Sac United Winter Camp Dec 15, 16, & 17th.

Don't forget the Sac United Winter Camp will be Dec 15, 16, 17 at Granite Park from 5:30-7:00.

This will be the last official club event of the year.

And we'll be having a party to celebrate the year either after the Winter Camp or in January.

We'll keep you posted.

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Time To Get Ready For the State Cup!!

In this set of clips there are some tremendous assists from the #7 & #11 players and some outstanding #9 play. Watch the eye contact between players, the timing, and the runs behind the defense.

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No Practice Next Week! Happy Thanksgiving!

There will be no practice the week of November 23.

We will resume training on November 30 for final preparations for the State Cup.

Have a wonderful holiday!

-Coach Nate

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Goalkeeping: Angles

Angle play: This area alone separates the pretenders from the contenders. By simply taking up the right position you can make goalkeeping look very easy.
-- Tony DiCicco, Goalkeeper Soccer Training Manual

Here is a good quick read about Goalkeeping from JB Goalkeeping a decent resource for all things GK related.

Along with footwork and good catching skills, positioning provides the foundation of good goalkeeping. A keeper who is always in position makes it look like every shot goes right to them, because the shooter has nowhere else to put the ball. Poor positioning leaves vast areas of net for a shooter, or even an empty net.

Basic Positioning Principles

Fig 1. The Center Line Position

Fig. 2 Covering the Angle

First, to position themselves accurately, the goalkeeper must know where the goal is! It sounds obvious, but during the scramble of a game a keeper can lose track. When the play starts moving towards the goal, the first thing the keeper must do is check the posts to make sure they are starting off with good position. Then, whenever they can divert their attention for a split second, they should check the posts again to make sure they've maintained that good position in the face of a moving ball.

Second, the goalkeeper must always try to position themselves on an imaginary line that runs from the center of the goal to the ball (Fig. 1). This puts them in position to get to either post equally well. The center line determines the side-to-side positioning.

Third, the goalkeeper must position themselves far enough off the goal line to cover the angle created by the ball and both posts. They should be able to cover either post with a couple of quick steps (footwork!) and a dive if necessary (Fig. 2). The angle and the keeper's ability determine the forward/backward positioning. Many young or timid goalkeepers tend to stay very close to the goal line - sometimes right on it. They must be taught to come off the line if they are to cover any shots near the posts.

How far out a keeper must come depends on their size and ability - smaller goalkeepers or keepers with a poor range will need to come farther out to be able to cover the entire angle.

But don't forget the third dimension not represented in these pictures: height. A keeper who is far off their line is more likely to be beaten by a chip over their head, so that must also be put into the equation. The keeper must adjust the forward/backward position so that they're confident they won't be beaten easily over the top.

Positioning Around the Goal

The goalkeeper must constantly adjust his or her position as they move around the goal. Let's look at what happens as the ball changes spots.

Fig. 3: The Goalkeeper's Arc

Fig. 4 Adjusted Arc

At a tight angle, with the ball near the end line, the angle the keeper needs to cover is very small, so they can stay near their goal. However, the keeper must stay outside the near post. This will prevent them from deflecting a shot into their own net inside the near post. At sharp angles the goalkeeper should always position themselves so any ball they deflect at a right angle (they should already be square to the ball) will go outside the near post.

Here's a quick way for goalkeepers to tell if they are outside the near post: if the goalkeeper, while square to the ball, points their arms straight out sideways, the arm nearest the goal should be pointing outside the near post. If it is pointing into the net, the keeper needs to take another step or two out from goal.

As the ball moves further out onto the soccer field, the near post is not as much of a concern any more, but the keeper must move further out to cover the angle.

Figure 3 shows conceptually where a keeper should be positioned (red dots) as the ball (black dots) moves around the edge of the penalty area. The blue line shows the shape this makes. The actual size of the arc will differ depending on the size and skill of a particular keeper, but the general shape will remain the same. (The angle lines are only drawn on the left side of the illustration to avoid clutter.)

