Youth Soccer
"Assertiveness Is An Attitude"

Sport psychology 101 tells us there is a difference between aggressiveness and assertiveness. Aggressiveness is negative arousal and actually hinders performance, even in sports such as boxing and ultimate fight. Aggressiveness correlates to narrowing the focus and limiting reactions. It can only be sustained at great energy in short bursts. Contrast this to assertiveness where the athlete is in control of emotion and has the positive, broad and external vision to react to game situations with effective and proactive responses. American football uses short bursts of aggression within the 12-15 minutes active time. Soccer requires broad, external focus and has 90 minutes of active time, so aggression and its quick kick really is not the optimal quality to foster.

Remembering my high school basketball coach and his bemusement over coaching girls to be assertive, let me offer the advice of a state champion. Cultivating assertive play means holding very up-tempo training sessions. In basketball, it meant a lot of work under the basket. It also meant no "drills". Drills set up very clean opportunities to use a well-defined skill. They control the level of defense and allow only use of an exact skill. What teaches assertiveness is MAYHEM.

Soccer mayhem is easy to foster. We all know a coach coaches best who coaches least. In our training sessions we put into ACTION the FUNdamental Nine Step Practice Routine by controlling less as the practice becomes more competitively oriented. Having fewer rules allows for more mayhem, so as the training session progresses, the coach must intervene less.

As well, competition is fostered with fewer resources- fewer balls and less space. But, a coach must balance space restrictions with the age and ability of players. Playing 3 v. 3 for possession (keep away) in a 15yd by 15yd space may provide the basis for fostering mayhem. Ten minutes of rule-free possession in a small space will get players articulating closely. Fine tune the space, perhaps down to 12 yards in the next practice, and more articulation will result.

Teaching players how to articulate in the Nine Step Practice Routine within a CYSA coaching grid:

Step One Begin by demonstrating your theme- Shoulder to Shoulder Contact

Pair up players standing next to each other. Have them touching at the shoulder and hip, walking forward, trying to ride the other off a straight line forward. Turn around and walk back the same way. Coaching points- keep elbows down, body weight low (knees bent), weight over challenge side, etc.

Step Two Warm Up

Shadow play (no ball) inside the center 10 x 10 grid. One player is "IT" and tries to keep left shoulder from being tapped by partner (keeping right side toward partner). Play 30 seconds or until tap. Switch roles (and shoulders). Stretch every switch.

Step Three One + One

Shielding for 15 seconds inside the center 10 x 10 grid. Player with ball puts ball on outside foot, weight on inside foot and shoulder toward opponent. Defender gives shoulder challenge (fair shoulder charge) to try to win ball. Play only for short bursts. Switch jobs. Holding a ball even 5 seconds is an eternity in soccer. Fifteen seconds will actually give a lower stress opportunity because the defender plays at lower intensity.

Step Four One Vs. One

Now for the mayhem. Standard CYSA routine- run the route, serve the ball, full defending. Receiver holds ball for possession, weight low on challenged side, keeping shoulder between opponent and ball. Defender is unrestrained by contact rules, giving a well-weighted pass and sprint to challenge. Count "One Alligator, two alligator,…eight alligator" if the attacker still has the ball, score a point for her. Out of the grid or loss to defender- score a defense point. Attacker successfully challenges and turns, dribbling through goal line- two points. Play to eight points.

Step Five Halftime

Drink water and ask the players what made for success in the exercises.

Step Six Small Sided Game

More mayhem. Use a possession game with small space. The 3 v 3 mentioned above works well. No fouls are called. Ball out is repossessed by a kick-in for the first person who gets it (more mayhem). Only the assertive survive. First ball is free (no reason to clog up the pass in).

Mayhem with shooting is called "Weasel". Within the space of two penalty boxes, 3 red play versus 1 yellow in one half with 1red versus 3 yellow in the other. Goalkeepers are in full sized goals at the end lines. No player may cross the midline. The 3 feed the 1 or shoot from long themselves. The 1 plays numbers down, scrapping for any opportunity. Balls are with the coach at midline to keep up tempo- put ball into play quickly after it goes out in any direction.

Step Seven Scrimmage

In order to maintain the theme, the scrimmage should be in a smaller field. This is not the time to emphasize passing- it's turn and burn time. The closer the goals and the smaller the space, the greater are the opportunities for 1 v 1 mayhem and players will assertively look through the defense to the goal.

Making the group of players more assertive means being very up-tempo as a coach. Serve balls in very quickly and sharply, no ifs ands or buts from the players. Stop the play for nothing- do your coaching later. Verbally reward with a "YES" the types of on field behaviors you would like to see- a player taking on an opponent, a fair shoulder charge, a ball put through the defense, goals, a hard charging defender, etc. Pattern the behavior, construct a training session to reinforce the mayhem, and reward the results.

Here is a recommended book for the male coach who finds himself bemused by coaching girls : In These Girls Hope is a Muscle by Madeleine Blais (Warner Books, 1995). She happens to be a soccer mom herself, but is writing about a high school basketball team, their male teacher coach and a state championship run.