|
Hey amazing Soccer Nights volunteers! WHAT A WEEK! I hope you've had a great and restful few days since Soccer Nights ended, and that you have been able to soak in the fun we had last week together. We are so thankful for all that each of you poured into Soccer Nights this year to make it such a wonderful week (despite the rain). We have a few last announcements previewing some fun things we hope you won't miss out on.
8th Annual North Cambridge Ramadan Dinner Sunday, July 12; 7pm-9:30pm at the Fresh Pond Apartments (Community Room, 364 Rindge Ave) Each year we host a dinner for our Muslim neighbors during Ramadan, the month long Islamic holiday marked by fasting. Join us as we honor and connect with our neighbors, many of them Soccer Nights families, better. Let us know if you're interested in attending and/or helping, and RSVP to [email protected]. Volunteer Scrimmages We're hoping to get together some pickup scrimmages for volunteers throughout the rest of the summer. Follow us on facebook to get times and locations and stay connected with your Soccer Nights friends! Flatbread Benefit Night Tuesday, August 4; 5:30pm-11:30pm at Flatbread Pizza/Sacco's Bowl Haven Purchase pizzas to support Soccer Nights! Flatbread will donate a portion of the cost of every pizza sold this evening to Soccer Nights (includes take-out orders). Bring your friends, and eat up! We'll also have some bowling lanes reserved for our volunteers, so come at 7pm and eat/bowl with the gang! Stay informed & involved We have a few photos up at our flickr now but we'll have a bunch of awesome professional shots coming soon! You can see them here. Also, follow Soccer Nights on twitter, facebook, and instagram to stay in the loop. That's all for now! Happy 4th of July to you all!
0 Comments
Tonight's AnnouncementsHey everyone - it's our last night together! We've had such a fun week with all of you and I hope you've had a blast as well! Some changes in scheduling due to our tournament so please read today's post carefully.
Tonight's Schedule5:30PM: Registration, coaches warm up with kids 5:45PM: Coaching staff meets with Brian at bleachers to go over tournament schedule 6:15PM: Large Group welcome 6:25PM: Warm-ups & games in Division 6:40PM: Team Time #1 6:50PM: Soccer Nights Tournament (in divisions) (include short team time #2 between rounds) 8:00PM: Team Time #3 8:05PM: Closing Large Group. Present “All Stars of the Night.” Teach Dance. Awards Ceremony. 8:25PM: Dismiss to divisions, sit by teams, pass out certificates, popsicles 8:30PM: Check out in teams 8:45PM: Debriefing in Divisions 9:00PM: Final Group Debrief No Skill Tonight: Breakdown for TournamentTonight's Value: The Game!Tonight we are going to be running a tournament within each group.
Team Time #1 (before tournament begins)
○ Recap last night’s goal ○ Set goal for the night! ■ possible goals: ● during tonight’s tournament, we will work together to embody the four values (teamwork, perspective, perseverance, sportsmanship) and the four skills (passing, dribbling, controlling/throw-ins, finishing/defending) Team Time #2 (during tournament, between rounds) ○ Check in on team goal for the night: ■ how are we doing so far? ■ what could we do to improve? ■ if we’ve already reached it, what could we add to challenge ourselves? Team Time: #3 (end of tournament) ○ Check in on team goal for the night: ■ how did we do? ■ what could we have done differently? ○ What is something new you’ve learned or improved in during the week in soccer skills? ○ What is something new you’ve learned or improved in during the week in the four values (teamwork, perspective, perseverance, sportsmanship) ? (have everyone share something either soccer or values related) Tonight's Announcements
Tonight's Schedule
5:30 –6:00 Check in, directed to teams
6:15 –6:30 Large group welcome, intro theme & skill of the night (w/coaches shooting competition). 6:30 –6:45 Warm ups in division, skill demonstration 6:45 –6:55 Team time #1: team name, learn names, set goal for the night 6:55 –7:20 Team Drill work (shooting & defending) 7:20 –7:25 Team time #2: debrief drill work, check in on team goal 7:30 –8:05 Scrimmages 8:05 –8:10 Team time #3: check in, debrief scrimmage and team goal 8:10 –8:25 Large group closing 8:25 –8:30 Snack in teams, check out 8:45 - 9:00pm Debrief in divisions 9:00 - 10pm Volunteer After hours: Volunteer Scrimmage! Tonight's Skills: Finishing & Defending
**NOTE TO COACHES: Feel free to modify this and/ or do some different drills- as long as the kids are having fun and learning how to control the ball we are on the right track!
