No, she was a local nutrition adviser. The classic food pyramid has gone (very recently) and now we have a ‘plate’ visually showing what should be covered and portion sizes.

Group 2  10:30am - 12:30pm

The early evening gang 5:00pm - 7:00pm

It was nice opportunity to talk for 5 about simple sports nutrition and hydration. Players at the Academy are carefully monitored and have support for drinks and food. Drinks like Gator/Powerade are to high in sugar - so avoided. At the end of practice the players have a protein / carb based drink which often includes a banana. Getting fluid back in the system can be less of a problem if you are taking water / fluids on board before and during play. Thirst is a sign you have not been doing this. The protein / carb drink puts some energy back in the system and gives the body the necessary components to recover, repair and build. Exercise is an appetite suppressant, so a liquid protein carb drink is a nice compromise when a tuna sandwich sounds awful! Well done Albuquerque for making the effort to come and find coaches and players. Indiana is so unhealthy. The big hit at the State Fair this year was deep fried butter...

Running through some of the passing / movement drills for the third time allowed the kids to get into a rhythm. That means we could take a look at some smaller details that often make or break a situation. We’ve talked about the difference playing the ball to the wrong foot can have on a player. Imagine a right midfielder with their back to the direction of play and about to receive a ball from the right back. We’re hoping our player has pulled out wide, opened their body up to the rest of the field and has had a look over the shoulder to see what is going on there before and as the ball is played. OK - if the defender rolls the ball up to the midfielder’s back foot all is well. But a ball to the player one yard the wrong side and they now have they’re back to the field, a sideline in front of them and defenders closing in.

Many of us have given a player in that situation a tough time for losing the ball - but if the ball arrives on the wrong side, assuming the lack of space to adjust - we should be looking at the accuracy of the pass from the defender. It’s actually a decent argument for defenders being as competent with the ball at their feet as everyone else. It’s something the Dutch have believed in for years. Everyone learns to play in all positions at a younger age and has the same degree of technical skill. So, if your eight year old is only playing left back it’s worth having a word with the coach.

The oldest group now has 18 - so we ended up playing endzone, with Cory as a GK at one end. This is a simple small sided game in which one player moves along an ‘endzone’ and to score that player has to receive the ball inside under control. Only the player in the endzone can be there. We also have a couple of players on each side as ‘free’ support players which can offer an outlet wide when under pressure with the ball.. There are other rules we can add, limit touches, allow one player to have unlimited touches etc. The only instruction initially is ‘score as quickly as possible’.

We allowed the free players to join the play if they received the ball creating an overload. We’re also looking to see if some of the things we have worked on come out in the game. Simple movement off the ball to offer a passing option, receiving the ball on the back foot and checking before it arrives so you know what you are doing, being compact when defending and making the field big when in possession.

The shooting / defending drill was classic all day. Great competition, nice goalkeeping from Cory and Katie.

OK - the last day will really be an opportunity for me to step back, watch and let the kids play. One parent asked 'how do you keep track of all the kids and evaluate them'. I've been teaching and coaching for 20 years - so some of it is second nature. It's often easiest to identify the players who stand out at each end of the spectrum. At that point we asking what the stronger players need to be pushed and what support the weaker one require. The middle group is a little tougher to pick out - just like in a classroom setting. I make it a lot easy using technology. I use my iphone so I can video a lot of action. That way I sit back at the hotel and watch, learn names and pick out the differences. It's still only 4 days and two hours a day at that, so you have to stay on top of it. 8 hours of play is a snap shot - that is worth remembering too.

OK - it's nearly time to get out there for the last time this camp. Now, before we sign off I have to show you this - I couldn't believe that LA Galaxy would actually let this happen - how much is the man worth.....????

Oi, David... easy on the throttle....

Albuquerque Day 2

Day 2. The smoke cleared in time for sunrise - mountains were back and so was 90 degree weather with a sun that was clearly trying way to hard to shine. The Aztec Park irrigation system had run it’s cycle by the time the first group got to work - so we had that lovely slick surface for a while.

I have to say I spent some time during the evening of Day 1 contemplating whether too much had been thrown at the players. Some of the complex drills can be built up to, but we were hoping to jam as much in as possible and then back up and build simply upon it. Luckily both morning groups were excellent. With re-calibrated groupings, numbers were good and players were matched more effectively. The afternoon 'nippers' worked hard too - they are starting to get into the swing of things (apart from the odd discussion about whether the ball was over the line etc....!)

