More than 70 players participated last year, secure your space NOW – space is VERY LIMITED!

Basic Foot Skills I – $150 for 5 weeks

Thursday 12/13, 12/20, 1/10, 1/17, 1/24 at 6-7 p.m.

Sports Zone – 29 Trefoil Drive, Trumbull.

Main Instructor: Omer Doron

Focused on teaching an array of escape moves, 1v1 moves and general ball control, this clinic will teach players how to become more comfortable with the ball at their feet.

This clinic is for your child if the following statement(s) are relevant:

I am new to the Comets and play on the U10, U11 or U12 team

I do not play with the Comets but need to learn new skills

I attended other foot skill clinics or camps in the past but need a refresher

To sign up, please click here.

Basic Foot Skills II – $150 for 5 weeks

Thursday 1/31, 2/7, 2/14, 2/28, 3/7 at 6-7 p.m.

Sports Zone – 29 Trefoil Drive, Trumbull.

Main Instructor: Omer Doron

Sequential to Basic Foot Skills I, this clinic will take the pace of the exercises to another level, putting players into some game situations and focusing on combinations of acquired skills from the first session.

This clinic is for your child if the following statement(s) are relevant:

I attended Basic Foot Skills I

I play for the Comets and need to improve my foot skills

I know the skills but cannot seem to bring them to the games or simply get confused

I play for other premier teams but heard about the Comets training and wish to see it first hand

To sign up, please click here.

Advanced Foot Skills – $200 for 5 weeks

Sunday 12/16, 12/23, 1/13, 1/20, 1/27 at 1:30-2:30 p.m.

Sports Zone – 29 Trefoil Drive, Trumbull.

Main Instructor: Omer Doron

Geared toward execution of previously-taught skills, this clinic will allow players to find better solutions to complex game situations.

I attended Basic Foot Skills II

I have attended Comets clinics in the past and want more

I played high school soccer and want to make sure my skills are sharp before the spring season

I have attended other advanced clinics in the past but want to be exposed to the Comets method of training

To sign up, please click here.

Finishing – $200 for 5 weeks, GKs pay $100 for 5 weeks

Sunday 12/16, 12/23, 1/13, 1/20, 1/27 at 2:30-3:30 p.m.

Sports Zone – 29 Trefoil Drive, Trumbull.

Main Instructor: Omer Doron

This clinic is specific and focuses on situations in front of goal. Some of the skills in this clinic will be based on skills taught in previous clinics but most are new.

This clinic is for your child if the following statement(s) are relevant:

I am an attacking player and wish to improve my finishing in front of goal

I am not an attacking player but wish to improve my touch on the ball and accuracy

I feel that my shooting needs some work

To sign up, please click here.

Elite Skills Training I – $200 for 5 weeks, GKs pay $100 for 5 weeks

Sunday 2/3, 2/10, 2/17, 3/10, 3/17 at 1:30-2:30 p.m.

Sports Zone – 29 Trefoil Drive, Trumbull.

Main Instructor: Omer Doron

Not everyone is ready for this clinic and not everyone will be accepted. It is intended for younger players (U13 and below) with high skill level who want a smaller group and more specific technical training. Players are expected to handle complicated skills.

The focus will be on attacking activity and highly-complex combination play without the need to review moves from the very beginning but just honing skills.

This clinic is for your child if the following statement(s) are relevant:

I have done clinics before, am comfortable with my skills and want to resume training to sharpen them

I do not need to learn the skills over again but need training at a high level with player my level

To be considered, please write to omer@necomets.com

Elite Skills Training II – $200 for 5 weeks, GKs pay $100 for 5 weeks

Sunday 2/3, 2/10, 2/17, 3/10, 3/17 at 2:30-3:30 p.m.

Sports Zone – 29 Trefoil Drive, Trumbull.

Main Instructor: Omer Doron

Not everyone is ready for this clinic and not everyone will be accepted. It is intended for older players (U13 and above) with high skill level who want a smaller group and more specific technical training. Players will be taken to their limits and beyond.