Coaching Skills to focus on: DEFENDING 1) Shuffle your feet (don’t cross them) 2) Stay low 3) Stay on your toes (Figuratively) FINISHING 1) Lock ankle angle at 45 degrees 2) Use instep 3) Plant foot by side of ball and a little behind ball 4) Head down (body over ball – lean forward, not back) & follow through Exercises/Drills: 1) Shuffle and Slide Set Up: Have kids line up in rows, arms length apart; Coach yells, "DEFENSE!"
2) Dribble and Defend Set Up: Partner kids up (by skill, if possible) Play: Dribble in lines – zig zag, change direction ;Defender plays shadow defense (don't actually steal ball) Progressions: Faster, 75% defense, 100% defense, beat player to other side 3) Shooting Drill Set Up: Set kids up to kick into an empty net Play: Focus, shoot straight, pick a corner 4) Shooting in a line Set Up: Players 10-15 yds from goal. goalie in goal, coach to side. Coach throws/ passes ball to player; player controls, dribbles, shoots, gets ball Progressions: Make it, become goalie. Change # of dribbles. Add a defender, etc 5) 2 v 1 Set Up: Players in 2 lines 10 yds from goal, one goalie, one line defender Play: Two offensive players try to score (offense starts with ball) Rotate lines after each round Progressions: Defender passes ball out, runs out to defend (talk about defenders approach – fast and then slow) Tonight's Value: Sportsmanship (Instructions for Team Time)
Team Time #1 (before drillwork)
 We are sad to report that Soccer Nights is canceled for the evening (Tuesday, June 23). =(
While we typically do play in the rain, with severe thunderstorm warnings we feel it unwise to try to run programming. We do know that the weather is always a gamble, but this go around we're going to play on the safer side of things. We'll meet at Flatbread for dinner at 7pm if anyone is interested! Bowling will depend on availability, but pizza will definitely be eaten! We hope you all will come out! Tonight's Announcements
Hey everyone! It was a blast hanging out with so many of you last night at Flatbread. Last night's cancellation was a bummer, but we are super pumped about tonight's forecast and excited to see you all on the field!
Tonight's Schedule
5:30PM: Registration, coaches warm up with kids
5:45PM: Coaching staff meets with Brian at bleachers to go over daily drills (in 2 shifts) 6:10PM: Large Group welcome (starting a bit early tonight) 6:30PM: Warm-ups & games in Division, skills demonstration (Skill: Dribbling & Controlling) 6:40PM: Team Time #1 6:45PM-7:10PM: Team Drill Work 7:10-7:15: Team Time #2 7:20PM: Scrimmages 7:45PM: Closing Large Group. Present “Heroes of the Night.” Teach Dance. (Parents and coaches playing in games, meet in center field with terry) 8:00PM: Dismiss to teams, set up for parents game, Team Time #3 8:10PM: Parents Game, kids seated in teams while snack is distributed 8:30PM: Check out in teams 8:45PM: Debriefing in Divisions 9:00PM: Large Group Debrief Tonight's Skill: Control, Throw-ins, and Dribbling
**NOTE TO COACHES: Feel free to modify this and/ or do some different drills- as long as the kids are having fun and learning how to control the ball we are on the right track!