We put everyone through the circular warm ups which allow for changes of direction, communication and most importantly, a couple of hundred touches on the ball.

How many times do you see teams ‘warming up’ with a long line outside the penalty area - a coach, receiving a ball (one at a time) and rolling a pass for one player to shoot.  Oh, and worse than that - static stretching. So, let’s clear a few things up. You’ll detect a little personal opinion here - but much is Academy approved!

A warm up is simply that. Warming the body so working muscles are prepped for athletic movement and more elastic, thus reducing the chance of injury. Static stretching before performance actually works against what you are trying to achieve. We also aim to have as many motor programs that actually relate to playing the game put into action before performance. This assume the coaching staff incorporate a type of practice with multiple game related movements and cognitive functions. I believe there is an additional benefit psychologically. I tell my players they just got around 200 touches on the ball - so the first touch in the game is going to feel familiar. It’s a confidence boost especially in a big game where most players over exert themselves due to that initial adrenaline rush. Why only practice 5 shots each when most of the 11 players rarely get to shoot.

The circle drill described yesterday was executed well - a game called ‘endzone’ helped put some of the simple principles of vision / awareness, playing off your back foot and supporting play into action. Every now and then a string of passes gets put together combined with simple movement - and a goal is scored. You have to pay attention or you miss it - when what you are aiming for falls into place it is effective, fast paced and hard for the opposition to stop. We also talked about the nature of practice. We are too familiar with the saying ‘practice makes perfect’. Well, that’s only half the truth. Practice makes permanent. Doing something wrong a lot allows you to become good and doing something badly. Often when coaching slightly older players we have to breakdown what they have learned and build it back up. Unlearn bad habits. Perfect practice makes permanent. Doing things simply and executing them correctly is very important. When we coach our impatience to move the players up to the next level of difficulty often has a negative affect. We should expect our players to work without opposition and execute drills effortlessly. It would really surprise you how much at the Academy is based on unopposed drills. Players are expected to approach things from different angles, but being able to get into a ‘flow’ for some of these drills is the objective.

How does this impact what we are doing at the Regional Camp? Well, much of the work covered would probably make up a fair chunk of a seasons work. The Albuquerque kids are doing a grand job - even if we are trying to pack so much in for them.

Above is a simple drill we ran with the older players. Beau and Chris have to pass the ball to each other through the different color markers. As they play the ball they call a color, the other has to adjust feet and move the ball in order to get it through that color marker - and then call another color. So both have to 'say it as they play it'. This game is a favorite of Rio Ferdinand. You can make it harder by increasing the pace, setting the markers closer - and the tough one to catch is the ball played first time right back through the marks you just called. Beau and Chris did a nice job for only their second attempt at this.

Less pics and vids in the blog today - Day 3 is photo ‘op’ day and a big push to get a lot captured on video. We’ll be posting that next - thanks to the rather faster wifi of Starbucks across the road. Clearly the hamster running the cage-wheel-generator in my hotel has vacation time. Not complaining though - sunrise over the mountains is pretty impressive.

So, Friday - Day 3 is an attempt to pull many of these drills together and have the players feeling comfortable. We’ll be throwing a few extras in to support existing work - but I am hoping to start to be able to step back and let them get on with it. Saturday will be a big game play day - another chance to step back and assess individual players.

Just a few last notes. We have covered some non-coaching stuff during the week - here is a summary:
 - Boomerangs work. I have one from Aussie. You think its never coming back, then it does and takes your head off.

 - The Eiffel Tower is in Paris, France - thanks Chase.

 - Julia scored the winner Day 2 - one of the smallest players out there but fired up - nice job.

 - Wayne Rooney has not been signed by West Ham United. I made that up kids.

 - Henry VIII did have a 13 mile tunnel from a country home to the Boleyn Castle so he could visit Ann. That’s why West Ham’s ground is called ‘The Boleyn Ground’ and there is a castle on the badge - the castle stood on that spot hundreds of years ago.

Hammers Badge - Hannah (6)

 - Millwall fans and West Ham fans don’t like each other. Avoid wearing your academy t-shirts on the south east banks of the Thames.

  - There are rattlesnakes and scary spiders in New Mexico. That’s why I brought a first aid kit. Figured band aids fix anything - based mostly on the complete confidence my 6 year old triplets have in their healing powers.

