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Post by collegesoccer on Nov 13, 2021 6:30:00 GMT -5
Seriously. Everybody on this board & everywhere else complains about playing "boom ball", but here's a news flash- long balls over the top where a fast striker runs onto it and scores happen in the professional ranks too, and you know what- those goals count just as much as the ones where you complete a 7-pass chain from the back to the front! One of my kids played a game last weekend where our attacking mid picked their head up to see our striker making a forward run around the halfway line. The mid "boomed" the ball over the top, right into the striker's path, and they controlled it, took a few touches, and scored a nice goal from a semi-tight angle in the end. But to hear some on here talk, they should almost be ashamed of that goal because they didn't "build from the back". Look, I get it- "kickball" can be ugly to watch if you're doing it all the time. But long, over-the-top "boomed" passes absolutely have a place in the game, and can be a very effective tactic when used at the right times. Playing a pass to somebody in particular really isn’t “boom ball” at all If it’s a boom ball pass, it is. There a reason it’s called boom ball. |
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Post by collegesoccer on Nov 13, 2021 6:34:59 GMT -5
Interesting that all this time and energy went into creative and passionate responses to the thread. There’s plenty of youth soccer without substitution rules. If they’re not your thing, play academy or rec. Problem solved. The truth is if you or you player have a problem with sub rules, you’re probably not going to like some of the other rules and disciplines necessary to play at a high level. So make it easy on yourself - choose rec.
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Post by soccerloafer on Nov 13, 2021 8:13:11 GMT -5
Interesting that all this time and energy went into creative and passionate responses to the thread. There’s plenty of youth soccer without substitution rules. If they’re not your thing, play academy or rec. Problem solved. The truth is if you or you player have a problem with sub rules, you’re probably not going to like some of the other rules and disciplines necessary to play at a high level. So make it easy on yourself - choose rec. That's a pretty silly response. The vast majority of high-level youth players will not continue into college and beyond. We forget the main point of youth soccer is player enjoyment. And for high-level players, that means experiencing the beautiful game at a level commensurate with their skill. To suggest those players should quit and play rec is absurd. As a former player and coach, current parent and referee, most of the sub rules are not aligned with the youth game. I don't have an answer. The true answer would be to use common sense in using subs, but that is very hard to put in writing. Sometimes a game needs few subs. Sometimes high level players could benefit from a quick out and in. It goes back to the spirit of the game. Soccer is the only game (that I know) where referees are allowed to use discretion in the spirit of the game - foul or advantage, caution or ejection, add time or not, or to handle a situation not covered by the LOTG. If only subbing could be handled the same way... |
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Post by collegesoccer on Nov 14, 2021 12:55:16 GMT -5
Interesting that all this time and energy went into creative and passionate responses to the thread. There’s plenty of youth soccer without substitution rules. If they’re not your thing, play academy or rec. Problem solved. The truth is if you or you player have a problem with sub rules, you’re probably not going to like some of the other rules and disciplines necessary to play at a high level. So make it easy on yourself - choose rec. That's a pretty silly response. The vast majority of high-level youth players will not continue into college and beyond. We forget the main point of youth soccer is player enjoyment. And for high-level players, that means experiencing the beautiful game at a level commensurate with their skill. To suggest those players should quit and play rec is absurd. As a former player and coach, current parent and referee, most of the sub rules are not aligned with the youth game. I don't have an answer. The true answer would be to use common sense in using subs, but that is very hard to put in writing. Sometimes a game needs few subs. Sometimes high level players could benefit from a quick out and in. It goes back to the spirit of the game. Soccer is the only game (that I know) where referees are allowed to use discretion in the spirit of the game - foul or advantage, caution or ejection, add time or not, or to handle a situation not covered by the LOTG. If only subbing could be handled the same way... Just because you don’t like the answer, does not make it absurd. The point is, there are plenty of options for playing soccer with no substitution rules. If that’s really a big deal to you, choose one. Problem solved. |
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Post by SoccerFirst on Nov 15, 2021 16:24:03 GMT -5
