Koaching Tip # 7 - Quality Playtime

I was born in 1936 and I have very fond memories of my first soccer club. There were no official sign on days but you could always get a game if you turned up after school and again after tea. Tea was important. It was the only meal on school days where we all sat down with mum. As I said, there were no sign on days – just turn up at the nearest lamp post and you’d find a game in progress. If the street was deserted because you’d wolfed your tea down you went door knocking. “Hello Mrs Thistlethwaite, can Jimmy come out to play?”. The answers were varied but had a similar theme. “He hasn’t had his tea yet”. “Not until he’s finished his tea”, or the threatening “Don’t you know it’s tea time”.

Eventually the game would get under way and we picked sides. No grading; from toddlers to teenagers all playing together. Occasionally a grown up arriving home late from work would walk through the game and take a kick at the ball. Now this was always a special moment because most of the able bodied menfolk were away at the war, so we were not used to seeing them at play. We’d smile and yell encouragement and demand that they played for our team. Alas, they never stayed. Always hurrying home for tea.

We never saw the mums either. But we heard them. “Jimmy, bed time” came the shrill cry, or “Johnny, get in here if you don’t want your ears boxed”. Ears were nearly as important as tea. Mums boxed them. Teachers pulled them. As a matter of fact mums were obsessive about ears. “Don’t forget to wash behind your ears”. How often I've heard that. But mum was right because teachers always started the day by checking your hands and ears. Didn't seem to matter about the rest! Perhaps they knew that bath night was after tea on Fridays!

But I digress. The dreaded bedtime calls slowly reduced the teams until the dusk grudgingly gave way to dark. Not that the dark was a problem. We had our own floodlights in the shape of street gas lamps. Many a night we’d play in that small circle of light, shooting at the goal chalked on the wall. Finally we’d be too tired to play on, or the air raid siren would send us scurrying to the safety of our beds to dream of Wembley and scoring the winning goal. Yes, I loved my first soccer club.
Today’s soccer clubs may have better amenities but they provide the same opportunities for children to play, learn and dream. Many of the coaching exercises of today have their genesis in the games of my childhood. The wall pass is a good example. When faced by a defender we would kick the ball against the wall so that it rebounded at an angle behind the defender and run past him to collect the rebound. Nowadays a teammate is used for the rebound pass during practice instead of a wall.
As parents, we’ll probably never know which memories our children will retain. I have very few of playing with mine. Not that it was their fault. There was the war and the 48 hour working week which included Saturday morning. Quality (play) time was unheard of. We didn’t have a car so the neighbourhood streets were our main playground. Our terraced and semi-detached houses had little or no garden and all the spare ground was used to grow vegetables for the war effort. We dreamed and imagined ourselves having all manner of exciting adventures. Mine centred on football (soccer to you) and cricket. If I wasn't scoring the winning goal in the Wembley cup final, I was hitting a four for England to retain the ashes (Ed note. The fact Keith uses the phrase ’retain the ashes’ confirms the year of birth previously stated).

To develop a creative mind you need to dream. Exploring the limits of the imagination in the dreams of childhood, provides exercise for creative talents. The sporting arena allows the child to dream the wholesome dreams of success. The dream of being a wholesome hero. That’s why I think your local sports clubs are so important.
The changes we’ve made to the coaching set up this season are designed to allow all parents to join in the training sessions (quality play time). It also occurs to me that most Australian families play backyard cricket, but soccer is a lesser part of our play time culture. Let’s redress the balance with a few ideas on soccer games you can enjoy with your sons and daughters at home.

Watch out for the snake:

Take the garden hose or a long rope and lay it on the ground as shown below;

See if you can dribble inside the pathway without touching the Snake. Try different types of turns when you get to each end. See if you can do better than Mum or Dad. Make the pathway wider if it’s too hard, or narrower as you improve.

Penalty shoot out:
Take shots at a target. 5 shots each to see who wins. If scores are equal after 5 shots, the first one to miss is out. Make the target smaller as you improve.

Heading for success: (only for players 8 years and over)
Place a bucket on the ground. Throw the ball for yourself and try to head it into the bucket. If at first you don’t succeed, get a bigger bucket!!

Soccer tennis:
Make a net with rope or some cardboard boxes. Mark an oblong court with whatever comes to mind (use your imagination). The game starts with a serve by one player bouncing the ball and kicking it gently over the ‘net’. The receiver may allow the ball to bounce once, and must then return the ball over the net with any part of the body except the hands and arms. Points can be scored on every play or only on serve. A player can juggle the ball as many times as s/he likes before returning it over the net, so long as it doesn't touch the ground more than once. This game can be played as singles, doubles, trebles, etc.
To begin with you might allow two or three bounces until your skill improves.

Happy Playtime. Keith The Koach, March 2001