Welcome to the Soccer Awareness Coaches Corner. Browse through soccer drills, small sided games, tactical thoughts, full sessions and a variety of resources. Posts marked “Training Center Exclusive” are for members only.
NSCAA Convention Session Recap
Wayne presented at the 2017 NSCAA Convention in Los Angeles this past weekend. His session was "Soccer is a Thinking Game that Begins in The Head of Each Player. What is The Link Between The Thinking Process and Teaching A One Touch Mentality to players?" Here is a recap of the session including a download of the presentation, what people had to say about it, photos and more.
Wayne presented at the 2017 NSCAA Convention in Los Angeles this past weekend. His session was "Soccer is a Thinking Game that Begins in The Head of Each Player. What is The Link Between The Thinking Process and Teaching A One Touch Mentality to players?" Here is a recap of the session including a download of the presentation, what people had to say about it, photos and more.
The presentation was well attended with lots of positive feedback from the audience.
What People Had to Say
@WayneHarrison9 Great session on One-Touch Mentality at the NSCAA Convention yesterday. Always a pleasure!
— Mark Connelly (@DailySoccerSklz) January 14, 2017
Fantastic session reinforcing what our program & style of play is based on: Gustie Tempo. Thanks for the new ideas @WayneHarrison9 #NSCAAla
— Gustavus WSoccer (@GustavusSoccer) January 12, 2017
Good to hear your ideas on Developing Soccer Awareness: One touch mentality today @WayneHarrison9.
— Dr. Ceri Bowley (@CeriBowley) January 13, 2017
@WayneHarrison9 Great Session today. pic.twitter.com/phUjca9ZVL
— Sean Carlton (@Hot__C) January 13, 2017
Fun session today @WayneHarrison9 enjoyed the insight and tip of using futsal ball on terrible playing surface!
— George Gauld (@MrGPhyEd1) January 13, 2017
@WayneHarrison9 Good session today Wayne! Dropped off my card with you! Cheers for some quality insight on how to create faster mindsets 👍🏼
— Coach Ellis Riley (@CoachEllisRiley) January 13, 2017
Photos
Wayne with Peter Schreiner
Wayne with Dan Abrahams
International Coaches Symposium
Wayne and Mary will be going to Dusseldorf, Germany in June where Wayne will do 3 field and 1 classroom presentations on Developing the "One Touch Mentality" at an international coaches symposium in Düsseldorf hosted by Peter Schreiner of soccer-coaches.com.
“The meeting with Wayne Harrison was very interesting, who inspired the trainers with his great classroom session.” - Peter Schreiner (Read more from Peter)
The invitation to present at this world renounced symposium in Europe is a massive compliment in recognition of Wayne's work. More information to come in the following months.
Download the Presentation
Join the Soccer Awareness eNewsletter list below to download a free copy of Wayne's presentation from the Convention
Abu Dhabi Sports Council Academy Evaluation By Marco Monte of Inter Milan
Marco Monte of Inter Milan (one of the top 5 professional clubs in the world) was the Consultant for the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and he assessed all professional clubs in the UAE. This includes his quotes about the Al Ain professional youth academy Directed by Wayne Harrison.
Marco Monte of Inter Milan (one of the top 5 professional clubs in the world) was the Consultant for the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and he assessed all professional clubs in the UAE:
His quotes about the Al Ain professional youth academy Directed by Wayne Harrison were:
- “The consultant has noticed that the Al Ain club management has decided to invest the time and resources required to create an important group of coaches.
- They are well managed and organized by an excellent Director of Coaching Wayne Harrison whose objective is to improve work on the pitch as well as to help the boys develop and grow without the anxiety of achieving results.
- The consultant is absolutely certain that the Al Ain club represents the model and Philosophy of youth football that can be the beacon for the other Emirati professional clubs. The consultant is of the opinion
- The clubs current status with respect to technical affairs can be stated as the one closest to the standards of the best European professional clubs”. Report written in 2011.
- Given this; we were still able to perform successfully from a results standpoint also. Al Ain Youth teams were the MOST successful in the UAE winning 7 National Professional youth titles at various ages using the Soccer Awareness Philosophy of teaching.
- Thirteen players promoted to the first team from the academy 2009-2011
- Wayne Harrison Created and presented In – House Coach Education and development courses December 2010 and February 2011 to help prepare all the 42 full time academy coaches he was in charge of for their Asian Federation B Licensing course.
