Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Champions, Golden Gate Invitational



Barca has worked hard to improve its intensity and work rate defensively. This finally paid off in a hard fought weekend at the Golden Gate Invitational in San Francisco at the Crocker Amazon soccer complex. In each of our bracket games, it was hard fought and tight and close for much of the game, but Barca eventually broke the games open late, scoring 14 with 2 against over the three games. In the final against an excellent MFRC Earthquakes team from Redwood City, Barca scored early and then withstood a long-ball attack during the second-half to win 1-0. Thanks to all the 8 teams in our age group who pushed each other to better performances.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Clarendon Stairs Club

Ten soccer players (and sometimes a dog or two) run stairs twice a week prior to school, at 9 am. Join them! Here's their most recent running times.

Here too is the link to the San Francisco Staircases you can run.

Friday, September 9, 2011

About Barca United














If you spend a little time clicking through old posts on this website, you will learn a lot about the Barca United team. Until now, only players and their parents have visited this site. This post is here to familiarize others with the team and our philosophy.

Most of the Barca United players are in 5th grade; two are in 6th grade and one in 4th. We play year-round, but we actually encourage kids to enjoy other sports simultaneously, and we accommodate conflicts. United has lost only a handful of games through the indoor, spring, summer, fall and tournament seasons. Far more important than winning, though, is the quality of play. We are teaching Barcelona-style modern soccer: maintaining possession, rapid passing, and advanced-passing combinations. Using pass-counters, we track the number of passes the team makes during a game. In the fall of 2010, for instance, the kids averaged 170 passes per 50 minute game - a rate equivalent to over 300 passes in a 90 minute game. This has increased at the U11 level.

I frequently make quick, short videos for the kids to watch during the week, so that our practice field time - a precious resource - isn't squandered with a lot of speechifying about big concepts. Instead, we use practices to model and correct. The big concepts come across in training videos or letters.

Even then, the best thing about Barca United is the chemistry between the kids and their families. Many of the parents are former or current players, and real fans of the game. We try to expose the team to the true culture of soccer, and pass along our love for the game.



Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Capital Valley Open Tournament, Sacramento

Braving 95 degree weather (in the shade), Barca's two wins and one tie got them into the final of the CVU Open. Though dominating the run of play in the final, Barca could not manage a goal, and a great goal by the CVU Elite team on a well-shaped corner kick and hard header into the net gave CVU the win. Congrats to CVU, and thanks to all the eight teams in the age group. It was a fun weekend in Sacramento over Labor Day.