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MVSC NEWSLETTER - DIRECTOR OF COMPETITIVE SOCCER |
Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going?
Our Competitive Program has changed a lot over the last few years
with many new programs, teams, and coaches. So why have we made
these changes and where are we trying to go?
Four years ago, the MVSC fulfilled primarily an organizational role.
Helping to form teams, run tryouts and select coaches. Thereafter,
each team ran independently during the season.
Today, our club is more of a soccer community – or some might say it
feels more like a European soccer club. This evolution started with
some basic, but important, first steps such as having the same
uniform for all of our teams. (Thank you Marilou McFarlane for that
one!). Each year since, we have added one or two programs all with
the same goals in mind. These goals are:
• Develop the technical skills of our younger players. Coaches
cannot teach strategy until the players have the technical
proficiency to execute. It is particularly important to develop the
technical skills at the younger ages (8-12). We teach technical
development in our programs such as the U9 Academy, the Winter
Skills program, and the Goal Keeper/Striker clinics in the fall.
• Train players by age groups and ability, not just individual
teams. To create a greater sense of community, and to provide
players with the opportunity to work with different coaches, we have
put in place programs in the spring such as the World Cup Saturdays
and combined training of multiple teams.
• Attract, retain and develop the best coaches. Just like school,
having a great teacher leads to a passion and excellence. The Club
provides financial support for our coaches to get high-level
licensure, but, furthermore, we have a program for coach development
run by Rick Fullerton who provides critical feedback to coaches on
their training and coaching techniques. We also believe it is
important to rotate our coaches so that players are exposed to more
than one coach.
• Make soccer fun! Some of the community events the Club sponsored
last year include Soccerfest, the Coaches’ scrimmage against the
D’Angelo’s team, and the pizza party/soccer movie at the community
center. We look forward to repeating these events and adding more
this year.
There is a long list of other ideas as we try to build our soccer
community. I hope you can see from the comments above where we have
been these last few years and gain some sense of where we are
headed. We face many critical issues such as a shortage of fields
and rising costs, but you will hear more about these in future
newsletters.Thank you all – parents, players, and coaches – for your energy and
enthusiasm. |
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