Register now for the Spring Recreational Soccer season at the Futbol Club of Santa Rosa.  The season runs March 13 to May 22. The regular registration will remain open until March 13; late registration will extend to March 31 and include a $10 late fee.  The registration fees are: U6-$65 and U8 and above-$75, onsite registration will be available Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30-7:00PM.

 What is Recreational Soccer?

        Recreational soccer is a soccer program primarily devoted to the

enjoyment and development of soccer players without the emphasis on

travel or high-level competition. The purpose of recreational soccer is to

provide an opportunity for the participants to have fun, learn the sport and

develop life skills including a lifelong love of the game.

      Access is open to all who desire to participate (The Game for ALL Kids).

      Emphasis is on active participation (minimum of half game playing time).

      Objective is for the players to enjoy the experience.

      Success and excellence are measured in players attracted and players retained.

      Recreational soccer is all about fun, recreation, love of the game, and winning is not a

Children benefit in many ways from participating in recreational soccer and the

chances are good that the children you coach will have fun and a very positive

experience. However, it is also important that you understand some of the

characteristics of recreational play and recreational players. Those

characteristics are as follows:

      Almost every player and parent will start out in recreational soccer.

      Two-year age groups are typical of recreational teams so there is a wide range

      between the most skilled player and the least skilled player.

      Wider age gaps create greater differences in physical, mental and social development.

      Players new to the sport are constantly being introduced into the mix.

      Enthusiasm and dedication varies widely from the highly motivated to the socially

      Soccer, for the child who wants to play, is an outlet for energy and enthusiasm.

       For others it is an imposed activity, something selected for the child by the parent.

      Fit and unfit players play together.

      Participation stretches from always there to when it is convenient.

      The game is played for enjoyment and not necessarily future playing opportunities on

            Many young children start out in soccer. (It has been said that, “Soccer is the first sport

that American children play.”) Soccer is a game, especially at the very young level,

where all skill-levels of children can participate and have fun.

           Many young children try out many sports at a young age and may jump from one

activity to another during the year or even during the same season.

What is a Good Coach?

              A good coach is someone who knows winning is wonderful but is not the triumph of sports.

     PATIENCE-This is probably the most important characteristic. Let’s face it—12 or more active
boys or girls together require a lot of attention. A good coach is one who doesn’t expect angels on
the soccer field.
     TOLERANCE - This quality goes hand-in-hand with patience. Kids are going to be rowdy, or
moody or lazy. Tolerance takes the different mind-sets and turns the focus to the tasks “afoot”.
     ACCEPTANCE - Children are so very different. Each one has varied potential and skill levels. A
good coach is one who recognizes each child as an individual and he/she encourages that child to
perform at his/her very best level. Perfection is not required!
     MOTIVATION - Soccer can be viewed as kids kicking a ball across the field, or it can be viewed
as an opportunity for growth. The true test lies in sparking a child’s interest to learn and grow and
keeping that spark alive each season.
     RESPECT – At so many games, coaches, and sometimes parents, of the other teams berate and
belittle their players for making “mistakes”. Sometimes they even go as far as criticizing opposing
team members. This isn’t the World Cup. A good Coach never singles out a child for making a
mistake and he/she does not allow parents or the other team members to do so either.
     SPORTSMANSHIP—perhaps this should have been on top of the list, but being toward the end
does not lessen the importance. My definition of sportsmanship is to teach kids to work together as
a team in order to achieve a common goal. It also means teaching kids to respect other players as
well as each other. Insults are not tolerated. Mistakes are team mistakes, and they are used as
teaching tools for the next game.
     ABILITY TO TEACH - Sounds simple, right? It’s not. How many times has a parent signed up a
child for a sport, only to have a well-intentioned father decide to coach? He may or may not know
the sport. He may or may not relate well to his players. There is a huge difference between the team
whose members do what is yelled at them, and the team whose members actually understand what
to do and why. A good coach teaches his players basic fundamentals, explains concepts and enables
his/her players to think logically when making a play.
     LOVE OF KIDS - They have the energy to make every practice and every game a new
experience for coaches and parents alike. Without their vision and energy, sports would be dull and
unappreciated. They offer a day-to-day challenge for coaches, which is contagious and which is
motivation for everyone involved in athletics at all levels.
     LOVE OF THE GAME - Coaches must love their sport, and, more importantly, must show their
players enthusiasm for every aspect of the game. This would include techniques and tactics. The
love of the game must also show to the players the love for fair play, respect for the opponents,
officials, and spectators, and positive reinforcement for team mates. Only a good coach who loves
the game can provide the correct aspects involved in the winning and losing of competition.
 

