High School Soccer & More

NASL needs to notify the State of any U19 Boys team that did not form in the Fall due to AHSAA and NCAA player restrictions and any U14, u15, U16, U17, u18 or U19 Girls team registered through NASL that will participate in the SNICKERS/AYSA State Cup.

The boy teams eligible to participate will be those that participated in the Fall Classic League (except for u19 Boy's).

Those girl teams or u19 boy teams that want to participate must complete the entry form and pay $200 entry fee.

All of the Boy's Classic teams should of received an entry form in the mail.

If you have not received an entry form please contact Marsha.

The deadline is December 31, 1996.  

Subject: "D" Clinic in Hsv in Feb. Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 14:02:24, -0500 
From: tim.easterling@prodigy.com (MR TIM C EASTERLING)
The NASL is going to host a "D" License coaching clinic in Hunstville at the Southeast YMCA.

The clinic will consist of 36 hours of coaches training by our AYSA state coaching director Jason Vittrup. If you are interested you should contact me immediately to reserve a seat . A deposit of $25.00 will hold your position. Seating is limited and last year we had a full house.

We also need to know that Huntsville will have enough coaches to participate this year to make it worth Jason's time and effort. We need about 12 - 15 to insure the clinic will be held, so let me know as soon as you can. He has a full schedule and this is the only weekend available that we could book him and he needs to know if Hunstville will have enough for the clinic.

It is my understanding that the cost will be cost will be $80 for the clinic which appears very reasonable for 36 hours of class/field training.

The dates are Friday evening Feb. 21st from 6:00 PM until 9:00 PM. Saturday Feb. 22nd from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM. Sunday Feb. 23rd from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM

and again the following weekend.

Friday evening Feb. 28th 6-9 pm Sat. Mar. 1st 8-5 pm Sun. Mar. 2nd 9-5 pm.

Any questions call me at home 883-0863

at work 882 4426 ( 8 till 5 )

email: Tim.Easterling@prodigy.com  

3rd Annual UAH Hollingsworth Indoor Tournament > Huntsville Alabama > U8-U16 (boys and girls) > > Jan 10,11 and 12 > Huntsville teams will play on the 10th > > Application due Dec 25 > > $80 per team > > Maximum 9 per team > > Each player must provide proof of registration > with USYSA. > > 6 v 6 (includes goalkeeper) > > Contact: Brian Thomas at 205-883-4524 > or > Gary McNeill at 205-881-6105 > > Charlie Zarzour  

Ajax of Amsterdam is Dutch professional, premiere division team. Year in and year out they have been regarded as one of the most successful club teams in the world. They were the National champions of Holland as well as the European champion in 1995. The club has an extensive youth development program that has produced quality players on a consistent basis. Stars such as Johann Cruyff, Marco Van Basten, Frank Rykaard and Dennis Bergkamp, just to name a few, have all come through their youth system.

Open tryouts for children as young as eight years of age and a large and very thorough scouting network aid in identifying the abundance of talent that the club attracts. Once in, the players are continually screened, trained and indoctrinated into the "Ajax way". Unlike other top european clubs, Ajax very seldom buys players. They prefer to develop and promote from within. The scouts select their teams in the F-juniors (U-8) and when the boys are twelve or thirteen years old, they reside in the boarding-school of Ajax Amsterdam. The players go to school locally, have all their needs met by the club and then train daily under the watchful eye of age-group professional coaches.

Ajax play a very offensive system of play using a 3,4,3 lineup. It's the club's philosophy for all their teams (U13-professional) to play this type of system. The first aim of their philosophy is to ensure that all players are technically sound. Without proficiency in the fundamentals, players are incapable of playing at the highest level of play possible. Their second aim is to score a lot of goals and encourage their players to take risks in the pursuit of that task. Their third priority is to high press the opponent and with total commitment the moment they lose possession of the ball. Louis van Gaal, the head coach says, that a player from Ajax should be variable-he must be able to play 2 or 3 positions, perfectly, in this system. He also states that the player must be fast and quick both with and without the ball. Van Gaal proclaims, "In each team of Ajax are selected 16 players, four players who ply with the right foot for the positions 2,6 and 7, four players who play with the left foot for the positions 5,8 and 11, three players for the positions" 3 and 4, three players for the positions 9 and 10 and two for the goalkeeper position (see diagram 1).

The point is that players are trained in groups going up and down the field not back and forth across the field. How many times have you trained forwards against defenders only? With no thought given to the aforementioned approach. The thrust, with the Ajax approach, is to always advance the ball forward rather than laterally. It changes the complexion of training when you address the needs of defenders, midfielders and forwards as not only lines but also as the right, left and middle units as well. Until the focus shifts are we, as coaches, truly training the teamês total needs?

AJAX