Full disclosure, my initial post was one of emotion and frustration. I haven't responded because I wanted to give myself time to allow reason and logic to set in, as well as, hear from others on the topic. That being said, my opinion hasn't changed and this is the why. At U13 specifically, many of these players are not ready to play 11v11 and cover a 120v70 pitch and do so while playing quality soccer. I have watched several ECRL teams this season struggle to make dynamic runs, take risks going forward or transition at speed. I have seen my fair share of players just coasting, going through the motions. When I was informed of the sub restriction, minutes before my initial post, I had a profound ah ha moment. These teams weren't suffering from bad coaches, poor fitness or lack of motivation, they literally had to hold themselves back in order to cover more ground for longer, until their coach was allowed to sub them. As a coach, my goal is not for my player to feel relieved when she comes out. I want her to be like, "Hey Coach, did I do something wrong, why did you take me out?" I want her to want to be on the field, I want her to want to play the game that she loves and I fear that this rule that might seem arbitrary to some, may be doing more harm than you think. As a player I played with my "hair on fire", to use a phrase from a previous poster, and I coach my players to play the same way. I expect them to give their team everything they can every time they step on the field, be it training or a match. I push my players to play high pressure, we don't LET the other team out of their end, you can often hear me yelling, "That was too easy," as a response to my players not making it harder, not pressuring or positioning themselves defensively to make it more challenging for the opposing team. I am also one of those coaches that expects my team to transition at speed, not just jogging up the field together. If we play the ball out of the back then I expect my back line to push up at a sprint, not a walk or jog, if they don't they will surely be hearing from me and their keeper. By making my back line push up at speed, it forces the midfield to get up and so on. It acts as an ignition to start everyone going forward at speed. Lastly, I expect my forwards to work back, if it's a winger coming back to receive a ball down the line from her OB or a center forward coming back into the midfield to double the opponents holding midfielder, there isn't much resting time when the ball is in play. Thats why I know 12 year old children are not ready to play high level soccer on a full size field for 20-30 minutes. They should be focused on building up to that as they grow and mature. There is a big difference between a 12 year old child and an 18 year old young woman, so why are we expecting them to do the same amount of work? Is it better for a player's development for them to play at 100% for 10minutes or at 75% for 20minutes? If the players have the knowledge of the game to make dynamic runs, play high pressure and quick transition at speed, but don't have to ability to put it into practice in a game because they aren't able to cover the field AND play quality soccer, the player is left with but a choice, to work hard or conserve, attack the space or hold off it's only minute 2, to high press the defender in her box facing her own goal or hold? Not only can I see the rule potentially hampering development, but I would argue, it's doing a good job of taking the fun out of the game for these kids. If I just wanted to jog around and cover a large space for 20minutes I would have run cross country. This season I have seen a lot of underwhelming soccer, frustrated coaches, players and parents... not saying it is cure all, but I think this restriction is a mistake at the ECRL level especially for U13-U14s. Lastly, I'd ask, who decided this rule was appropriate, when was the last time they coached a U13 team, or a 2nd team for that matter? It's kind of like the SCCL free sub on ANY stoppage, who wrote that rule, have they seen that in practice? Did they not think coaches would abuse the rule and sub EVERY stoppage to make sure the other team can't get anything started, or to delay, delay, delay? Lastly, I have a problem with this rule because if I were coaching ECRL (and traditionally I have coached 2nd teams), the rule would keep me from being the coach that I am and I take pride in being. Example, I have an OB on the parent's sideline that continues to get beat on the inside. I call out to her and say, "You can't let her beat you on the inside." Two minutes later, it happens again. I move the OB over to my sideline and switch the OBs. I quickly explain my coaching point the best I can from the sideline during the other team's goal kick. She gets beat again. We are only 10 minutes in. So, do I allow that player to continue to get beat, move her to another position or do I pull her off only to sit the rest of the half? In a free sub world, I pull her off like I do in academy and at high school. I ask her how she is feeling? I let her talk. I ask her if she understands what I was saying to her on the field. I get to have a conversation with my player. I may use a white board, I may use cones or other teammates on the side to demonstrate my point. Then I get to put her back in. When she succeeds, I eagerly watch with anticipation, I get to do my favorite thing as a coach, reward her with positive reinforcement and she has now LEARNED from her mistake. Something often overlooked here, but needs to be stated. These types of interactions happen ALL the time when players are young, but as the players get older, they happen less and less. It's in those moments players build trust and respect with their coaches. If these interactions start to be limited by 12 years old, I wonder what the coach-player relationship will look like in the future. Another important