Monday 28 April 2014

Open Tryouts for Marpole Inter Milan boys team - U13 Gold (2002 or 2003 born)

The Marpole Inter Milan team will be having open tryouts for the 2014-15 Season in May 2014.

This team under coach Geoffrey Hansen has won 4 tournaments in the last 3 years and has graduated a number of players to BC Premier League and Metro Select League level. Coach Hansen has close to 20 former players playing at these top levels.

A large number of spots are open for the U13 Gold team for next year, so a number of sessions with occur in May. There will be two training/evaluation sessions to help us identify the right players for this team.

  • session 1: May 24, Oak Park 10am
  • session 2: May 31, Oak Park 10am

The players on this team will learn a European style of soccer. The coach will focus on developing smart soccer players that will know how to work together in both attacking and defending.

Spring soccer and a comprehensive pre-season training program make this team a great opportunity for top silver players to raise their level of play to gold level before the fall season.

The coach is looking for players who love playing soccer and are willing to learn. Multi-sport athletes are welcome.

There is no fee for the sessions, simply fill out the form below to be considered for the team.


Tuesday 17 September 2013

Dribbling Skills Examples


Lionel Messi Dribbling Skills

Lionel Messi provides an excellent example of efficient yet effective dribbling technique. He is not overly fancy.

This first clip highlights how his balance, touch and quickness allow him to retain possession even under lots of defensive pressure.


Look closely how his arms are used to keep balance and how the ball is always moving.

This next clip features an interview with Lionel Messi.


He explains how he watches the defender closely to determine what to do …Lionel Messi rarely uses moves other than body fakes. He is the master of slight changes in direction at very quick speed. He always keeps the ball moving and accelerates into a position where his body is between defending player and the ball.

This last video of Lionel Messi show how he makes it simple, but fast. When they show him in slow motion, his feet still move very fast!


Possession Passing Examples


10 passes to goal by Arsenal





Look how they play out of back, then through central midfield and then the variety of angled runs on attack. 

28 passes to goal by Arsenal




Watch how Arsenal moves the ball until the right opportunity opens up -- they do not force the play, they show patience.

Barcelona's Tika Taka Passing Style



Analysis of Barcelona's Passing Style




Sunday 15 September 2013

Warm Up Exercises

From the FIFA 11+, we do the first 6 exercises as one of our standard warm up routines:







Monday 2 September 2013

Wesburn 2013 Labour Day Weekend Tournament

The boys were not able to retain their championship title, but still had 4 great games and great opportunities to learn and develop.

Here is a photo of the tournament team:



Good luck for the Fall season boys!

Friday 30 August 2013

Ball Mastery Drills

Good touch and control of the ball is an essential foundation for developing great individual attacking skill.

Here are some drills that improve basic touch and control of the soccer ball. These drills are the ones recommended by the Coerver Academy (founded in the Netherlands) with famous players like Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich player) as academy graduates.


Using these drills, here is a daily routine that can be followed that will improve your control of the soccer ball.


Player's Checklist

To prepare for game or practice, here is what the player should wear and bring in his backpack:



For games:

WEAR:
  • Full Uniform (Blue top and shorts, Blue socks)
  • Shin Pads
  • Cleats (if have both turf and grass cleats, know what surface we play on, or bring both)
BACKPACK
  • Water Bottle
  • Alternate Jerseys (Black HSBC Marpole, White Marpole)
Either wear or bring along :
  • Training Top
  • Rain Jacket (weather dependent)
  • Gloves (weather dependent)
  • Toque (weather dependent)
For Goalkeepers:
  • Goalkeeper gloves
  • Goalkeeper Shirt

For practice:

WEAR:
  • Striped Training Jersey (the light blue one was just for spring/summer)
    • (training top and/or underlayers if weather is cold)
  • Shorts or Training Pants
  • Shin Pads
  • Cleats
BACKPACK
  • Running Shoes (we may begin warm ups in non-cleated shoes on concrete)
  • Water Bottle
  • Alternate Training Jersey (Light Blue)
Either wear or bring along :
  • Training Top
  • Rain Jacket (weather dependent)
  • Gloves (weather dependent)
  • Toque (weather dependent)