This week the Cutters travel team coaches will come to the Community Soccer practice night. They will run the practice sessions with the help of the trainers and coaches. We want to give the players an idea of what a travel practice might be like for them. In addition, parents can ask the coaches questions about the Cutters travel program.

The following practice plans will be used:

• U-8 Scoring Goals! practice
• U-10 and U-12 Scoring Goals! practice
• U-14 Scoring Goals! practice

Monday, May 21 is our last practice night (due to the Memorial Day holiday on May 28). We have enjoyed our practice time with the players and look forward to next season! Games still will be played on Saturday, May 26 and Saturday, June 2.

This week we will work on possession skills and tactics for the different age groups.  Please review the following practice plans:

• Week 5: U-8 Possession
• Week 5: U-10 & U-12 Possession
• Week 5: U-14 Possession

This week we will work on creative dribbling skills, changing direction and changing pace with the U-6 players.

View the Practice Plan: Week 7 — U-6 Creative Dribbling

This week we will work on Scoring Goals! with the U-6 players.

View the practice plan: Week 6: Scoring Goals!

We will work on passing and receiving for all age groups this Monday night. For the U-10s and U-12s, we will spend a little more time in the warm-up portion of practice, working on specific technical skills.

Please review the practice plan for your age group below:

• Week 4: U-8 Passing & Receiving
• Week 4: U-10 & U-12 Passing & Receiving
• Week 4: U-14: Passing & Receiving

We have a chance of rain for the next several days. Please call the Karst Weather Hotline, 812-349-2126, to check if the fields are open on Monday before driving to the fields.

This week we will work on dribbling in traffic and around obstacles at the U-6 practice.

This week we will work on dribbling technique with the U-6 players. We want them to change directions, change speed and have fun dribbling!

Please review the practice plan before Saturday morning: Week 4 — More Dribbling (U-6)

Practice Plans:

This week we will work on defending for all age groups. The younger players will work on individual techniques while the older age groups will add team defending topics as well. Take time to instruct individual players regarding proper defending technique during each activity.

Check out the following online resources and videos for more information:

• US SOCCER: First defender: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsHs4dW4pNY
• US SOCCER: Second defender: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qus_tRw43A
• Defending terms: http://www.soccercoachingnotes.com/coaching/tactical/team-defending-in-soccer.pdf

Please review the following practice plans for Monday night:

• Week 3: U-8 Defending
• Week 3: U-10 and U-12 Defending
• Week3: U-14 Defending

On Friday we will work on passing technique with the U-6 teams. These players will learn how to properly pass a ball, without having to share it during practice. Many of these activities can be practiced at home as well.

In addition, the practice portion of the sessions will be 25 minutes, allowing the teams time to play a regular game of four 8-minute quarters.

Please review tonight’s plan (Adobe PDF file) before practice.

The topic for Week 2 of Community Soccer is dribbling. Please review the following practice plans before Monday night. If you have any questions, contact your age group coordinator.

• U-8 Practice Plan
• U-10 & U-12 Practice Plan
• U-14 Practice Plan 

We are excited about Week 2 of the Community Soccer program for our U-6 players.  We will play games to practice driblbing and coordination this Saturday.

Please review the following practice plan for April 7.

Hello Community Soccer Coaches, 

Thank you for coaching a team (or two ) during the spring season. The children have such a good time in this program and we are thankful you agreed to volunteer.

Practice Plans

• U-8 Boys & Girls — Spring 2012 Week 1
• U-10 through U-14 teams — Spring 2012 Week 1

 For the first week of practice, we will have a slightly different schedule. The above practice plans have the details, but here’s a summary:

 First 10 minutes – gather your team, meet with age group coordinator, start to learn names (people are quite often late to the first practice, so this will give everyone time to get settled)

 Next 20 minutes – group practice session. We will have trainers to assist you in running the practice portion of the session. The activities today combine soccer skills and “getting-to-know-you” activities. We hope this fosters a comfortable environment for the players to learn each other’s names and start to play together.

 Last 30 minutes – Intra-squad scrimmage
Use this scrimmage as a learning activity. “Freeze” the game to explain to your players the some basic ideas of the game. (Walking on the field with the players is fine too.) Make sure you touch on the following:

• What to do when a ball goes out of bounds (proper throw-ins/kick-ins, goal kicks, corner kicks)
• Kick offs (tussles for U-8s)
• Arrangement of players on the field in preparation for Saturday
  • U-8s play 4 vs. 4
  • U-10s play 6 vs. 6
  • U-12s & U-14s play 8 vs. 8
  • For U-10s and older – what goalkeepers can and should do (briefly)

For U-10s and older, share the following Web site for players and their parents to visit before Saturday’s game: http://mypage.iu.edu/~mkelmer. Although this site will be expanded in the future, it provides relevant information regarding the “Laws of the Game,” including

• the field of play
• how to start the game
• determining if a goal has been scored
• how to restart the game if a ball goes out of play
• the offside rule (the most confusing rule in soccer!)

