Results for our academy teams have been mixed with some wins, some losses, and a draw.
Please remember though, our teams’ win/lose records are not how our coaches are evaluating the development of our players. Our coaching staff is looking for development in each individual player in the areas of technical ability and tactical awareness.
Imagine a scenario where a youth player realizes the ball is going to be at their feet in just a second or two. The pressure felt by the young or new players when the ball is at their feet is enormous. Primarily, the first touch by a young player is used to simply get rid of the ball! The young, inexperienced player will kick that ball that comes to him/her back up field. It is not a pass to a teammate, nor is it a shot on the opponent’s goal but the pressure of responsibility of the ball is GONE!!
The development our coaches are looking for is the moment when a player uses their first touch to control the ball and combine with teammates through a series of passes to move the ball towards the opponent’s goal for a chance to score.
The next time you are watching one of our academy teams, watch for teammates to connect via passing. Look for a sequence of passes. An individual may get lucky to break free with a loose ball to score a goal, but it is passing that makes playing as a team possible.
Coach Kevin
January 17, 2022
The club had a successful run last week with three wins for three games. At least, that is the usual standard by which many people judge a club's success - Did we win?
At the Lith's Iron Wolf Soccer Academy, we are operating with different standards in mind. Winning is definitely preferred to losing but for our coaching staff winning is not how we measure success. Simply stated, we look for continuous improvement in our players' abilities in four areas:
Technique
Tactics
Fitness
Attitude
Fitness and attitude are readily understandable, and with youth players, they are usually not issues that would require a significant level of a coaches' attention. Now consider Technique and Tactics.
Technique is about the individual player's relationship with the ball. When the ball comes to a player does the player control it with the first touch? With the correct foot? With the correct surface of the correct foot? Is the player unable to control the ball? Does the ball carom away because the player's first touch is a toe bash in whatever direction the player may be facing? Technique is essential for players to be able to have an individual impact on the outcome of a particular situation and/or a game.
Tactics are about the individual player's relationship with her/his teammates AND the opponents. Our younger players are focused on the ball. Even if a teammate has the ball, most of our younger players will still run at that teammate in an attempt to gain control of the ball rather than move to a support position where they would be a good option to receive a pass from that teammate. If an opponent is positioned close to the goal we are defending, most youth players are unaware and unconcerned about the possibility that the opponent could receive a pass or a loose ball and quickly take a shot at our goal.
Please keep in mind the fact that many soccer fans think about soccer skill and confuse it with technique. Technique is how to pass, receive and/or shoot the ball. Skill is the ability to choose and perform the appropriate technique at the precise moment of the game when it will have a significant impact on the game. To be more concise - Skill is performing technique at game pace.
When watching our games, we are all hoping for a win but we all must also be watching for the development of our players.
Up the Liths!
Coach Kevin
January 10, 2022
What is the part of the game of soccer that makes team play possible?
In a full sided game of 11 v 11 played in a massive stadium or a simple backyard game of 2 v 2, what is the common factor that makes team play a possibility during a game of soccer?
It is something that we all may take for granted.
Passing is what makes team play a reality. Passing is what helps a team maintain possession of the ball. Passing is what allows a team to get the ball to a team member who is in a better position to score. Passing is what provides a player the chance to score an easy goal by simply touching the ball into the goal with a simple, soft touch of the ball from close range.
This is why our coaches will frequently organize training activities focused on the technique of passing and, just as importantly, receiving the ball.
We will use static activities to start and then move to dynamic activities to help our players develop their ability to pass and receive the ball.
Static activities are usually set up for pairs of players to pass the ball back and forth while working on using the proper part of their foot (No toe bashing, please!) to play the ball.
Dynamic activities are more “game” like, involve three or more players and may include opposing players.
Younger players often may have difficulty with passing the ball because, once they have the ball, they don’t want to give it away! As soon as they have the ball, our youngest players stop, smile, and look at the other players while they begin the process of deciding to whom they will share (pass) the ball!
It is a social development moment, not a soccer development moment! When you see a player make a good pass, we want to reinforce the moment. Our coaches will make a big deal out of that moment of success. Please help us by letting that player know that you saw and appreciated their moment of success in passing the ball. They will thank you and so will the coaches!