What is Player Development?

     The game is already in each child; we as coaches need to create a game environment:

•      Activities that the child wants to participate in because they are fun.
  
•      Players being exposed to playing all positions.
  
•      Every player has a ball for practice.
  
•      Activities designed to maximize the number of touches by each player at practice.
  
•      Rules modified for players according to their age group characteristics.
  
•      Equipment modified for players according to their age group characteristics.
  
•      Activities designed to promote thinking, not doing drills.
  
•      De-emphasize winning/losing. We do not need to keep standings, statistics, etc.
  
•      Kids at the beginning of practice are waiting for the coach to tell them what to do. This is
       extremely negative. What we as coaches should be doing is creating an environment where
       the kids want play the game

     What a coach can do to create this environment at the beginning of practice:

•      As the first kids arrive at practice place 2 small goals so they can play 1 vs. 1.
  
•      As another child arrives have them jump in and make it 2 vs. 1.
  
•      Keep adjusting the field size as new players show until they are all playing a game.
  
•      Do this for about 15 minutes, and then begin practice.

Components of the Game

     Technique (Definition: The Skills of the Game; dribbling, kicking, heading,
etc.)
Most important at the younger age groups because it is the introduction of the player to the ball.
Activities must be FUN and game-like and learning takes place through self-discovery.
     Psychology
The development of a positive attitude about all aspects of the game and his/her ability to
accomplish desired goals relative to his/her effort.
     Tactics (Definition: Player Decisions)
At the younger age groups the emphasis is not placed upon teaching tactics due to the lack of
technical ability of players and also to their psychological development.
Decision-making is to be observed by the coach - not stopping to analyze, describe, or dissect. All of
this can lead to bored young players.
     Fitness
Appropriately organized technique enhancing activities and small sided games will provide players at
this level with the necessary physical requirements to meet the necessary physical demands of their
game.
 

.
Role of the Coach

     Facilitator
     Reason for facilitator is that most parent/coaches have not been exposed to a soccer environment.
     Objectives
     Set up the condition and environment for learning.
     Facilitate the learning.
     Players must have fun.
     Players need to receive positive feedback from the coach.
     Coach must be enthusiastic about what they are doing.
     It should all be done in the "Spirit" of Play.
     Activities need to be geared towards the players achieving success, with success measured
     by FUN.
     As a Positive Role Model
     Demonstrate respect for team members, opponents, referees, parents, spectators, and opposing
     coaches. To have a responsibility to the game itself.
     As one who understands whom they are coaching
     Children are not defined by chronological age only.
     Each child matures and develops at his/her own pace.
     Treat each child as an individual. Not all children participate for the same reasons.

"Truths" About Children and Sports

        The four underlying concepts provide a number of truths about children and
sports that have been identified in other research.
Fun is pivotal; if it’s not "fun," young people won’t play a sport.
Skill development is a crucial aspect of fun; it is more important than winning
even among the best athletes.
        When a coach forces kids to play a certain position there is a certain type of
grounding that is established in that player that might take a year or longer to
get out of. We are restricting players at a very young age by putting them
into positions. We need to let them have free play. The worst thing that could happen is they could
get scored on.
        The most rewarding challenges of sports are those that lead to self-knowledge.
Coaches need to incorporate as much DECISION MAKING into their practice as possible.
Intrinsic rewards (self-knowledge that grows out of self-competition) are more important in creating
lifetime athletes than are extrinsic rewards (victory or attention from others).
Kids can learn about themselves through the game. This is why we as coaches need to do activities
that enhance the imagination.
        Our present game/sport structure is based on games of elimination. We must remove games of
elimination at the youth level.

