SOCCER CLUB COACHES NEWSLETTER
Volume 3, Issue 9, October 2014
A Message from the Technical Director
The fall ’14 season is quickly coming to a close. In this issue you will find our teams’ current standings in their respective leagues. There are some bright spots and for sure there are areas that need improvement. Here’s to wishing everyone a strong finish to the fall season.
October means playoff games for the boys’ high school teams. Hardy Kalisher’s Boulder Panthers and Rob Johnson’s Niwot Cougars won their respective leagues and will receive high seeds going into the playoffs season. Boulder and Fairview finished 1 and 2 in the tough 5A Front Range League., which is a great testament to all our FCB players on those rosters! Several other Boulder County schools seem to be peaking at the right time, so it could be an interesting run.
In this issue you’ll find an article on the pre-game warm up. What should be a relatively simple and straightforward routine that gets players ready physically, mentally and emotionally, more often than not becomes an exercise that is not conducive to peak performance.
I found a super article by one of my favorite authors Dan Abrams on‘Developing a Match Script’. As Yogi Berra so famously stated: “Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical”. And so it is in soccer as well… Are you as a coach, deliberately training your athletes’ mental part of the game? If not, then please read Dan’s article.
James Wagenschutz’ article on concussion management is a timely reminder for all of us.
Coaches, thanks for participating in the stats page. In this issue you will find the top 5 players in each category, however, you can find a complete listing on the FCB4Me page.
Coaches, also a big thank you for participating in the FCB Coaching Workshop series. For this fall season, we have one classroom session remaining on Monday November 3 from 7:30-9 PM at the FCB office.
On Saturday October 25th FCB will host the Second Annual Funino Festival at Foothills Community Park. This is a fun day of soccer related activities and games. Please check our website for further details.
Specifics for the complete FCB winter training program will come out shortly, and remember, the FCB futsal facility will open in the new year.
Finally, a more detailed look at our 60 FCB alumni who are currently playing at the collegiate level.
Thanks for all you do. All the best in these remaining weeks of the fall season
The Pre-Game Warm Up
The purpose of the pre-game warm up is to get your players physically, mentally and emotionally ready to play the game. In my opinion it is important to create consistency in your warm up. The pre-game warm up is NOT the time and place to introduce a new exercise or drill, no matter how good an exercise it might be. Your players should be familiar with the warm up routine and this routine should be rehearsed during one of your practices.
The following progression has worked well for me:
60-45 minutes prior game time – Players arrive to the field.
45-40 minutes prior to game time – We come together as a group, check in with your players and briefly discuss the upcoming game and get everyone’s mind focused.
40-30 minutes prior to game time – Dynamic movement, light jogging, individualized stretching and overall movement without the ball.
30 minutes prior to game time – A quick drink and we get right into a passing and dribbling activity in which there is lots of movement, lots of touches on the ball and players need to have their head up and see as much of the field as possible. At this point, my keeper will go off with either an assistant coach or another player to go through the keeper specific warm up.
25 minutes prior to game time – An activity in which the players are checking to the ball and performing different skills (pass, volley, head). Lots of change of pace and change of direction.
20 minutes prior to game time – A possession game (even #s + 2 neutral players) which progresses as follows: 3 minutes of unlimited touch. 3 minutes of 1 and 2-touch. 3 minutes of unlimited touch, in which you count consecutive 1-touch passes. Each sequence becomes more demanding technically and tactically. Some coaches like to do this in a small space where everything happens very quickly and where there are opportunities to create ‘contact’ situations. I prefer to give the players a bit more space so that they can experience success.
10 minutes prior to game time – If possible, a brief finishing activity with lots of movement and shots on goal. If a finishing exercise is not possible, then I have the players pair up and hit long balls back and forth.
5 minutes prior to game time – Quick drink, announce line-up, some final instructions, take a deep breath and let’s have some fun!
In my opinion, it is so important that players go into a game feeling confident, positive and in a good frame of mind. The warm up is not the time nor place to criticize nor over-coach your players.
