Spring 10 Coaching Clinics March 14
In conjunction with the Iowa Soccer Association, we will host youth coaching licenses for U6 - U12 coaches on Sunday March 14th from 2 - 5 p.m. at the Bergstrom Indoor Practice Facility.
The Ames Soccer Club encourages its coaches to pursue coaching education opportunities so that they enhance not only their knowledge of coaching but also their ability to apply appropriate coaching methodology. The club will pay the entire fees for these licenses as confirmation of its commitment to coaching education. The licenses are hands-on learning as the instructors take the coaching candidates through appropriate activities.
If you are interested in taking the course please complete this form and make sure to mail to Gary Eyles at 5201 Cervantes Drive, Ames, IA 50014.
Summer Coaching Clinics
- D-Licence (aimed at U13 and older coaches): This course will be offered in Ames July 30-Aug 1 and Aug 6-8. (Both weekends are part of the same clinic.) Ames Soccer Club coaches interested in attending should contact Gary Eyles. The club will cover the expense.
- E-Licence/Certificate (aimed at U12 and younger coaches) will be offered in the Des Moines area over the summer. Click here for the calendar.
Coach Licensing Policy
ASC has, for many years, supported coach training. Our goal is that 100% of our coaches (parent and staff) will have appropriate USSF coaching certificates/licenses by the beginning of their second year with the club. This includes coaches for every age group from U5-U19. Toward that end, the club increased its coach training budget, to ensure that we can provide this training free of charge to parent-coaches and staff, and we have committed to holding the courses in Ames quite regularly. Click here or visit the Policy page to read the full policy.
Staff Coach Contact Information
- Gary Eyles, Director of Coaching and Player Development: garykix@mchsi.com 515-360-5117
- Nuno Ferreira, Assistant Director of Coaching, nunofh@isunet.net 515-268-8002
- Bobby Myers, Club Coach, bobby@ahs-sports.com, 515-451-1836
- Andres Calabro, Club Coach, mcalabro@iastate.edu, 515-203-9636.
- Eileen Flaherty, flaherty@iastate.edu, (413) 244-5689
- Erin Witte, ewitte09@gmail.com, 801-842-3271
- Lindsey Long, lindseyllong@gmail.com, 515-231-4981
| Charlie Ramsey | Referee Assignor | 515-419-5789 |
Practice Sessions
- Practice Guidelines from Gary Eyles: Word format (preserves web links) or pdf format
- Game warmup ideas from Gary Eyles
- US Soccer Youth Coaching Best Practices (1 MB pdf)
- Links to drills and lesson plans:
- WSN.com - aggregated coaching information and drills
- Indiana Soccer Coaching Education
- FlashDrills soccer drills
- Minnesota Youth Soccer coaching articles
- North Alabama Soccer League coaching articles
- Utah Youth Soccer (Greg Maas) articles and practice sessions
- SoccerSpecific.com
- US Youth Soccer lesson plans
- Soccer Xpert articles and drills
Coaching resources and articles
- Avoid Overcoaching article
- Traits of a Good Coach (Dan Woog)
- US Youth Soccer Coaching Resources
- National Soccer Coaching Association of America (NSCAA)
- Soccer Coach-L An extensive site with many resources, including an emailing list.
- Philosophies of Premiership Academy Coaches
- First time coach
- How Children Acquire Skills (ppt presentation as pdf)
- Positive Learning Environments
- Guidelines For Handling 10 Common Coaching Situations
- Are you touching the ball enough?
- Avoid the Three L's
- Be Kind When People Do It Wrong
- Behaviour Analysis to Improve your Coaching and the Coaching Environment
- USSF Youth Coaching Best Practices
- Characteristics of Good Coaches
- Conditioned Games: The Missing Link in Youth Soccer
- The Seven C's of Coaching Credibility
- Football and Age Appropriate Learning
- Learning Football Skills Effectively: Challenging Tradition
- Let the kids play
- Professional Attitude Development in Football
- Referees, Coaches and Parents: Role Models for Life
- Youth Soccer in America: How Do We Measure Success?
- What Kind of Coach Are You?
- What Are the Ingredients For Success? Practice, Play, Match Play, Specialisation and Sporting Diversity
A note on referees
All games U9/U10 and older will have assigned certified referees. All U6 games should have parent referees. Most U8 games will have certified referees, but teams should be prepared to have parent referees. All teams should have at least one referee (parent/brother/sister/etc.). The younger teams will need them for league games, and the older teams will need them for tournaments and occasionally to fill in as linesman.
Game Cancellations and Rescheduling policies
The game cancellation policy is here. For U5-U10 games, the complex will usually be closed as a whole for bad weather and an announcement sent through the usual channels. You may also visit the CISL web page to check about away games. If games are cancelled all at once, the club will announce a rescheduled time.
If you cancel a U8 or older game in advance for any other reason, please let Charlie Ramsay know (515-419-5789) and he'll work with you to reschedule a game. He'll keep track of the fields and get you a ref; please give him at least 10 days' notice if at all possible. Please do not schedule a game over practice time.
U6 games may be rescheduled at the coaches' convenience, since the club does not provide referees and there should not be an instance in which all the fields are full.
About Jewelry
All jewelry must be removed for games. This includes earrings and watches, in addition to things like necklaces. This is a matter of safety. We cannot deny that "taping" of earrings occurs on occasion, but it is not officially allowed, is not as safe, and a referee is well within her/his rights to insist that earrings (whether just recently pierced or not!) come out for games.