See also pages 13-18 of Soccer Curriculum Packet. Coaching Skills to focus on: CONTROLLING 1) Move your feet (be prepared) 2) Set up the next action THROW-INS 1) Two hands 2) Bring ball all the way behind your head/neck 3) Keep both feet on the ground Exercises/Drills 1) PAIR THROWS Set Up: Partner Players up (by skill), Each set of partners gets a ball 3- 4 yards apart Play: Player underhand tosses the ball to the other player 1. Thigh trap 2. Chest trap 3. Headers (NOT IN CAMBRIDGE. ILLEGAL) 4. Foot trap 2) THROW AND PASS Set Up: (Same as drill 1, but pass to someone else, or dribble through cones) Tips: Focus: Prepare your control, so you can do something with it after (pass to teammate, pass through cones) 3) THROW-INS Set Up: Same as above, 5-10 yards apart Play: Throw it in, throw back and forth Focus on form (use two hands, all the way behind your head) PROGRESSION:Throw it in to each other, trap/control it Games 1) TOSS IN A BOX Set Up: Make a big box, have players stand 15-20 yards away Competition to see if players can throw ball, so that it stays in the box 2) WHO CAN THROW FARTHEST 3) TRAP IN A BOX Have kids trap the ball in a box, keep making the box smaller (point: focus on control) Tonight's Theme: Perseverance
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| soccer_nights_2015_-_volunteer_assignments.pdf |
| Coaches & Assistant Coaches ----------------------- Read the Soccer Curriculum, "What Makes a Hero" Values Curriculum (explanation of Team Time) . & How to Work Well with Kids |
Missed volunteer training or want electronic copies of all the info we handed out?
Here's what you need:
Here's what you need:
1. Read these very important documents
2. Confirm your availability (check your email!).
3. Please email us with any questions.
2. Check back here Sunday for your volunteer assignment.
4. Get pumped for next week by practicing this year's Soccer Nights dance!
5. Equipment Transfer TOMORROW (Sunday) - 1:30pm at the Greater Boston Vineyard!
Each year on the Sunday before Soccer Nights we transport all of the equipment to the field and are graciously allowed by the City of Cambridge to leave it in their facilities all week. If you are around TOMORROW at 1:30pm, we'd love your help to get the transfer done in one big trip! If you have a car, great! If not, we need manpower more! Meet in the Parking lot of the Greater Boston Vineyard, 170 Rindge Ave Cambridge.
WEATHER NOTE: thunderstorms are projected for tomorrow. if we cancel, we will post on the blog by 1pm!
WEATHER NOTE: thunderstorms are projected for tomorrow. if we cancel, we will post on the blog by 1pm!
Documents
|
| ||||
| |||||
I have a story from the blue division. Our team the blue dragons we were undefeated until the final game today. So our kids got a little used to winning and were sad about losing and there were some tears. But then a couple kids were like , you know what I learned this week? it’s not about winning. It’s about soccer and about having fun.
- Cara, Blue Division
One our players who at the beginning of the week his goals were , I want to win, let’s score two goals and that was his attitude for the whole week. and then today we had a rough couple of games. The kids were really struggling with losing… they were all really down. I wasn’t sure if we were going to come back or not. But then in the middle of [the scrimmage], the kid with the “let’s win” goals was like, “ I don’t care, I just want to play! We built off of that and then the team got really excited and we ended up winning in a shoot out. So It was really great and the kids had a really great time in the end.
-Ana, Green Division
I think the coaches in the orange division did a really stellar job tonight. I’m a new face but you guys all really worked together well. We had a nice meeting at the beginning of the night to decide what we wanted to do. All the head coaches in the orange division really stepped up to the challenge tonight and made this tournament a really great, fun experience for the kids.
-Terry, Orange Division
We had a really great week with the 3 to 5 year olds. We played a lot of duck, duck goose. Last night I made up a new game where a tall person would hold a hula hoop above the kids and they would throw soccer balls into the hoop. It was really popular with the kids. Tonight we had 10 of them lining up to play it, and one kid was even like “ I want to duck it into the hula hoop!” It was a good week!
-Kai, 3 to 5 Year Olds
I had a Great week this week, this has been my first year. I had fun working the kids, I had fun working with Coach Keith, and I hope to do it next year.
