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July 28, Post Match Notes

A great match for Blue Lightning last night. Our players did quite well and are starting to get the concept of 'support using open spaces'. When one of our players has the ball, the others need to offer support. Offensive support is given by:
  • one player staying behind the player with the ball (in case he loses the ball)
  • the other players staying away from the ball and going into and using open free spaces
Defensive support is given by the system of first defender + 2nd defender plus all or most forwards coming back to help the defense.

Our players did great by playing hard for the other team. Team has been doing well lately. Confidence is good, but overconfidence is no, something to watch out for.

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July 28, Day 10

Warm-up, running passes on 3,step on, always moving 5
Offer support: Stay Away 10
Pass to defender running on wings, center 10
Game 12
Throw-ins 3
Corner kicks 5
Free kicks 5
Headers 8 58
Volleys 8
Emerson move, both sides 5

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Nikki

Gustavo's favorite singer was in Ottawa Saturday. He took this picture of her:


She was simply spectacular. Fans were treated to something truly quite special. Watch video:

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Saturday July 24: Soccer and Rockets

It was an awesome day for soccer and rockets!

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Video Analysis, John and Noah

Here is the video analysis of both John ad Noah's instep drive shots. Interestingly, both have similar movements.

John shows great back swing. For a more powerful shot, at the point of contact his knee and chest should be over the ball, not behind it. Also, he is hitting with the front left corner of his foot as opposed to dead on center, which would give him more power. He has some follow-through, which should be oriented more forward as opposed to sideways (he is slightly off balance)..



Noah:

Similar to John, same comments above apply. Also, he is dropping his body at the time of contact as opposed to following through forward. Note how his foot sticks out to the right at the end, because he is hitting with the inside left of the foot as opposed to dead center.

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July 21, Post Match Notes

Players did very well last night. It was a nice game, nice players and coaches on the other side. Our players are starting to spread out a little more, we still need to work on it. When one of our players has possession, the others need to offer support but "stay away" and move into open space.
 
Players are to be congratulated for volunteering to play on the other team as they were short of players. This is what it is all about.
 
Offside. We went through simplified offside rules yesterday, but kids get excited and get caught offside. The benefit wit offside is with the players on this as it is very easy for players to avoid being offside, while it is much harder for the ref. to apply all the rules. The rules are in the easy-to-read FIFA rules book with several scenarios shown in graphic form. Please if possible have your child read the book pages 31, and 100 to 108, available off our site (Resources section) or directly at http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/federation/81/42/36/lawsofthegameen.pdf
 
Actually, the whole book is a great read.
 
Sportsmanship: We also went through some do's and dont's:
 
 
Do’s:
Do thank the referee and tell him he did a good job
Do congratulate and encourage your teammates
Do congratulate opponents on good plays
 
Do not’s:
Do not complain about a referee’s decision; do not dissent with a ref's decision
Do not try to influence the referee’s decision
Do not fake or exagerate injuries
Do not complain if your teammate loses the ball or makes a bad play
Do not lie
Do not spit
Do not swear or use foul/ugly language

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July 21, Day 9

Warm-up, running passes on 3,step on, always moving 5
Off-side (board) 5
Positioning (Board) 5
Corner kicks, drills, moving 10
Penalty kicks (team) 5
Goal kicks 5
Throw-ins 4
Sportsmanship 5 44
Not bunching up 10
Free kicks 5
Ball clearance 3 62
Midfield Long passes 8
Pass to defender running on wings 10

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Saturday July 17 Match

This Saturday kids had a blast at soccer -literally, several times actually.



The match kids vs parents was decided by a penalty shoot-out, where after 5 shots the shootout score was 2-2, going into sudden death shootout, kids finally winning.

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Can The Goalie Take Shots on Goal?

One of our players asked yesterday if the goalkeeper could take corner shots. The answer is yes, but that would be difficult as the goalie needs to run back to his net after taking the corner.

However, goalies can take free kicks and penalty shots much more easily. In fact, the goalie of my home team, Sao Paulo FC, is the goalie that has scored the most goals ever (91 total, list), he is the holder of the Guinness World Record. At age 37 he is still the goalkeeper number one and he is a great sportsman. He is a triple World Club champion.

Here is a goal against Santos earlier in 2009:





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July 14, Post Match Notes

Another hot day, another great effort and good result against a very tough team which was short of players. Some of our players did our corner kick move during the match, it was a pleasure to see.

A couple of forwards displayed great speed and were even caught off-side a few times (we will be practicing off-sides). Forwards must be fast. Ball clearance needs work. There were some too slow clearances, as well as using the center instead of the sides.

We have talked and will talk again about sportsmanship: Things like never complain about a teammate, opponent, ref, coach or parents during the match, never fake injuries, never lie, never swear, no spitting, don't make fun of players, etc. Our players are great in this regards.

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July 14 Plans, Day 8

Warm-up, running passes,step on, always moving 5
Corner kicks 7
Olympics 18
Stay Away, Sportsmanship 5

G4 Bunching up drill 12
Pass to defender running on outside 10
Cone display, offensive, defensive support, stay away 6
63

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Saturday Soccer

It was a fabulous day for soccer. Some old friends showed up, and cold yummy watermelon for all (thanks Tom!)

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Chip Shots and Bending the Ball

Last week players started learning the chip shot and bending the ball. Gustavo demonstrates both.

Chip shot.

The chip shot is a fabulous weapon for going over the opponents but it is also a great passing shot because it spins backwards and does not cause the ball to speed away from the receiver. It also stays low once it hits the ground again. You can see this on the video. It makes the life of the receiver much easier. Together with a low rolling ball it is my favorite shot for passing.



Bending the ball:

Scoring when there is no direct line of sight. The ball goes around the wall and curves back in:

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July 7, Post Match Notes

It was a great match last night, players never stopped running and playing hard in the +34C heat. They played as a team. Things to work on:
  • spreading out, not bunching up around the ball
  • providing support for the forwards
  • more passing, but before that there needs to be someone to pass to
 We will also be working on ball handling skills.

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July 7, Day 7

Warm-up, spot the coach, step on, side to side, sole to sole, on toes, dynamic stretching, always moving 5


Pass to defender running outside, with ball protection 15
Plus Defense positioning 10


Corner kicks 8
Turns, inside, outside, cruyff 12
Speed Dribble cones and shoot 10


Game, forwards outside of cones only 15



75

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Air Show July 4th

For the other players who like airplanes, a video of the 2010 Air show on July 4th, featuring several aircraft. The snowbirds were amazing.

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June 30, Post Match Notes

Amazingly, we had all players in - the night before Canada day.

It was a superb effort for our players, under very difficult weather conditions, cold, rainy, and muddy field. The team played an outstanding first half, when they were spreading themselves out much better, which was the objective of a couple of our practices.

During the 2nd half, players bunched up again and that makes scoring much harder, in fact no scoring happened. However, players are to be commended for still running hard under those conditions. Awesome job.

Areas for improvement:

- Spreading out, using open spaces
- Use of wide sidelines/wings
- Forwards coming back to help when we lose the ball
- Players arriving on time for practice!

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