Coaches Corner

Start this process as early as possible.  First, contact the opposing coach.  Discuss the conflict and come up with some potential dates.  Be reasonable.  Don't eliminate a possible date just because you'll have one or two kids missing.  You'll need 3-4 possible alternative dates, in priority order.

It's not enough just to verbally agree.  You need to fill out the paperwork and get a copy.  There have been many cases of coaches miscommunicating, and if there is no paper trail the district director has no good way to resolve it.

If you are the away team, the opposing coach will need to follow their club's process for re-assigning fields.  Make sure this gets done, and you get a copy of the official form when complete (see below).

If you are the home team, contact Tanya Peplinski to request a field change.  Send her an email at tanyapep@earthlink.net.  She'll need to know -- your name; age, level, & gender of the team; official game number; date, time, and field number of the scheduled game; new requested possible dates & times in priority order.  She'll let you know what is available.  Once you have the new field locked down, fill out the MYSA Game Rescheduling Form (from your binder).  Tanya will also re-assign referees for you.  Both coaches need to sign the form (you can fax it back and forth).  When complete, fax it to your district age group coordinator.  Keep a copy for yourself. 

MYSA Policies and Rules Manual

MYSA League Formation/Seeds

MYSA League Playing Nights

MYSA Birthyear Guidelines

2008 Minnesota Tournaments

MapleBrook now has books and DVDs for coaches to borrow from our Lending Library.  Please click HERE for a brief description of the resources available.

Please submit book and/or DVD requests to Rick Sexton.

National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) State Diploma

The State Diploma is a five-hour course directed toward the person newly involved in coaching soccer. It is designed to help coaches working with players in the 5- to 10-year age range. Special emphasis is placed on understanding the physiological and psychological differences of coaching children.

The course is designed to emphasize that the game itself essentially is the teacher and the focus of the coach at this level clearly is as facilitator. The curriculum focuses on the organization of a practice session, using small-sided games to enhance knowledge and fun, basic understanding of the Laws of the Game and information about the care and prevention of injuries. There is no testing in the State Diploma. All candidates must be at least 14 years of age at the time of application.  If a candidate is under 18 years of age, an adult must accompany him or her for the duration of the course.

United States Soccer Federation (USSF) "E" Certificate and "D" License registration information can be found HERE. 

MapleBrook will reimburse coaches for NSCAA Diploma and USSF "E" and "D" course tuition.  Please click HERE for additional information regarding our Coaches' Education Reimbursement Policy.

USSF "E" Certificate:

Consists of 15 hours of instruction and 3 hours of testing.  Course material will cover proper technical execution and education in addition to an introduction to the tactical, physical and psychological aspects of the game.  Applicants must be 16 years of age.

USSF "D" License:

Consists of 30 hours of instruction and 6 hours of testing.  The course is designed to prepare coaches for training players U-13 and above by expanding the player's tactical awareness and development of their technical ability.  Course curriculum will build upon the basic principles covered at the "E" course in addition to individual and team tactics.  Applicants must be 17 years of age and have held an "E" for at least one year.

You may download the "E" and "D" course manuals from the U.S. Soccer web page.  Also, there is a new coaching guide available on this page, "Best Practices for Coaching in the United States."

All MapleBrook Coaches (Head and Asst.), Trainers and Coaching Directors must read the MBSA Code of Conduct and sign the acknowledgment form. The MBSA Code of Conduct can be found on the Forms page.

Background check instructions and forms can be found HERE.

MapleBrook Soccer Association (MBSA) strongly advocates player development through active participation in soccer. We believe the primary purpose of youth soccer is to teach fundamental soccer skills in a non-threatening environment. Our children should have the opportunity to learn new skills, improve previously learned skills and have fun doing it. We believe that player development, continued enjoyment and participation in soccer can be best achieved at all levels of competition by establishing age-specific guidelines for playing times. The following guidelines have been approved by the MapleBrook Soccer Association Board or Directors, and provide our players, parents and coaches with a set of expectations with regard to playing time.

U9 through U12

Equal playing time is expected for all players during all games and practices, as these age brackets are considered “developmental”.  Since winning is secondary to player development, coaches should ensure playing time during each game is as relatively equal as possible. Additionally, MapleBrook Soccer Association does not advocate specialization of position at these age groups. We leave it to the discretion of the coach to reduce playing time for disciplinary reasons; however, should playing time be reduced, it is the coach’s responsibility to communicate these issues to the player and parents in a timely fashion.

U13 and Older

MapleBrook Guidelines specify that each C1/C2/C3 player receive a minimum of 33% playing time during games (league, tournament, district and state). Player’s earn their playing time through full and positive participation in all practices, scrimmages, training sessions, etc. Coaches are encouraged to achieve the minimum during each game; however, competition may demand slight deviations from these recommendations so that the minimum might be achieved over a period of several games. We leave it to the discretion of the coach to reduce playing time for disciplinary reasons; however, should playing time be reduced, it is the coach’s responsibility to communicate these issues to the player and parents in a timely fashion. 

Questions concerning these guidelines or their interpretations should be directed to the appropriate age-level Director of Coaching located on the Board page.

Looking for practice drills?  We have found these on the Decatur Sports Page and more on Joe Soccer.

You can get the Zonal Defending presentation from the December 2006 Coaches Meeting HERE.