point, the mistake didn't cost her team a goal, so we were able to make the changes without coach or players getting emotional because it hadn't cost us anything. What if the player understood, but was hurt? Sub restriction, do I take her out, or leave her in? Who am I as a coach to judge if the player is too hurt or not too hurt to continue? What if it's more mental, her parents are yelling at her on the sideline and they are in her head. Free subs, I can have a conversation with her and then put her back in keeping her on my sideline until we can talk with her parents after the match. This rule doesn't make better coaches, it makes MANAGERS. I don't just manage the match, I have players that I love and care about that I want to make sure are getting everything they can out of their experience in that match. From my perspective, this rule was not made to make the player experience better, if you have an example of where a player benefits from the rule, please share. Good post and solid arguments. Two points: 1. In your second paragraph, you say "At U13 specifically, many of these players are not ready to play 11v11 and cover a 120v70 pitch and do so while playing quality soccer." I think that is exactly right so why are we putting 13 years olds (particularly girls) on a full size field? This is not a subbing rule problem but rather forcing kids to a full sized field too soon. Teams that try to play out of the back really struggle at U13 and U14 because it so easy to high press and trap the ball in. As a result, really bad habits are developed at these younger ages of kicking and running. Unlimited subbing makes the bad habits worse because with unlimited subbing you can kick and run all day long. The solution to problem would be to gradually increase the size of the field so that kids are not on a full size fields until U15.
2. Second thing is that there is no player at any level of soccer that can go 100% nonstop for an entire game. Not at U8 and not in the pros. So using unlimited subs to play a style where kids are taught to go 100% for short periods of time and then be subbed off for another player to go 100% for a short period of time is doing the kids a disservice. The coaching aspect is to teach kids to recognize when to high press, when to make the run and what to look for. Several years ago, as part of DA, US Soccer put out a coaching manual that talked about when to make runs, what type of runs to make, and at what percentage a run should be made. It has been several years since I looked at it but if memory serves me correctly 100% runs were reserved almost exclusively for getting back on defense to stop a counterattack. Part of the problem with coaching is that kids are not taught that aspect of the game. As a result, kids are bombing forward on offense while leaving the back exposed. There is a tactical side to soccer that should be taught from a young age about how to read the game and to know what to do. Going 100% for a short period of time is not the answer for tactical development.
1. I couldn't agree more, I believe we push our players to the bigger fields, too soon for too many. There will always be the exceptions, there might be some players that are "ready" for the full field, but it's a lot easier to teach a player and a team to play the game on a smaller scale. When I coached U12, I felt like I just had the fall season to get them to grasp all the essential transition and speed of play tactics because once we went full sided it wouldn't translate the same way. When they receive a ball and the closest player is 20 yards behind them.... "wait coach, why do I need to go at speed again?" I still disagree with the subbing rule, every player that deserves 1/2 game should get 1/2 game. I am not a parent of a player at this level, but as a coach, I'm a firm believer in every player should get at least 1/2 a match at the developmental ages. Now, if you ask me about high school... we may only use 4 subs in a competitive match. But for youth players, the game is the teacher and they need to be playing in order to learn. Every team needs more than 11 to be successful, and number 12, 13, 14, 15... if they have earned the playing time, then they should get it. I don't "give" anything, playing time is earned at practice and in games, but I'd argue that players 12-15 might be needing more playing time than the starting 11, but this is when competition wins out over development. 2. We might have different definitions of 100% all game. No one is running the entire 90 minutes. There is walking, jogging, running, sprinting and as much as it kills me to say it, standing. I'm suggesting that I have seen a lot more walking and jogging possibly as a result of conserving energy at the ECRL level. Maybe it isn't conserving, maybe the teams I'm watching just aren't fit? I'm not sure what kind of conditioning club teams are doing now, but when our players come to us in high school many of the top players are not match fit to our standards and it gets worse each year. Most of them having played GAL or ECNL and they still struggle to play half a match at high school without a sub. This year will be a good test since there will be less time between club taking holiday break and high school starting, tryouts start Jan 3rd this year. All in all, it seems like we agree on most points. Now, if we can just figure out how to convince clubs to allow for modified 11v11 size fields for developing ages : ) You start the petition and show me where to sign! |
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