A great warm up is not a guarantee that your players will always play great. I think we have all seen the lousy warm up followed by a great game, and an awesome warm up followed by a lousy game. However, if you can create consistency and predictability in your warm up, then your players will settle into a routine and will start taking pride in their pre-game warm up. I believe that consistency in your pre-game warm up will lead to consistency in the players’ game performance.
Good luck!
Concussion Management- FC Boulder’s Protocol
By: James Wagenschutz
At some point in our coaching career we have all faced an injury among our players. Let’s remember it’s their injury, not yours, and their level of interpretation of how painful or the restricted motions they demonstrate are unique to that individual. In other words, not every injury can be treated the same based upon the individuality of each person. This is especially true when it comes to concussions. With information being presented daily on the internet and in the news about concussions, lawsuits, long term negative side effects, I think it can be safe to say that we don’t have all the answers in how to recognize, treat and care for an athlete who suffered a concussion.
There are several mechanisms for a concussion, which are not always obvious. Perhaps someone fell really hard on their low back and their head went through a whiplash. There are, however, some acute management things recommended to do if a player presents the mechanisms for a concussion during a training or game:
If the mechanism for a concussion is present, then RECOGNIZE AND REMOVE at the field and follow these steps:
1)Remove the athlete from play. Use the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Pocket RecognitionTool (see below) - to help recognize a concussion. Athletes who experience signs or symptoms of a concussion should not be allowed to return to play in that training/game or subsequent game until they have been evaluated by a qualified/licensed health care professional who is trained in the evaluation and management of concussions.
2)Ensure the athlete is evaluated by a qualified/licensed health care professional who is trained in the evaluation and management of concussions. Do not try to judge the severity of the injury yourself. Health care professionals have a number of different methods they can use to assess the severity of a concussion. Notify the appropriate FC Boulder Director of Competitive Programs who can assist in acquiring an appropriate and qualified health care evaluation.
3)Immediately inform the athletes’ parent(s) or guardian(s) about the known or possible concussion. Be clear in your communication that the athlete must sit out and recommend that they be seen by a qualified health care professional.
4)This written notice MUST include information stating the athlete has undergone a recommended Graded Return to Play Protocol- or is cleared to begin aGraded Return to Play as dictated by U.S. Soccer or other proper authority.
NOTE: Any player medically diagnosed with a concussion (which can only happen in a clinical setting), not matter the severity, MUST provide a written medical clearance to their team coach from the attending qualified/licensed health care professional who is trained in the evaluation and management of concussion before return to any activity with FC Boulder, inclusive of instructions on whether they have completed or ready to begin the Graded Return to Play Protocol.
Should you have any questions or concerns or do not have access to medical care, contact James Wagenschutz, Director of Athletic Performance at
For more detailed information on concussions, please visit:
Developing a Match Script
By Dan Abrahams
The soccer player must play in a bubble.
Not one that isolates her from her teammates or the opposition, but one that enables her to detach from the plays or thoughts that lessen her confidence, damage her focus or waylays her intensity of performance. In other words she needs a mental structure – a series of friendly thoughts to focus on or to return to if her mind wanders.
This is a simple idea but devilishly difficult to execute. This is where the idea of a ‘Match Script’ comes in. A Match Script helps a soccer player to rest her mind on herself and in the present moment.
Your script is two or three plays you want to execute during the game that are plays you can control and are related to your role and responsibilities and your mindset.
Let me give you some examples:
- Non-stop movement.
- Win my headers; time jumps.
- Push winger on the outside at all times.
- Work hard – box-to-box.
- Talk to myself confidently at all times.
- Focus on me.
- Be strong in every challenge.
- Be dominant on a crossing ball.
I can’t emphasize enough the importance of the two characteristics of the plays that make up your script. They must be things that you can control. This means they must relate to you as you are the only person you can completely control. If you look at the list above you can control all of those plays. The second characteristic is just as important – plays must be related to your role and responsibility, or to your mindset. Again, these are things you can control.
