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How LTPD in your league - personal observations


Saviola7

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For those of us are involved in youth soccer I thought it'd be nice to have a place where we can toss around ideas about LTPD. Specifically, what works and what doesn't. I'd rather avoid philosophical tactical discussions as well as avoid talking about how changes aren't as dramatic as they should be (it's obvious that something like this needs to occur via incremental changes). Keep it practical.

This year was my first in any sort of coaching role. I coached U6 managed a U10 boys travel team. My experience with some of the LTPD changes:

Good:

- Smaller fields, nets, fewer players per team

- Better distribution of coaching material (even if the length of said material is rather intimidating to most volunteers)

- Not keeping score/standings - I'm slowly being won over to this as I see coaches bawl out players and referee because a game 'means something'

Bad:

- Kick-ins rather than throw-ins. Ugh. It works for U6, but *not* for U10. While I appreciate the idea of having a quick restart, most teams seem to be using it as a free kick, which seems quite silly to me. If the motivation is to not be distracted by a foul throw, why not just not call it for U10?

What are other people's experiences?

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As someone who sits on the BoD at the OSA and Peel Halton Soccer Association, I'll be watching this thread with great interest to see what others have to say.

My kids do not play soccer currently so my comments are basd on my observations, touring various Peel Halton Development League festival sites as well as my experience when I was on the BoD at SAAC, which has been running LTPD "compliant" competition for many years:

- Smaller Fields, smaller goals and small sided play is always excellent. The soccer is far better as a result, the kids get more touches and are more involved in the game and the kids who play in goal actually have a fair shot at covering the area they are responsible for.

- Not keeping standings and no promotion/relegation is definitely tempering some of the bad behaviour from adults that we've all experienced at some point. It's not perfect yet....occassionally there are still adults who get out of line...but it's much better.

- I'm happy to see alot more coaches encouraging their players to play out of the back, keeping the ball on the ground while trying to maintain possession. Coaches are encouraging positive play, even if the result means that the kids make mistakes that give away goals. Long term, those lessons will pay off.

There are areas that require improvement/refinement but, overall, i've observed FAR more positives than negatives. I really don't see any negatives....just few things that need tweaking.

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