-Justin, Crew
Tonight we made signs for the moms to support their teams. So we found out some team names, or some player names, or if we didn’t know we just wrote “BLUE” or “BRAZIL.: and that worked. One mom in particular, her son was playing in blue division because it’s his first year. She made an amazing sign with a tiger for the Blue Tigers. The kid loved it; I happened to be walking by when the mom showed the sign to her son. He was in awe of the sign, jumping on his mom and hugging her. IT was really beautiful and cute. I came by at the end of the evening too and I told the kid his sign was hanging up on the bleachers. He said, “my mom made that!” It was a sweet little picture.
-Dani, Parent Pals
In 2008, soccer nights started. 2009, soccer nights came back. Which was a wonderful year. Every single year, it was a blast because of one person, who started it all. I wonder who it is. Stephanie! We should have a round of applause for Stphanie.
-Aamir, Soccer Nights alumnus, Crew Member
- Cara, Blue Division
One our players who at the beginning of the week his goals were , I want to win, let’s score two goals and that was his attitude for the whole week. and then today we had a rough couple of games. The kids were really struggling with losing… they were all really down. I wasn’t sure if we were going to come back or not. But then in the middle of [the scrimmage], the kid with the “let’s win” goals was like, “ I don’t care, I just want to play! We built off of that and then the team got really excited and we ended up winning in a shoot out. So It was really great and the kids had a really great time in the end.
-Ana, Green Division
I think the coaches in the orange division did a really stellar job tonight. I’m a new face but you guys all really worked together well. We had a nice meeting at the beginning of the night to decide what we wanted to do. All the head coaches in the orange division really stepped up to the challenge tonight and made this tournament a really great, fun experience for the kids.
-Terry, Orange Division
We had a really great week with the 3 to 5 year olds. We played a lot of duck, duck goose. Last night I made up a new game where a tall person would hold a hula hoop above the kids and they would throw soccer balls into the hoop. It was really popular with the kids. Tonight we had 10 of them lining up to play it, and one kid was even like “ I want to duck it into the hula hoop!” It was a good week!
-Kai, 3 to 5 Year Olds
I had a Great week this week, this has been my first year. I had fun working the kids, I had fun working with Coach Keith, and I hope to do it next year.
-Justin, Crew
Tonight we made signs for the moms to support their teams. So we found out some team names, or some player names, or if we didn’t know we just wrote “BLUE” or “BRAZIL.: and that worked. One mom in particular, her son was playing in blue division because it’s his first year. She made an amazing sign with a tiger for the Blue Tigers. The kid loved it; I happened to be walking by when the mom showed the sign to her son. He was in awe of the sign, jumping on his mom and hugging her. IT was really beautiful and cute. I came by at the end of the evening too and I told the kid his sign was hanging up on the bleachers. He said, “my mom made that!” It was a sweet little picture.
-Dani, Parent Pals
In 2008, soccer nights started. 2009, soccer nights came back. Which was a wonderful year. Every single year, it was a blast because of one person, who started it all. I wonder who it is. Stephanie! We should have a round of applause for Stphanie.
-Aamir, Soccer Nights alumnus, Crew Member
Here are Wednesdays and Thursdays stories!
Sunny and I have been the coaches all week. Tonight we totally turned it over to Saquib. Saquib is on Crew and he did an amazing job. We took a back seat and told the kids this is your head coach, listen to him. He led all the drills and kept the kids completely calm and engaged when they were not in the game. He set them up to practice kickingtheir goals while they were waiting. He was a head coach tonight and did great.
-Rae on behalf Saquib
This is about last night’s Parents vs Coaches. I’m not very skilled at soccer, but I love playing defense at soccer. So, one of the parents came charging at me and I sidestepped and then they made a goal. I felt disappointed because everyone was doing something and I didn’t so I decided I was going to try harder. I guess I persevered, which was our value. So the next time a parent was coming at me and I sacrificed my tummy and blocked the ball and it didn’t go in the goal.
-Fatima, Crew
Tonight we had a great Mom’s game and Steph scored a goal, so that is exciting. It was really fun to interact with the moms and they all really got along with each other. We split them up so they weren’t on the team they expected to be on and it was really fun.