The focus will be on attacking activity and highly-complex combination play without the need to review moves from the very beginning but just honing skills.

This clinic is for your child if the following statement(s) are relevant:

I have done clinics before, am comfortable with my skills and want to resume training to sharpen them

I do not need to learn the skills over again but need training at a high level with player my level

To be considered, please write to omer@necomets.com

Back from the “dead”

I decided to go back to writing my blogs after a very long break (since March 25, 2011, to be exact). The request actually came from the parent group, so I am motivated to fulfill their request.

A lot has happened since March of 2011, and one column could not cover it all, but I wish to commence with one topic (out of a few) that parents have asked for me to cover: games and game-day assessment.

The big day

For most of the spectators, and for some coaches, games have a special meaning. Needless to say, in competitive sports – soccer included – games determine the ranking of the team, define who wins, loses and the like. While all that is true, too often are games perceived to be “external” or “unrelated” to the training that preceded it. In other words, in the development of youth soccer players, games merely provide an opportunity to assess how well we execute specific concepts and skills that have been trained by the group in the days or weeks prior to the game itself. There has to be direct correlation, especially around the assessment process, between what is trained in training and the game.

For example, if the players learn a new skill, coaches are expected to request, and assess, execution of the aforementioned skill. Whether the team lost because they could not defend a corner kick well enough, or have not set up the wall quickly enough, may be very frustrating and accurate, but it has nothing to do with the skill the coaches have asked the players to perform.

Another one of the biggest misunderstanding is the infamous playing time. Until recently, the topic was rarely brought up to me in person. I do not remember the last parent who came to me to discuss playing time but, for some reason, I have had to deal with it more recently. It is very well known that I do not discuss it, albeit I will discuss players’ progress any day of the week. To clarify, if you have a student who fails to add 5+5 Monday through Friday, what are the chances of that student successfully solving the same equation on Saturday’s quiz? Same with players; games, as discussed before, are opportunities to execute what we worked on during the week against an opposing team. If the axiom (always true) is that the level of execution is lower in games than it is in training, how can coaches provide opportunities to those players who struggle during training and expect success? If they do, they set the players up for failure, and the team may suffer as a result. The inevitable question of “so how do players get better if they are not put in the game?” is answered quite easily: “the day they can do things at a very high level in training is the day I know they have a real chance to succeed in games”. Just for clarification purposes, I have seen many players who started as “subs” (those definitions are worth another blog) and became “starters” later on when matters connected for them better. Lastly, I will just reiterate that players do “try out” every time they step on the field. If national team players have to fight to be given the privilege to start a game, your son/daughter should do, too.

The concept is very straightforward, so what is the issue? In fact, there are three main issues: first, it is the score that blinds us (sometimes the coaches as well) and makes us forget what we try to accomplish (by the way, a highly competitive environment and assertive families only contribute to this). The second has everything to do with the fact that most parents are not privy to the information that is delivered to the players; therefore, it is a “hard sell” when you do not win the game to say “your son/daughter is progressing well” mutually exclusive of the team’s performance or the final score. The third is the fact that soccer is a non-stop game (supposed to be) and hence it is harder for the “naked” eye to assess small nuances that coaches ask players to focus on (position of toes, body angles, applying pressure on the ball as a unit etc.).

All that leads me to the bottom line – game-day assessment. I, as a coach, will only assess what had been requested of the players to do. The final score may or may not be affected by those factors. If it is directly related, I will mention it. If not, however, I will ignore it altogether in front of the players.

Finally, being that soccer is a highly-charged game, I try to refrain from making in-depth analyses on game day. I remind players of what the focal points are before the game, allow them to prepare their way, and, in most cases, let them go fairly quickly upon the conclusion of the cool-down process. I am a believer that everyone needs time to process matters, and we are a lot more calculated the day after or the night of, as opposed to right at the wake of the game.

Feedback

As stated before, I try to write the blogs as a service. Please take a moment to provide feedback on the topics covered as it always helps. Enjoy the reading!