Manhattan Kickers FC
General Introduction
Our mission is to create a high-level academy-style environment for the serious youth soccer player in metropolitan New York.
Our goal is to teach players not only to play soccer, but to enjoy and appreciate the game from a global perspective, while providing them with the necessary skills and values to succeed not only on the field, but in life.
We accomplish these goals by training year-round and participating in local, regional, national and international competitions. As our players mature, our organization will generate opportunities for collegiate participation and professional trials.
Beginning with our Academy program of players five to nine years of age, our coaches teach the kids footskills and the foundations of the game in a non-pressure, fun learning environment; they play 4v4 within the club for their games and we have found this is the best format to develop the basics and help foster a passion for the game.
After completion of the Academy program our players are prepared to make the transition to club-level competition at the U10 age division, as part of a complete Manhattan Kickers travel team.
Teams continue through the age groups together and focus on the range of individual technical skills, where techniques are taught at increasingly higher speeds, and each year more and more team tactics are introduced.
Our core philosophy believes in the importance of the development of individual technique, the important components of speed, game intelligence and insight, creativity and personality. We bring out these elements in our trainings by putting our players in situations where they can find a passion for the game. At the all ages we value these characteristics over wins and losses, as these skills will ultimately form the foundation for success.
Through a rigorous training program and exposure to highly competitive leagues and tournament matches, the result is that our teams become composed of fully-developed technical players who play creative, entertaining, and hard working soccer, with an end objective being a simple style of play stressing field awareness and possession.
Manhattan Kickers FC welcomes all serious youth players from all socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. Our parents and players bring a truly global perspective to our program, which allows us to blend together an incredibly well-rounded soccer experience for the kids—whom with hard work and commitment are playing attractive soccer at the highest youth level.
Manhattan Kickers FC
Curriculum for U6 – U10 players
Foundation Years: Ages 5 - 9
The foundation phase is absolutely the most critical phase for player development. The rate of motor skill progress can be accelerated the most and has a strong correlation with a player’s final form.
Demonstration is essential and then the players learn best by doing and repetition. This is the time to introduce and teach basic footskills, trapping, passing, dribbling, and in a 4v4 format: principles of play.
Players must have fun and enjoy the learning process, and players develop faster and experience more enjoyment in small-side games.
Trainer/Coach
In order for players to achieve excellence they must be guided, inspired and challenged by quality trainer/coaches. Good coaches have a large repertoire of activities and skills that will challenge their players, and not bore them with too much talking; instead provide high-energy exercises in rapid succession that make learning fun and vigorous.
The ideal trainer/coach should be a sensitive teacher, enthusiastic, and possess soccer awareness and acumen, with the ability to demonstrate basic skills and communicate key components of the game.
Volume of Activities
Three practices plus one game per week – two team practices and an additional optional club-wide training.
Young players need to hone the basic skill of dribbling. Dribbling forms the foundation for all other skills. It takes many years to become a comfortable and confident dribbler.
Players have to learn to combine body control, agility, coordination and balance with mechanics of dribbling and the sooner they start the better. To become technically sound, players must spend hours practicing their technique in an environment that creates repetition and maximum touches on the ball.
A practice where each player has 400 contacts with the ball is more effective than a practice that has only 200 contacts. Maximizing contacts with the ball is crucial at the youth level.
Two team practices with a third practice being individual foot skills / agility / speed / training means that all players are allowed to join in enough practice opportunities to maximize their touches on the ball.
Technique
It is important to establish a strong technical base in this stage of development – as mentioned, the ability to dribble is absolutely critical: dribbling is the foundation skills and preparation for all other fundamental techniques of soccer, such as receiving, passing, and shooting. When players are receiving the ball and making preparation touches prior to passing or shooting they are essentially engaged in a mini-dribble.
Young players need to learn to dribble in a variety of playing situations, such as dribbling forward unopposed, with both feet, using all parts of the feet, changing speed and direction with the ball, shielding the ball from opponents, dribbling past an opponent and dribbling to get away from pressure.
A limited ability to dribble leads to a limited range of passing or shooting abilities. There are also times in a game when a player with the ball has no passing options and the only way out of the tight pressure is to dribble.
Juggling: Throughout a player’s development in this phase, juggling is the key component that will allow them to establish an overall control and comfort on the ball. A player needs to learn to juggle with both feet, both thighs, and their head. Every year a player needs to challenge themselves to juggle to a new record, so by graduation to the u10 year a player should be able to juggle 100 times – using all body parts!
Important elements of the game
Dribbling: Encourage risk taking! Moves to beat an opponent. Keeping possession.
