Today began much like yesterday. The morning classroom session began with Mosston's Slanty Line Theory presented by Dr. John Thomas. This theory focuses on the fact that not all kids develop at the same rate. Therefore we, as coaches, should create games that allow all of the children to have success at their own pace rather than eliminating those kids that are less developed at the beginning. As a competitive person, I did not want to hear this at first…being that knockout is one of my favorite games to play with the kids. However, being a ""student"" of the game, I quickly realized the validity of the Slanty Line Theory.

 

The majority of our conversation discussed the cognitive, psychosocial, and psychomotor development of U-8's. Big words I know! The distinction between the three is very apparent though. Having played soccer at a competitive level, I have always been under the impression that coaching the youngest ages would be simple. If you can coach the older, more skilled players, than you can coach a bunch of ankle-biting rugrats correct?

 

Wrong!

 

It's a completely different beast. Trying telling a 7 year old what speed of play is all about. Better yet, define a grid as it relates to soccer! My goal today was to eliminate all soccer jargon and to relate to kids on their level. Understand why they ask, "What's equipment?" when you ask them to pick it up at the end of a session.  Much of society is so focused on projecting this ambiance of how intelligent we are while kids, in all of their innocence, learn from that same environment.    

 

After our field session, we got a chance to go to dinner and socialize with our fellow candidates and instructors on more of a personal level. It is amazing to hear the stories of the other coaches…from the places they have been or the exercises that they have found to be successful. There is a ton of soccer knowledge in this course and I plan on continuing to share my ideas while picking as many brains as possible.