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RE: How do I decide on squad selection?

soccerhawg — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 20:42:03 GMT

If the person that wrote this post about their tryout setup reads this, send me either an e-mail or a PM. I would love to ask you a few questions about some of the details on your setup. I am going to do something similar and I am trying to get all the info I can.

Thanks,

soccerhawg

RE: How do I decide on squad selection?

Scottus — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:04:16 GMT

If your talking age 10-12 positionally speaking its an open book, and it should be.... I personally want players I can run defensively and offensively....I find it best to look at your 18 top players as in coachable potential players.. I would prefer weaker coachable players over most players anyday....the only real exception and barely and exception is Goalkeepers and at that age even they play defense aand offensive as well...

Also personally tryouts are a great format to run your players through... I run all my players through the tryouts every season...I usually keep them all, but if I add onto the roster they all start on the same footing helps with cohesion....players need to get a good feel for tryouts great practice for them.

RE: How do I decide on squad selection?

Vitalsigns — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:54:26 GMT

What I did this year made my life as a Coach much easier at tryouts .

I set up a circuit to test them on 1) Shooting accuracy on net , 2) Dribbling through a coned slalom , 3) Sprinting 20 yds , 4) Lofted driven balls to distance , 5) Passing to target cones , and 6) Ball control within a tight space and 7) 1v1 challenges .

This I felt were the qualities I was looking for.

Skills 1, 4 & 5 I gave them 6 tries total , and assigned them 3 for the right foot and 3 for the left .

Shooting was given 10 points per accurate shot in corners , 5 points for in net and 0 for miss total max 60 . points

Passing was 10 points for accurate pass , 5 points for next wider cone and 1 point for further wide . 0 for miss ,. max 60 points

Lofted balls was counted as 10 points for each cone the ball passed with each cone at 5 Yd intervals . 30 Yds = max 60 points . 6 shots ( 3 with each foot ) could get you a max 360 points

Skills 2 & 3 were timed with a stop watch .

Dribbling needed to be accurate , any touching of the cone would add time to your run . 3 attempts . 1 with any foot , 1 left foot only , 1 right foot only . avg time was taken combining all three for measurement

Sprint was given two attempts - avg of both runs used as measurement .

Skill 6 ball control - ball was thrown at player within a 2.5 Yd coned area - high - mid & knee high - player must control and stop with foot on ball within area to score 10 points , 0 for miss . total 60 points could be earned on 6 attempts

1 v1 challenge , 3 attempts as an attacker , 3 as a defender . 10 points earned scorning on empty small net , 10 points for defender if they win possession and clear . 6 attempts total 60 points max can be earned .

Out of all of this , I set up a spreadsheet and figured out what the target for each skill needed to be to get a pass .

Each skill was assigned a +1 , 0 ,- 1 . So for instance in the long ball - if player scored 100 points in 6 attempts - my pass was 240 , but my fail was at 120 so this player would receive a -1 on this skill .

I did this for all 7 skills and totaled the players skills numbers for a final reading .

An example player 1 Skills 1 = +1 , 2 = 0 , 3 = -1 , 4 = +1 , 5 = 0 , 6= +1 , 7= +1 total = +3

What this information told me was that player 1) accurate shooter , 2) ok in dribbling but needs work , 3) not a fast runner , 4) Can drive the ball a good distance 5) Passing is ok but needs work , 6) can Control a ball well and 7) great 1v1 skills .

Out target for a spot on the team was +3 which meant that they needed to be strong in at least 3 areas and not fail in others . or strong in 4 and fail in 1 could still get a +3 ( +4 -1 = 3 )

I then wrote a letter to each player after the tryouts and detailed each skill to give their total marks - told them where they were strong and where they were weak. What the benchmark for each skill was and what the target overall score was to be a pass .

Those that did not make the team knew where they needed to work on in order to make the team next year . Those that made the team now also knew what I needed them to work on this year .

