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Shaun Olsen 9/8/2016 at 1:34 PM

PRACTICE REMINDERS - 
 
Last practice before our first game of the season is this weekend.  We'll try and accomplsih a number of things tonight, so please make sure that everyone:
1.  Arrives on Time
2.  Wears a Black Shirt
3.  Brings sufficient water - some have said they've used all of their water within the first half-hour in some practices
4.  Brings their homework from the weekend with them completed with their name on the top - I need that at the start of practice.
 
Practice will largely be Conditioning, Walkthroughs and Simulations of positions (where to be / to / do), a Scrimmage (as much as we can do), and the last 15 minutes will be to go over the homework.
 
I want to avoid anyone being lost on the field, so please arrange to have all on the field on time.
 
Thanks everyone!...sO
Grant McFarden - No Grant tonight.
9/15 at 4:59 PM
Grant McFarden - I am not seeing an address or location on the website. And when do "skills" start?
9/10 at 11:43 AM
Grace Lindsey - Grace won't be there this evening.
9/8 at 5:17 PM
Grant McFarden - No Grant, has baseball game.
9/8 at 4:24 PM
Shaun Olsen 9/1/2016 at 9:39 PM

HOMEWORK FOR THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND
 
I cannot believe there are 10 days until our first game.  Since we'll have a little bit extra time over the weekend, I asked the kids to do two things this weekend:
 
1.  Wherever they go, to bring their soccer ball with them.  It is apparent that many of the kids are taking some time at home to just work with the ball by themselves.
 
2.  To help cover some material that we just do not have enough time to cover in practice, I prepared some 'homework' for the weekend to return at the next practice.  The 'homework' is actually 23 questions solely about what is the proper start or restart of a game after play is stopped for the reason stated in the question.  All of the questions were taken from a Grade 8 USSF Referee exam from 2011 and 2012.  This is to be returned at the next practice - top scorer will have some perks for our first game.
 
With the homework, I would encourage you to work with your player to help them understand the rules.  Also, this is completely open book, so go ahead and use whatever resources you have to help answer the questions.  Speaking of the book, the rule book they should use is the SAY Soccer Laws of the Game (since these rules apply to our SAY league), and you can find a copy at http://www.saysoccer.org/resources/1/Publications/2015WEBRULEBOOK2.pdf
 
There is a lot of stuff there.  Ignore in particular anything about different age groups.  I would suggest focusing in on the following sections:
1.  Law 5 - Referees - Section 4.K. only (on page 20)
2.  Law 8 - Start and Restart of Play (page 24)
2.  Law 9 - Ball in and Out of Play (page 25)
3.  Law 12 - Fouls and Miscounduct (starts on page 28) - You can ignore most of the material beyond sections 1, 2, 3, 4.A-C., 5.A. & 5.B.
4.  Law 13 - Free Kick - Important bits are 1, 2, 3.B., 4.A., 6, 8, and 9 (starts on page 32)
5.  Law 14 - Penalty Kick (starts on page 34) Focus on 1-6 and the grid on page 36
6.  Law 15 - Throw In (page 37)
7.  Law 16 - Goal Kick (page 38) 
8.  Law 17 - Corner Kick (page 39)
 
This is not meant to be hard, difficult, or busy work.  Simply, teams that know the rules have an edge and those who played in the very first 3 on 3 Valpo Parks Soccer Tournament likely remember a team imploded in their first game because they didn't know the rules.  My intent is for your player (and you) to know how and why things are happening so they can move quickly and take advantage of opportunities when the present themselves.  Moreover, if people have trouble with these rules, it makes Offsides difficult to impossible to figure out and that is coming pretty quickly.  Again, use any resource available to you.  
 
We will go over this during the last 15 minutes of practice next week, so if you would like to sit in and listen to the answers and why, I encourage you to do so.
 
Have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone next week!...sO
Shaun Olsen - Three quick tips - (1) The questions are largely designed to get the kids to understand the difference between direct free kicks / penalty kicks / indirect kicks because up to now it was only indirect kicks. (2) One question involves an inadvertent whistle. (3) For penalty kicks, focus on where the infraction occurred which may not be where the ball was at the time of the stoppage. Good luck!...sO
9/2 at 3:09 PM
Shaun Olsen 8/18/2016 at 5:07 PM

PRACTICE TONIGHT
 
2 things:
  • First, if a parent is able to stick around for the first 10-15 minutes of practice tonight so I can go over things with you as a group for the season, that would be great.
  • Second, although it looks as if the T-Storms have passed (at least according to weather.com), it still looks a little iffy.  Please stay close by or in range if things turn for the worst.  If things go bad, we'll go to the shelter or get in cars.
See you soon!...sO
Shaun Olsen 8/17/2016 at 7:54 AM

FALL SEASON SCHEDULE
 
We were placed in the White Division for the Fall, which is the middle division of the middle tier for the 10U teams (the divisions are Gold, Silver, Bronze, Red, White, Blue, Purple, Yellow, Green).
 
Our game schedule (unless it changes) is:
 
AWAY GAMES - All Black Uniforms
9/11 | 2:30p @ Portage Dare Devils
9/18 | 1:15p @ Crown Point Gladiators
10/2 | 1:15p @ Duneland Destroyers
10/23 | 1:15p @ Ogden Dunes Sandstorm
 
HOME GAMES - All Green Uniforms
9/25 | 1:15p v. OD Sandstorm
10/8 | 1:15p v. Duneland Destroyers
10/9 | 2:30p v. Duneland Fire
10/16 | 1:15p v. Portage Dare Devils
 
For now, I've manually added the games to the schedule, but once the schedule is finalized (it may change) and loaded into the system, the system will add those games in (and I'll delete the placeholders).
 
Of the teams in our division, only the OD team was registered as a U10 team least year, who went 4-2-2 in the regular season and lost in the first round of the tournament (to a team we played well against in indoor).
 
See you tonight!...sO
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