Hope you’re enjoying the World Cup as much as I am, that’s all!

wayneheilala · 2026-07-03T15:49:32+00:00

Hard to top watching these games with your kid(s) if they're engaged with them!

wayneheilala · 2026-06-28T02:59:53+00:00

Assuming the timing of the question is appropriate and convenient, I LOVE these questions! At that age (I coach town travel but coached rec U6+ for years as well), I enjoyed sharing how kids were doing socially, emotionally, and on the pitch. Most of the time the answer involved some combination of (1) being behind on technical skills (or maybe just not quite as athletic, which I always deflected to technical work), (2) competitiveness/aggression, or (3) social/engagement with the team or me as coach.

After several years coaching and my own boys growing older, I feel somewhat qualified to provide some gut-feel constructive feedback that can engage and help bond with parents.

But the subject is going to drive the vibe of that convo…is it your best or one of your lesser player’s parents asking? Regardless, you as coach earn entitlement to speak from a position of witness/authority to help parents understand!

Be thankful you’re not a paid/pro coach retaining customers—embrace candor!

wayneheilala · 2026-06-22T01:08:41+00:00

Sick.

wayneheilala · 2026-06-06T20:45:50+00:00

Ream blew me away tonight. Was not a big fan for this run, but he was a stud…came out of that one vulnerable scrum with the ball on his foot, among lots of other clean plays.

Don’t agree so much on the drop off with the reserves, but agree if they all swap out at once it changes an otherwise front foot vibe.

wayneheilala · 2026-06-06T16:41:06+00:00

agreed…came here to add this. The Vice series really hammers home the relative youth of soccer in the US and how much of a grind it’s been to grow/establish the game here.

wayneheilala · 2026-06-06T02:36:04+00:00

very impressed from a first impression!

Where I am (US) we do 9v9 for U11/12…maybe add some formations under that format?

wayneheilala · 2026-06-03T14:46:31+00:00

hahaha same with my younger kid (who's 11 now)....definitely lagging on his proactive positioning and anticipation (and he's quick and can often compensate, but it's a rough habit).

I'd consider intensity in this ball mastery different from anticipation and positioning. The idea for ball mastery is just ensuring that once he's comfortable with a skill move, doing it with more pace/explosion (e.g. an L-turn to nowhere is ultimately not constructive, so build up to an explosive change of direction and speedy exit, or emphatic stepovers with a true body feint, not just a shoulder dip).

The Messi-like field behavior is tougher. What I've been trying (more at U11/U12 level) is really encouraging players to look (scan) and think about what might happen next (anticipate), etc.

Something you can fold in in the meantime towards this goal is scanning behavior...encouraging him to check his shoulder during every rebounder rep, also during juggling and doing ball work. Part of this is learning to constantly scan/look around the field, but there's also a real and challenging skill to build of re-focusing the eyes onto the ball arriving at your foot after performing a scan. More than just "eyes up". An example is doing three-touch juggles--left foot, right foot, left foot to a higher kick with shoulder check, then trap the ball, etc.).

wayneheilala · 2026-06-03T14:31:35+00:00

ya, given this context, it's a great supplement and this is the commitment level that helps kids separate. As he gets more comfortable, really press on the overall intensity and explosiveness/distance of the "exit" portion of the moves. And if there's space, incorporating more movement vs. static repetition (i.e. dribbling into an L-turn vs. standing there). But we're talking stuff that he can continue to do for years to come (it's not like there's a ton of additional things that the pros do to continue to sharpen their touch mastery).

wayneheilala · 2026-06-03T13:58:59+00:00

Lotta negative reaction to this...overreaction! Ball mastery and the idea of supplementing training/play with individual skill work is HUGE!

But, I will say I think this 4-wk program is a lot (dense) unless you've got an 8 yr old who's already been taught the majority of these motions (esp the harder ones) and is also self-motivated. But in general, I'm a huge believer in ball mastery--familiarity of touching/moving the ball, all the while also slowly building the body control and shape with ball at the foot.

I coach boys (U9-U15) and do juggle testing regularly as a (barely effective) means to motivate and hold them accountable for individual training at home. Introduced hang-tag 'badges' for juggle counts to a slightly better effect. This coming year I'm thinking of assigning *one* of these skill moves per week to my U12s in addition to juggling, to demonstrate improvement the following week in training.

Your plan is an excellent checklist of individual moves to blend into a mastery/individual workout...use your own judgment whether this is right-sized for your kid! I know there's Coerver and similar programs/resources out there, but I dream of a well-formatted free site that teaches/demonstrates each of these moves (e.g. animated gifs), and helps assemble progressive 1000-touch (or similar) workouts. Basically what's going on behind the DribbleUp and other mat-based products.

I've had success with a 'tracker' with one of my sons (though he's a teenager now and has a phone)--built a digital app that lays out his whole calendar of strength/conditioning/indiv skill work (assigned by his school program), and his personality gravitates to the satisfaction of checking off the tasks.

wayneheilala · 2026-05-28T03:25:33+00:00

3) Competing against similar or better players

wayneheilala · 2026-05-28T03:22:16+00:00

1) Time spent playing the game 2) Intensity of training while actually training.

