Due to the strong winds, and forecasts for heavy rain, and multiple weather warnings for flooding and high winds, we feel it is in the best interest of everyone’s safety to cancel tonight.

Soccer is an outdoor sport, played in winds and rain, but we also have a duty of care for all invested in the training experience, and with weather warnings for the area already closing down many outdoor activities, we must also consider the safety of everyone not only on the field but the conditions when leaving the house per the commute.

Training will go ahead in the rain, the wind, and other inclement weather, it is important we dress appropriately for these instances. In general we are very lucky in California as the weather is frequently mild and outside of any extremes.

Preparing for the Winter Sessions

Players need to dress appropriately for the conditions, and in the rain a rain jacket is recommended, and at least a warm up top should be worn. In the car following the practice a change of top should be ready. Players will not get sick from being in the rain, but will if not prepared for post exercise.

As a reminder, all players also need to be in Fremont YSC attire for all practices.

Rahul Berry

It was truly a very unique experience for me. I got the opportunity to learn from various professional coaches and former professional players. It was great to see the numerous field sessions that were taking place and I really got to see different approaches that were taken by all the coaches during field sessions.

Empowering Players

• Focus on teaching players to make their own decisions during field sessions. Let them play freely and offer coaching points as the session continues on.
• Design activities that provide more game like experiences for the players.

Goalkeepers

• During goalkeeper sessions, find ways where you can get all goalkeepers involved in the session. Goalkeepers have evolved in modern playing trends, isolated training no longer supports the role of the keeper as an integral player involved in ball possession and defending spaces.
• Goalkeepers are being evolved into more than just being shot stoppers and being more involved as playing from the back with their feet as this provides an advantage to transition from build up to attacking into the opponents half of the field.

Culture

• Creating a positive environment for all players by building connections players and parents not only during training sessions but also outside of the sport.
• If a player seems unmotivated during training sessions offer guidance to better support them, providing interventions of support and empathy rather than traditional scolding for effort.

Yichen

The convention was a great experience, offering a variety of different styles from elite coaches from around the world and from different coaching experiences (college, club, professional), and the level of preparation and details which goes into the session design and layout for layering between activity transitions.

Competitive Environment

• Competitive environments simulate the intensity and decision-making demands of real match situations, however, consideration must be for the learning to take place where cognitive processing isn’t overlooked for physical performance.
  • Competitive environments allow players to make mistakes where it’s better for the players to learn.
    • Setup the practice with pressure (time, space, opponents)
    • Set individual targets and challenges for a psychological consideration of training
    • Add more things or restrictions step by step

Methodology – Rondos

Rondo training is valuable and could have several forms

• Technical Skill Refinement
  • Ball control and First touch
  • Passing
  • Movement
• Teamwork and Communication
• High Pressure game like scenarios
• Practice the technical skill
• Practice Transition
  • Manipulating the rate of transitions to effect the physical component (increased transitions for power and strength resulting from more accelerations and decelerations; fewer transitions for speed)
• Practice the Communication
  • Verbal communication for roles and responsibilities, non-verbal communication of player and ball movement.
• Set competitions and challenges for teams to compete against each other.

Leadership Environment

• Decentralized the leadership – Empower players with responsibilities
  • Delegate tasks to players
• Giving players ownership of something in training
  • Rotate captains
  • Captains to maintain the discipline in training
  • Captains to set standards in effort and team culture

I wanted to share some insights I gained from the Anaheim soccer convention. First of all, I want to thank our club for providing this opportunity, as not many clubs do. It was a great experience on many levels, interacting with coaches from professional and national teams, as well as professional players. Getting their perspective of the game and learning from them was remarkable. It was great to see how humble they are, given their experience and knowledge. I have many takeaways across various facets of soccer, including technical, tactical, physical, psychological aspects, game analysis, game model, performance, and leadership. I can’t list all of them, but here are some of the key takeaways:

1. Focus on teaching players the principles of play for attack and defense to build a strong foundation and enhance problem-solving skills on the field.
2. Design training with the end goal in mind and contextualize each session, transitioning from simple to complex scenarios. Ensure clarity and realism, moving away from drill-based sessions. Incorporate the SCORE approach (Setup, Challenging, Opportunity, Realistic, Educate – did we effectively educate). Simplify training while adhering to principles of play, using constraints instead of restrictions, as restrictions might contradict the principles of play. Focus on the player’s perspective for clear and realistic training and evaluate team and individual performance based on principles of play, not just the result of a game.
3. Set up activities that are intuitive and realistic for players, to promote problem-solving and the development of instincts aligned with our game model.
4. Avoid stopping the game for single mistakes; instead, focus on recognizing and addressing patterns of errors.
5. Encourage players to develop a love for the game before focusing on achieving excellence.
6. Continuously align analysis with the game model to develop desired player instincts.
7. Maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses. Concentrate on strategies that enhance player strengths and reduce weaknesses.
8. Offer clear guidance on what players should observe during play and how to effectively use the information gathered, this can be done using a decision tree.
9. Motivate players to coach each other, to enhance and check their understanding of tactical concepts such as creating overloads, occupying space, and applying defensive principles.
10. Use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for team assessment based on the team’s identity to assess performance and establish clear goals.
11. Focus on the importance of mental health, help players to be distraction-free and block the noise, reminding them that it is just a game and to enjoy it to alleviate pressure, following Jürgen Klopp’s philosophy.
12. Concentrate on enhancing players’ visual understanding of the game, focusing on what they see and how to adapt based on what the game presents, rather than what the coach sees.
13. Focus on how to build connections and empathy with players, which has been shown to improve performance. This involves understanding their perspectives, fostering a supportive environment, and creating strong coach-player relationships.

I look forward to implementing what I learned and transferring this knowledge to our players. Most importantly, I aim to deepen their love for the game of soccer.

The Fremont YSC Coaching staff attended the United Soccer Coached Convention 2024 in Anaheim, CA.

We are incredibly proud and committed to our continued education, and key component of being a coach, dedicated to continued education and learning.

On the course, Mounir Fellahi completed his Advanced National Diploma, while the rest of the coaching staff attended field sessions and lectures aligned to many different educational pathways, including, Academy Director, Game Model, Talent Identification, and Game Analysis.

Presenters included coaches from across the world, from a range of different coaching contexts, and speakers who are at the top of their field in different modules of sports psychology.

Overall a great educational experience, an opportunity to meet and network with coaches and friends from across the coaching landscape, and for Mounir the chance to meet Javier Zanetti!