Go LITHS!
January 4, 2022
Thursday, January 6 will be our first training session of 2022. All parents should be sure to check the schedule posted at the Liths SC Heja site regarding any changes or updates.
Regarding the training session for the Coyote’s on Thursday – We will begin the session promptly at
6pm.
The following not only applies to the upcoming trainig session but for ever one that we have.
It is essential that your child is dressed in our club’s attire, our club’s yellow training shirt, green
shorts and green socks. Certainly, we always want to look sharp, to look “professional” when we are
playing in games and when training.
Also, and more importantly, it is helpful to the coaches when setting up a training activity to have ALL of the players imilarly dressed so we can then divide the team into separate groups for our various training activities.
Here is an example – For a scrimmage, we can have six of the players quickly form one group because they are all in our yellow shirts and then a second group can be quickly formed by having them wear green practice vests that the club purchased for this purpose. The scrimmage will then be quickly started and our players will be learning more about
“the beautiful game!”
Go Liths!
March 25, 2021
Hello Liths Soccer Academy parents.
All of the other coaches and I want you to know that we are doing all we can to arrange some friendly games for our Academy players.
At present, there is a good chance that both groups of players will be in action in just a few weeks.
We hope to host these first games at PLC and fit them into our usual Saturday schedule.
Keep your fingers crossed!
Also, keep in mind that any games in which our Academy players are participating, they will be representing our club, the Liths Soccer Academy.
For a player to be in the starting team or to come into a game as a substitute, they must wear our club shirt, the same yellow shirt with the Liths team badge on it that they should be wearing at each training session. This shirt is a requirement for training and games.
Please contact Birute ASAP if your Academy player is in need of a club t-shirt.
In the near future, we will select a proper kit for our players to wear. We all want the kids to look awesome when they take the field!
Coach Kevin
January 14, 2021
Academy Players!
Here’s a short note regarding one of our training activities.
This is something we did at most practices as a warmup but it also helped you develop your mastery of the ball - The Numbers!! Do you remember them? Starting with 1 and going right through to 11.
If you can’t remember them all, here they are:
1 - Tip Tap
2 - Tap Dance
3 - Tip Tap with a quarter turn
4 - Step and Drag, Cut it back
5 - Tip Tap with a half turn
6 - Step Over
7 - Scissors
8 - Cruyff Turn
9 - Spin Move
10 - Sweep Move
11 - The Lunge
Stay fit, learn some moves and master the ⚽️!!
Up the Liths!!
Coach Kevin
January 10, 2021
Hello Academy Players
I hope you have had a chance to watch the videos that I previously recommended. The training activities shown in those videos should be second nature to you by now. Keep working on those activities for 30 minutes per day so you can become players like Kid Messi and Kid Ronaldo.
You can see these two players who are about your age and who have super skill if you check out this new video:
Coach Linas, Coach Birute, Coach Igor, Coach Aleks and I are anxious to see how much you have improved your skills while working on your own. Remember, do the work to be the best player you can be. See you soon!
Coach Kevin
December 28, 2020
Hello Academy players
I hope you and your families had a wonderful Christmas.
As you may have noticed, the weather has turned quite cold. Indoor training will be the only way to improve your skills for several months. With that in mind, I thought I would take us back to one of the first YouTube videos we recommended for indoor training purposes, “Soccer Training At Home"(See September 3 training note below)
As you will remember, this is a short video but it focuses on basic skills that will help you develop your ability with the ball ⚽️
Before you start:
1 - Get permission from your parents to do some training at home, inside your house.
2 - Pick a place where you will not break or damage anything. A small space can work well for this type of training.
3 - No shoes are needed since you are inside your house and you are working on soft touches. Look at the boy in the video. No shoes, just socks.
4 - You need repetitions to make improvements so increase the number of your repetitions as your skills improve.
5 - Skip juggling while training inside your home. Keep the ball ⚽️ on the floor.
6 - Work on BOTH feet!