A ‘Match Script’ is my rod and staff as a soccer psychologist. It is a non-negotiable process I go through with all my clients to help them deliver consistency on match day. I know if they enter the game with a couple of controllable, tangible plays engraved in the front of their mind they give themselves the best chance to deliver a great performance.
For a game on Saturday, we’ll set a Match Script on Tuesday. This gives the player several days to process, picture and progress the script. Using a training session to multiply reinforcement links practice to the game – the blueprint can then be executed on match day.
A Match Script lends towards playing ‘in the zone.’
Many of the coaches I talk with about the script refer to the concept of the ‘zone.’ They point out that a feature of this well talked about mental state is a clear, uncluttered mind. They argue that a soccer player should play without any thoughts running through their head.
I, too, believe that the brain and nervous system work best when a soccer player is merely playing and reacting instinctively to the challenges that unfold. Being intuitive, automatic and reflexive is a mindset and way of playing that all soccer players should adhere to.
But to me the researchers who study ‘the zone’ are not saying that there should be no thought. Simply there should be less thought. No one will ever know the exact amount of thought required to be ‘zone-like.’ What I do know is that players who set foot on the field with a match script have something to focus their mind on, as well as something to take their mind away from the things they can’tcontrol. And they have tangible, controllable things to come back to when they get distracted.
Positive Coaching Alliance
The ELM Tree of Mastery – cont’d
Make Effort Goals a Part of Your Team Culture
Effort goals are more under a player’s control than outcome goals. Effort goals motivate because players can control their effort and see their progress. Here are a few examples of Effort Goals:
-Sprint after all 50/50 balls
-Everyone makes a positive comment to a teammate in each training session and during each game.
-When possession is lost, immediately recover all ten players behind the ball.
-When attacking, all ten field players are in the opponent’s half.
If you are coaching a team that is not very talented, effort goals can keep your team from getting discouraged.
Effort goals are also useful for talented teams when winning easily. If a team has put the game away early, have players focus on using their weak feet, or playing new positions.
Effort goals are even more powerful when players set their own.
Improve Performance with Stretch Goals
A stretch goal is something you can’t do right away, so a stretch is required. Stretch goals go a little beyond what people think they can do, but are reachable with effort over time.
Maximize Effort by Rewarding Unsuccessful Effort
All coaches reward players who make the play. It sounds crazy, but to maximize team effort, reward players who try hard but fail to make the play.
This tool can transform your own negativity when a player fails to make a play. A coach who understands the power of this tool for building a team of gritty, relentless players will be less disappointed at failure because he will see it as an ideal teachable moment to strengthen his team’s habit of effort.
Get Things Done with Targeted Symbolic Rewards
What gets rewarded gets done. What the coach gives attention to gets done because a coach’s attention is rewarding to players.
After games, recognize players who worked hard or completed unsung activities.
The Athlete’s Emotional Tank
A pervasive image from professional sports on television is a coach yelling at a player who failed to make a play or do what the coach wanted. While this is often regarded as toughness on the part of the coach, I think it generally is a lack of discipline that undermines a coach’s ability to get the best from players.
Each person has an “Emotional Tank” like the gas tank in a car. If your gas tank is empty, you are not going to go very far.
Coaches who yell and demean players drain their Emotional Tank. When E-Tanks are low, an athlete will not perform as well.
When E-Tanks are full, players are more coachable. Coaches who regularly fill their players E-Tanks provide their team with the equivalent of a portable home team advantage. It’s as if they played all their games at home in front of a huge supportive crowd. To be cont’d.
