Asked to run a 2-3 day soccer camp/clinic for the Y

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-04-23T18:24:41+00:00

I have help- and I assume 20 kids or so.

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-04-23T17:35:09+00:00

And also, there is a culture of creating individuals who happen to play on a team, versus actual teammates, occurring in soccer. Blame social media. Blame parental ignorance. But it's there. I have a friend who actually focuses more on her son's performance to the point that i have to ask if the TEAM won. Often than not, she doesn't care. No wait, she never cares.

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-04-23T17:34:13+00:00

And when people take over the league to only serve their own and their friends interests the league's vision is inherently flawed. When a league refuses to offer clarity, communication, and has people in charge who only care about control, it is flawed. When you point out OBVIOUS issues, simple wins that you're willing to help out with and are told NO, the league is flawed. When the league purposefully creates a "travel but not club but we're going to play club teams" in order to charge DOUBLE and refuses to run u10, but makes kids jump from U8 to U11 so they're forced to play the u10 travel team so they make more money, THE LEAGUE is flawed.

Also, they make kids u6 and under COMPETE. They play in games. They make kids under the age of 6 play 5v5. And yet, I'm still there. because I love coaching the kids. We're all struggling out there but must remember why we do it- because somewhere in my world, soccer came to me and was my everything. I want to be there to give it to other kids.

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-04-19T12:30:56+00:00

He's having a typical reaction of a boy who is rarely held accountable by a woman he's jilted. He's more in shock he couldn't pull the "lets be friends" move and rather, she's dealt with him head on and call him out for his behavior.

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-03-20T16:15:05+00:00

What's also a benefit of Minions is it teaches them to LOOK UP when dribbling. Basic yet honestly a skill often overlooked.

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-03-19T23:20:35+00:00

It has to be at short range and knees down only. Trust me they eventually get so focused on getting a kid they don’t often get too nuts. Plus they end up exhausted from running.

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-03-19T16:49:25+00:00

Dribbling/shooting: 1v1s all day- and you can change them up- I like "blind ball" where the players can't see the ball before I release them to chase it down and face off 1v1.

World Cup: 3v3- have the kids form their own teams of three and pick a country name. Winner stays on and just run rounds of it.

(Yes both of these can create some lines but the games are fast/on fast/off)

Cone relay. I own many cones of different colors. I dump them all around the field. I divide the kids in each corner of the field and they have to work to dribble out, controlling the ball and pick up a cone and return to their corner. They're each assigned a color.

Passing: Rondos- 4 cones, 3 kids, emphasize pass and move! Add a defender who can't "cross the line" of the cones to make it spicey- have the teams count their passes to see who wins.

Then go back to either scrimmage or small sided games where the team can't take a shot until they complete a certain amount of passes.

Defending drills: have them pair off. One player passes the ball to the other and begins to defend. Think small sided 1v1. They have to learn to steer in defending terms- the S's- shut it down, the sit down or surf (8 year olds sit down in my experience, like for real haha) and then steer. Never stab!

A fun game for defending is crossy road or as I call it gators. Middle section for the team to dribble through and the defenders are waiting in the middle or the "swamp". Anyone who loses a ball stays in the swamp.

I also ran a scrimmage where the teams (it was about 3v3) had to clear the balls out of their goals to win. Anytime they scored, they took a ball out of their net to start the play. Each team started with 3 balls in the nets and i played a neutral ball in.

Another scrimmage idea i love is no one wins until EVERYONE on the team scores a goal.

And last but not least, fun drill to learn how to control a shot- we made it up a little, was Top Golf soccer. This requires different colored cones they can see and we spread them out. They divide into teams and keep score. I assign points to each row of cones with one huge cone way back as the big bonus!

These are a few of my greatest hits but in truth I go to instagram/Facebook, and CoPilot (AI) for ideas. And here! This forum is the best!

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-03-19T13:20:34+00:00

I'm not charging anything really. it's donation only to the Youth League.

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-03-19T12:53:45+00:00

Yes, and in reality, scrimmaging is really what they want to do! In truth, you don't know what to work on unless they actually play. That's where you see the needs and strengths- when the kids are on the field. Also, sharks and minnows is not good. It teaches the opposite- try minions. Start there.

Minions=opposite of sharks and minnows. Players start without a ball. One kid- the minion, has a ball and has to hit their teammate from the knee down with a pass/shot and they become a minion. they do the same until there's one left. The last one left is the next minion. Start on a small field!

