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Hi guys,
Name is Miguel Velazquez, currently 25 years old. I currently live in San Jose, Ca. I’ve been around the game since I was born. Played all the way through high school, intended to play college but had knee and shoulder surgery in the same year.
Stumbled upon coaching about 3 years ago, as the literacy program I worked for needed a girls coach( ages 9-12). I stepped up and somehow won the championship with them. Next year I took over the boys team from the same literacy program. We had lots of success, so parents asked to start a team for the boys so I did. Fast forward a little bit, I am still coaching the same group of boys with a few additions and subtraction to the team. The boys are now playing Gold U15, looking to play the spring in premier. Stumbled upon 3four3 around the same time I started coaching the boys and have been hooked ever since.
<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: 14.25pt;”><span style=”font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;”>Hello Gary, Brian, and fellow members,</span></p>
<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: 14.25pt;”><span style=”font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;”>My name is Marcelino Rabara, but I just go by Mars. I am 27 years old, and have been coaching part-time for just over 6 years now. For the first 3 years, I started out as an assistant coach on a local Maryland club’s U17 -U18 teams and then have coached the U9-U11 age groups the latter 3 years for the same club. I currently coach the U11 boys’ third team and I’m an assistant coach to a Boys’ Varsity team at an area private high school (mainly doing recruiting). Also co-founded a youth training academy with a good friend in the last couple of years. Like many of you, I have been a silent reader of the blog, but via this platform/knowledge-share, I will definitely be more involved. Looking forward to the journey and sharing the experience with you all!</span></p>
<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: 14.25pt;”><span style=”font-size: 10pt; font-family: Georgia, serif;”>Cheers!</span></p>
<p class=”MsoNormal” style=”mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: 14.25pt;”><span style=”font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.25pt;”>@mars_rabara</span></p>Hi Christian,
I was trying to follow you on twitter, but think you had a little typo …
It’s @christianire, right?🙂
Thanks Gary for pointing that out.
Yes it’s @christianire
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Hello All:
My named is Lee Hughes and I live in Lakeland, FL. I started coaching about 4 years ago and have my E license (only doing licensing because it is needed). I am currently coaching a U12 girls comp side division III. I love the info that 3four3 puts out. Can’t wait for 3four3 to put out more info.
Many thanks to Gary and Brian for all their hard work and knowledge.
Thanks John!
Just conducted my first team training after a short winter break and I think things went pretty well!Rondo- 4 v 0- Used tons of the vocal cues learned from the course- contest on the most touches by a team in 45 seconds
– Old way- 3 person lines facing each other and working on 1st touch going forward, then 1 touch and handling lofted balls
Rondo 4 v 1 ghost- again vocal cues galore
– old way- Old 3 v 1 keepaway
Double Rondo- Kids favorite drill of the day- hyper competitive- they picked it up quick
– old way- 6 v 3 keepaway- Three colored teams
Losing your man- Struggled with timing of the runs on this one and I needed to split into 2 groups (kids got squirrely)
-old way- 2 v 1s combos or overlaps/ or another concept I was trying to teach
Offensive pattern- Kids new to the pattern so there were growing pains, BUT saw improvement as the session went on. Expect strong results after a few more sessions
– Old way- mini game
Finished with a 5 v 5 game- Same as old routineMy Teams experiences against Barcelona USA/ Now TFA and the Marc Gomez Chivas/Cosmos teams. My replies will also answer several of the questions posed by others. Interested in Gary’s commentary – I ve never faced a team coached by the brothers-
Their most dynamic player at the U9 thru U10 is usually the center mid. Teams that give them trouble (few and far between) have a stud center mid that is quicker and defeats their center mid on the dribble. They attack with 4 and defend with 3 unless they meet a team that is equal and then attack with three and defend with four. They differ in that Chivas has had tremendous speed on the outside and TFA has elected to go with a larger team the past 2 years. Chivas overlaps like crazy out of the back(even at U9) and I have never seen TFA ever overlap with the backs until U11.
For all their touch they can be VERY physical and they past 2 years I have only seen them beaten by teams that are tactically equal, but have superior speed. (state Champions Albione- one of the best I have ever seen at U9/U10) By U11 things get real ugly as they have picked up 2/4 players from the other top programs and its the most well oiled machine out there. Glad I dont coach that age.
As stated before they coach from the sidelines as I do. They are not ball watching they are telling the players where the open man is. They may yell find so and so if the switch is open. If they find a 2 vs 1 on the touch line they yell combo. They help the kids understand their advantage.
