Passing and Dribbling Highlights Updated With Music

I have updated the video highlights from the U12 boys game with music and transition screens.

11/29 Scrimmage vs U12 South Boys err Showcase By U12 Boys

Holy cow are our U12 boys a ton of fun to watch.  I was looking forward to playing them again as both the games this fall had been good.  Today the boys put on an absolute show against us.  It was great for us to play them because we have been talking about needing to train at a faster pace and this game was perfect to show us why as the boys absolutely shredded us with their skill and quickness.

I am trying something new with the video that we were able to take this weekend by pulling out all the dribbling highlight and passing highlights from the game and making videos out of them as well as pulling the goals out by themselves.  Let me know which highlights version you like better.  The one with the replays or the one without it.  I am going to try to add music to the clips later.

Here are the dribbling highlights.  The boys pull out some amazing stuff.  

*For best viewing, double click the video while it is playing and watch the highlights in full screen.

11/29 vs U12 Boys Dribbling Highlights with music from Andy Kaasa on Vimeo.

Here are the passing movements that were fun to watch.

 
11/29 Passing from Andy Kaasa on Vimeo.

The boys got on the board first with a goal around the 9th minute when they countered us very quickly.  Good passing and great runs led to the shot.  While the shot should have been saved, the movement deserved a goal.

Boys First Goal from Andy Kaasa on Vimeo.

We were able to tie the game up 10 minutes later when Kenzie flicked on the thrown in into the box where Carly challenged the boys defender for the ball.  The ball came through to Kari, who continued her run into the danger area, and her quick touch was able to sneak past both the goalie and the defender on the line.

U13 Goal from Andy Kaasa on Vimeo.

The boys scored their second goal around the 40th minute mark and it was a thing of beauty.  After winning the ball in the midfield the boys set off on another one of their quick counter attacks.  The scissors were mesmerizing and the pass and finisher were fantastic and a joy to watch.

Boys 2nd Goal from Andy Kaasa on Vimeo.

Despite the show being put on by the boys we were somehow within one goal of them at the end of the game.  Soccer is a cruel game like that depending on your position in the game.  As we approached the final minutes of the games I thought about how this group of girls always finds a way to be close at the end of games even when they have no business being in them.  They always seem to give themselves a chance to get a result.  It is a great characteristic to have and one that will serve us well in the future.  

As we were pushing to tie the game up the boys countered us after blocking a shot in their box with another great full field movement.  Again the dribbling and passing are fun to watch.  How did he get through our 3 defenders with the ball?

Boys 3rd Goal from Andy Kaasa on Vimeo.

 We finished the game on that note.  After the game I talked with the girls about the speed at which the boys play, but they never seemed rushed on the ball.  They are relaxed and skilled.  We didn't use our skill and we were not ready for their quickness because we don't aren't used to this type of pressure on a consistent basis.  The challenge for the girls is going to be to try and create this type of defensive pressure so we will be able to play at the same speed as the boys.

11/24 3v2 With Target Continuous

Today was our day with 1/2 the field so we put it to use right away by going into our 1v0 to 4v4 game.  The key points that we worked on today were
-The target players checking back at angles and combining off of them
-Regrouping and relaxing on the ball if the defenders halt our initial break 

The second point was the main focus because the girls need to recognize when our counter attack is no longer on and we need to keep possession of the ball.  The visual cue that we used for this was when the player on the ball had a defender in front of her and she had lost her momentum.

After talking with Schaefer about the 2v2v2 With Targets Transition Game we decided that there were too many kids standing around in that game at this point of our learning curve.  It was a pretty complex game that the girls were starting to grasp the ideas of but we felt that we could make it better as we learned the principles of transition.  So in order to do that I came up with the following 3v2 Transition game.

-The Blue team starts with the ball in their half and plays the ball into their target player to begin the game.
-As Blue plays the ball into their target player the two blue players from the sideline step on to become the next defenders.

 -The Blue Attackers attempt to score within 5-7 seconds of entering the grid.
Point System 
Getting a shot = 1 point
Shot on goal = 3 points
Goal = 5 points
Bonus points for combinations or criss crossing runs?

-After Blue shoots and a save is made or goal is scored the yellows get a ball from their goalie and play their target player on the other half.
-If the yellows steal the ball they can attack immediately and the Blues cannot defend them
- The Blue who took the shot remains to become the new target player
-The 2 Blues who did not take the shot exit to the half line and wait to become the new Blue defenders
-The 2 yellows who were on the sideline enter on as defenders 

-Yellows not try to score in 5-7 seconds

After they shoot the blues counter the other way and the new blues come on with the yellow who shot staying on as the target and the other 2 yellows leaving to wait and become the new defenders. 

This version of the game worked out very well and the kids were moving non stop with everyone involved and no standing around.

The key points in the game that we focussed on today were:
-When your goalie gets the ball can the 2 defenders get wide immediately to start the counter attack
-Can the 2 transitioning defenders criss cross as they are entering the attacking zone

We finished the day with a 7v7 scrimmage. 

11/23 Optional Finishing Session

We did not have futsol today but I found some dome time at Holy Angels that Mark's 12's and I decided to rent and split.  It was kind of nice just having 1 session today.  (1 if you don't count the U16's session later tonight)

We began the session with some volley work and then we got right into our exercise for the day.

1v1 to 2v2

Set Up:
-2 Teams
-Each team forms 2 lines at the post of the goal they are defending
-Opposite lines have the soccer balls

-To begin the players with the balls pass at the same time to the players across form them and run out to defend the girl that she just passed the ball to.

-These players go 1v1 trying to score on the goal they are attacking 
 

-One a goal is scored or the ball goes out of bounds the game becomes 2v2 as long as the other ball is in play.
(If the goalie makes a save, she rolls the ball out to her teammates and the ball is still in play.) 
 Key Points:
-Vary up what you are doing.  Shoot from distance to set up the fake shot and move in closer
-Set up your moves so you are in a good shooting position
-Use the defender as a screen 

We played games up to 10 goals and I had other activities planned but this was going so well that we ended up doing it for 45 minutes and the girls declined the opportunity to scrimmage 8v8 with the 12's in order to continue playing.