Monday, June 16, 2008

Spring 2008 YDP ... great fun!

Thanks to the over 90 children that participated in the youth development program this spring ... here are some of those great faces!! I look forward to seeing you all on the field sometime soon!!


I hope you all have a great summer ... I will see many of you at our summer camps August 4-8 and August 18-21... if you ever have any questions re: soccer and your youth player, please don't hesitate to contact me via email binghamtondoc@nyswysa.org.

Maureen


Monday, June 09, 2008

ODP Region 1 Tournament (June 6-8)



Congratulations to all of our kids that participated in the ODP (Olympic Development Program) Region 1 tournament that was held this past weekend in the Princeton, NJ area. 15 state associations that make up Region 1 (from Maine down through Virginia) came together to put on quite a great show of quality soccer. With temperatures in the upper 90s, it was no easy feat for these boys and girls!

From TC United and our local community, we had players on the 95B, 95G, 94B, 94G, and 93G state teams. Here is a picture of the NYS West 95 girls' A-team (which includes 2 of my TC United U13 Girls) .... they went undefeated vs. Massachusettes, Eastern PA and PA West.

They make us ALL proud and strengthens my cause to focus on development at the youngest ages ... to give them the skills they need to be able to compete at the state, regional and perhaps even the national level!

Enjoy .... if you have any questions on any of the upcoming events (summer camp and fall), please don't hesitate to contact me!

see you on the field,

Maureen

Monday, April 21, 2008

2008 Youth Programs -- update!

Hello soccer friends ... with May 5th as the start of the spring program for ages 4-10, all classes are FULL! In order to maintain a quality program, we must keep to a coach:player ratio that allows us to do so. As hard as it is to turn children away, we can no longer accept registrations for spring soccer.

Please get your registration in for summer camp and fall programs now (see applications under 'upcoming events' to the right of this site OR email me at binghamtondoc@nyswysa.org) ... obtaining coaches during the summer and fall seasons are even more difficult so last minute registrations will be next to impossible to accommodate!

Maureen

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

2008 Programs Announced !!


hello parents ....

if you look to the right of this site, you'll see plans for spring, summer and fall SOCCER (scroll down to 'Upcoming Events').
All programs are age-appropriate geared at engaging the player in a fun environment that provides both challenge and success .... small-sided activities to ensure many touches on the ball .... if you have any trouble downloading the registration forms, please contact me @ binghamtondoc@nyswsya.org.
Don't hesitate to register as space will be limited to staff available!!

see you on the field,

Maureen


Sunday, February 17, 2008

In the final stretch of winter ....


Hello Youth Parents !

What a winter it's been so far ... I hope you all enjoy your week of winter break no matter where you find yourself .... perhaps it's a state of mind but keeping myself busy this coming week with soccer kids manages to make me forget that I'm not leaving the frigid northeast ! Having said that, if you happen to be traveling to sunnier places, enjoy and be safe ! And please bring back a little sunshine !

U8 and U9 players .... there's still time to register for the JAMBOREE this coming Wednesday ... a simple email to me and you're registered !

In a week's time, we kick off our 3rd and final winter 6-week youth session. There's time to register and unless numbers get crazy, you know I cannot turn a child away ... especially if it was the parent's fault to register late :) . But with staff getting increasingly busy this time of year, it will make planning smoother as I strive to maintain a proper staff:player ratio. Remember that our website has changed to http://www.tcunitedsoccer.org/. To register, click on the blue box 'Register Now'.

Sam Snow, Director of Coaching for USYSA, paid me and our program, a tremendous compliment yesterday ... in a discussion with him about the use and absolute success of guided discovery (where we ask questions to probe the answers from the players rather than telling them our answer, he said, "because of coaches like you, American soccer has a bright future" ... focusing on the development and not getting caught up in the winning & losing at these tender ages .... it takes courage by coaches and parents to give the game back to the players.

.... If we work on a new move in training, I want the players to be brave enough to try it in the game .... we continue to provide that safe environment .... applaud the intent and not the result .... if they try to pull the ball back and change the point of attack and they lose the ball because they didn't go fast enough, SO WHAT??! Try again! And again and again. I admit, this mentality has taken a while to be engrained in the players ... and at times it's been a challenge for our staff .... but we're there now, coaches and players, and guess what, it's working !!

In a U7/U8 class a few weeks ago, we worked on the dummy, where you let a ball purposely run through your legs and then quickly turn around and maintain control of it ... I admit I was surprised how quickly all of the players picked the movement up (regardless of where they fall on the development spectrum) but I was over the moon when I saw U7 Eamon pull it off in the game ! And after attention was drawn to him, a snowball effect happened as most of the kids then tried to pull the dummy in the game!

Recently, we used balloons to introduce 'receiving flighted balls' .... it worked brilliantly. For the players that flinch anytime an object comes in the air, their fears instantly vanished. And for the hotshots that perhaps are lacking of ANY fear, we were able to slow down and fix their technique ... the small details that are critical ... and in every class (from U4 through U10), every child had success when we progressed through the session and ran through the activities with the soccer balls !

As always, please never hesitate if you have any soccer-related questions, concerns, stories .... yes, stories ! ... some of you occasionally give me feedback without realizing it ... I love hearing the car-ride stories after class !

take care and I'll see you on the field !

~Maureen