WHUIA National Camp 2011 - Rome, GA - Day 2

Day 2 West Ham United International Academy National Camp - Rome, GA - waiting for the breakfast green light.

It was great to hear the Darlington School staff compliment the girls and boys attending - performance on the field is balanced with a professional performance off it too. Working with team-mates, coaches, administration and all club staff is an important element of the expectation at West Ham United. The Academy Graduates still care enough to visit and catch up with coaches and future stars - Current first team player and England U21's Mark Noble is an outstanding example of that. I say this too - take as much care of the everyday / down to earth members of any organization. They keep the ship running smoothly and do the jobs many of us may turn our noses up at. Oh, it's also worth a few extra 'chips' at lunch if your lucky too...

Let me start by commending the 105 players at the camp on their efforts today. It was hot  - really hot and by 6:00pm we were taking drink breaks every 10/15 minutes with a 10 min 'under cover' rest each half hour. Makes me miss the windswept SE Essex countryside on a brutal Saturday afternoon in January.

Next - take a look at this great video put together by Garrett Hall - the Techno whizz for the WHUIA. Day 2.....

                                      

Day 2 schedule looked like this:
7-8am Breakfast
9-11am Coaching session one
12-1pm Lunch
2:30-3:30pm Technical Coaching Skills with Ian Yuill
3:30-4:30pm Snack (aka ice-cream fest)
5-7pm Coaching session 2
8-9pm Dinner
9:30pm onwards - off to bed...

Stefano (Indianapolis) gets a decent breakfast and we discuss the strangely named 'grits'. I suggest that it may represent the onomatopoeia of food. Grit. I am still wondering if the purpose of grits is to offer an additional carb yet soup like addition to the breakfast table or otherwise. I suspect the latter. Here is the conversation....
"Hey ma, whats a cooking..."
"Well honeypie, we ain't cooking nuffin"
'Well how about pulling a Gordon Ramsey on the collection of small stones that have accumulated in my shoes over the decades?"
"Well honey, that may just have answered my prayers"


Of course, if grits were cooked by Paula Dean they would be stuffed in a duck inside a chicken inside a turkey deep fried in butter and rolled in parmesan cheese and bacon rind...


The technical skills session with Ian was excellent. Two older groups of boys got to take a dip in the Darlington Pool, while the others worked in the main gymnasium. The pool is pretty sweet and sounded like a decent option after a hot morning!

Ian Yuill is one of the core Academy coaches at West Ham United. He works with all the teams and gives them about 2 hours a week of technical skill development. It is involves a lot of skill, agility, speed, concentration and brain power. The players are put through their paces, girls and the youngest boys group in a 45 minute session. Ian has been working in the US for several weeks now developing links with clubs with a view to to launching their own technical skills program, with Ian as the man behind the program developing coaches. You can find out more on the WHUIA website if you click here. Here are some of activities....

The players responded well to the challenges - it all slowed down when we worked the non-dominant foot, but that helped. The quality here is 'in slow and out quick'. If the first touch you take pushes the ball away from you too quickly you cannot get the touches in - there is also a rhythm that can be achieved which adds to the level of success and quality. As coaches we change drills and practices too often. The human brain needs a chance to repeat and store the information for effective future use. It's like eating your breakfast - automatic. We need some technical aspects of soccer to be automatic so players can attend to the really important stuff - what is going on around them. Knowing what you are going to do before opponents is essential. Also, keep 'opponents' out of drills too.


Outside the younger boys worked on their touches, individually and as a group.

We worked on a two touch 'square' passing drill to emphasize use of the back foot - here you'll see the lads open their bodies to be facing the person they are playing to...

We also covered some fun stuff - 1v1 shooting, which really requires quick thinking and determination! Of course, a scrimmage was a favorite from all players - James and I stood back a little and discussed the players' progress.

So - a great day - super hot and this evening has all been about a good night's sleep - taking on water and being prepared for tomorrow. The older boys will have a chance to try the technical skills - and today's group will take a dip! 

Tomorrow we'll have more video and pics - plus a run down of the day. Looking forward to catching up with the other groups - you can check out a bunch of pics on the West Ham United International Academy Facebook page - great shots from Jeremy and Garrett. Join the page - cracking stuff! Day 3 on the way - hoping a cloud in the sky keeps us cool...