The High School Page
(Most recent games)
Alexander Dawson7-7-1
Beth Eden0-1
Denver S&T1-4
Liberty Common2-3
Ridge View5-0
Heritage Christian1-0
Union Colony5-0
Denver Christian0-1
Community Christian1-0
Boulder11-1-3
Fossil Ridge3-1
Rocky Mountain3-0
Broomfield2-1
Mountain Range1-0
Legacy4-0
Horizon1-0
Monarch3-0
Fort Collins4-0
Broomfield8-4-3
Fossil Ridge0-0
Boulder1-2
Loveland 4-3
Horizon2-3
Rocky Mountain2-1
Fort Collins0-0
Poudre1-2
Monarch2-1
Centaurus11-3-1
Greeley West3-2
Alameda4-2
Mountain View9-1
Northridge1-0
Thompson Valley2-1
Greeley Central1-2
Longmont2-1
D’Evelyn3-0
Fairview10-5-0
Poudre3-2
Cherry Creek2-4
Fort Collins2-0
Horizon1-0
Mountain Range3-2
Monarch1-0
Legacy5-1
Fossil Ridge3-1
Monarch6-4-4
Mountain Range4-0
Loveland 3-3
Fossil Ridge2-0
Legacy1-1
Horizon0-0
Fairview0-1
Boulder0-3
Broomfield1-2
Niwot13-1-1
Mead4-1
Centaurus1-0
Longmont4-0
Silver Creek3-0
Greeley West4-3
Skyline1-0
Northridge6-0
Greeley Central3-2
Longmont5-10-0
Greeley Central3-4
Niwot0-4
Thompson Valley1-0
Silver Creek0-3
Mountain View5-0
Northridge0-3
Centaurus1-2
Greeley West3-2
Peak to Peak7-8-0
Bruce Randolph0-3
Skyview4-2
Faith Christian0-1
Lutheran10-0
Colorado Academy1-2
Manual5-1
Jefferson Academy2-1
Kent Denver1-3
Silver Creek6-7-2
Centaurus2-3
Mountain View12-4
Greeley Central5-2
Niwot0-3
Longmont3-0
Thompson Valley5-0
Greeley West3-0
Northridge4-0
Skyline13-2-0
Frederick2-0
Erie4-1
Windsor0-3
Mead4-0
Berthoud9-0
Niwot0-1
Holy Famiuly3-1
Frederick4-0
The College Page
(Most recent games)
Colorado10-4-0
San Francisco3-0
California2-4
USC1-0
UCLA0-1
Oregon State1-0
Oregon1-0
CSU-Fort Collins5-10-0
UNLV0-1
Nevada1-0
Boise State1-4
Utah State0-1
Air Force1-0
Colorado Coll2-3
Denver –Men7-4-1
Utah Valley1-2
Portland2-1
Oral Roberts4-0
Eastern Illinois1-1
Bradley1-2
UIC1-0
Denver – Women6-7-1
Colorado1-2
Iowa State2-1
San Francisco1-0
BYU1-4
Oral Roberts1-0
Nebraska-Omaha2-3
Metro State – Men9-2-0
Colorado Christian4-0
CSU-Pueblo0-1
Mesa1-2
Mines1-0
Ft Lewis3-2
Adams State2-1
Metro State – Women 9-1-2
Adams State1-1
NM Highlands1-0
CSU-Pueblo1-0
CO Christian2-0
Regis4-0
Mesa2-1
Mines – Men8-4-0
Colorado Christian2-0
UCCS3-2
CSU Pueblo3-2
Metro State0-1
Adams State3-1
Ft Lewis1-0
Mines – Women10-0-2
Regis2-1
UCCS3-0
New Mexico Highlands0-0
Adams State2-0
Mesa2-0
Colorado Christian1-0
Regis – Men9-2-0
Adams State3-0
Fort Lewis3-1
Colorado Christian3-2
UCCS3-2
Mesa0-1
Colorado Christian4-0
Regis – Women8-3-1
Mines1-2
Mesa2-1
CSU Pueblo1-0
UCCS2-1
Metro0-4
Western State2-1
UNC – Greeley8-6-1
Bryant3-3
Idaho2-3
Weber State3-1
Idaho State2-1
Southern State1-0
Northern AZ0-1
Colorado Coll–Men11-3-0
Austin College2-0
U of Dallas3-0
