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Flow, ESPN and iSoccer expose coaches to new technology in Jamaica
Local coaches benefited from a Flow-ESPN football clinic that introduced online technologies to bolster football performance.
The clinic was led by the US-based company, ISoccer.org and André Virtue of Whole Life Ministries, who exposed coaches to revolutionary training methods and procedures via several drills and online tutorial programmes. The two-day clinic, which took place at Jarrett Park in Montego Bay earlier this week, sought to strengthen the coaching skills of coaches from all over Jamaica.
Virtue, who is the local organiser of the camp, says it was formulated to keep the rural coaches up to speed with the latest international techniques to improve their overall training capabilities. It forms part of a broader programme that Flow initiated last year as part of its investment in local football.
Under that programme last year, Flow teamed up with its international broadcast partners, ESPN, to expose 40 local coaches and over 100 players to the expertise of international football stars Robbie Earle, Frank Leboeuf, Shaka Hislop, Russell Latapy, and Uche Okafor, who conducted several coaching seminars at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium.
The clinic will continue later this year in November as the broader Flow-ESPN group returns to build on this initial training. Explaining how the clinic works, Virtue said, “ISoccer is a programme with an assessment tool which the coaches will use to break down the technical level of a player, as well as to identify weaknesses within that player.
“The tool is called the National Assessment, which is a test to measure a player’s overall technical ability. Those tests involve juggling, dribbling, first touch and pass, aerial control and ball skills.”
Speaking on the joint initiative, Sharon Roper, vice-president of marketing at Flow, says that it is very important for Flow to support local football talent.
“The sport of football has been one of the most popular avenues for youth development in Jamaica,” she said. “The national football programme has resulted in many opportunities for young men for social mobility and personal development. Flow is, therefore, pleased to team up with ESPN, Isoccer.org and Whole Life Ministries to strengthen the sport.”
Read the Full Article: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110906/sports/sports5.html
Talking Standards at the Urban Soccer Symposium tomorrow
Tomorrow morning (Thursday April 22) I’ll be speaking on a panel at the Urban Soccer Symposium in Washington DC. We’ll be discussing the role quantifiable, objective soccer metrics and quality standards play in helping socially oriented soccer organizations achieve their goals. Through our partnership with America SCORES we have witnessed the impact first hand and look forward to working with other organizations that use soccer to improve lives.
Here is the full session description.
Program Quality Standards : The Components of “Healthy” Youth Development Programs
Measureable positive results are essential to the development of a strong program. It is also the key to sustainable funding. In order to achieve both of these goals, certain quality standards must be in place. In this session, you will learn what those are and how to assess/improve your programs.
Moderator:
Nelda Brown, Academy For Educational Development (AED), Center on Youth Development and Engagement
Panelists:
Megan Bartlett, Up2Us
Amy Skeen, Monique Turner, Kristi Skala, Girls in the Game
Abe Geiger, iSoccer.org
New York Red Bulls vs Santos, 3-1 Red Bulls
The first ever game at the new Red Bull Arena against Santos was an all-around excellent soccer experience. We couldn’t have asked for better weather and getting to the stadium on the Path train from the city was a piece of cake. The Santos fans brought their drums, which livened up the atmosphere outside. And of course, the 3-1 result in favor of the home team, mixed with some entertaining, highly technical play from the Brazilians, made for a great night of soccer.
Luckily I captured captain Mike Petke’s goal (the second of the three) and the ensuing crowd revelry on tape. Watch the video and click on the image thumbnails to see them full size. The images below show the first goal. Look at them in order to see the free kick, the rebound, and the celebration.
First Ever Goal in Red Bull Arena:
iSoccer: www.iSoccer.org
iSoccer’s Down Under Debut
We are very excited to announce our first official iSoccer camps in the Southern Hemisphere coming up next month in Wellington, New Zealand. Through a new partnership with Ole Academy, the iSoccer Assessment will be incorporated into the three day April camps for players between the ages of 7 and 12. Included in the camp fees, players will receive an iSoccer subscription allowing them to utilize the recommended technical training sessions before and after the camp.
“Ole Soccer Academy is very excited to partner with iSoccer. We believe that individualizing training and quantifying performance are two of the most important ingredients for a successful player development environment, and iSoccer gives us the platform to do both. iSoccer motivates players of all ages and skill levels and shows what it takes to be a technically proficient footballer. We can’t wait to compare the NZ players with US players.” – Ole Academy Director and former USL player Nate Winkel.
About Ole Academy:
Ole Academy combines its proven ability and experience, with one of New Zealand’s top soccer facilities and an internationally qualified staff to deliver unparalleled results for its players. Alumni and board members include current New Zealand National Team players Ryan Nelsen and Simon Elliott as well as former full and youth internationals such as Mike Wilson, Craig Henderson, Daniel Keats, Nick Robson, and Jake Gleeson to name a few. Both Nelson and Elliott played collegiately at Stanford University and have since plied their trade in the English Premier League and Major League Soccer.
To learn more about iSoccer visit www.iSoccer.org
Congrats to Coastal Soccer Toe Taps Winners!
Congratulations to Nicole of the East Meadow Stars ’98 and Dan of the Hicksville Heat! They were the winners of the iSoccer Toe Tap Competition hosted by Coastal Soccer at the recent Long Island Junior Soccer League Convention. Nicole and Dan will receive a voucher redeemable for any Coastal Soccer camp or clinic held at Coastal Sports in Hauppauge, NY.