7 - Focus on the part of the foot that the player in the video uses to touch the ball as he plays it. No toe pokes allowed! Instep, heel down and toes up!
8 - Several of the activities are ones we have done many times at our training sessions: Scissors, Step-overs, the Figure 8 and Wall training.
9 - Remember, your goal is to achieve at least 2% improvement during each training session. This includes the trading you do at home. Do some training every day.
10 - Check the part of the video that shows the skill you are working on frequently to make sure you are doing the skill correctly.
Hopefully, we will be able to get together again soon at PLC and/or MPX.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Coach Kevin
December 9, 2020
Parents
Here is the next YouTube video for our youth players to view and then practice the skills shown. Please read it with your player to help him get started.
Players
All you need is a space that is about 5 feet by 5 feet and a ball. The coach in the video who demonstrates each skill, starts slow and quickly moves to high speed repetitions. Don't concern yourself with performing the skills at a high rate of speed. Start slowly and move as you see the coach move except at your own pace. As you get familiar with each skill, you will be able to do them faster and faster.
Enjoy!
⚽️❤️⚽️
Coach Kevin
November 24, 2020
With the virus shurging and cold weather arriving, here are more techniques to practice at home. Even though the video says it's for 5 and 6 yer olds, it applies to everyone.
Enjoy.
Coach Kevin
" Working on technique. Remember, without technique, there can't be tactics."
Lukas is demonstrating how important that is
September 3, 2020
Liths Academy Parents:
As you know, we will not hold a training session on Monday September 7 due to the Labor Day holiday. We will have our next session on Wednesday September 9 with a start at 6 pm sharp. With a layoff of a full week, I thought I would share a few YouTube videos with the players so they can do some "homework."
There are many, many soccer videos available on YouTube. I have scrolled through them and picked a few for our players to see. The first is Soccer Training At Home
The video is less than 7 minutes long and it shows a lot of ball manipulation which we work on at the beginning of each training session. It also shows correct technique for passing the ball which all of our players need to show improvement. Seeing the correct technique will help them perform the correct technique. Performing it inside your house is not a requirement!!
Please let me know how your player responds to the video. I'm hoping they will be inspired to do some work with the ball every day. I will send another suggestion for another video in a few days.
All the Best,
Coach Kevin
July 5, 2020
Academy Players:
The Youtube link we are posting today deals with passing and receiving. The video is just 10 minutes long. Your assignment is to watch it twice before this week's training sessions.
Watch carefully to see what part of a player's foot touches the ball when he passes and when a player receives a pass. You will see it is usually the instep and the players use both feet. When they dribble the ball, they will use the "baby toe" just as we did at our last training session.
We will work on these skills at this week's training sessions. Do your soccer homework and be ready to be awesome!
This week I want to share with you some info regarding a short documentary film, an oldie but a goodie!
During the 1970s, the great Brazilian player Pele worked with the Pepsi-Cola company to produce a soccer skills film which does a very effective job of showing the various techniques of our game that every player strives to master. I’ve had a copy for many years and, frequently, when the weather wasn’t cooperating and we had to go inside for a training session, I would show this film to my high school players. They always reacted to it in such a positive and enthusiastic way. They couldn’t wait to get a kickabout going so they could work on their mastery of the ball and have some fun.
Now I find that the film, entitled Pele: The Master and His Method, is available via the Amazon streaming service Prime Video. There is no rental fee. My wife frequently shops on-line via Amazon and we discovered that with membership we also received a membership to their streaming service. Hopefully, you have access, as well. If not, sign up as there is a lot of soccer content there along with their other video offerings.
Pele: The Master and His Method features demonstrations of the correct form (technique) to be used for dribbling, passing, shooting, juggling, receiving and other fine points of the game. The well written narration is spot on in emphasizing the very things our coaches would tell our players at one of our training sessions. Even the shoes Pele wears in the film serve as tools of instruction as they have gold colored leather inserts on them to help the viewer to see the correct part of the foot to be used for each technique.
The film features footage from Santos and Brazil games and training sessions with slow-motion and stop-action scenes to make sure the viewer sees and understands the point at hand. The soundtrack features Brazilian samba music which, along with the visuals, compels the viewer to get up and start working with a ball! At about 60 minutes in length, it might be a good idea for the players to watch a segment or two at a time and then put in a little ball work.
