The story is about a youth soccer team in Clarkston, Ga.  The team, The Fugees, are a group of three select/travel teams.  What makes the story interesting is that the team is drawn from refugees resettled in a small Georgia town 10 miles northwest of Atlanta.  The personal stories of every player is filled with heartbreak and hope.

The hometowns on the roster reads like a roundup of all the bad news from the past 10 years.  Afghanistan, Bosnia, Burundi, Congo, Gambia, Iraq, Kosovo, Liberia, Somalia, Sudan…  They are all a long way from a soccer field in Georgia.

Things aren’t all rosy however.  Clarkston has become a town targeted for refugee resettlement, which has caused resentment from the locals.  This means the team has to fight for a place to play and acceptance from the town.  You can learn more about the Fugess on their website — fugeesfamily.org

This next story isn’t about great coaching.  In fact it’s about someone always thought of as un-coachable.  "Pistol" Pete Maravich was the original run and gunner.  He never saw a shot he didn’t like and if he liked it, he usually took it…  His statistics are amazing.  He played college ball at LSU from 1968-70 and averaged 44.2 points per game, leading the nation in scoring in each of his three varsity seasons.  He scored 50+ points 28 times and was a three time All-American.  In short, the guy can fill it up — and a new video on Yahoo Video shows him filling it up for over 6 minutes.

But it’s not just Pistol Pete running and gunning.  There is a short clip of a very young Don Criqui (Buffalo native) interviewing Maravich.  Stockton asks Maravich how long he practiced dribbling as a kid.  Starting at 12 years old, Maravich dribbled the ball eight hours a day in the summer and four in the winter.  Yes he was a hot dog, but he spent a lot of time perfecting that recipe.

Enjoy the video — I did…

On Monday I wrote about the wonders of YouTube, later that day Google buys YouTube… conincidence??? Yeah, probably.

Well, that doesn’t diminish how beneficial YouTube is to a youth league coach. I found two more short videos to help the soccer coaches out there. One is a warm up game, the other a passing drill. Without video it would take several hundred words to describe either of these drills. But through the miracle of modern science you can understand both in less than five minutes.

The first video is a warm up game called “European Handball”. Split your team in half. Each team defends a goal, which is a small pylon with a soccer ball on top. Place the goals 30′ apart, and there is no need for any other boundries. The only other rules of note are: 1) A player can take three steps after receiving a pass. 2) If the ball hits the ground, the other team takes possession.

The second video is a great passing drill. The reason I like the drill so much is that it introduces elements of the game into the drill. It’s a two touch passing drill, the first touch is to control, the second for the return pass. The pass must go through a set of cones slightly forward of where the pass was received, so the player must control the ball and move it forward at the same time. Passing drills can be some of the most boring drills in sport. However, this one adds several elements to keep the kids interested.

So, we are nearly into October.  Here in the States we are well into football, soccer and fall baseball season.  I'm sure you are all well on your way to fun, fulfilling seasons — right???  Well, on the off chance that there is trouble in River City, I'll send you to an MSNBC article to make you feel better about what you are doing.

The article is titled "When coaches should hit the bench " and it's about over bearing coaches.  The author, Jacqueline Stenson, highlights the findings of a study presented by the American College of Sports Medicine.  The study surveyed 376 parents of elementary and middle school kids involved in organized sports.  It asked questions concerning the coach's behavior and their response to the behavior.

Parents reported that their kids' coaches had used disciplinary measures such as extra exercise (64 percent), verbal scolding (42 percent), public embarrassment (18 percent), suspension (8 percent) and striking or hitting (2 percent).

Public embarrassment and hitting a child are absolutely unacceptable — no excuses, however the other disciplinary measures all depend on the kid's age and context of the situation.  It's vital to keep control over practice, but if you find yourself resorting to sending kids out to run laps frequently it might be you, not them.  Step back and check your practices to make sure you keep the kids occupied and check your own attitude.  It can be tough and coaches can get burned out.  When that happens instead of getting crabby, maybe it's time to get a little silly.  Remember that the kids — and you — are there to have fun.  Run a drill where you get to run some and, if possible, laugh a lot.  

Last night I held a coaching clinic for a local soccer league.  The coaches were great, very enthusiastic and excited about teaching soccer to their kids.  I was very encouraged because the coaches were all looking to learn more, even the ones who had coached for several years. 

The topics I covered would be familiar to regular readers: coaching as teaching; building upon fundamentals; how to set up practice; finding the coachable moments and building a team from a list of names.  Almost as if I've been reading my own stuff…

To support the clinic I created a new page for the site: Clinic Resources.  It has links and downloads related to the clinic, however anyone is welcome to check them out.

The downloads are soccer skills and drills I've picked up over the years as well as an Access database I created to manage my teams.  The database is very basic, but then I never thought I'd share it with the world, so use it with that knowledge.  If you are so inclined and talented, any upgrades to the database or additions to the skills and drills are appreciated.

I've also included two books on the Clinic Resources page.  I've used one of the books, Developing Youth Soccer Players, since I started coaching soccer.  It contains drills and games for all age and skill levels.  Before each season I go through it again to see if there are any drills my team is ready to take on.  The other book, Double Goal Coach, is a book I just started reading, but I'm very excited about what it says so far.  The premise of the book — and web site — is that rec league coaches have two goals; teaching and winning.  Winning is important, it's why we keep score, but teaching is a coach's primary goal and nothing should interfere with that goal.  I think you have read that somewhere before…  After I finish reading the book, I'll post a full review of the book as well as a run down of the resources available on the website.

Please take advantage of the links and downloads on the Clinic Resources page.  I hope it can help at least the soccer coaches out there.

OK coach, the soccer season is about to start, do you know what you're practicing this year?  Even if you have decided on the one or two fundamentals you will concentrate on this season and have a few drills planned, a couple extra ideas can't hurt.

About a month ago I came across a website where you can find a couple of those ideas.  The site is www.WorldClassCoaching.com .  Although it is primarily written for advanced level soccer teams, it still has several areas suitable for recreational teams.  

The discussion board has several interesting topics and, most importantly, it's frequently updated.  Out of the 30 active topics on the first page (out of 67 pages!), all have activity within the past two weeks, most within the last two days.  If you post an issue, someone is going to see it quickly.

You can find some great training ideas in their training sessions archive.  The drills are broken into three levels with the first level appropriate for the youngest and least experienced players.  I found some of the Level 1 drills to be a little advanced for the youngest players because they involved several steps.  But it is possible to take out some great ideas to build age appropriate games if you find the kids have trouble following the steps.

About three weeks ago I signed up for three of the free newsletters they offer.  A few times a week I get an email with a new drill.  Today's was a 4v4v4 passing game that would be great for a 10-12 year old team.  Two of the teams pair up basically to play keep away from the third team.  When the defenders gain possession, they switch with the team of the player who made the give away.  This drill could scale down to 2 or 3 on a team and to a 20' or 30' square from the recommended 40'.

Another drill was a three sided passing drill.  The three players start in a triangle, player 1 passed to a player and runs between the other two players.  The player with the ball passes to the remaining player and runs between where player 1 is now and the remaining player.  The trio repeats this moving the triangle down the field.  I'm sure you can see how you can add to this drill as the kids improve.  Limit the touches a player has before making a pass or break out the stopwatch and see who can set the record.

Both of those drills are from the WorldClassCoaching.com email newsletter.  I have to wade through a few sales pitches for training sessions, DVDs and books, but that's why I love my scroll wheel mouse…

Are there any resources you've found with interesting practice drills or games?  Share them in the comments.