Over 100 players participated in the competition (sometimes more than once) and they all had a great time. Thanks to Coastal for hosting the event at the LIJSL Convention and thanks to all of the players who participated. We’ll be keeping an eye on the iSoccer Level of Long Island to watch you as you continue to raise your technical level.
To learn more about iSoccer visit www.iSoccer.org
Illinois Fusion Club Stats and Assessment Video
The Illinois Fusion recently finished their first complete iSoccer Assessment cycle with roughly 200 players. Of those players, 92% have logged on to the site to see their results, 597 coach assigned training sessions have been viewed online and 150 have been downloaded, all within the first month!
This video shows a player completing the foundations assessment during their first club assessment day in February. Watch the player’s reaction after he successfully finishes his assessment! Also, notice the player in the background practicing head juggling on his own, trying to improve and get a higher score next time. We love to see young players getting excited about technical training!Great work so far Fusion, and thanks for sharing this video.
To learn more about iSoccer visit www.iSoccer.org
Partnership Announcement: Ohio North ODP
Ohio Youth Soccer Association North and iSoccer Partner to offer Technical Player Development Technology
San Francisco, CA and Richfield, OH February 25, 2010 – Ohio Youth Soccer Association North (OYSAN) and iSoccer LLC are excited to announce a partnership to help raise the technical level of youth soccer players throughout Ohio.
Starting in March, OYSAN will begin using iSoccer’s award winning technical assessment and online video training platform to improve and track the technical development of players in the state’s Olympic Development Program. Starting with members of the boys and girls ’97 and ’98 age groups, players will complete the assessment at home, or with their clubs, and report their results online.
OYSAN coaches will use the assessment results to build targeted technical sessions to supplement team training. This additional resource will provide players and parents guided video training instruction, carefully designed by State Director of Coaching Tom Turner, which can be downloaded to an iPod and performed at home.
Tom Turner PhD, OYSAN Director of Coaching
According to Turner, “A soccer schedule consisting of limited practice time and multiple games does not provide enough ball contacts to develop elite or even above average players. Players who aspire to higher levels need to train on their own and iSoccer provides our ODP players with a great individual program that is accessible wherever and whenever the kids can find time to kick a ball.”
iSoccer will be included free of charge for the roughly 1000 ODP participants. Assessment results will be used as benchmarks for setting goals and encouraging individual technical improvement, not for player selection. Players and their parents will receive emails notifying them of how to download their training sessions.
“iSoccer found a way to turn our players’ iPods into a personalized extension of our coaching staff, so it’s a great tool for improving the scope of our program,” added Turner.
Players will also be able to create their own customized training sessions from over 500 training exercises, build a four week individual training program, set improvement goals, and view their own assessment analysis online. iSoccer is an innovative, hi-tech supplement to coaching that OYSAN will utilize to help motivated players maximize their potential.
“We are thrilled to be working with OYSAN. Tom Turner and the rest of the OYSAN staff are leaders in youth soccer and we look forward to working with them to raise the level of soccer in Ohio North” said iSoccer Founder and CEO Scott Leber.
For more information about OYSAN, visit www.oysan.org
For more information about iSoccer, visit www.iSoccer.org
Illinois Fusion uses iSoccer for Technical Player Development
We’re very excited to be working with the Illinois Fusion Soccer Club. Their commitment to player development is clearly stated in their Club Principles:
We believe player development to be our first priority in accordance with USSF, AYSO, and NSCAA guidelines, and will be age and skill appropriate. We will not sacrifice player development for a team victory: Winning an athletic contest is at best a secondary goal of youth sports.
We look forward to helping them support their player development initiatives! Here are a few excerpts from the announcement on the Illinois Fusion website.
“Starting on February 13, Illinois Fusion will be using the iSoccer technical assessment and video training online platform to help improve and track the technical development of our players! The club would like to invite ALL Fusion players to the indoor training session on February 13 for the initial assessment.”
“The iSoccer Assessment will be taken throughout the year to measure individual and team development. Fusion coaches will also use the assessment results to build targeted technical sessions to supplement team training. This additional resource will provide players and parents guided video training instruction, carefully designed by our knowledgeable coaching staff, which can be downloaded to an iPod and performed at home.”
Read the full story on the Fusion website>>
About the Illinois Fusion Soccer Association
Established in 2007, the Illinois Fusion Soccer Association works to benefit the youth of Central Illinois by providing quality instruction in the game of soccer.
We focus on the development of each player, striving to find appropriate challenges so each individual is surrounded with players who can provide the proper setting and nationally licensed coaches who can create the proper environment to improve. We research the latest information on youth development from across the globe to insure we give our players the proper focus and tools to succeed. At the youngest ages, we look for incremental ways for players to measure success so they always feel they are improving. A player who feels he/she is improving is excited to train and has fun developing the skills necessary to become a competitive player as they grow older.
Learn more about iSoccer at www.iSoccer.org
iSoccer Wins Soccer Product of the Year Award
Thank you to all our members, everyone who voted for us, and the judges panel for selecting us! Here is Scott accepting the award for the Best Soccer Web and Software Service of 2009.
Learn more about iSoccer at www.iSoccer.org
SPY Awards Ceremony NSCAA Convention 2010
Rebroadcast of the 2010 SPY Awards ceremony at the NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia. It plays on a loop so you can’t fast forward or rewind (unfortunately) but if you’re waiting for the part where Scott accepts the award for iSoccer it is just after Kixsport wins for their Kixcube product.
Learn more about iSoccer at www.iSoccer.org
More places to follow iSoccer
