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Academy Soccer and Select Soccer in North Georgia

Important points to keep in mind when trying out for an Academy Soccer or Select Soccer Team

Is an Academy Soccer or Select Soccer team a Perfect Fit For You?

The first and foremost thing for you is to decide whether the team you are thinking to make is a perfect fit for you. Are you and your family comfortable with the team environment and do you feel that your child will learn and also enjoy the experience.

More importantly, whatever the case is, it is always important to agree and honor the philosophies of your coach. Concisely, we can say that before you make a decision to join a specific team, make it a point to understand the coach’s method’s and his goals for the team.

Getting Ready for Tryouts

The time leading up to tryouts can be an exciting and nervous time for many players. Do not put too much pressure on the players to perform. Instead, focus on getting the player excited about going out and playing hard, competing, and learning. For North Georgia Soccer players that are new to Academy Soccer and Select Soccer, tryouts are a first chance to get exposure to higher level of training and competition. Make sure they come into it with an open mind.

Many of the exercises will be rigorous, and it will be hot, so please hydrate properly the day before and the day of tryouts. Water coolers will be on hand at the fields, but proper hydration before tryouts is critical.

What to expect at tryouts:

At Academy Soccer and Select Soccer tryouts, the training staff will take many factors into account when evaluating a player.

1. Soccer Playing Ability: Performance and overall soccer skills, such as how fast and strong you are, how good you are at passing the ball, is there accuracy in your shooting of ball, are you a good offensive player or a better defensive player, are you poised and confident in possession of the ball? These are many factors that we will take into account when looking for soccer players.

2. Attitude: How you take instruction, deal with adversity, and interact with the other soccer players will also be a big factor. Playing for an Academy Soccer Team or a Select Soccer Team is a big commitment and the team will spend a lot of time together. For the enjoyment of everyone involved, we make it a point to choose players AND PARENTS that we feel interact well and fit into the Academy Soccer environment.

3. Effort: Regardless of whether a player fails or succeeds at a task, do they consistently go into each exercise giving their best effort. Not every player has had the same exposure to advanced training so they may be lacking in certain advanced skills. A player’s work ethic and desire to learn will be taken into consideration.

Conclusion:

Playing Academy Soccer and Select Soccer is a big commitment for both the player and parents. The end goal to of the trainers is to teach young North Georgia soccer players to be skilled and confident players, as well as fans of the game. We encourage creative play, creative decision making, and playing with dynamic flare. We also encourage players to seek out and watch quality soccer from the European and South American leagues and choose favorite teams and players to emulate. The Academy Soccer and Select Soccer experience should be one that sets a player on the of being life-long fan of the game.

Some Thoughts for Youth Soccer Parents

We all recognize that soccer is a very passionate game – for players and fans.

But when it comes to youth soccer, the soccer pitch can bring out some of the worst instincts that we have.

We all want our sons and daughters to play, to play hard, to play well, and have fun.  We want them to be well coached, play on a team that is competitive in their category, and benefit in a host of ways from being involved in competitive athletics.

Yet we, as parents, sometimes undercut how much fun our kids have, and how much they will actually benefit.

This happens by and through our behavior, especially during games.

So with the 2010 soccer season around the corner, here is a primer, a reminder, of little things that we can do on the sidelines this spring and summer to make this soccer season more pleasant for all concerned – most importantly, for the kids.

15 things to keep in mind while watching from the sidelines this summer:

1.      Let the coaches’ coach.  If you are telling your son or daughter – or any other player for that matter – to do something different from what their coach is telling them, you create distraction and confusion.

2.      It is very unnerving for many young players to try and perform difficult tasks on the field on the spur of the moment when parents are yelling at them from the sidelines.  Let the kids play.  If they have been well coached, they should know what to do on the field.  If they make a mistake, chances are they will learn from it.

3.      Do not discuss the play of specific young players in front of other parents.  How many times do you hear comments such as, “I don’t know how that boy made this team.” or “she’s just not fast enough”.   Too many parents act as though their child is a ‘star’, and the problem is someone
else’s kid. Negative comments and attitudes are hurtful and totally unnecessary and kill parent harmony, which is often essential to youth team success.

4.      Discourage such toxic behavior by listening patiently to any negative comments that might be made, then address issues in a positive way. Speak to the positive qualities of a player, family or coach.

5.      Do your level best not to complain about your son or daughter’s coaches to other parents.  Once that starts, it is like a disease that spreads.  Before you know it, parents are talking constantly in a negative way behind a coach’s back.  (As an aside, if you have what you truly feel is a legitimate beef with your child’s coach – either regarding game strategy or playing time, arrange an appointment to meet privately, away from a soccer field.)

6.      Make positive comments from the sideline.  Be encouraging.  Young athletes do not need to be reminded constantly about their perceived errors or mistakes.  Their coaches will instruct them, either during the game or at half-time, and during practices.  You can often see a young player make that extra effort when they hear encouraging words from the sideline about their hustle.

7.      Avoid making any negative comments about players on the other team This should be simple:  we are talking about youngsters, not adults who are being paid to play professionally.  I recall being at a rep baseball game some years ago, when parent on one team loudly made comments about errors made by a particular young player on the other team.  People on the other side of the diamond were stunned- and angry.  Besides being tasteless and classless, these kinds of comments can be hurtful to the young person involved and to their family as well.

8.      Try to keep interaction with parents on the other team as healthy and positive as possible.  Who’s kidding whom?  You want your child’s team to win.  So do they.  But that should not make us take leave of our senses, especially our common sense.  Be courteous ’till it hurts; avoid the ‘tit for tat’ syndrome.