 - There is no water in Albuquerque. It’s all in Indiana this year.

 - Barcelona are the best team in the world and despite super smart people being able to predict mathematically which way a professional player will take a penalty - no one can tell what Lionel Messi is going to do. I suspect he knows but doesn’t want to tell anyone.

- Francisco drives 5 hours each weekend to come to play for Rio Vista FC. I love that - gotta love that kind of commitment. Germany is 5 hours away from my house in England and I been there twice in 42 years. Nice beer though.

Last question - 3:52am this morning. Was that an earthquake? It woke me up.....

Albuquerque Day 1

Day 1 was a great day in Albuquerque and to my surprise I was sent a photo you are not going to believe. We'll get to that later.

Albuquerque is beautiful. The Rio Grande through the valley with a wall of mountains to the east and Petroglyph National Monument to the west. We're working with players from age 8 to 17 in three 2 hour sessions. It's all Academy stuff, from warm ups to small sided games, and a whole lot in between. Overall the players have done well today - it's tough dealing with a different coach in a short space of time, especially when there is so much to take on board. Across all the practices today the theme was vision and awareness. We're hoping to broaden the players understanding of the need to have an advanced awareness of what is happening around them. Know what you are going to do way ahead of when you receive the ball. It's a tough day because much of what has become autonomous now gets thrown in the 'having to think about it' phase of learning. So, it's tough to complete overlapping complex tasks. Young players at West Ham are given a trial period of about 6 weeks. We are putting these young talented players through their paces in four days. That might equate to one and a half weeks in London.

I'm a great believer in the adaptability of children. Given some logical auditory and visual input most will get it quicker than a 40 year old. I walk the fine line by an 'immersion' style day one introducing a number of activities and then circling back to each and building on the basic groundwork. We hope, by day three, to see some of the concepts come out in open play - but we're also realistic and for many the benefit is the take away from the camp and whether the pieces come together as they continue to play.


Let me give you an example - we'll start with a simple drill inside a large circle. Players around the outside without a ball - the rest dribble into the middle (a maze of markers), change direction while keeping their heads up, and find a player to pass as soon as they leave the middle. The receiver is going to sweep the ball away from the angle the passer has now created and dribble into the middle. The passer joins the ball-less crew around the edge. That's stage one. Then we add...
- a back foot turn option for the passer, called by the perimeter player
- a set option with the same 'sweep' from the perimeter player
- a 'twos' option, which is really shorthand for a one two - played off the back foot again
OK - this runs for a while - with the added expectation that players always 'check' over their shoulder every time the ball is on the way. Watch Frank Lampard, he does it all the time. Checking to see the 'picture' of all around him.

 Additional layers include:
- an 'overlap' option, where the perimeter receiver passes left or right, loops around the back and gets played back into the central area. Now the perimeter players are looking for a ball from the center and both sides.
- a couple of optional players always floating in the middle who can have a one-two played off them at any time. This same drill was run at Littleheath in February.

My favorite question a camps is 'hands up if you are a defender'. Usually, four kids reluctantly raise their hands. One might actually be a center back, the rest are 'defenders' because the others don't want to be. By the end of the day everyone raises their hands. Just watch the midfield and front line of Barcelona as they lose possession. They work tremendously hard to get the ball back. Of course, they spend most the ball with the ball!

Albuquerque soccer players are great kids. Busting it in 90 degrees and at 5,000 feet above sea level. Plus they help put out and clear up equipment. Well done coaches and parents!

We'll see what the week holds in store. After day one I would summarize by saying this about each groups target - apart from the overall objectives:
8:00am - 10:00am U12-U14/15 - vision and awareness
10:30am - 12:30pm U15 - U18 - support play when in possession - vision and awareness
5:00pm - 7:00pm U9 - U11/12 - getting the patterns of the basic practices so they flow

Before Arizona wildfire smoke 3:00pm

Same Mountains at 7:30pm

Smoke - first shot was taken around lunchtime. The smoke started appearing at 6:00pm - by 7:30pm the mountains to the east and sun to the west had disappeared. 

OK - we'll report on progress tomorrow - but for now how about this for a magical moment. Manchester Untied fans take a close look.
You think you won the Premier League this year.
You didn't.
My mum did. Yes, this really is Laurina Mary Self - aka my mum.