Over the Fall season, AYSC players will get to experience relatively new features of our In-House program at the U7/U8 and U9/U10 levels – World Cup Tournament and Larger Field Games. Parents / guardians / players may not understand the purpose of these new formats, so we’ve developed the brief explainer below.
The Why
AYSC is a smaller club, and as a result our teams often have mixed abilities. AYSC’s U11 to U16 teams may have players who range from low to high technical skills, whereas other larger clubs stream players into ability-focused groupings starting right from U5 (Division 1, Division 2, Division 3). Some neighbouring clubs run their higher-level ‘Developmental’ programs with practices up to three nights a week – at a much increased cost.
AYSC’s focus is on “fitness & fun” – we have always believed that ALL of our players develop into stronger players exactly because our teams are made up of players who have mixed abilities. Our goal is always to provide opportunities for every player to develop to the best of their abilities, and our World Cup Tournament and Larger Field Games allows us to develop certain technical skills in our players.
AYSC’s long-term goal is to create competent long-term players who enjoy the sport into their adulthood. We want players to have multiple skills and understanding to solve complex problems – not just kick the ball away or panic.
By developing our U7/U8 and U9/U10 players to be more confident by getting more touches on the ball, we will build a greater pool of competitive players so that AYSC will field stronger Division 2 teams and competent Division 3 players at the U11 and up levels.
The Formats
World Cup Tournaments have teams playing four quick mini small-sided (3v3 or 4v4) games, versus playing traditional full-field 7-on-7 / 8-on-8 “Team X v Team Y” games:
- four to six times more touches on the ball
- five times more decisions to make
- more dribbling and more goals
- constantly involved in the play – this will generate confident and creative players
Larger Field Games have teams experiencing play on a field larger than they might typically play:
- more opportunities to practice skills like long dribbles and crisp up-field passes
The Data
Recently, many international organizing bodies (Football Association Challenge Cup, Spanish Development, Germany Soccer, Canada Soccer) have begun switching to more small-sided games in their training:
- From the FA, in a 10 minute U9 3v3 game, each player averaged 71 touches vs 37 touches in a 7v7
- From a Scottish club, in a 20 minute U9 4v4 game, each player averaged 117 touches vs 55 touches in a 7v7
Tactical scanning behaviour, including game awareness and decision making in youth players, typically increases as the game format reduced to 3v3. This allows for more interactions near the ball to build comprehension in movement to support play.
Change Can Be Hard!
We recognize that some parents / guardians / players / coaches may find these new formats to be “different” from traditional Saturday full-field 7-on-7 / 8-on-8 “Team X v Team Y” games, and change can be hard.
Note also that our World Cup Tournament and Larger Field Games rotate with traditional games, allowing our players to experience the best of both worlds!
