Issue - Jan 2010
GFC Curriculum Note - Backs are Not Defenders. Players are NOT second class citizens when participating from the back of the team setup. Backs should be fully integrated at all times and in all phases of play. The purpose of this article is to remind the reader that players who participate in the game from the back of the team have both defensive AND attacking roles, and to provide a basic overview of these roles. This article would also like to encourage the use of language that will support the culture of backs as players fully integrated into the team concept.
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Issue - Feb 2009
GFC Curriculum Note - Developing Target Players. The role of forward players is unlike the rest of the team. The skills set for players who play ahead of the ball is different from those who play behind the ball. The development of the target player skill set must be treated just as other aspects of the game. All young players need to be exposed to the concepts of play for forward players from the earliest ages (u8). This means placing players in age-appropriate situations in training and in matches from early on which will be applicable to the mature game.
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Issue - Jan 2009
GFC Training Tips - Transition Games. If we want our players to be able to think on the field, to be ready for what comes next, and to be alert to opportunities as they present themselves, then we need to give due attention to the area of transitions. Here are a number of activities from the GFC Academy & Teams curriculums that will help to develop players with the ability to transition back and forth between attacking and defending (gaining possession and losing possession).
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Issue - Dec 2008
GFC Curriculum Note - Team Shape for Futsal. Futsal is not only a great game, but also a valuable teaching tool for soccer. Futsal is a simplified version of the official outdoor game, and therefore presents an accurate, only scaled down, environment for teaching important soccer concepts. One critical concept for players to understand, and that is made easier to learn in a futsal environment, is TEAM SHAPE.
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Issue - July/Aug 2008
Age-Appropriate Match Formats. The right game at the right time is essential for player development. The choices we, as soccer coaches and administrators, make regarding the formats of the competitions for our players profoundly effect the way they develop as players. Here are a few notes on what is appropriate, with help from publications of the US Soccer Federation and player-development guru, Horst Wein.
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Issue - Mar 2008
GFC Curriculum Note - Deception is a Requirement. The ability, the mentality, and the awareness to be deceptive is a core requirement for all players. Players must learn, from an early age, the use of deception in dribbling, passing, and combination play.
GFC Training Session - Training Deception. Here are a number of activities from the GFC Academy curriculum that will help to develop players with the ability to use deception in the various aspects of their play: dribbling, passing, combination play, etc.
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Issue - Feb 2008
GFC Curriculum Note - Player Development Model. A player development program must have a plan. A player development program prepares for the future by focusing on each step that must be taken to get there. Match results in the short-term must take a back seat to player development.
GFC Training Session - Activities for Core Competency. Here are a number of activities from the GFC Academy curriculum that will help to develop players with a strong technical and tactical base. The activities combine a competitive atmosphere while encouraging development in various skill areas such as dribbling/moves, passing, etc. At the same time, these activities provide a good classroom for developing insight into individual and small numbers tactics.
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Issue - Jan, 2008
GFC Curriculum Note - Powerful Soccer: Philosophy into Action. The philosophy of "dominant soccer," like any soccer philosophy, must be brought to life by bringing specific actions to the soccer field. Here are some important points to help player and team play powerful soccer. Below are first a few words on the philosophy and then some concrete ideas to bring the philosophy into the habits of the player and the team.
GFC Training Session - Developing Dominant 1v1 Players. Developing powerful and therefore successful players means training the mentality and the tactics which drive "dominant soccer." And the core of powerful soccer is 1v1 ability. Every element of training can emphasize and cultivate dominant 1v1 play. Here is a specific training design for developing 1v1 ability that you could use right away in your next training session.
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Issue - Nov, 2007
GFC Curriculum Note - Futsal, The Real Indoor Soccer. Played 5v5, futsal gives each player more touches and a bigger role in the action than outdoor or 6v6 boarded indoor soccer.
GFC Training Session - Dribbling Technical Session. Before a player is going to succeed consistently in a 2v2 situation, for instance, a player will need to progress logically through the underlying, more fundamental situations. This includes mastery of 2v1s, 1v2s, 1v1s, 2v0s, and most fundamental of all one player alone dribbling the ball without direct pressure from a defender.
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Issue - Oct, 2007
GFC Training Session - 1v1 Attacking Tactics. The base of a player is built upon solid Individual Technical Ability with the ball and the Individual Tactics that allow the player to use that ability to beat an opponent 1v1.
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