Shielding: Spin turns. Change of speed. Change of direction.
Receiving: Ground balls. Main surfaces, from a partner and on the move.
Shooting: Proper striking technique
Passing: Proper technique – Laces, Inside, Outside, Short and Long. Crossing
Heading: Introduction - Self serve; partner serves
Tackling: Proper technique, in balance, no fear.
Tactics
Players must have basic technique before they can successfully learn individual tactics, and advanced technique (the ability to execute skills with only one or two touches) is a pre-requisite for group tactics, taught at older age groups.
Players at this age do not possess the analytical thought process to look back or think ahead. They live for the moment. For this reason 5 to 9 year old players should focus primarily on developing their technique. In these age groups, ball contacts are the most crucial consideration.
Players need to spend a lot more time practicing and not play too many games.
Children aged 5-9 are naturally dependent on their parents for many of their daily needs. This dependency transfers into youth sports. The players will look to their parents for help since they are conditioned to be dependent on them; therefore another important objective of our U-6 through U-9 program is to wean players from their dependency on adults while at soccer and make them think independently.
Soccer players must learn to think for themselves on the field, so being responsible for their cleats and water and other soccer gear is an important first step to foster this quality. The sooner they learn to stand on their own feet, the better they will play with them.
Basic principles of play that must be mastered at this level:
Receiving the ball, passing the ball, dribbling the ball, shooting the ball
Keeping possession, but knowing when to take risks
Knowing where and when to take players on 1v1
Communication and awareness of other players
Pressuring the ball defensively (in front and in back)
Giving immediate chase defensively to regain the ball
Although team tactics do not take major priority at these ages, some focus is placed on maintaining shape out on the field in a 4v4 format, and developing an understanding of balance in attack and defense, learning to change the point of attack, run into space, provide support, check to receive the ball, and move off of the ball.
Physical training
Focus on fitness at these age groups should be fun and engaging:
Sprinting for speed – teaching proper running technique
Flexibility and agility – with and without the ball
Coordination – with and without the ball
Strength – legs, stomach, upper body
Endurance – long distance running
Balance exercises with and without the ball
Psychological
Encourage individual decision making
Excite the imagination and promote creativity – individual and within the team
Discipline – honoring their teammates and respecting their coach
Establish pre-practice and pre-game routine (as individual and team)
Encourage players to watch professional and national team games on TV
Academics – learn good study habits, maintain good grades, balance school and sport
Encourage leadership qualities and self-initiative, which includes players leading warm-ups, talking on the field, and taking more and more responsibility for themselves as individuals and a team.
Manhattan Kickers FC
Curriculum for U10 – U13 players
The Romance Years: Ages 10-13
The effect of the role model is very important at this stage of development. Hero worship, identification with successful teams and players, along with a hunger for imaginative skills typify the mentality of this age.
This is a time of transition from self-centered to self-critical. Players of this age gain a high level of exhilaration when training basic skills, making this period the “golden age” of learning.
Demonstration is very important - although players learn best by doing. This is also an important time to introduce and teach more dynamic principles of play and concepts of game intelligence.
In the early ages the players were taught an artillery of skills; at this age it is up to them to know when and how to apply them in game situations. With successful application of skills a player’s personality on the field will shine.
At this stage it is important to establish higher levels of individual and team discipline, where training on your own free time is essential for a player who wants to increase their abilities above their peers.
Trainer/Coach
In order for players to achieve excellence they must be guided, inspired and challenged by quality trainer/coaches. Good coaches have a large repertoire of activities and skills that will challenge their players, as well as a knowledgeable sense about the tactical side of the game.
The ideal trainer/coach should be a sensitive teacher, enthusiastic, and possess soccer awareness and acumen, with the ability to demonstrate basic skills and communicate key components of the game.
Volume of Activities
Three practices plus one game per week – two team practices and one optional club-wide training.
Practices include: individual footskills / agility / speed / shooting / passing / team concepts / and lots of play.
Along with league play we expose our players to greater competition as they grow through this phase, within the state, the region, nationally, and internationally.
Our teams at this age will participate in 2-3 outdoor tournaments that take place in the fall and spring seasons (local, out-of-state). During indoor winter seasons our teams will participate in various indoor tournaments.
Teams that are ready for an international trip will participate in one over the summer to Europe or South America.
Technique
By this age players have established a strong technical base. From the intense skill training in the foundation phase they have mastered the ability to receive the ball on all body parts (the mini-dribble), and can execute moves with the ball at speed in a game situation. This is an absolutely critical component to master in the foundation phase because it allows them to begin to learn the larger concepts of the game, where ball control is a necessity and seeing the field is done with the head looking up.