Southwestern3-0
Trinity0-1
Southwestern2-0
Trinity0-1
Colorado Coll–Women 7-4-3
Utah State1-1
Boise State3-1
San Diego State0-3
New Mexico2-0
Wyoming2-3
CSU3-2
FC Boulder in College
Sade Akindele (Jr at Regis), injured. Kiki Arnold (Sr at Regis) gp 13, 1g. Brook Assefa (Jr at Ft Lewis), gp 5. Kyler Auerhamer (So at Idaho), gp 13. Jasmine Beaulieu (Fr at Ft Hayes), gp 8, 1a. Savannah Beetcher (Fr at Central Michigan), gp 14. Kevin Beyer (So at DePaul), gp 12. Lilly Bitner (So at Yale), gp 4. Carly Bolyard (St at Colorado), gp 14, 3g, 2a. Kyle Breckenfelder (So at Johnson & Wales), gp 10, 2g, 2a. Finnian Bunta (Fr at Lake Forest), gp 5, 2g. Abby Burridge (So at Loyola), injured. Cory Center (So at Laramie CC), Perry Chesebro (So at South Dakota Mines), gp 6. Melissa Cuddington (Fr at Rhodes), injured. Danielle Dageenakis (Jr at Regis), gp 13, 1g, 1a. Chantal de Roos (Fr at Northern Arizona), Mariah Fayeulle (Fr at Northwestern), gp 10. Katie Forsee (Fr at Portland State), gp 14. Joel Frykholm (Fr at Pacific Lutheran), gp 13, 1g. Soren Frykholm (So at Colorado College), gp 13, 1g, 1a. Ben Gibble (Fr at Adams State), gp 10. Caitlin Higgins (Sr at Denver), gp 12. Mady Huber (Fr at Augustana), gp 13. Kelsey Killean (Fr at Georgia), gp 12, g3, a5. Eric Kronenberg (So at Denver), gp 13 , g5, 1a.Keile Kropf (Fr at Vermont), gp 1. Wyeth Leemon (Fr at Eckert), gp 10. Kaitlyn Lokay (Jr at Montana State), gp 10, 2g. Zac Lokay (Fr at Puget Sound), gp 13. Nikki Machalek (Jr at Colorado), gp 3. Lexie Marr (So at Metro State), gp 10, 1a. Josalyn Martin (Jr at Metro State), gp 10. Kerri Marquardt (Fr at Wisconson-Whitewater), gp 3. Jack Mayfield (So at Metro State), gp 11, 2g, 2a. Daphne Morency (Jr at McGill), Amos Nash (Jr at St Thomas), gp 8, 1g, 1a. Carly Nelson (Sr at Metro State), gp 12, 2g. Gina Ogg (So at Mines), gp 6. Adam O’Maitiu (Fr at Laramie CC), Enda O’Neill (Fr at Wisconsin), Essence Ortiz-Lanier (Jr at UNC Greeley), gp 13, 2g, 2a. Cassie Owens (Fr at Florida), gp 7. Sarah Pykkonen (So at Tufts), gp 11, 3g. JordanRausch (Fr at Hendrix), gp 11. Taylor Russell (Fr at CSU-Pueblo), Trevor Shepherd (Sr at Johnson & Wales), gp 13. Alan Scheuermann (Fr at Concordia-Morehead), gp 2. Rojesh Shrestha (So at Metro State), gp9, 1a. Katie Simpson-Johnson (So at Western State), gp 1. Ashley Smith (Jr at Metro State), gp 11. Eric Spangler (Fr at Bentley), gp 13. Kelsey Steffens (Fr at Ft Hayes), gp 12, 4g, 2a. Aiden Stout (Fr at Laramie CC), Tanner Syed (Fr at Adams State), Alex Toderica (So at Denver), gp 9. Kevin van Lieshout (Fr at St Thomas), gp 15, 1g. Sarah Willette (Jr at Oberlin), gp 12, 1g. Bryan Windsor (So at Princeton), gp 10.