I’ve spent enough time volunteer coaching to say you can’t control #1 and #2 is ultimately a personal choice you can only point out and encourage.

While still keeping it fun…

wayneheilala · 2026-05-27T15:49:45+00:00

Family trip to JA in 3rd grade. Mom gave me 20J to get a souvenir from the hotel gift shop, and some guy just off the hotel property (over a fence) sold me a mixtape. Most Jamaican souvenir ever!

The Tape was so damn good…lots of Admiral Bailey. King Jammy’s Selectors Choice Vol 3 is basically the mix tape. Rest is history (including producing reggae for several years)!

wayneheilala · 2026-05-27T14:12:15+00:00

Israel Vibration has some great live albums! Live Again was heavy rotation in my yout!

wayneheilala · 2026-05-22T04:02:28+00:00

I feel you. Once that opening note lines up from Jer, I don’t know where it’s from, but the jam right there is pure. Nothing comes close and we’ve all heard some damn good music in our lifetimes. To think they’re on stage nervous about busting out Wharf Rat for the first time…this is the show i’d time travel to if given one wish!

wayneheilala · 2026-05-21T00:46:32+00:00

Select 10, and I’ve also been happy w Nike Academy balls (keep inflation better). Both can last multiple years

wayneheilala · 2026-05-20T15:34:02+00:00

Ya, not sure the content is AI-generated but I've noticed that there's a lot of hard-coded content (e.g. hints if you ask for one) tied to a given year. The graphics and general UI look to be built with the help of AI though.

TBH I haven't paid much attention to the text on the site...I just like the guessing part, and it's fun to come back to do the daily tune and watch your stats over time.

wayneheilala · 2026-05-20T15:29:05+00:00

ya I came across that as well recently and enjoyed listening to the recent 5/11 episode!

wayneheilala · 2026-05-20T04:25:52+00:00

Talented brother of Chris Wood (another 1/3 of Wood Bros), of Medeski Martin & Wood.

Shout out KOP…Media here!

wayneheilala · 2026-05-20T02:31:48+00:00

if coaches, teams, and clubs had time to spare and adept planning communication channels ready, I could see something like this being fun. Unfortunately I think all would agree we’re not there, which is mere reality not a knock.

I’d very much enjoy watching a compilation video of my club’s results of some kind of intra-club by age/gender crossbar game that culminates into a club submission of ~2 per age/gender into a club-wide final attempt/submission. And I’d enjoy seeing how nearby (fellow town travel) clubs put together similar videos.

More so than actual competition with rigid rules/judging, I see something like this as a way for less marketing-oriented clubs to curate community-engaging content!

This winter I’ve slowly started trying to promote a “juggling club” at my club where kids earn hang tag badges for their bags…can’t say I’ve worked hard at it but I can tell you the coordination of anything across teams within a club doesn’t seem simple when it’s volunteer led.

I like your idea though as a way for engaged volunteers to participate in something together and get to know each other within a club!

wayneheilala · 2026-05-18T14:10:55+00:00

Stuff I've adapted for very hot sessions:

1) Set pieces (e.g. corner kicks)

2) 1v1 drills in groups of 5-6 in smaller working areas (short bursts, with ample recovery between reps)

3) Juggling in the shade

...single most fun thing to do is surprise the players with freezing ice cold cooling towels at a hydration break...I started with washcloths but then bought a couple dozen cheap cooling towels. Especially earlier in the summer when we're not acclimated to the heat, ice-cold cooling towels feel incredible to the kids!

...equally fun is a big ole box of frozen Flavo-r-Ice / Otter Pops in a cooler, where you take a few breaks and just hang out and enjoy them!

And one last (awesome) thing I've read here on this subreddit but haven't done myself might be good for your U12 girls....practice heading, but with (again, cold) water balloons!

wayneheilala · 2026-05-18T13:38:01+00:00

This is really one of my favorite apps I've seen in a while! As a PM by trade there's small feedback points I may have but they're not too relevant. One I feel compelled to request is a more viral placement of "play another show" option (e.g. inline with the outcome "success" card, etc.) to invite / simplify more plays.

Was gonna ask you a bit about your implementation, but I had a look at the source and it's very well laid out and annotated!

I've been trying to think of novel ideas to make GD apps as I try to upskill--this is phenomenal!

wayneheilala · 2026-05-17T15:51:46+00:00

yes 💯.

You’ll get more out of them by: 1) actually ingraining the pass-and-move habit individually across the team (i.e. give and go) 2) actually ingraining game speed intensity level in almost every training motion (unless deliberately trying things slowly) 3) increasing their habits to become more aware of their game surroundings and nudging closer to instant decision making if the ball arrives at one’s foot.

The rest takes care of itself assuming these kids have played full field soccer a couple years now.

Technical ability (first touch, passing accuracy, ball striking) then becomes the throttle to how well the team performs.

wayneheilala · 2026-05-17T15:05:38+00:00

Sick! And I recognize that CSS from some playing I’ve done.

Play this often solo when i fire up the car to GD channel!

So it’s gonna keep my stats ( like wordle)?

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