Recreational Soccer: Are the Kids Having Fun?
By: Jacob Daniel

     Coaching at the youth level, especially at the recreational level, can be summed up tongue-incheek
as grown-up structure on a collision course with youthful spontaneity. If you ask many
coaches, they will tell you of their constant battle to impose organization on a bunch of
exuberant carefree kids.

      Let us study the weapons used by both sides in this war on grass. The coaches arm themselves
with whistles. The kids, who, I am sure, would love to get their hands, or lips, on some of those,
tend to rely on their complete range of vocal chords. The coaches use line ups with boring,
repetitive drills. The kids use peer fighting, tickling, hair pulling, tears and a complete lack of
collinear principles. When the going gets tough, the coaches like to wear out the kids by
resorting to long team talks, lectures and dissertations. The kids, when cornered by lectures,
respond with short attention spans and perpetual motion techniques. The coaches, in an attempt
to convince the kids into believing that everyone is on the same side, initiate goal setting and
seasonal objectives. The kids, once they read through this tactical maneuver, revert to goal
climbing and seasonal objections.
      Who am I rooting for in this inter-generation conflict? For the kids of course!! Call me a traitor,
but I am on the side of playful abandon.
Seriously, when one considers the amount of structure disciplined organization inflicted on our
kids in school and at home, one appreciates the need to balance it out with periods of play and
fun activities without regard for results, provided, of course, that child safety is not sacrificed.
Allow me to relate to you some real life examples:
HOW COULD YOU LET ME DOWN LIKE THIS?
In one 3v3 game between two U-6 teams, I witnessed a mother running onto the field to scream
at her child and spank him on his derriere for scoring on his own goal (the poor child lost his
orientation for a moment, dribbled towards his team’s net and scored a beautiful own goal).
MY CHILD WILL GO ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP!
I frequently get inquiries from parents who are looking for a trainer for their child as a form of
“individual soccer tutoring”. In some cases, getting a trainer is not a bad idea. But when a
parent wants to find out what his/her seven year old child’s weaknesses are so that the child can
work to improve on these weaknesses, I tell him/her that seven year olds have not lived on this
planet long enough to develop strengths and weaknesses. Does the parent of a grade 1 student
ask the teacher what weaknesses should he/she work on to enable his/her child to become a
lawyer??? A seven year old child should play soccer for one purpose and one purpose only: to
have fun!
      At this point, most of you reading this article are probably saying to yourselves that the above
examples are but extreme cases of overzealous parents whose behavior does not resemble yours.
I hope so. But below this extreme level of unrealistic parental expectations exists a multitude of
more subtle examples of misplaced priorities of well meaning but misguided coaches and
parents. Read on.
POST GAME INQUEST.
      Your nine year old son plays goalkeeper and has just conceded a soft goal with two minutes left
in the game, which caused your team to lose 2:1. On the drive home, you can’t help yourself and
start dissecting the play that let to the goal. You are extra careful to sound calm, friendly and not
accusing. After all, you are merely trying to help your son learn from the experience, learn from
his mistakes. Your son bursts out crying and says: “I don’t want to talk about it!” I am no child
psychologist, but the above incident suggests to me that this keeper is under too much pressure to
perform and is not enjoying himself.
ORGANIZED CHAOS.
      Some coaches, when they want their teams to work on passing, use drills with line ups similar to
this one: They place their players in two parallel lines about ten yards apart. The two players in
front of the two lines move up the field inter-passing the ball while all the other players watch
and wait for their turn. In one such practice session that I observed, each player touched the ball
about once every four minutes. Suggestion: Why not give one ball to each pair and let all the
pairs simultaneously inter-pass while moving randomly in a large area. Some coaches do not
like this suggestion because it’s too messy – balls flying all over the place, players bumping into
teach other, balls hitting the wrong players (sounds much like the real game, doesn’t it?)
My point is that at the recreational level, the game is kind of messy and the suggestion
mentioned above is a lot more game-like than standing idle in a line waiting for your turn, and
then, when your turn comes, passing the ball while running in a straight line.
PLAY YOUR POSITIONS AND DON’T BUNCH UP!!
      We have all seen the ‘swarm’. Six year olds all bunching up on the ball. We have all screamed
at them: spread out! Play your position!! Now, if I was a six year old, I would also go after the
ball and disregard my position. After all, the ball is always up for grabs. Nobody really has any
control over it. Does anybody really expect me to believe that my six year old team mate is
going to control the ball, look up to see me on the other side of the field and switch play by
placing a 30-40 yard pass to my feet?? There is no point in worrying about positions if your
players have not yet mastered the technique of passing the ball under pressure. Let the swarm
be. You cannot artificially speed up the learning process. It’s for this reason that modified
soccer and 3-a-side soccer exists: to reduce the size of the swarm, because you cannot eliminate
it before its time.
      In closing, I do believe that the coaches at the recreational level are getting better all the time.
There are many coaches and parents who are in sync with the sensitivities and needs of their
kids. I hope that through the coaching courses and clinics, we can get more coaches to stop and
ask themselves: Are the kids having FUN?