If we look at the top of the arc, though, we notice that the keeper is very far off the line (sometimes 10-12 yards out!) and likely to get chipped, especially if they're not very tall. So we need to adjust the top of the arc to account for high balls. The top of the arc gets flattened, bringing the keeper back to a position where they have a chance to get to any ball over their head (Fig. 4). Again, the exact position will depend on the size and skill of the player. Shorter, less skilled keepers will be more comfortable closer to the goal line, others may be comfortable closer to the six.

Tony DiCicco calls this concept the "Arc Angle". It can easily be demonstrated on the soccer field with three ropes about 50 feet long, one attached to each post and one to a stake at the middle of the goal line. Place the ball at varying spots around the penalty area and have the keeper find their position, then place a cone there. When the exercise is finished, the cones will show that keeper's arc as in Figure 3. Adjust for chip shots and you'll end up with the keeper's arc as in Figure 4.

A keeper should learn this arc and use it as a general guideline for how they position themselves as the ball moves. Notice that this arc roughly follows the goal box. Make sure the keeper notes how their own arc matches or differs from the goal box, so they can use the goal box as a reference during practices and games. However, do not let a keeper, especially a young one, think they must move along this arc at all times. If the ball quickly changes position, they must move as quickly as possible to cover the new position, cutting across the box if necessary.

Also, remember a given keeper's arc will change as they gain size, strength and ability. You may want to run the exercise with the ropes once a season to see if their arc has changed.

Positioning Within the Penalty Area

Discussion of where the goalkeeper should be in the penalty area when the ball is elsewhere on the soccer field is in the tactics section.

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Quick Summary - Positioning:	Mistakes to Watch For:
Know the location of the goalposts Stay on line between the center of the goal and the ball Move far enough off the line to cover the angle to each post Be aware of balls over the head when way off the line At sharp angles, always play outside the near post	Not checking the goalposts frequently Staying planted on the goal line Standing inside the near post on sharp-angled shots

Continue Reading

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Street Soccer

Please to do not try this at home. This is a professional on a closed course....



Practice where you can.

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The Assist

Not half bad at football, this guy.

Vision. Touch. Awareness. Class. And unselfish too.

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Juggle Month Results & Winners

All throughout October the boys have been focusing on there juggle skills. We spent five minutes every practice juggling. Two minutes to warm-up & a three-minute juggle test.

The Benefits of Juggling:

Players gain more confidence on the ball while increasing overall skill.

Juggling is a fantastic exercise to develop touch with the soccer ball. When juggling, learning to control the body is very important. Being able to make quick, bodily adjustments with all muscles is developed through juggling.

Juggling also improves Balance & Coordination . With good juggling skills, players will become better passes, beat defenders more easily, and be able to hold the ball against defensive pressure, because of better touch on the ball.

This past month has been a smashing success with 5 players moving their juggling high into the triple digits. Congratulations Alex, Nata, Sergio F., Edwin & Rod!

We also had 5 players improve there juggling high by more than 50 juggles (Sergio F. +58, Adrian +58, Edwin +71, Nata +75, & Rod +346)It shows you what just a little practice at home can do for a players skills.

Winners

Record High / Highest Total: Rod 402/528
Honorable Mention: Sergio F. 175/420

Record High Head Juggles: Rod

Juggle Trick Champion: Jorden
Honorable Mention: Sergio F., Alex

Congratulations to all the players for their improvements over the last month. Great Job.

U12B
Player	OG High	New High	High Dif	OG Total	New Total	Total Dif
Sergio F.	117	175	58	320	420	100
Alex	102	107	5	270	307	37
Rod	56	402	346	127	528	401
Jorden	55	95	40	244	320	76
Nata	42	117	75	212	293	81
Abel	42	42	0	222	222	0
Max	35	63	28	185	230	45
Edwin	34	105	71	216	328	112
Gabe	34	54	20	175	231	56
Seamus	32	32	0	162	193	31
Adrian	31	89	58	173	173	0
Julien	30	38	8	190	226	36
Kenneth	29	36	7	198	219	21
Sergio DLQ	28	28	0	173	173	0
Jake	27	30	3	167	210	43
Adam	23	23	0			0
Sascha	10	31	21	82	108	26

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