OnDeck
Soccer
 
 
 
 
Volume 10, Issue 5
 
 
 
 
May, 2017
 
 
 
 
Greetings from CoachDeck!

Fall season planning needs to include CoachDeck! No matter how prepared your volunteer coaches are, there are going to be times they need ideas for drills and fun games to help players improve in an enjoyable way. CoachDeck means more coaches return again next season...and more players do too!

In this issue:
Amid all of the new discussion about specialization in youth sports Tony Earp provides a unique point of view you may not have heard. Brian Gotta wonders if our desire to create perfection in children at an early age might backfire. And Craig Sigl is back with another terrific piece all parents of young athletes can relate to.


Please visit our sponsors!  

You've seen them covering cleats everywhere. Get your own set of Hot Spots from Unique Sports! Beat the heat and raise funds at the same time. How? Only from The Chilling Spot. And our friends at Soccer Innovations want you to know the J-Goal is the perfect training tool!
 
 
 
 
 
The New Form of Specialization: The Multi-Sport Athlete
By Tony Earp

There has been a lot of research and articles about the dangers of kids specializing in sports too early in hopes for a future career in the sport or scholarship opportunities down the road...The good news is that it seems parents are taking note and kids are doing other sports or activities throughout the year. The problem is that it seems an important step was skipped. Read Article
 
 
 
 
Building Robots
By Brian Gotta, President of CoachDeck

It is very easy to search the internet and find articles written about over-competitive coaches who ruined the experience for young players and turned them off a sport. But soon, I am concerned, there will be just as many kids who are disenchanted not by hyper-aggressive coaches, but by too much structure at an early age. I read this on a soccer club website::Read Article
 
 
 
 
Failure Q & A
By Craig Sigl

I’ve noticed people can take great offense to the word “failure,” especially in a youth sports context. So, first, let’s define what failure is? Read Article​