Hopefully, we will be able to see how much our players have improved very soon.
All the Best, Coach Kevin
On your computer go to: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=pele+the+master+and+his+method&i=prime-instant-video&crid=H3PI2CGZ0CLY&sprefix=Pele%3Athe+master%2Cprime-instant-video%2C187&ref=nb_sb_ss_fb_1_15
On your Smart TV or TV Box (Roku, Apple, etc) log into Amazon Prime Video and search for Pele:The Master and His Method.
April 30, 2020
Liths Club Academy Parents
I’m writing to you all today regarding a soccer homework assignment for our Liths Academy players.
Of course, this homework should be addressed after the players have completed their e-learning assignments from their teachers at their respective schools.
Our Academy lesson for this week is about dribbling, the ability to move with the ball and keep it under close control. What I want to emphasize to our players is that I want them to realize they should be running with the ball, not running after the ball!
I checked Youtube for some videos that will make all the pertinent points that our coaches would make if we were able to hold a practice to work on dribbling. Please have your player watch these videos several times so they can clearly see the proper technique for dribbling in soccer. They are short videos, just 3 to 6 minutes. Hopefully, they will enjoy them and then be inspired to go outside and use your backyard or similar area to work on the techniques shown. Your job is to make sure they work on this for 30 minutes three times per week.
The Liths Iron Wolf Academy staff sends our best wishes to you and your families to be happy and healthy!
The Academy coaches hope all is well with you and your families. We are reaching out to you to let you know that every day at 7 pm CST, full-match replays of MLS Classics will be released in their entirety on YouTube, Facebook, MLSsoccer.com, and the official MLS app. Among the MLS Classics: the thrilling 2003 MLS Cup final between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Chicago Fire!
This an opportunity for your Academy player to see professional players performing at the top of their game and, also, to see that even professional players can make mistakes. At the YouTube site search:
Please tell your Liths Academy player that all of our coaches miss them and we are looking forward to getting together with them at a training session soon.
Coach Kevin
March 15, 2020
Liths Club Academy Parents:
Juggling the ball will help our players build a personal relationship with the ball. Their ability to control the ball with a good first touch will be improved by juggling the ball. Please review this short article re juggling and then encourage your child to practice juggling during this time (short time, I hope!) when we are unable to hold any training sessions.
Pele juggled with a grapefruit or a ball of old rags tied together with string when he didn't have a real soccer ball available. He later reflected that juggling helped him develop control with both feet, concentration, balance and touch, both gentle and hard. While Rose Lavelle was helping the USA win the 2019 World Cup, she recalled how backyard play, just her "having fun with the ball," contributed to her current skills and creativity on the field.
Juggling is difficult. It requires sophisticated coordination of balance and touch to send the ball on a path convenient for the next touch. With a regular soccer ball, that means missing the ball's relatively small sweet spot sends it too far away for the next contact. One way to encourage beginners to juggle is to have them try with something easy, like a small beach ball or even a balloon. With a regular soccer ball, letting the ball bounce on the floor or grass between touches can be a good entry phase.
One thing that makes juggling fun is to set goals: from 5 to 10, to 20, etc. With beginning players, just getting one more touch can encourage them to try again…and again! Reaching a goal creates a sense of accomplishment, juggling becomes more enjoyable, and usually improvement begins to increase exponentially. Parents offering prizes when certain goals are reached can offer extra motivation.
The players should start as easy as possible. Such as dropping the ball on the thigh, counting thigh touches, and using the feet when the ball drops down. Or starting by dropping the ball to the foot. As the players progress, the challenge can be more complex. But starting with thigh juggles can help build confidence. There are many videos on Youtube to help demonstrate the correct techniques. Here are two:
Once it's obvious the young player is building confidence and enjoying juggling, the challenges can be foot-only touches, or alternating right foot-left foot touches. But I recommend not interfering much into how the kids approach it. The aim is for them to build a personal relationship with the ball and find enjoyment on their own terms.
