How important is the technical side of The Game? Former Women’s National Team member Tisha Venturini stated that she had never done more technical work than when she was training with the WNT - that’s how important National Team coaches Dorrance, DiCicco and Heinrichs considered player skills. U.S. Soccer Development Academy Technical Director John Hackworth recently said something similar: “Too many youth coaches, in their quest for results, emphasize speed, strength, size and tactics over ball skills … We need our younger players to be comfortable with the ball. We need our older players to be able to do it in a phone booth, with two or three defenders around them.” Another long time coach and administrator in a nearby state addresses the needs of all players – not just the elite – when he writes, “Teach skills and players will play a lifetime.” Put simply, you can’t do enough skill work. Through U14, we recommend that at least 75% of a Team’s Training should focus on developing players’ skills.

The Coerver® Colorado Team Skills Training program consists of sets of six sessions led by Coerver® Colorado’s Master Coaches. Being a Coerver® program, sessions will include work on foot skills and ball moves, 1v1 play, attention to developing a dynamic first touch, technical work on striking the ball, and developing effective soccer habits. Sessions follow a detailed written curriculum, a copy of which is given to the coach for follow-up purposes. Follow-up is essential between sessions for teams to get maximum value from this program. Each session also includes a number of activities players can do on their own away from the team training environment.

 

Ball Magic. This fast-paced program for U8 and U9 players focuses exclusively on the essential elements of Super Skills Training. We recommend this as first course of Coerver® instruction for these young groups of players. 75 minute sessions, bi-weekly, 4 or 5 sessions per season over two seasons to allow the team’s coaches to follow up one each session before the next.

 

Super Skills. For teams U10 and older. We recommend this as first course of Coerver® instructio

n for all teams. Eight or ten 90 minute sessions split between fall and spring.

 

Super Skills – Advanced Training, for teams that have completed the initial Team Skills Train-ing program. Eight 90 minute sessions over one or two seasons. The first two sessions and the first half of the remaining ones focus on taking each of the elements of the initial Team Skills Training to the next level – skills used at greater speed, under greater pressure. The remaining time is devoted to topics (each team chooses two) such as: Eliminating the Weaker Foot, Back-to-Goal Training, Creating the Easy Goal, The Building Blocks of Team Play. Or perhaps a topic suggested by the team.