So I just completed the field weekend for my E license (project done and have no intention to go further). In my 40s, that made me one of the older timers in the test...lots of up and coming young people having played college ball....was really impressed by them and their knowledge base (much more than my generation)....real mix of people there including the AYSO united/extra parent volunteers looking to play club tournaments, high school coaches, up and coming young club assistant coaches and private trainers looking for the credential. Instructors were a bit crochety but also had a large knowledge base and looked to try and be helpful...as a former law instructor I can say they used the Socratic method but didn't do it well (unfocused questions leading to random answers, if thought provoking). As a keeper, the keeper was an afterthought in most of our discussions or never touched upon so I can see why coaches here are subpar in their keeper education and often don't know what to do with them (though it was one of the options for the field test, the instructor did not assign out keeper training, which I thought was a great shame). The fact you can't get a keeper license until after you obtain your "B" is insane...after the "D" maybe...just a gate keeper function to keep the keeper coaches charging higher fees.
The instruction itself focuses on a training session plan. Very little time (even on the online portion) is given to the laws of the game, teaching techniques, or soccer knowledge (it's pretty much assumed that you already have this, but back for the F, there isn't a whole lot of instruction in those areas either). They did give us some on child development which was useful. Also a little on tactics. For the final exam, you have to prepare a training session consisting of a warm up, an small sided exercises, a mid sided exercises, and then a full scrimmage. Each step builds on the other for a topic (e.g. passing from the wide). For the field test, you have to put your small sided exercise into practice. The philosophy seems to be that kids learn best by doing in active situations that are realistic and reflect real life game situations. I think that approach has some positives: kids do thrive when they are engaged (as opposed to waiting in lines) and they get that pickup ball experience so many of them now days are missing in their neighborhoods. It also has some negatives: on the younger end, it doesn't allow very much time for teaching proper techniques as it moves very quickly from the warm up (where this technical instruction is supposed to be taught) to the full game....for example, if you are running an exercise on crossing, it's hard to get to the mid game unless your kids are crossing well...similarly for the keeper these techniques don't plug well into the larger small sided game (the keeper works better on the large or the warmup). Then, I was a bit surprised they didn't spend more time on "how to teach"...the focus all seemed to be lesson planning and they even have an online graphics tool candidates are expected to learn quickly over night. There was some lip service given to team management (a couple of online quizes about say online email communications) with very little feedback. Absolutely none was given to game management. The methodology itself is a bit inflexible too, particularly when it comes to the U12 players, who might need a little more instruction on particular aspects of the game.
So it was an interesting experience. Somewhat fun. A bit useful. I'm not sure, however, how effective it is as a gate keeper function other than to make US Soccer some $. For the part time coaches/AYSO parents that are looking to get better, o.k. I came away with how to do a lesson plan that's effective for U12 and up (and this despite that the stated focus for players is supposed to be U9-12 for the E License). For those looking to get into professional coaching, other than learning to the graphic tool, I'm not sure how much more this gave them or how it screened them to make sure they were effective teachers. Thoughts anyone that's been through the process? Anyone whose gone further? The instructor says U.S. soccer is revising everything for next year so maybe they'll be an improvement (she says with a cynical snicker)?
The instruction itself focuses on a training session plan. Very little time (even on the online portion) is given to the laws of the game, teaching techniques, or soccer knowledge (it's pretty much assumed that you already have this, but back for the F, there isn't a whole lot of instruction in those areas either). They did give us some on child development which was useful. Also a little on tactics. For the final exam, you have to prepare a training session consisting of a warm up, an small sided exercises, a mid sided exercises, and then a full scrimmage. Each step builds on the other for a topic (e.g. passing from the wide). For the field test, you have to put your small sided exercise into practice. The philosophy seems to be that kids learn best by doing in active situations that are realistic and reflect real life game situations. I think that approach has some positives: kids do thrive when they are engaged (as opposed to waiting in lines) and they get that pickup ball experience so many of them now days are missing in their neighborhoods. It also has some negatives: on the younger end, it doesn't allow very much time for teaching proper techniques as it moves very quickly from the warm up (where this technical instruction is supposed to be taught) to the full game....for example, if you are running an exercise on crossing, it's hard to get to the mid game unless your kids are crossing well...similarly for the keeper these techniques don't plug well into the larger small sided game (the keeper works better on the large or the warmup). Then, I was a bit surprised they didn't spend more time on "how to teach"...the focus all seemed to be lesson planning and they even have an online graphics tool candidates are expected to learn quickly over night. There was some lip service given to team management (a couple of online quizes about say online email communications) with very little feedback. Absolutely none was given to game management. The methodology itself is a bit inflexible too, particularly when it comes to the U12 players, who might need a little more instruction on particular aspects of the game.
So it was an interesting experience. Somewhat fun. A bit useful. I'm not sure, however, how effective it is as a gate keeper function other than to make US Soccer some $. For the part time coaches/AYSO parents that are looking to get better, o.k. I came away with how to do a lesson plan that's effective for U12 and up (and this despite that the stated focus for players is supposed to be U9-12 for the E License). For those looking to get into professional coaching, other than learning to the graphic tool, I'm not sure how much more this gave them or how it screened them to make sure they were effective teachers. Thoughts anyone that's been through the process? Anyone whose gone further? The instructor says U.S. soccer is revising everything for next year so maybe they'll be an improvement (she says with a cynical snicker)?