Improving Your Skills as Spectator Stacy DeBroff

     At almost any game, you are bound to hear some parents yelling loudly from the sidelines, their voices carrying over the others. You’ll see parents screaming at the ref, shouting out instructions to their children (such as “run faster” or “down the left side”), hollering, gesturing, and jumping out of their seats. You’ll also, no doubt, experience parents berating their children from the sidelines (“Focus, Sam!”) or being ecstatic depending on the play of the moment, and in general, modeling inappropriate and immature behavior. Also, in the anonymity of a crowd, you’ll often hear parents screaming things that they might otherwise never say. Many team coaches have resorted to insisting that parents sit sequestered on the opposite side of the playing field from the kids.
    Given the tremendous amount of anxiety and ambition parents bring to the table when it comes to their child’s activities, it’s not surprising that parents are losing their cool on the sidelines at youth sporting events. In many areas of America, this behavior has gotten out of hand. Take, for instance, an argument between two fathers after a youth hockey practice in Massachusetts that cost one of them his life. In Florida, a furious parent shot a referee at a child’s soccer match. In California, a baseball coach for 8-year-olds went into the stands wielding an aluminum bat to silence a hostile crowd during a game.
     Theoretically, it all sounds perfectly easy to stay calm and positive, until one kid on the opposing team elbows your 6-year-old in the ribs for the third time during a soccer game. It’s hard not to lose yourself in the tension of your child’s competition.
     The word fan is short for fanatic, and at times, you will inevitably find yourself struggling to keep from acting angry, frustrated, or emotionally out of control at your child’s games or meets.
     For some coaches and leagues, their toughest job has become training parents to act appropriately. Many youth leagues have adopted “zero-tolerance” policies in which a referee can stop a game at any time to demand that a verbally abusive parent leave the premises. Over 14 states have passed laws imposing stiffer penalties for assaulting an amateur sports official. In addition to issuing codes of conduct for parents, many leagues have volunteer parents serving as “culture keepers” to keep the peace at competitive games.
      Just like an athlete who needs improvement, you can refine your performance on the sidelines.
     Let the coach be the only one giving instructions to the team or individual players. Leave it up to your coach to talk with your child on the sidelines when she takes a break in the action. When your child hears you calling out instructions to her on the field, she may easily think you are yelling at instead of trying to help her. Games
typically get competitive enough without having numerous adults screaming out conflicting instructions.
     Figure out what really gets to you as a spectator at your child’s games, whether it’s seeing your child get pushed, a bad or missed call by the referee, your child not playing well, your child constantly sitting out, or feeling impatient with your child’s lack of skill development.
     Anticipate these inevitably frustrating moments so that you can modulate your response. Empathize with the referee, who’s most likely trying his best, and acknowledge that your child’s team may be simply outmatched in a particular game, your child may just be having a bad day, or the opposing players have resorted to rough play because they’re losing.
      Your child learns self-control by watching you display it on the sidelines. Actions speak louder than words. Your child will be constantly observing and learning how to react during competitions from you. If you’re a poor sport, your child will surely follow suit. Being calm and positive will set the standards for your child, who will often rely more on how you act than how you tell her to behave. If you tell your child to display self-control and be respectful and gracious to opponents, but then she sees you losing your cool or yelling at a game, your efforts will be completely undermined.

