 Posted 29/04/2008 14:45:47
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My response to Dwyers note of April 29 is that if you have been running weekly coaching sesssions plus weekly games for 8 year olds since September thru April, they are now completely FRIED. In my town, 8 year olds play intramural soccer once a week for 90 mins at which we coach them and then they play small-sided games against each other. By that age, you can see that some of them are almost ready for the next step (6v6 with games against surrounding towns) which for us comes at 9 years old.
east coast of US, so we play two ten weeks seasons cos of need for winter break (snow!)
But most of them are doing just fine with that level of soccer and commitment and it keeps them coming back fresh and enjoying it.
I would be surprised if you do not see significant rates of kids dropping out of a program like that.
interested in reactions of others.
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Posted 29/04/2008 15:32:02
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[font=Comic Sans MS]My U-8s play in East Coast US with 10 weeks in fall and spring, plus 8 weeks of indoor (16 if they play both sessions). Couple that with spring arriving, school ending, baseball starting (for some) and you've got what amounts to an all-out brain drain! No concentration whatsoever!! They only want to scrimmage or do the more fun things like playing World Cup or Handball Soccer. I have to hand it to them, though -- they've kept their competitive edge in games and have been using all the things they're learned this year, even when we thought they were having horrid practice sessions. We've even managed to have everyone on the team score a goal at some point this season -- a feeling we wanted them all to experience![/font]
Jim Noll
Coach - Dover Lightning (U10 Boys)
http://www.leaguelineup.com/doversoccer
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Posted 29/04/2008 18:16:52
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| HI Dwyer I think that if i were you to end the season i would only small sided games . Do a world cup tournament. This will not only be fun but also motivational. Thanks Gennaro
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Posted 30/04/2008 09:10:04
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| What you'll find at the close of a season is you have to kid the players into putting in the effort at training. You will need to vary your sessions from week to week so they are not arriving at training knowing what is going to happen. If you have been running drill sessions or alot of technical sessions then change to small sided games with restrictions i.e two touch, 5 passes by one team equals a forfeit for the opposition. This will give them a lift for the end of the season.
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Posted 30/04/2008 17:21:42
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| i have under 10 girls and we have improved but my girls havent been getting tired the last couple of weeks but my better more agressive player and defenders or less aggressive now and afriad to fight for the ball i work my girls 3 times a week for an hour to an hour 30 minutes then the games on saturdays and they have actually improved an not look so tired but some of them just seem to lost there tuffness.
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Posted 05/05/2008 02:02:37
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I agree with the end of the school year affecting most the kids. How about allergies and asthma? I'm in lovely NJ and it is brutal here. The kids do get burnt out, I have some kids doing double sports too. I stick with world cup games and ridiculous relay races. I include a lot of under cover drills. They love it and ask for more. It's about keeping it fun at 8. Just be encouraging this time of year. My team fell apart today after winning every match so far. We pulled out and tied but they looked exhausted! I also am a Trainer for 8 year old girls and a first time travel coach. I can safely say it is across the board with this spring u-8 soccer syndrome. When I am getting no where with any of them I ask them what they want to do and then add to it as we go along. They think they are in control but we know better. lol 
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