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ZenFooty Blog ZenFooty Breakfast Club - It Rocks!Published on Tue 06/16/2009 | 12 total comments Hey All!! We have launched the ZenFooty Breakfast Club for the third year running!! On our initial day we had a record start of 33 people come out for the event. Breakfast club is about footspeed and fitness. We train from 8:00AM to 9:00AM. Then we break out into pick-up games and play for another hour. After that, we play world cup soccer from 10:00 to 11:00 or so. It is a fun-filled morning and we do it EVERY weekday. In my opinion, this is the REAL thing about soccer; kids playing with no restrictions and trying out their stuff!! I enjoy watching the tricks, the skills, the friendships and the leadership as they emerge. Our goal this year is to get 100 players out every morning training, playing, laughing, and enjoying all the game has to offer. Breakfast club is for all ages so come on out and bring your running shoes, energy drink, and your soccer shoes (and shin guards). We are at Ty Warner Park in Westmont Illinois!! So, I ask you, is there really enough free play, funtime, and fitness in today's soccer world. ZenMaster says we need more of this. What say you? And for you players that have been coming out, do you like it? I want to hear what you think? « comments » Try-Outs - A Joke or Necessary Evil Published on Thu 05/28/2009 | 11 total comments Well, I took my daughter to a try-out this past week and, a luck would have it, she was in great form. However, it was hard to se who she was playing against. She dribbled by most players and outran the others. It almost seemed to me like the core players from the team were not at the try-out. Just the new blood. Needless to say, we got a call that evening and a request for our credit card number to secure a spot for our daughter on the team. Does this mean she is any good? Does it mean she will fit in the team? Does it mean the team needs the revenue from the slot? All of the above? What it really means is that we were too late to evaluate the club and make a good decision. Try-outs in this neck of the woods are little more than a formality for coaches and DOCs to get a last look at players that they haven't had time to scout. It is also a time for players who are unhappy to try and quickly find a club that looks and feels like it would be worth a one year trial. Take a tip from the ZenMaster, interview parents on the club and also interview parents who have left that club. In the future, go to scout out the clubs you are considering moving to well before the try-out dates to see what it may be like. Test the commute, test the players, and the player-coach relationship. It is really worth the time. These actions will help you get more information than you would ever get in a try-out. See also my article on this subject in the articles section of the sie. What say you? « comments » Practice Players vs. "Gamers" - What's The Difference? Published on Sat 05/16/2009 | 18 total comments I just don't get it. I have seen some of the most spectacular players do incredible things in training and then completely go into the weeds in the game. What is it about some people who simply get stage fright? When they put on the uniform and hear that opening whistle, they become a lesser player: Diminutive, scared, lack of skill, lack of intensity, and sometimes a lack of tactical knowledge. Everything that we have seen them do in training goes out the window...poof!! Then there are other players who cut corners in training, loaf a bit, and seem disinterested or bored. But come game time, these players are at the top of their game? Go figure!! I have seen this many times and here is my thinking: Training must at all times simulate the match. If it doesn't, the match becomes a completely different and, potentially, intimidating experience for a player because of the pace, colors, noise, officials, perceived importance, parents, imposing opponents, and so on. If you do not create that environment in training, you will find that the youth players are on foreign soil at game time (even at home games). Those players who do well at game time even when training does not simulate the match are players who have a sense of competition in their blood and do not need this created in training. They get the whole competition thing and do not lose their poise and focus due to the external factors. In fact they rise to it!! We call players "Gamers" because they rise to the occasion in match play. I would say, however, that the players who really get it done are those who train every day like it is a match AND have a sense of true performance during match play. Players such as Tevez from Manchester United and Argentina come to mind. Other athletes such as Michael Jordan also come to mind when I think about players who get it done in training as well as in the match. So what say you? Is there a difference between training players and true "Gamers"? And are there truly players who are both? « comments » Even The Pros Make Unforced Errors - We Should Lay-Off The Kids Published on Sun 05/10/2009 | 29 total comments As a surprise birthday present, I was taken by my family to the Chicago Fire vs. New England Revolution game last night. Ya know...for the fun of it! Nothing serious!! Well, that was until the 1st whistle blew, then it is game on. What I found remarkable about the game was the high number of unforced errors made by the players. I wanted to start yelling at them and correcting their technique and decision making. And then I thought.....wait a minute.....these are the pros and they are making some of the same mistakes my youth players make. Why am I SO hard on my youth players if the pros are making very similar basic errors. I'll give you an example: The ball is played to Blanco on the flank and the player who passed him the ball, runs directly in front of Blanco drawing in an extra defender and taking space away from this great playmaker. What was he thinking? Another example: The ball is played vertically to Brian McBride who makes a beautiful "Brazilian" flick to his team mate who forgot to check back in tandem and was nowehere to be found to receive and return the flick. The problem with this one is that Brian was free for a return pass inside the box because he made a perfect run for a sure goal!! What the HECK!! Well, the real learning for me was that even the big boys make mistakes and while we admonish our little future pros intensely, we would do well to back off a little and show more nurturing and developmental perspectives with them. I, for one, will be looking at the game a little differently starting with today's youth platinum level match-up for my U-10 team. What say you? Are we too hard on the youth players? OR is this why we don't have world class players at the professional level? « comments » Maximize Playing Time or Maximize Club Revenue? Published on Wed 04/29/2009 | 24 total comments Well now isn't that the question of the day? So, do you want your club to survive financially or do you want your kid to get playing time. Its all about roster size and finding the balance between paying the fees that come with running a club program all while making sure that each player gets substantial playing time (translation: that the roster is small enough on any given team to get each player some meaningful minutes on the field). ZenMaster comes down firmly on the side of the player. I say keep the roster size as low as practical to have quality training sessions and to avoid the risk of having too few players for any given outing. Will this make a club rich? Not financially!! But it will raise the quality of the development experience for every player involved (and that is the definition of rich in my book). It also allows for more closely aligned talent levels of the players on the teams. Bigger teams result in huge talent disparity between the better players and the lesser experienced players. This is not good for either. The better players are not challenged and the lesser players lose confidence. I say keep the talent aligned wherever possible so everyone grows. Now, having said that, I must stress that "EVERY PLAYER NEEDS PROPER TRAINING;" not just the most experienced or the least experienced players....EVERY PLAYER HIS THE RIGHT TO GROW. So I do NOT believe in padding rosters for financial gain (or even solvency). I believe in bringing the game to the kids. Please remember though, that if there is not enough balance, we may never be able to afford high quality trainers to develop our children appropriately. So what say you? Are we padding the rosters too much? Is your kid getting enough time on the pitch? Are they getting any better? At what cost? ZenMaster takes the side of the Lorax in Dr. Seuss...I speak for the trees, let 'em grow! « comments » |
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