The Sports Path Newsletter
Number 4
 April 2013 

 

  

Welcome to our Fourth FREE monthly newsletter

 

 

We now have over 1,000 subscribers from soccer coaches who want to find out how the web can support the development of soccer players and coaches 

 

There is an awful  lot of material for soccer coaches available on the web - the purpose of this newsletter is to signpost this material more clearly and simply for you,the coach. We have a lot for you this month: we hope you will forward this newsletter onto your friends and colleagues and encourage them to register here to receive future issues 

 

If you missed the January, February or March  Issues and wish to view this click here for January , click here for February   
Presentations 
Click below to see the Power Point Presentation from the 10th UEFA Grassroots Workshop which took place in Oslo,Norway at the beginning of April 
Click here to see the outline of the Workshop Programme

To view the Power Point Presentations from Wednesday and Thursday please click here 
 

 


Soccer Skill Tests-what's available online ?

Skills tests are often dismissed by many coaches but young players ( and their parents !) really enjoy them. As creator of the FA Soccer Star Scheme I am aware of the popularity of such tools as over 1 million children participated and received a Certificate as part of this program between 1989 and 2009 when the FA discontinued the Scheme.f players.The outline of the tests are still viewable with short video clips here and details in PDF form  available here 
The DVD featuring John Barnes,Bryan Robson and a very young FA coach ,Mick Wadsworth, is still amazingly available here and the book on Amazon  here for as little as 10 pence !
25 years after the launch of the Soccer Star tests,the market leader at the moment is clearly iSoccer.The creator of this great product, Scott Leber,said:

 ' The question I asked myself when creating iSoccer was:  Can you build a scalable system to motivate millions of kids anywhere in the world to spend more time with the ball?  And from that question, iSoccer was born.  Over the past five years, we have built a web and mobile based platform that can motivate and empower any player, anywhere to raise their technical level'
 
Here are some videos of kids using iSoccer and how it has helped their game:
Other skill tests which are also available online include 

 

Webinar

 

Free Webinar :

The Soccer Diet: ' Multiple Games with little time for Recovery' by Professor Jay Williams author of  The Science behind Soccer Nutrition

 

Teams are often faced with a congested timetable when they are expected to play multiple matches with one or less recovery days.  This can present difficult nutritional challenges.  This webinar will address these challenges. It will also lay out a strategy to insure that players are well fueled and well hydrated throughout the weekend's matches. Professor Williams will cover these issues with the Power Point Slides in this  30 minute FREE webinar:
  • What should players eat and drink in the days leading up to the games?
  • What is the best way to recover after a match?  Immediately and later in the evening?
  • What about the off day?
  • Are sports drinks better than water?
  • What about an evening match followed by a morning match?
  • Should players eat energy bars?

There will also be the opportunity to ask Professor Williams questions

 

For further details and to pose questions for Professor Williams click here 


Web Skills
Number 3 : Providing more context with your video clips 

Have a look at these examples here of providing context to video clips. These have been developed by Jim Lambert who is something of an expert in this field.( He also recommends Globall Coach in the next section )

Wrapping captions around video clips for your players provides much richer and more valuable performance support for your players. 

Here is another example of providing more context to video from Real Madrid:
Are you interested in learning more about how to add more value to your video clips ? If so can you answer these simple 3 questions here

 

NB :Last month we looked at 'social bookmarking' and t
o assist readers and demonstrate another means of  social bookmarking,as an example, we have established a ' Circle ' on Google + dedicated to showcasing what we believe are the best free video clips on the web which demonstrate ' turning with the ball'.
and you are invited to join it, post comments and add comments.The Circle is titled ' Sports Path: Turning with the ball'
To access the Circle you will need a Google account. If you do not have one type 
' Getting a Google Account ' into a Google search engine. Its free !

April  2013 Recommendations

A Spanish flavour this month ! 
 
Book of the Month: 'Coaching Spanish Soccer' is by Jordi Pascual a Catalan Coach and a FC  Barcelona Club Member 
 
Magazine of the Month: Success in Soccer has started a digital version with a free 48 page sample featuring FC Barcelona and much more 
 
Coaching Tool of the Month: 

Globall Coach was designed with Rafa Benitez and  allows coaches to create match diagrams, animations and training sessions linked to the calender.It is a visual tool for players and coaches who want to visualise and prepare for training and matches, these can then be shared via twitter, facebook and emails. It can be used  to show players and coaches different movement patterns and advice on team shape showing their players names and even faces giving that give a instant visual of the situation for optimum learning.

 

I hope you have found something useful in this month's newsletter.If so please pass on this email to your colleagues and ask them to sign up for future newsletters
We can promise you more material in the May  newsletter to help you use the web to support coach and player development
 
Yours Sincerely,
 
Robin Russell 
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