This September, join millions of youth soccer players, coaches, fans and families in the National Youth Soccer Month--Celebrating Soccer In America. 2007 marks the fifth anniversary of the celebration and showcase of the many joys, rewards and benefits of playing soccer. Visit www.YouthSoccerMonth.org today to learn more about the celebration and how you can get involved.

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US Club Soccer Offerings

US Club Soccer offers a number of competititons and events in addition to league and tournament sanctioning. Each summer, US Club Soccer holds The National Cup, the largest national cup competition in the United States, US Club Soccer has also begun The Champions League Cup to crown the country's top boys and girls clubs as well as the Youth World Series, an introductory level, high-quality tournament for younger age groups. id2, a youth identification and development program, works to ensure the country's top youth players are scouted for possible inclusion in US Soccer National Team programs through their club competititons. In addition, US Club Soccer provides league and tournament sanctioning, including State Cup sanctioning to its members. To apply and learn more about the competitions and programs US Club Soccer is currently offering, visit usclubsoccer.org.

NSCAA members have the opportunity to subscribe to several outstanding magazines that are excellent resources for soccer coaches. These special offers are available only through the Members Only section of NSCAA.com. Simply log into the Members Only area and click on the NSCAA Store in the upper left corner, then select "Magazines" under the Departments menu to the right.

Coaching Corner: Long Passing to Forwards

This installment of the Coaching Corner comes from the new book Soccer Skills and Drills, published by Human Kinetics. It comes from Chapter 8: Applying Techniques Tactically. For information on how to order a copy of Soccer Skills and Drills, CLICK HERE. 

Procedure: The animation shows Attacker 2, who is making a diagonal run toward the flank corridor. Defender 1 is not in a good marking position--Attacker 2 has outrun Defender 1 by a couple of steps. In this situation Attacker 1 will play a long pass that is coming down in front of and beyond Attacker 2. This pass allows Attacker 2 to keep his or her advantage on the defender because he or she can continue sprinting to receive the pass. Technically, this pass should be a driven ball with a low trajectory and the slightest bend. A right-footed right back will naturally have a slight infield bend, but this should not be exaggerated, because the back wants the ball to arrive beyond Attacker 2 while he or she is still sprinting and has a couple of steps on Defender 1. A pronounced bend or high trajectory adds time of flight to the ball, which allows the defender to catch up.

Coaching Points: This exercise can be modified or developed by adding another striker and marker at the halfway line or changing the number of attackers and defenders in the back third. The coach must remember that the objective of the exercise is many repetitions of a long pass. In the middle third attackers need to play balls to teammates running away from the ball in three tactical applications.