If you notice from the video they don’t spend a lot of time on defensive principles. Weve had success early and gotten goals off of coordinated pressure and creating mistakes in the back (still lost) . Once the backs settle down (usually about 1/2 way through the season) they are scary good as they defeat pressure easily with their choreographed outs from the back. Teams that play them close pack it in and try to get into their passing lanes and counter with speed. We have a high pressure style that gets us killed in the second half against them. Once the coaches explain to the team what were trying to do they come out and dismantle us in the second half.
They have been most effective against us on counter attacks up the middle as we are very good on the outside. They have some amazing combinations between their point and center mid. Our center mid get caught up in the attack and they have a 2 v 1 at the top of the 18. Id love to see the combination pattern they work up the middle as this is my teams weakness in its attack. We are now overlapping well and creating headaches for teams that cant keep up with our athleticism in a 2 v 1 from the outside, but as said before were lacking that up the middle attack that they have executed so well against us.
Hello … I’ll introduce myself soon – Writers Block!
RYAN RICH – This is from your area … any idea who coach is. I ask because it’s my “2nd” favorite youth video –
Thanks,
Mark
Mark,
That video is from a club we frequently play called Fairfax Police Youth Club (FPYC). The coach is Mike Sprano. He posts comments to the 3four3 blog under his name of “NOVAMike”. That group is now U10.
I wish I could have videoed our U9 game against them this year. Very entertaining when both teams are really trying to play, building out of the back, combination play, etc. We will scrimmage them this winter so maybe I can get a video of our U9 Alexandria team vs. U9 FPYC.
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This reply was modified 10 years, 10 months ago by
Ryan Rich.
My name is Michael and I coach u11 boys team in a small Central Pennsylvania town. I have played the game my whole life (30+ years). As of a couple years ago I stopped playing and began coaching our town’s travel team. I’ve been hooked ever since. We began as a collection of boys who, apart from Ronaldo and Messi, probably couldn’t name another footballer. We have grown into a confident group that plays one division below our region’s premier level with the intent of being a possession oriented team.
I am very eager to begin learning and applying the material in my upcoming sessions. I am also grateful for the opportunity to be involved in this community and look forward to learning as much as I can from this group.
Hi Everyone, my name is Steve and I coach a U 18 boys team in Coquitlam British Columbia, a suburb just outside of Vancouver. I am really excited to be apart of this community as it seems that I have spent most of the last 5 or 6 years arguing with people that it is in fact possible to develop a possession based game similar to what we have seen from Barca, Villareal and other teams , it simply comes down to the correct coaching. Thanks to people like Gary and Brian, Jed Davies and others on here I hope I will be able to prove to the doubters wrong. Thanks for helping to raise the bar.
Hi Shaun. Good seeing you on here. My U11s played your boys at the Columbia Fall Classic, but didn’t fair as well as I had hoped. Poor coaching on my part and outstanding on yours. Congrats on winning the division nevertheless. Would love to connect some time.
Hi Ryan. Nice to see that you are on the other side of the Potomac. Would love to connect some time and possibly get some games in amongst our teams.
Hi,
My name is Chris Ryder and have been involved with coaching soccer since 1990. First AYSO, then high school and club soccer in the La Crescenta area of Los Angeles. There is always tons to learn, and that is why I am here, as I feel I have gotten complacent over the years. 3Four4 is a breath of fresh air and look forward to getting rejuvented.
Hello 343 community,
This is Dana from Castro Valley, CA. I did not play soccer growing up and took no interest in the game until becoming a soccer dad (typical !). I have been involved with coaching my son and daughter’s teams, mostly as assistant coach, for about 10 years, but about half of that for Rec level. Last year I was assistant coach for my son’s U13 silver level team. I’m somewhat of a video freak. I’ve video’d alot of my son’s games and put my own analysis/breakdown in them. I’m hoping to learn alot here from everyone, especially to improve my coaching by learning all the little details. I’ve learned quite alot from my son’s coaches. The club hires professional coaches for its comp teams. I don’t want to be too critical of them, but I would like to see a more possessive style.
I started playing indoor soccer several years ago. How I wished I played growing up! I’m still quite a novice as a player, not being able to practice much between games. Maybe I can give some insight as someone who is learning as a player.
Where is the Bay Area contingent? Not all of us are Earthquakes jungle ballers!
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This reply was modified 10 years, 10 months ago by
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