-Lindsey, Parents Team
Tonight was really great for the simple fact that the first 3 nights were really disheartening for a lot of the participants, especially when it came to scrimmages; we just kept getting our butts kicked. It was getting to the kids. But tonight something really clicked and we had a turnaround night. Our goal was to score a goal first and foremost, and then to not concede any goals and then to add in some sportsmanship. It seemed like all the kids needed was to know they were being encouraged and then the momentum kind of sprung from there. We actually took the lead during the game and the kids were really excited and so was I. I think I took ran on the field with kids screaming like a lunatic. Then the quietest girl on the team who I didn’t think wanted to be here at all turned out to be an awesome defender. She ran to the sideline to say, “coach are we doing a good job?” I told her we were doing awesome and she ran back to her position where her and the other quietest girl on the team were high-fiving. Then at the end when we did Team Time, another team member said, “This was the best game I was ever part of.”
-Tom, Green Division
During the scrimmages, one of the players on the other team, not my team, scored a goal and they were all so excited they were piling on top of each other. But then I looked around and saw that some of my players were in the pile too. I asked them what they were doing and they said, “This is my cousin’s team!” or “My friend is on this team”. I told them they had great sportsmanship.
-Ian, Blue Division
Last night we were doing the drills demonstration and some kid looked up and said “there’s a rainbow.” And if you have ever looked at 50 6 and 7 year olds all staring up into the sky and saying “It’s a rainbow! It’s a rainbow!” all in unison, well it’s a miraculous and beautiful thing.
-Cate, Blue Division
One of the dads who has been here all along, who has 2-3 kids in the program, came up to me to say, “This week’s been awesome! You know the past 2-3 years it just feels like it’s been getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And this year it’s great, it’s nice and small again.” I told him, “Actually, it’s been record attendance all week.” He was blown away. It is just such a testament to the quality of our volunteers to be able to run a this so smoothly with so many kids, that it seems like less kids!
-Brian, Coaching Director
Last night 11 of our 15 Crew kids went to Flatbread. We did a lot bowling and ate a lot of pizza. And on our way home, one of the kids said, “You know, it was just like in the movies when we go out to celebrate. We were all in jerseys and we were having fun.” And it was true, it was great.
-Tory, Crew Leader
We had a really good night tonight. We served hot tea which could have gone either way on a 90 degree day, but parents loved it. The parents were talking about how tired their kids are after Soccer Nights is over and how fast they fall asleep when they get home. And they were all yelling out, “5 minutes!” “No 10 minutes!” “No I have to carry my child home!”. It was fun to see them all talking all across the bleachers about this.
-Claire, Parents Team
We are the Champion Cheetahs and we just had such a great night tonight. Our team had been really down because they hadn’t scored any goals and hadn’t won any scrimmages and tonight they got their first goal and believed they kind of won of it. And it was a really good goal; one of the girls passed it across the goal and then her teammate was there to finish it. They were all super happy and then the game ended right after that. When we came together for team time, one of the girls said that we should do a cheer for the other team who lost. We all got together and huddled and cheered for the other team. There was just a lot of good attitudes. We really achieved our goals of looking up and spreading out. I feel like we made so much progress.
-Ana, Green Division
We have the team the Blue Rockets and they all just love each other. They are getting along wonderfully and they are encouraging and they are making deals with one another: “Ill be striker this time and you’ll be striker next time and then we’ll switch.” They are really excited to do Team Time. All in all, really good things are happening in the blue division.
-Elissa, Blue Division
Sunny and I have been the coaches all week. Tonight we totally turned it over to Saquib. Saquib is on Crew and he did an amazing job. We took a back seat and told the kids this is your head coach, listen to him. He led all the drills and kept the kids completely calm and engaged when they were not in the game. He set them up to practice kickingtheir goals while they were waiting. He was a head coach tonight and did great.
-Rae on behalf Saquib
This is about last night’s Parents vs Coaches. I’m not very skilled at soccer, but I love playing defense at soccer. So, one of the parents came charging at me and I sidestepped and then they made a goal. I felt disappointed because everyone was doing something and I didn’t so I decided I was going to try harder. I guess I persevered, which was our value. So the next time a parent was coming at me and I sacrificed my tummy and blocked the ball and it didn’t go in the goal.