9.      Parents on the ‘other’ team are not the enemy.  Neither are the boys or girls on the other team.  We should work to check any negative feelings at the door before we hit the pitch.

10.     What is the easiest thing to do in the youth sports world? Criticize the referees.  Oh, there are times when calls are missed, absolutely.  And that can, unfortunately, directly affect the outcome of a contest.  That said, by and large those who officiate at youth soccer games are hardly over-compensated, and give it an honest – and often quite competent – effort.  At worst, they at least try to be fair and objective.

11.     On that note, outbursts from parents on the sideline made toward the referees only signal to our on children on the field that they can blame the refs for anything that goes wrong.  Blaming others is not a formula for success in sports.

12.     Yelling out comments such as “Good call, ref” or “Thanks ref” may only serve to alienate an official.  The ref always assumes they made the proper call, that’s why they made it.  Trying to show superficial support because the call went ‘your’ way is simply annoying to the officials, and to anyone within earshot.

13.     Walking up and down all game long along the sidelines, following the play, is unnerving to players and totally unnecessary- particularly so if you are trying to yell out instructions to various players, including your own son or daughter.  It is likely embarrassing to the player/players involved and simply counterproductive.  If you want to coach, obtain your coaching certification and then apply for a job.

14.     We all feel things and are apt to be tempted to say things in the ‘heat of the moment’.  But we don’t excuse athletes for doing inappropriate things in the ‘heat of the moment’ (there are penalties, suspensions, etc.) so we should apply similar standards to our own sideline behaviour.  Quickly check yourself and ask:  Will I be proud of what I am about to say or do when I reflect on it tomorrow?

15.     The parking lot is not the time to ‘fan the flames’.  Whether it is  a coach’s decision, a referee’s call, a comment that was made, let it go. Don’t harass the coach, or an official, or a parent on the other team after the game is over.  Go home, relax, and unwind.  Talk positively with your child.  The ride home is sometimes as important as the game itself.  Make that time a good memory for your son or daughter by discussing as many positives as you can about him/her, her coach, her teammates, etc.

Michael Langlois, founder of Prospect Communications Inc, is the author of “How Well Do You Communicate?  A Guide to Better Communication with Players and Parents for Youth Soccer Coaches”.  Prospect’s web site is located at http://www.beyondthegame.net

The Offside Rule

Parents and players and casual observers of North Georgia Soccer often become confused by the offside rule. (note proper term is “offside” not “offsides”) The offside law is not ultra-complicated, but complicated enough to cause problems for assistant referees (whether in judging offside or being subjected to abuse from team officials and spectators). When I attend any Atlanta Soccer match, it is inevitable that there will be at least a few disagreement during the run of play about the offside rule.

A player is considered to be in an offside position when he is closer to the opponent’s goal line than both the ball and the second to last defender at the moment the ball is played by a teammate. The key issues would be positioning, who passed the ball and the exact moment that it is played. Much can be learned by examining the key points of this definition.

There is a misconception that being deemed offside is about being just about the opponents’ defence. Let us assume that two attackers break from an onside position. One attacker is dribbling the ball and the opponents’ defence, are way behind the play. The dribbling attacker then passes the ball to his teammate. If the receiving player is ahead of the ball at the moment it is passed by his teammate, he is in an offside position and would most likely commit an offside offence.

What team officials and spectators have a problem judging is the moment the ball is played. This is a split second. The assistant referee has to look at player positions at that very moment to make a call. Some not-so-clever spectators and players feel that it is an offence to receive a ball in an offside position. It is where the attacker was at the moment the ball was played that is relevant. Anyone who knows and can apply the offside rule is aware that being in an offside position is not necessarily an offside offence.

The offside position cannot fully define what an offside offence is. A player commits an offside offence if, after being in an offside position when the ball is played by a teammate, he is involved in active play by:

1) Interfering with play

2) Interfering with an opponent or

3) Gaining an advantage by being in an offside position

Interfering with play

Interfering with play is established if an attacker, having been in an offside position, touches the ball or makes an attempt to play the ball after it is passed by a teammate (once no other teammate can reach the ball). I’ve heard some people suggest that once a player runs after the ball, he commits an offence, but this is not so. He must be the only attacker capable of reaching the ball before it should be considered an offside offence. If the ball is going out of play even as the offside attacker is racing behind it, there should be no offside offence.

Interfering with an opponent

This includes any attempt to prevent an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball, obstructing the opponent’s line of vision and distracting or deceiving the opponent.

Gaining an advantage

This includes playing the ball from a rebound off the posts, crossbar or an opponent- having previously been in an offside position.

There are notable exceptions to the offside law. A player cannot be offside if the ball is received directly from a:

a) corner

b) throw-in

c) goal-kick

A player should not be deemed to have committed an offside offence if he receives the ball from a deliberate play by an opponent (for e.g. a back pass). If a defender is dribbling the ball up field, a player in an offside position can fairly challenge him without being called. However, some clever players pretend that they are not involved in active play. As soon as the defender controls the ball, the offside attacker charges him. In such a situation, he commits an offside offence. Usually, the offside attacker can only attempt to tackle the defender, in that situation, once the defender has gained complete control of the ball (once the defender controls the ball and moves with it or kicks it).

As an official, the offside law seems very straightforward, but it is difficult to apply and sometimes a lot of discretion is needed. A good example would be why the referee allowed an apparently offside goal in the Euro 2008 match between Holland and Italy. The complicated appearance of the offside law is a result of the attempt by FIFA and the IFAB to improve attacking play in soccer. What it proved is that there’s a lot of explaining to do when it comes to the offside law.