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Coaches and parents, how many of your players/children watch fox soccer channel or GOL TV on a regular basis? What percentage of a HS team or club team enjoys watching an entire match on TV? Thanks

Good question!

Our boys varsity and JV players at Brookland-Cayce numbers 35 players and roughly 20-25 are pretty avid watchers of FSC, etc. Much higher numbers than just five years ago, much less 10 years ago!

However, on the girls side, we have very few - if any - real "watchers" of the game on TV despite them being good players in their own right.

The "soccer viewer" population is growing and this current generation of players may well be the future "soccer on tv watchers" that we've been waiting on for the past three decades. Time will tell, but we're certainly headed in the right direction.

Now, for me to get ready for Euro '08! Great month of soccer ahead! Can't wait!

Good question I ask this often with my players. From what I can gather it would be 1 out of 7 for a full match. Usually it is if the Dad is watching the match. To bridge the gap I made highlight DVDs of the WNT team and my girls enjoyed watching those.
My kids watch FSC, they all play or have played, it has to be a game with some importance to get the interest. They enjoy Sky Sports and Gambare!.
They also forced on me a "two nights a week soccer blackout". This may have been after getting caught watching Dream Team. Hey some of the training ground parts are pretty cool.

sweet feet you need to clean out your in box.it will not let you recieve anymore PMs

If I was coaching a HS or Premier level club team I would require my teams to attend college matches and watch at least one match per week on TV and test them weekly on various aspects of the matches they watched or attended..

SF, that is a good idea! How would you administer the test and what rewards/consequences would you hand out? In with the baby, out with the "sport's package" from our cable company .

Jr:
The test would consist of an essay with the player discribing what style and system of play the team used, what adjustments the coach and players made during the match and what players played well and what players were struggling. Rewards/consequences would revolve around playing time.

So you would mandate your kids watch a match, give them an essay to complete, and then subjectively grade their answers which would be directly linked to their playing time. So, theoretically your most talented and skilled players could spend a lot of time on the bench if they struggled with the assignment, yes?

That's correct, if they struggled with the assignment, they would struggle on the field with systems, shape, etc,. I would be looking for players that would love to grow their soccer knowledge and love of the game, and watching soccer on tv is one way to grow your soccer knowledge.

I'm not sure that's entirely true, Sweet. There are kids with all different abilities and learning styles; a student who has trouble analyzing something by watching and then writing about it might be great at learning by actually DOING on the field. At the same time, a player who might be a great analyst and a brilliant writer could be two left feet when it comes to actually putting things into practice on the field. When it comes to determining playing time, I'd be much more concerned with watching what the players can do themselves than with what they can talk about observing from others; something my players have heard me say about a thousand times is, "Don't just tell me--show me."

I agree that watching good teams play and being able to understand what they do can help to develop a player's game, but I'm a little uncomfortable with using what a player can TALK about to determine playing time.

Coach:
That's why the NFL and other sports have the Wonderlics test(IQ). If you score low, you will be passed over for a smarter player. The sporting landscape is littered with great atheletes, that were to dumb to play at a high level. If a quarterback/center mid has trouble with understanding things, that makes for a long day.

No argument there, but I'm not talking about "too dumb" to understand things; I'm talking about learning styles. The players who struggle with a "watch film and write an essay" assignment may not have a problem with learning the same game concepts through personal practice. That is, as long as they don't have a coach who is "too dumb" to figure out how to teach them on the field what they can't get from watching a video. It's pretty short-sighted to judge a player's potential based on their reaction to only ONE style of teaching.

The bottom line, performance-wise, is whether the players understand the concepts well enough to execute them on the field. If they can prove that ability in actual competition, I would seriously question the judgement of anyone who benches them just because they have trouble writing about it--unless, of course, the League decides to replace the controversial final method of breaking ties from PKs to an essay contest.

Coach,
You just might be on to something there, I do recall how people on this board seem to think soccer players are a cut above and are the top students. You have just settled the PK debate

My original point was, players need to watch more matches to get a better understanding of the game.

I do agree with you there. I also think it helps when the coach finds time to watch some match film WITH the team and points out what the experienced players are doing right, explains why the things they do are or aren't working, and shows them how they can adjust their own game according to what they just learned. Seeing what good, upper-level players do is a good thing, but actually understanding WHY they do the things they do and the reasoning behind them sometimes takes some active involvement by the instructor.

Sorry I found this late. One of the most damaging misconceptions in our society is the value/importance of "tests."

At the very best, any test is an approximation of what someone might know ABOUT and a very thin approximation of what someone can DO.

