Region One ODP Symposium- March 13,14 Princeton University

Administrators and Coaches involved: Joe Madero-Region 1 administrator, Jay Hoffman-Region 1 Head coach, Jim Barlow-U-15MNT Head coach, John Amorin-Region 1 ODP GK Coach, George O,Neill and Todd West-’93 Region 1 Coaching staff, and Charlie Inverso-Asst. to Jim Barlow at Princeton and U-15’s. Also, Keith Tabatznik-Region 1 Asst. coach.

Final third a priority as well as finding direction early in sessions, and finishing realistically in sessions with pressure and not as many shooting drills fundamentally.
Charlie Inverso talked about ages 6-12 being better organized and practices more challenging for maximum development. Good coaching environment needed and more experienced coaches working with these young players.
U-14 Nat. team not about shape and tactics-more individual development as players. More possession and how to keep the ball attacking third to create scoring opportunities.
July plus is being looked at carefully, where players born in the second half of the year in about 80 % of the cases are selected because they are more mature physically and mentally. This year the U-13 regional team is adding a July plus team so that the younger players (those born the 1st half of the year are not overlooked and lost). The thought is that maybe next year the U-14’s will have a July plus team. The suggestion is to extend player pools and July plus to not lose those younger players in our programs.
A challenge for the Regional and Nat. coaches is where front runners or strikers don’t know how to work together and play effectively. Players need to create space for other players before creating space for themselves and twin strikers have trouble communicating and working as a cohesive pair on the field. Emphasis on playing possession and getting points for playing forward to twin targets. If one forward receiving the ball can connect with the other forward that team receives points. If the two forwards can play to each other and combine with a third player over the endline they receive additional points. As coaches at higher levels we need to functionally train each player with pressure at their position on the field. with confident dribbling. More pressure on the ball and realistic defense. Too much