- Wayne Harrison Represented the Abu Dhabi Sports Council as a delegate in Tokyo; Japan at the Japanese F.A to compare the youth development models of each respective country, quite an honour to be chosen to do so. He wrote a paper on this for the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
- To assess the level of play Al Ain under Waynes Professional guidance beat Inter Milan, Valencia, Atletico Madrid; Manchester United and Raja the top club in Morocco in tournaments at U15 and U16 age groups.
- Wayne has had many documented successes in youth development and is well respected in the football world due to this.
- With this in mind everyone should consider embracing Soccer Awareness Training for their children, more and more Internationally this concept of the game is showing it is invaluable to educate players in its philosophy and at every level of the game and the younger players start the better chance they have of success.
U14s Move Up in the National Rankings and More Testimonials
My team Manager was kind enough to write this so we wanted to share his thoughts in order to show the improvement and hard work of the players since he wrote it. We won 5 out of 5 games but unfortunately lost 3-2 in the final in Las Vegas this past week. That said, we stay ranked Number 1 in Southern California, moved up to Number 2 in the Region (the team who beat us are Number One) and we moved up the National rankings with the points we gained to 6th best in the USA.
It's a long process to change a philosophy of playing but the boys have worked really hard to adapt from a long ball game to playing as a team.
My team Manager was kind enough to write this so we wanted to share his thoughts in order to show the improvement and hard work of the players since he wrote it. We won 5 out of 5 games but unfortunately lost 3-2 in the final in Las Vegas this past week. That said, we stay ranked Number 1 in Southern California, moved up to Number 2 in the Region (the team who beat us are Number One) and we moved up the National rankings with the points we gained to 6th best in the USA.
It's a long process to change a philosophy of playing but the boys have worked really hard to adapt from a long ball game to playing as a team.
Wayne congratulating his U14 boys runners up in the Mayor Cup las Vegas ⚽️
Posted by Soccer Awareness on Monday, February 15, 2016
Kevin Sanchez Team Manager of Wayne Harrison’s U14s
Exactly 1 year ago today we played in a friendly against Pats IE where Marco and I coached. Communication on the team was poor, and tensions were high. The fate of our team was unclear. We got crushed. We were hovering around 11,000 - 14,000 points and were #5 in Cal South and #50 nationally. The team had been used to enjoying success but we were clearly at a major turning point. At the time, we had no idea who Wayne Harrison was.
Here we stand exactly 1 year later with 22,183 points, #1 in Cal South, #4 in Region 4, and #12 in the Nation. Best of all, we play a totally different game of soccer now and the kids on this team have developed tremendously! To think we have accomplished all of this without proper training facilities. Today we have a major opportunity to win a significant tournament, move farther up the rankings, and show those that have doubted us who we are and what we are capable of! - Kevin Sanchez
Testimonial by Gary Pires for Soccer Awareness Training
Although my son Eli has been training with Wayne for over a year and a half, the benefits of working with him were immediate. Under Wayne’s tutelage, Eli continues to develop as a soccer player both technically and mentally. Wayne has a wealth of knowledge, a passion for soccer and an energetic positive coaching style that works well with young soccer players. Eli is a smarter player and has more confidence under pressure because of Wayne's guidance. Wayne’s Soccer Awareness coaching philosophy has equipped Eli with the ability to read the game quickly, determine his options before receiving the ball and make better choices as to dribbling or making a one-touch pass to get out of trouble. Also, Eli’s decisions to make runs off the ball have improved greatly. Wayne is a fantastic coach who connects with his athletes and shares his passion for the game with his athletes through humor, high level drills and scrimmages.
This year Eli tried out for the LA Galaxy SD 2005 team along 160 other kids and he made the top Pre-Academy team also being the only player a year younger to do so. I honestly feel Wayne’s training directly contributed to helping Eli achieve his goal of making the top LA Galaxy SD team. While I have witnessed a tremendous improvement with my own son, I have also witnessed first-hand the improvement of many of the kids that come regularly to Wayne’s
training sessions. If you have a son or daughter that have a passion for soccer, I highly recommend Wayne Harrison’s Soccer Awareness training sessions!
Sincerely,
Gary Pires
Cle Kooiman: Ex- USA International player who played in the World Cup in 1994 and now DOC of Inland Empire Soccer Club on Waynes Soccer Awareness Training
Hello Wayne, You came and ran one session for my club 2 years ago. You have enlightened my soccer senses in every respect. You have two thumbs up and I wish u had a twin to help up here. