Arlington Soccer Association -- Arlington and Falls Church, Virginia, Youth Soccer

Arlington Soccer Association for Arlington and Falls Church, Virginia Youth Soccer

Coaches Corner - Arlington Soccer Association

In This Issue

Technical Director

TOPSoccer Head Coach

Coach to Referee

Soccer Goal Safety

DC United Tickets

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May 30, 2007

Coach,

Welcome back from the Memorial Day Weekend break.

Big ASA news items: ASA will hire first ever Technical Director and TOPSoccer seeks a new Head Coach.

And more on refereeing from a coach's perspective.

ASA Technical Director

Arlington Soccer Association - Arlington & Falls Church, VA

Bob Bigney will be ASA Technical Director

The Arlington Soccer Association will hire Bob Bigney to fill the new position of ASA Technical Director.

Bob has spent his entire adult life as a teacher, educator and coach. He has a passion for soccer, especially working with younger children to develop their enjoyment of the game.

New Position

The Technical Director is a new position created this year by the ASA Board of Directors after input from ASA Club Managers and other members of the Arlington and Falls Church soccer community.

The Technical Director's primary functions will be to train and educate our recreational coaches and to provide increased player development opportunities, in the form of clinics, camps and other programs, for our recreational players.

Selection Process

The ASA Board delegated responsibility to a Technical Director Task Force of the ASA community: Steve Lent as Chair, Ken Bass, Carla de la Pava, Lizzy Stell, and Kathy Wall. The Task Force worked with ASA Board Members, club managers, coaches and others to create a detailed position description for the TD. The Task Force advertised the TD position, received 30+ applications from qualified individuals around the world and screened candidates. They obtained further information and interviewed the highly qualified candidates and ultimately recommended Bob Bigney for the position.

Bob Bigney's Background

Bob is a 1984 graduate of Davis & Elkins College in West Virginia. He has a master's degree in education from the University of Richmond and a teaching certification from New Mexico State University in elementary education.

Bob coached soccer at college and professional levels. He was the head men's soccer coach at LaGrange College (Georgia), North Carolina Wesleyan College and Davis & Elkins College. He was the head coach of the Roanoke Wrath professional team for one year.

Extensive Experience with Youth Soccer

Following his years of college and professional coaching, Bob worked with many youth soccer programs. He was director of coaching and player development with the Beach FC Youth Soccer Club in Virginia Beach, VA, director of coaching for the West Virginia Youth Soccer Association, and the director of coaching and player development for the New Mexico Youth Soccer Association.

A Coach of Coaches and a Teacher

Bob is an experienced trainer of youth coaches, as well. He holds an USSF "A" license and a National Youth License. He has served on the US Soccer National Instructional Staff and has taught numerous youth coach licensing classes around the country.

Bob is certified as an elementary school teacher and has taught fourth grade in the Las Cruces, New Mexico Public School District for three years.

Passion for Recreational Youth Soccer

In extensive interviews with the ASA Board, the Technical Director Task Force, the ASA Referee Commissioner, and with many individual managers and coaches, Bob repeatedly emphasized his passion for youth soccer. His vision is the development of a model recreational soccer program in Arlington, one that will provide high quality, affordable, and enjoyable neighborhood recreational play that will instill a lifetime love of sports and soccer in our Arlington and Falls Church children.

Starts July 1

Bob will start work July 1.

But, you may see him at one of your games or practices in the final weeks of the spring season. You will find him to be a good listener, so feel free to discuss with him your concerns, hopes, ideas and thoughts about Arlington's neighborhood soccer program.

Also, he'll be looking for an apartment in the Arlington area. Contact him via coachescorner@arlingtonsoccer.com if you have advice.

TOPSoccer Seeks New Head Coach

Patience and understanding are only requirements

TOPSoccer is ASA's soccer fun program for young athletes with disabilities.

TOPSoccer brings the opportunity of learning and playing soccer to any boy or girl who has a mental or physical disability.

Ariel Schwartz is the TOPSoccer Head Coach and Buddy Coordinator. She is graduating from high school in June 2008. She is looking for her replacement in TOPSoccer to mentor beginning in the fall 2007 season.

The TOPSoccer Head Coach has the following responsibilities:

Oversee weekly TOPSoccer sessions (season runs from mid-September through mid-June).

Train soccer buddies from various ASA teams (pre-assigned in fall and spring rec seasons). Buddies work with TOPSoccer players to adapt skill-building activities, small-sided games, and unified games (mixture of players with disabilities to non-disabled players).

Those with soccer coaching, special education or therapeutic recreation experience are especially encouraged to volunteer.

Volunteers should contact:

Ariel Schwartz, Buddy Coordinator
Ilene Schwartz, Acting Manager
- footballitis31@hotmail.com or 703 527-7472

Learn more about TOPSoccer:

Arlington Soccer Association TOPSoccer

U.S. Youth Soccer TOPSoccer

For Youth Referees from a Coach

By Ken Bass

As a longtime ASA coach, currently coaching boys U-10 and U-12 teams, I've enjoyed the recent pieces in Coaches Corner giving various perspectives on refereeing the games.

Here's a coach's perspective:

1. Whistle:

For the younger kids' games (U8-U10), usually officiated by a youth referee, one of the most common frustrations is the failure of the referee to blow his or her whistle loud and clear. Players need to get used to hearing the whistle and knowing to stop when it blows, but a weak whistle, or no whistle, is not effective.

2. Referees are Mentors to Players:

Youth referees can serve as good mentors to the younger kids. The best youth referees I've seen will mix up a little ball play with the kids between quarters and engage them in talk about the game.

At this age, the referees are really teachers, not unlike the coaches. For that reason, the referees should explain all fouls to the players-many times my players have been called for a foul, but with no idea what they did wrong.

3. Throw-ins:

By the time kids get to the U-10 level, they should know how to do a proper throw-in. I favor a "one do-over" rule for each team at this level. After that, the referee should award a change of possession for an improper throw-in (while
explaining to the offending player what he/she did wrong). Awarding a change of possession for an improper throw-in makes the rules sink in a lot quicker!

4. Offside:

By and large, referees at the U-10 and below levels let the game go on without too many interruptions, and that's the way it should be. Obvious offside should be called, but close calls should not-after all, it's all coaches can do to get the players to make a pass in the first place!

5. Rough Play:

I've rarely seen a referee in these games call a foul based on physical play. At this age, the players do start to get a bit physical, which is fine.

However, a referee should be sensitive to whether things are getting too physical, and issue fouls if it does. At this age, the better players are probing for the limits, and they need to know there is one.

6. Teams on Opposite Sides of Field:

Referees should also encourage the coaches to take opposite sides of the field with their substitute players. I know this is sometimes difficult on the side-by-side fields, but it is a rule all should learn to abide by. (Don't worry about the parents-they'll continue to occupy the space between fields.)

7. Parents Running Lines:

Refs should also ask coaches to have parents participate by "running" the touchline to flag out of bounds.

That's a technique for involving parents in the game. The person running the side should not be the coach! The coach should remain with subs about 5 yards from the midfield line at all times.

8. Coach Thanks Referee:

Coaches, for their part, need to recognize that our youth referees are mostly still inexperienced and also in a learning phase.

Remember, if those refs get through one season and come back, they'll be quite good the next time around.

Coaches should always thank the referees, and calmly discuss any calls they thought might be questionable or controversial. And don't be frustrated if one of these youngsters doesn't know all the rules, instead, take it as a teaching opportunity and encourage the ref to consult his or her rulebook to make sure.

For example, I had a referee the other day tell me I could not substitute on a goal kick by the opposing team. I let it go until the quarter break, then approached the referee and said that in my experience, unlimited substitutions could be made on all goal kicks. When he told me he thought that was the rule for corner kicks, I asked if he wouldn't mind consulting the other referee. He did so, found out the correct rules, thanked me, and we went on to a good game.

9. Yellow Cards for Older Players:

For the older kids, starting at U-11/U-12, we generally see adult referees, who usually do a good job.

My one recommendation to the referees at this age group is to give out an occasional yellow card. By U-12, the players are getting much more physical, and are of a size where they can hurt each other, almost always unintentionally. I've yet to see a yellow card issued in a U-12 game, despite a number of situations that could have called for one. At this age, a yellow card-every now and then-is a useful reminder of the limits on the game, and will prevent players from getting out of hand.

10. Coach Controls Parents:

One other thing on referees from the coach's perspective: sometimes, the coach needs to tell his or her parents to pipe down.

When parents are yelling at a referee about a call, it is very distracting to the kids on the field. Recently, I had a game where a referee made a call against us that was a bit questionable.

It did not result in a goal, so should have been quickly forgotten. Some of the parents, however, began yelling for offside on every attack by the opposing team, even when a player in an offside position was nowhere near the ball. I had to tell the parents they were doing us no favors. One of the players, when he came out, even went over to his mom, who had been quite vocal, and told her she was embarrassing him.

Please remember the Parent/Guardian Code of Conduct you signed.

Soccer Goal Safety

Tell players that unsecured goals are dangerous

Soccer Goal Safety

On Saturday, May 19, at a Williamsburg field, a U10 player jumped up and swung from the goal cross bar during a lull in the game. His size and weight would have brought down an unweighted, unbalanced goal.

Coaches, tell kids that goals are dangerous.

Kids Do's and Dont's:

DO

Tell an adult - If you see a soccer goal that is not anchored.
Remind your friends - It's NEVER safe to play with, hang from, or move soccer goals. If they won't get down, tell an adult.
Practice with a Buddy - Always have someone with you, even if you're just kicking the ball into the net.

DON'T

EVER take the field during practice or a game if the goal is NOT anchored. If you're not sure, ask the coach, referee or a parent.
EVER hang from or play on a soccer goal.
EVER move a soccer goal, not even if the coach or a parent asks you to.
EVER practice or play alone.

Email Mary Bevis, mpbevis@verizon.net, if you find unanchored goals.