Tactics
Dawn of tactical awareness - with the basic techniques mastered, now they can successfully learn individual and team tactics. In this age range, the “Golden Age” from a developmental viewpoint, players can exhibit great enthusiasm toward game activities that teach tactics, and they will absorb concepts like sponges.
For this reason 10 to 13 year old players should focus primarily on exploring the limits of their ability and becoming confident to express themselves and try the unpredictable. We want our players to feel unrestricted in their play, and begin to understand how to use all of the skill they’ve learned within the team concept.
Player also will play a variety of positions to develop awareness all over the field and become a more complete player.
Basic principles of play
Attacking: keep possession; encourage risk taking; take players on 1v1 in proper areas of the field; support and cover, basic combination play (give/go, take over); promote attacking soccer; communication (who, what, where, when).
Defending: proper pressure (in front and behind); channeling player; immediate chase; cover; marking; introduction to zonal defending and man-to-man; communication (who, what, where, when).
Team: focus is placed on maintaining balance, playing skillful soccer and keeping shape. Players play a variety of positions and emphasis is placed on player development.
Recommended systems: focus should be on teaching the principles of play and team shape as opposed to systems. Our coaches will teach within a variety of systems.
Physical training
Focus on fitness at these age groups should become more intense and challenging.
Psychological
Encourage individual decision making
Promote creativity – individual and within the team
Discipline – honoring teammates, respecting the coach
Establish pre-practice and pre-game routine (as an individual and team)
Encourage players to watch professional and national team games on TV.
Academics – learn good study habits and maintain good grades.
Manhattan Kickers FC
Curriculum for U14 – U17 players
The Commitment Years: Ages 14 - 17
The pace of development quickens at this time due to the acceleration of physical and mental maturation.
This is a critical time in the player’s development because many stop playing due to other interests, lack of success, a shortage of playing opportunities, poor leadership, and hosts of other reasons.
The training loads increase, provoking improvement in mental toughness, concentration and diligence. Awareness of tactics within the game becomes important facet of the learning process.
Players tend to be self critical and rebellious, but have a strong commitment to the team. Discipline should be a significant part of every player’s mentality.
Fitness and body strength becomes more important, requiring extra effort outside of regular practices.
Volume of Activities
Three practices plus one game per week – two team practices and one optional club-wide training.
Practices include: individual footskills / agility / speed / shooting / passing / team concepts / lots of play.
Along with league play we want to expose our players to greater competition within the state, the region, nationally, and internationally.
Our teams at this age will participate in 3-5 outdoor tournaments that take place in the fall and spring seasons (local, out-of-state). During indoor winter seasons our teams will participate in various indoor tournaments.
Successful teams will participate in one international trip to Europe or South America.
Technique
Should be able to receive with a high quality first touch, taking balls out of the air, turning, on the run. Continue to build on a solid base, but under pressure of time and space to increase technical speed.
Improve ability to take players on 1v1 with feints and sharp moves. Keep possession with shielding and spin turns. Shooting on the run, on the turn, from all angles, on crosses with the head, volleys, bicycle-kick.
Passing: short, long, bent, crosses, driven, chipped – all on the run. Heading: to goal (shooting / glance), to pass, to clear. Tackling: proper techniques.
Tactics
Increase tactical speed (decision making under pressure)
Players must have the basic technique before they can successfully learn advance technique – the ability to execute skills with only one or two touches.
Defending:
Pressure in front and behind; channeling a player, immediate chase, angles of pressure; understanding individual roles in zonal defending and man-to-man; angle and distance of cover.
Balance, delaying and pressing as a group. Defending in groups (defenders / midfielders / forwards). Maintain good “shape.” Zonal concepts –when to “delay” and when to “step.”
Clear decision on where the “line of confrontation” will be. Maintaining good “pressure and cover” through all thirds of the field. Staying compact and squeezing the field, and set plays.
Attacking:
Keeping possession. Support. Combination play – give and go, take-over, overlap, double pass, width, depth, penetration, crossing with proper runs in the box. Playing the ball away from pressure.
Maintaining balance in the chosen system. Interchange of positions during run of play. Taking defenders on in the final third. Goalkeeper as an integral part of the attack (play balls back to keeper).
Comfort with direct and indirect styles of play, and set plays.
Physical
Agility. Speed. Strength. Endurance. Balance.
Psychological
Encourage individual decision making
Promote creativity – individual and within the team
Discipline – honoring teammates, respecting the coach
Establish pre-practice and pre-game routine (as an individual and team)
Encourage players to watch professional and national team games on TV.
Academics – learn good study habits and maintain good grades.