It took 1 and a half hours to run the skills challenge but it was well worth all the efforts .

The team that was finally selected is exactly what the challenge was testing - fast , skilled and aggressive on challenging .
those that did not make the team were all happy to know why and what they needed to work on - all thanked me for my efforts .
Those that made it all felt they earned their spot so there is no animosity between them ,.

My lowest player on the team is a +1 , I have 2 + 2's the rest are +3 or higher . 5 of my player scored above +5

We will be doing this circuit 3 more times during the season to track if the players are improving as I want all my players to try to reach another spot higher on their ranking and those below +3 to reach a minimum +3 by end of season .

the circuit did much more than just make my job easier at tryouts , it gave me a road map for training . It showed me where my team will need the most help and where they are already strong .

There were no walk on from last year , each and every player had to do the circuit to earn a spot and all were more than happy to do so .

I hope this helps

D Graham
Cobourg Ontario

RE: How do I decide on squad selection?

thrasher76542 — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:37:23 GMT

I hear you Pablo. Here's what I did moving up to the 11 v. 11 field. I have index cards 3X8" and broke the entire team down to their positions. Goalie, Defenders, Mid Field, and Forwards. Then to prepare for a game, I would make a blank copy of the card and fill it out according to the positions I wanted everyone to start in. Each card has 4 quarters (public league has to have a change of subs in the 12th minute of every half. It's Texas I don't question it. Anyways. The goalies each got their own half. I talked to the players to make sure they were ready for the coming game. We talked about placement as a team, we practiced as a team too. Pablo, the kids were excited, they knew they had to arrive early get stretched and work together for the common goal of winning the match. I also saved all the cards from the games we played, I would use certain groups (formations) and see how they played. Everyone got a chance and time to play all the positions a few times throughout the season. We won our district and the tournament, that's pretty good considering I only had two players from the last season, and I had a bunch of new kids to the game period. I love coaching, in fact I teach it locally at a college's summer program for kids. I expanded my classes for 3-4 yr old this summer, that should be interesting. I have already started making my daily schedules, so I am not pulling the gun from my hip every time we meet. Well I hope the card idea helps you. Just remember to save the cards, the players enjoyed viewing them at the end of the season too. I will add, I put the competition's team name, the goals scored and the player's names on each card. It's nice to have a reference to what lineup worked and which ones we needed work on, which also helped with practices too.
Regards,
Jennie B

RE: How do I decide on squad selection?

David Clarke — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:43:58 GMT

Hi Pablo

I can understand your problem, it's something all of us that have trodden the path of 7-a-side to 11-a-side have come across.

It's not easy to advise you on this, because I guess you feel that keeping your strong players at the expense of your weaker players would make your team more competitive in their first season at 11-a-side and your coaching that bit easier. However, what I did was to keep all my players and try to coach them to better themselves.

What I found was that at 11-a-side some of the stronger players struggle and the weaker ones come through. A player that regularly made the subs bench at 7-a-side became my first choice defender after just one season at 11-a-side. I think you will be surprised how your players step up to the challenge.

Certainly they will get a big lift if you show your faith in them. You will find that when you look at the progress your weakest players make in the team you feel a lot more pride than you would if you let them go.

How do I decide on squad selection?

pablo — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 20:27:48 GMT

Hi everyone,

This is my first post. Its a question I need some advice on which has probably been asked before.

I move to 11 a side next year after playing 7 a side for 3 years. The emphasis has been to develop core technique but now the lads are showing signs of how losing or winning can affect them and showing frustration when weaker players make mistakes (natural in most 10 yr olds I think). I currently have 18 players training in preparation for next season but the dilemma is do I have open trials so everyone has a chance to get in team OR do I continue with my current squad and make additions even though it could mean upsetting and even losing my stronger players? Personally I don't want to be moving backwards in progression which may happen if the better players leave but obviously I don't want to tell a kid he isn't strong enough to challenge for a position (even if its the truth)

Any advice/experiences/opinions welcome?