We need to confirm our participation in the Icebreaker tournament, as well as the Soccer Fest tournament. Could you kindly let us know whether your son will attend BOTH days of either tournament (a player may NOT attend partially, i.e., a single day). If we have 15+ players we will pay and register.
Could you kindly reply using this form (deadline: this Friday):
Today was a super player's birthday!
You may have to be Brazilian or Argentinean to understand this one.
Hat tip to Maciej.
A fantastic day for soccer and a new earliest soccer day record.
The moon this morning at 6:20AM was exactly where the sun sets on the western sky, creating the illusion of an early morning sunset.
This is the new Maracana Stadium being rebuilt for the final of WC2014 in Rio. There are currently 5,200 workers on site.
A new gym session has been added during March break:
Good news from Alex Chiet, from the OSA.
On February 26, The OSA hosted its annual Coaching Conference in Vaughan. It’s a temptation to always say that the most recent such event was “the best ever”. Those on hand can make that determination for themselves. But it was, at the very least, a great day, with over 400 coaches from all across the province on hand. Rather than make the “best ever” claim—while it hopefully is true — I will focus instead on the excellence and the impact of the sessions delivered by our outstanding guest presenters.
These world-class speakers each delivered timely presentations on the most important opportunity in front of The OSA right now: the effective implementation of Long-Term Player Development (LTPD), which we are in the process of phasing-in.
Dr. David Carr, National Staff Coach for the U.S. Soccer Federation and a renowned educator at Ohio University, conducted a Fundamentals session. Ritchie Wilson, longtime Coach Educator with the Scottish Football Association, delivered a Learning to Train session. Ray Clark, the Canadian Soccer Association’s Director of Coaching, worked with players in the Soccer for Life development stage.
Importantly, these experts, well-respected leaders in the field, re-affirmed that the direction we have embarked upon at The OSA is indeed the appropriate (and much needed) one for our young players across every part of the province. So we are thrilled that the Conference was another key step in educating our membership—and so many of our influential coaches—around the attitude and culture shift we are in the midst of in Ontario soccer.
While, as I’ve remarked previously, we may not be moving quickly enough for some, we are already seeing positive “movement” as more and more Districts and Clubs embrace a player-centered, development stage-specific approach to working with our young players. Importantly, this is being reinforced in our new Physical Literacy Coaching courses, starting with the Active Starts stage at U4, progressing through FUNdamentals, Learning to Train and Soccer for Life. Our hope now is that, armed with the great information provided this past weekend, the hundreds of coaches who were on hand will become LTPD champions and influence and inspire fellow coaches all across the province to work closely with their players—with LTPD values always in mind.
I can add that, in the months to come, we will be sharing with you more information about our progress around the new player pathway and competitive structure. These improvements will enhance the way we deliver the soccer experience, and ensure that, for both our recreational players and those striving for a future in the game, they—and their families—will soon be able to see and experience a clear, unified player pathway that will a) help identify more players for high-level play, and b) also provide a great soccer opportunity for all—for life.
On that note, it was great to see that the OSA Board voted this past weekend to affirm its ongoing support for staff’s efforts around LTPD implementation, with regard to continued progress in future competitive structure planning.
I should mention as well that on Saturday, February 25, our Club Head coaches’ workshop was extremely well received, with over 100 coaches and Technical Directors in attendance from across Ontario.
We also want to remind coaches at all of our Districts and Clubs, if you haven’t already done so, to register now for the new Active Start, FUNdamentals, Learn to Train and Soccer for Life workshops. Information should be available at your local Club or District or on the OSA Website.
Thank you for your continued support.
Regards,
Alex Chiet Mark Marshall
Technical Director Manager of Coach Development
Messi's signature move just takes some practice:
Ronaldinho playing futsal:
The fabulous boys played an amazing 1st half in the 1st match, holding off the Hurricanes to a 0-0 draw. They were 100% focused. They showed once again, that when they are fully focused and play hard they can take on any team. It brought back many memories from last summer.
This is a video from the goalkeeper training session last Friday. Martin F., club head coach, was really good.
Sprint training begins tomorrow Saturday March 3rd.
Well, this certainly does not occur in our team's practices! More than 75 per cent of children in organized sports such as baseball or soccer do not reach the U.S. government's recommended amount of physical activity during their practices.
Active Healthy Kids Canada recommends children older than five get at least 90 mins a dat — through play, games, recreation and active transportation like cycling.
A U.S. study shows that under 10% do!
"National guidelines in the U.S. recommend that children and teens perform 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day, but fewer than half of children and 10 per cent of teens meet these guidelines.
The study in Monday's issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine looked at 200 youth age seven to 14 in the U.S. who played on soccer, baseball or softball teams.
The athletes wore accelerometers — sensors that measure physical activity — around their waists during practices. Parents filled out surveys with information about the demographics of the family as well as details about the children's ages, racial and ethnic background, height and Players spent an average of 30 minutes being inactive during each practice, researchers found. weight.Players spent an average of 30 minutes being inactive during each practice, researchers found.
Overall, only 24 per cent of participants met the 60-minute physical activity recommendation during practice, with rates differing by sport and age group.
"There clearly are opportunities to increase physical activity in youth sports," the Desiree Leek of San Diego State University and University of California and co-authors wrote.
"Based on current findings, it appears that youth sports practices are making a less-than-optimal contribution to the public health goals of increasing physical activity and preventing childhood obesity."
Fewer than 10 per cent of participants age 11 to 14 years and fewer than two per cent of girl softball players reached the guideline.
The players spent an average of 30 minutes being inactive during each practice, which ranged in length from 40 to 130 minutes for soccer and 35 to 217 minutes for baseball or softball.
Increasing activity
"There clearly are opportunities to increase physical activity in youth sports," Desiree Leek of San Diego State University and the University of California and co-authors wrote.
"Based on current findings, it appears that youth sports practices are making a less-than-optimal contribution to the public health goals of increasing physical activity and preventing childhood obesity."
During soccer practices, the participants gained 44 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity compared with 41 minutes for baseball and softball practices.
Girls got less of this type of physical activity than boys during sports practices.
The researchers suggested several ways to increase physical activity during practices, including:
The annual OSA coaching conference will be held this Friday and Saturday at Ben Franklin. This is a great event for soccer enthusiasts. Registration is free. TheU13 coaches plan on attending Saturday afternoon after our morning practice.
Schedule
Registration
On-field presenters this year are : Ray Clark, CSA Director of Coaching and Player Development; Mark Marshall, OSA Manager of Coaching Development; and Stuart Neely Head of Player Management and Advancement with Vancouver Whitecaps FC. OSA Chief Technical Officer Alex Chiet will be on hand to provide an update on OSA's ongoing implementation of the Long Term Player Development model.