I have attached a map of Karst Farm Park (map for Community Soccer Spring 2012), in case you would like to distribute this information to your team. Please remind the families to sign up for weather alerts from RainedOut.com (text CUTTERS to 70359 for text alerts).

 I look forward to seeing you Monday,

Michele Kelmer
Director, Cutters Community Soccer & Outreach

Hello everyone!

We are excited to begin the Community Soccer season with the U-6s at 9:30 a.m. on March 31.

Please review the following document regarding the practice plan for Saturday: U-6 Practice Plan Week 1 (Spring 2012)

Players will have time to meet their coaches and teammates and receive their team t-shirts before the practice portion of the morning begins. Please remember to dress the players in layers, as Karst Farm Park is usually cooler than town this time of year. Also, players should bring their own water bottle and soccer ball.

If you are unfamiliar with Karst Farm Park, view the Karst Map for Community Soccer Spring 2012 online. Only the U-6 teams are practicing this weekend.

Please let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday!

Michele Kelmer & David Weigand
Cutters Community Soccer

Tonight all age groups will work on proper techniques for scoring goals! Please emphasize using the laces for power shots and the inside of the foot for placement shots near the goal. Please, no toe balls in any age group!

Please review the following practice plans for Oct. 24:

• Week 6 – U-8 Boys
• Week 6 – U-8 Girls
• Week 6 – U-10 Boys
• Week 6 – U-10 Girls
• Week 6 – U-12 Boys
• Week 6 – U-12 Girls
• Week 6 – U-14 Coed

Please review the attached practice plan for Saturday, Oct. 22. This document is the same plan that was e-mailed to all coaches earlier in the week.

U-6 Practice Plan for Oct. 22

Remember, next week the U-6 game will be held at 6 p.m. on Friday night (Oct. 28) instead of Saturday morning. We will not conduct the practice portion of that practice so the coaches may have adequate time to distribute medals to the players and the teams can play slightly longer games.

Thanks for a great season! We look forward to seeing you again in the spring!

This week we will continue working passing, but with more emphasis on team movement. Players should move to a good spot to receive the pass and stay on their toes, so they are ready to play when the ball arrives.

Week 5 Practice Plans in Adobe PDF format:

• U-8 Boys
• U-8 Girls
• U-10 Boys
• U-10 Girls
• U-12 Boys
• U-12 Girls
• U-14 Coed

On Monday, Oct. 10 we will work on passing and receiving technique with all age groups. The older age groups should discuss more challenging team concepts, such as positioning or changing the point of attack, as well.

Please review and print the following practice plans for Monday, Oct. 10:

• Week 4: U-8 Boys
• Week 4: U-8 Girls
• Week 4: U-10 Boys
• Week 4: U-10 Girls
• Week 4: U-12 Boys
• Week 4: U-12 Girls
• Week 4: U-14

This Saturday we will return to dribbling with an emphasis on changing speed and direction. The activities will involve the coaches and trainers in games of tag.

Please review the following practice plan before Saturday morning’s session U-6 Week 6 Practice Plan

Upcoming Sessions:

• Saturday, Oct. 15 — Kohl’s Cup (schedule will be posted next week)
• Saturday, Oct. 22 — Last Saturday session (practice & game time)
• Friday, Oct. 28 — Last meeting of the season. No formal practice plan will be published.  Extra time should be used to distribute participation medals and play a longer game. Thanks for a great season!

This week the U-6 players will work on proper shooting technique (laces, not toe balls!). Also, the volunteer coaches will get even more involved as “moveable goals” for the third activity.

Here’s the full practice plan: Week 5: U-6 Practice Plan (Oct. 1)

See you Saturday!

The following practice plan will be used Saturday monring, Sept. 24 for the U-6 age group. We are going to work on passing technique; however, we will not ask the players to share their ball with anyone. They will pass to specific places, to knock over cones or to score goals.

Remember to call the Karst Weather Hotline at 349-2126 before heading to the field if it’s raining.

Here’s the U-6 Week 4 Practice Plan (9/24).