One of the reasons I prefer sport to school is that in sport the TEST is the match. Same with other performances. We don't give a hoot how someone does on a paper and pencil test concerning playing the saxophone IF what we are looking for is someone actually. . .playing the saxophone.

I have an Op-Ed coming out in The State soon about the silliness of constantly changing the tests we use in SC, as if tests are what CAUSE learning. . .

I always used rain days as times to watch and discuss soccer matches I taped for that purpose. . .but such sessions were never used for athletic accountability. That belongs on the field. . .

I agree with watching more games and discussing tactics, formations, and game scenarios. I don't think those that can watch tv better than others should get more playing time, though. Maybe they can opt out of certain conditioning days or similar things. I could see parents chewing that up and having a field day. I like the rest and can see myself using it.

Chass, how many Ivy League players do you think are in the NFL?

Here is something I have used before. You can set this up using 3-D subbeto figures for those that Xs and Os don't work very well. The first ones I saw were back in the day by "Chowolsky" sp. I can't remember his name and the man is a legend. It pretty much covers everything.

http://www.nscaa.com/quiz.php

Watching game films is a good thing, the trick is to use what works for the level play you are current with. Watching BPL is great but how many 15-18 year olds switch touchline to touchline and then settle one touch? If BPL is your cup of tea use the "BPL Review Show" they will show highlights that are very in depth. Sometimes the clip is 5 minutes long before a goal is scored or denied. It paints a very good picture of the tone and how it was done.

If I were to suggest a game to watch it would be the last two Women's FA cups. The 07 and 08 were 4-1 matches but they had a bit of everything in them.
'07 Arsenal v Charleton
'08 Arsenal v Leeds

A point I forgot to make and this is one target but slightly to the left. Lets say we agree that the highest level is what we should watch on film. The part that can be tough is how it is filmed. If anyone watched the last US v Spain match you saw at almost every chance they tried for an extreme close up. You only see exactly where the ball is. The BPL has close to that flaw with so many cameras you only see a third of the field at a time. The best to watch and use are the lesser games simply because they will tend to use the one 50 yardline camera. The ACC and SEC tourneys are gold simply for the cheapness of them. At least with the college game you can see almost 10 players in the attack form.

What about filming select games and reviewing them with your team. I know most of the football teams have the equipment. Has any HS soccer team filmed there home games for review?

Ok, from left field.

We go as a team to as many high school games as we can. I divide the kids into 3-4 teams and:

1) Have them scout Warmups. We shot chart every shot taken by an opposing player in warmups per where they shoot, which foot, strength of kick, etc. We also chart the goalies. If you want to find where a kid naturally kicks a ball, watch warmups. If you want to find a goalie weakness area, watch warmups. Then check your findings in a game. Some teams ever practice PK's in warmups, and that is invaluable to watch and chart.

2) Then, in the game they have a checklist that their "team" discusses the next day at practice. What system, who was the "controller", who was scared, who approached badly on defense, how fast were people. That kind of thing.

3) I have the kids identify one kid on each team we are watching as their "mark". They have to answer several questions such as: Am I faster than them? Whose speed on our team is similar to them? Can they back up quickly? How do they react to long service? How tough are they?
If keeps our kids concentrating on the game and on the kids they may be playing against.

We really didn't have any "intelligence" on opposing teams before this season, but we now have over 40 games scouted and chronicled. Some of the stuff is pretty good. It really opens up holes, lets you plan, etc. Gives the girls a plan, and that always works better.

About Fox Soccer Channel - we have about 8 avid watchers. My daughter will watch Taylor Twellman EVERY second he is on and even during his commercials. She also loves watching the US Women. It works a lot better if you let them know ahead of time when the ladies are playing. We have an email list that I send them "Alerts" on upcoming women's games and try to get the kids to watch together. Free pizza gets a lot accomplished.

Back to NASCAR......

My children and I watch soccer for enjoyment..From time to time we will watch everyone else around the ball..This practice has seemed to make my daughter more aware of situations she finds herself in at games..

ROH,

Something tells me that your daughter is watching Taylor Twellman for reason(s) other than observing his soccer skills.

On FIFA 08 you can watch a computer driven match from all sorts of angles, near or far. I have seen the PS2 game bring many up to speed on rules and mechanics of the game.

There is a mode that lets you practice set pieces all to your design. I really enjoy playing against my son, the game rewards you with smart play returning good results.

There is a way of playing as one player on the pitch the entire match (no switching to the nearest man). It may be more friendly to some who get bored watching a match on TV. They have more interface with this form. Plus it's more fun.

I'll see if I can get a few game consoles on the booster club wish list for next seson...I'm sure we can get those AD-approved!