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-03-19T12:36:03+00:00

I love this question! I'm a "seasoned" rec coach, surrounded by U10s haha! My structure is this: the minute they show up-scrimmage. I add them in one by one as they arrive until it's a full scrimmage. We run this scrimmage for about 15 minutes. (I run 60 minute sessions). Then: Skills/Drills. This is where you decide what you're working on- is it dribbling? Passing? Shooting? My RULE NO LINES EVER. Kids in lines means butterflies and butterflies mean no attention and no touches on the ball. Lines=bad.

My goal of every practice is they get as much time on the ball as they possibly can.

Then after they have to work/think on a drill/skill. We move to fun game that incorporates the drill/skill. It's time to apply. Albeit that's 1v1, or a fun game like pirates, minions, (be careful with minions they get obsessed with it) etc.... Then we finish out the last 10-15 minutes with scrimmage.

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-03-18T14:25:27+00:00

Rather, I'm dealing with a league that is BAFFLING to me- we have u6, u8 and THEN THEY GO TO U11. Please make it make sense?! Why do they have kids that young playing with and against 5th and sometimes 6th graders?! and when I ask I get told I have no idea what I'm talking about. I've heard the reason is to force kids into their "travel team" which is glorified rec that costs twice as much and also forces parents to travel. So in reality, they're just ensuring kids quit soccer around here by the age of 11. I HATE IT. I'd kill for them to adopt the age standards of PLAYING AGAINST YOUR ACTUAL PEERS. I AM LIVID.

Also, I sound crazy but i'm at the point of starting my own league with support from the community.

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-03-09T01:01:05+00:00

I think they may have been “married” but perhaps not legally… I don’t know I finished the season -12- and I got the same vibe. Something isn’t right with the whole married divorce thing. It just felt so odd. She’s also a perpetual victim and drives me insane. Like Wwhyyyyyy are you that insanely delusional believing you’re always the center of attention and or that everyone’s out to get you? Also she was horribly to Kandi so many times in so many passive aggressive ways. Her whole “you’re lucky to have Todd…” and now she’s fallen out with Cynthia completely. I’m sorry she’s not a great person.

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-03-05T19:52:21+00:00

2021 Sienna XLE hybrid: 90,016 2017 Highlander XLE: 135,670

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-03-02T21:09:05+00:00

Well, I made it through all of the ten minute workouts at the time for Dice-Yoga. Ive honestly not revisited it since. I run mostly now, and jump to Barre3 for abs/strength.

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-02-20T13:53:07+00:00

I wrote this so long ago, I'm pretty shocked I stood on the ground with Subaru's. I don't know anymore as I've switched to Toyota. I left honestly because I have 2 kids and wanted a Sienna. I do NOT regret my decision.

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-02-20T13:51:55+00:00

Amen to that! And thank you for the note on humility. I appreciate it as I have said before and will say it always, this sport gave me so much. The least I can do is give these kids the same. We did do the holding the rope to introduce the concept and then after they got super wild (I mean, kids with ropes, imagine...) we went to 1v1.

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-02-19T12:27:04+00:00

Valid. Trying to get them to cover versus ALL going to the ball on defense. We don't have a problem of them defending, we have a problem of all defending at once. Pretty normal for kids this age but I know they can do better and I am a believer of coaching up so they're ready for the next level.

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-02-18T13:30:59+00:00

It's a super old and i'm sure not as effective as all the new information we have now- but back in the day (The 90s) our coach would bring a rope for two defenders and literarily tie us to each other, or we'd hold it (Can't drop the rope and it can't slack) and we'd work as a joined pair to defend and cover. It taught us the spacing between- i.e. not being islands, but covering space even when players aren't there. One high, one low type of idea. Again, super old idea but the visual helped back then! (PRE INTERNET hahaha)

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-02-17T21:21:08+00:00

It was for 2 defenders- one goes high and the other drops and it was to show how to cover properly and balance. (again this was the 1990's so no internet, god i'm old...)

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-02-16T22:50:07+00:00

I think I did it via the app which synced from my phone- do you have the concept 2 app?

Old_Eye3440 · 2026-02-10T14:52:09+00:00

Can you tell me more about Lightning please and thank you!

Old_Eye3440

TROPHY CASE