-Fatima, Crew
Tonight we had a great Mom’s game and Steph scored a goal, so that is exciting. It was really fun to interact with the moms and they all really got along with each other. We split them up so they weren’t on the team they expected to be on and it was really fun.
-Lindsey, Parents Team
Tonight was really great for the simple fact that the first 3 nights were really disheartening for a lot of the participants, especially when it came to scrimmages; we just kept getting our butts kicked. It was getting to the kids. But tonight something really clicked and we had a turnaround night. Our goal was to score a goal first and foremost, and then to not concede any goals and then to add in some sportsmanship. It seemed like all the kids needed was to know they were being encouraged and then the momentum kind of sprung from there. We actually took the lead during the game and the kids were really excited and so was I. I think I took ran on the field with kids screaming like a lunatic. Then the quietest girl on the team who I didn’t think wanted to be here at all turned out to be an awesome defender. She ran to the sideline to say, “coach are we doing a good job?” I told her we were doing awesome and she ran back to her position where her and the other quietest girl on the team were high-fiving. Then at the end when we did Team Time, another team member said, “This was the best game I was ever part of.”
-Tom, Green Division
During the scrimmages, one of the players on the other team, not my team, scored a goal and they were all so excited they were piling on top of each other. But then I looked around and saw that some of my players were in the pile too. I asked them what they were doing and they said, “This is my cousin’s team!” or “My friend is on this team”. I told them they had great sportsmanship.
-Ian, Blue Division
Last night we were doing the drills demonstration and some kid looked up and said “there’s a rainbow.” And if you have ever looked at 50 6 and 7 year olds all staring up into the sky and saying “It’s a rainbow! It’s a rainbow!” all in unison, well it’s a miraculous and beautiful thing.
-Cate, Blue Division
One of the dads who has been here all along, who has 2-3 kids in the program, came up to me to say, “This week’s been awesome! You know the past 2-3 years it just feels like it’s been getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And this year it’s great, it’s nice and small again.” I told him, “Actually, it’s been record attendance all week.” He was blown away. It is just such a testament to the quality of our volunteers to be able to run a this so smoothly with so many kids, that it seems like less kids!
-Brian, Coaching Director
Last night 11 of our 15 Crew kids went to Flatbread. We did a lot bowling and ate a lot of pizza. And on our way home, one of the kids said, “You know, it was just like in the movies when we go out to celebrate. We were all in jerseys and we were having fun.” And it was true, it was great.
-Tory, Crew Leader
We had a really good night tonight. We served hot tea which could have gone either way on a 90 degree day, but parents loved it. The parents were talking about how tired their kids are after Soccer Nights is over and how fast they fall asleep when they get home. And they were all yelling out, “5 minutes!” “No 10 minutes!” “No I have to carry my child home!”. It was fun to see them all talking all across the bleachers about this.
-Claire, Parents Team
We are the Champion Cheetahs and we just had such a great night tonight. Our team had been really down because they hadn’t scored any goals and hadn’t won any scrimmages and tonight they got their first goal and believed they kind of won of it. And it was a really good goal; one of the girls passed it across the goal and then her teammate was there to finish it. They were all super happy and then the game ended right after that. When we came together for team time, one of the girls said that we should do a cheer for the other team who lost. We all got together and huddled and cheered for the other team. There was just a lot of good attitudes. We really achieved our goals of looking up and spreading out. I feel like we made so much progress.
-Ana, Green Division
We have the team the Blue Rockets and they all just love each other. They are getting along wonderfully and they are encouraging and they are making deals with one another: “Ill be striker this time and you’ll be striker next time and then we’ll switch.” They are really excited to do Team Time. All in all, really good things are happening in the blue division.
-Elissa, Blue Division
Hello from Soccer Nights
Hey there, we're the Soccer Nights team. This is the place to be in the know about all-things-Soccer-Nights.
We like you.
We like Soccer Nights.
Thanks for visiting and please do say hello.
Archives
July 2015
June 2015
July 2014
June 2014
July 2013
June 2013
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
Categories
All
Behavior Management
Daily Schedule
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Get Pumped
Party
Soccer Nights Dance
Stories
Training
Volunteers