Sideline Do’s And Don’ts

     DO

•  Be your child’s biggest fan by attending as many games as you can, offering support and encouragement.
  
• Make your job on the sidelines that of your child’s unconditional positive supporter, especially when he’s having a tough  game. Let the coach be the one to offer up any criticism, skill pointers, or game strategy.
  
• Becoming angry or letting your disappointment show when your child doesn’t perform well will leave her questioning whether this means you love her less. Instead, be supportive and help your child keep the competition in perspective.
  
• Cheer and call out encouragement instead of directions. Cheer enthusiastically for great skills, not just for scoring.
  
• Always cheer positively. Root for all the kids on the team, not just your own, and not against their opponents. “Sam, get the ball!” from the sidelines becomes, “Go Vipers” or “Go defense.”
  
• Limit yourself to a few generic words of praise, such as “Great goal” “Nice pass” or “Go Panthers!” Doing so will not only take pressure off your child, but it will also inspire other parents to tone it down as well.
  
• Smile, show confidence and faith in your child. Your child will watch you closely during a performance and will feel dejected by your cries of frustration, or shouts to try harder.
  
• Thank the coaches, referees, or umpire at the end of the competition for their hard work.

      DON’T

•  Don’t yell at your child from the sidelines, as it only serves to confuse and potentially embarrass her. Doing so destroys your child’s concentration. Moreover, you put her in a no-win situation if you end up yelling out advice that contradicts that of her coach.
  
• Do not lose your temper no matter how bad a call from a referee is or what your child’s opponent or their parents do or say. Walk off the stress or leave. Getting angry accomplishes nothing. Just as you don’t want your child to embarrass you, don’t embarrass her.
  
• If you get more worked up and excited than your child, something’s wrong. Take a break from attending a game to regroup and gain perspective.
  
• Watch nonverbal disapproving signals you give your child, particularly looks of disappointment or disgust. In addition, realize that being silent or not giving your child any feedback after a game will likely be taken as implicit criticism.
  
• Put away your video camera, as it takes competitive performance pressure off your child and can make him feel self-conscious in the midst of a game.
  
• Don’t shower your child with extravagant praise. Your child will quickly pick up on it, when you’re cheering madly and all she did was pass the ball once to a teammate.
  
• Don’t offer your own negative critique about your child’s performance after a game. Your child most likely already feels badly about any mistakes she made.

A dynamic national speaker, consultant, corporate spokesperson, and writer, Stacy DeBroff is President and founder of Mom Central, Inc., a company devoted to providing pragmatic tips and advice to strengthen busy families and enhance the home environment. Stacy has also written several best-selling books on household and family organization including The Mom Book: 4,278 Tips for Moms and Sign Me Up! The Parent’s Complete Guide to Sports, Activities, and Extracurriculars. Stacy is a renowned parenting guru and has shared her advice on New England Cable News as their in-house expert, producing her own live weekly segment for the morning news, and has also appeared on network television including NBC’s Today Show and the CBS Early Show. Stacy holds a B.A. in Psychology and Comparative Literature from Brown University, and a J.D. from Georgetown University.