Youth Soccer

This is the definitive manual for coaching America's fastest-growing sport for kids aged 8-19. Written for both beginning and seasoned coaches, The Complete Book of Coaching Youth Soccer shows you--in concise, easy-to-understand terms--how to organize, motivate, and lead your youth soccer team to success on the field. Included are: Step-by-step teaching points Rules and strategies of the game More than 100 illustrative diagrams More than 75 practice and competitive drills Complete 10-week season plans for each of three separate age groups Designed for easy, on-the-field reference, author Simon Whitehead's proven practice drills are designed progressively to develop maximum skills for both individual and team play. Simon Whitehead lives in Minneapolis and has coached high school and college soccer in England and in the United States for more than ten years. Using proven European teaching methods, he shows the soccer coach how to maximize each young player's enthusiasm, involvement, and personal success in soccer.

Blending contemporary sports science theory with youth specific coaching practice, this book offers soccer development strategies that are tailored to the needs of young players.

Participation in youth soccer continues to grow, creating a greater demand for coaches than ever before. Parents who might never have played soccer are finding themselves on the sidelines wondering what they've gotten themselves into. Over the years, tens of thousands of coaches in this very situation have turned to the American Sport Education Program's (ASEP) Coaching Youth Soccer, and this new fifth edition delivers even more information in an improved format to help calm the fears, identify and organize the tasks and responsibilities, and bolster the confidence of today's new coaches. Written by ASEP in conjunction with Sam Snow, director of coaching for US Youth Soccer, Coaching Youth Soccer is the resource for coaches of athletes ages 14 and under. It presents sport- and age-specific coaching tips and advice as well as general coaching principles and information on sport first aid that coaches need for success on and off the field. This fifth edition includes over 45 activities and 40 coaching tips, combined with more than 70 photos and 50 illustrations, all in a reorganized format to make it even more practical for coaches. Chapters on attacking and defending, along with a new chapter on goalkeeping, are included to provide more in-depth information on playing these positions. The sport first aid section has been expanded to include guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on dealing with concussion (soccer is second only to football in frequency of concussion). Part of the long-running Coaching Youth Sport Series, Coaching Youth Soccer provides a dynamic and effective method for teaching soccer fundamentals, making it a must-read for youth soccer coaches preparing to meet the challenges and enjoy the rewards of working with young athletes.

Youth Soccer Drills is your indispensable tool for coaching beginning to intermediate soccer players ages 5 to 12. Rely on 100 drills and games to make practices more fun and productive. Through these practice activities, even novice coaches will soon have young players mastering the essentials of spacing, dribbling, passing, shooting, and heading. Use the comprehensive drill finder to quickly find the perfect drill by skills you want to develop. Sample practice plans for 5- to 6-year-olds, 7- to 8-year-olds, 9- to 10-year-olds, and 11- to 12-year-olds are ready to take straight to the soccer field. Progressions of 4v4, 5v5, 8v8, and 11v11 help young players execute skills and tactics at the appropriate stage. Youth Soccer Drills will make practice more productive and put the fun back into fundamentals.

101 Great Youth Soccer Drills is an exhaustive collection of the very best drills available, providing a solid foundation for you to build your players' skills. Filled with simple step-by-step instructions and diagrams, plus a sample practice program, this encyclopedia of drills provides you with solid skill-building fundamentals as well as the advanced techniques you need to get your players in top form.

"Author Horst Wein provides more than 150 games, corrective exercises and competitions for players aged 7 to 14. Based on the internationally renowned Football Development Model, training and coaching methods are divided into four levels, resulting in the best age-appropriate coaching resource available. From fundamental skills and goal-keeping to tactics and game intelligence, Developing Youth Football Players covers it all with clear writing and colourful illustrations, making it easy to incorporate each lesson into your programme."--Jacket.

From patches of dirt to gleaming turf, soccer is a game for all. Includes fun facts, maps and infographics, an illustrated diagram, a photo gallery, an interactive glossary, and more. Full color.

The last decade witnessed a plethora of literature about talent identification and talent development. Most of the research is descriptive. In addition, an enormous quantity of publications attempted to define normative guidelines, but mostly with relatively little empirical evidence to support them. We believe it is time to overview the field, critically appraise the situation of research, and map the topics, trends, and gaps. The large part of recent research has focused on talent identification and the factors that reveal talents. In contrast, relatively less research has addressed the question how young talents develop in a long-term process towards becoming senior high-performers. This is an evolving field and research is still in a primarily explorative stage. A variety of different study designs and methodological approaches have been employed to explore different factors and outcomes of talent development, yielding heterogeneous findings.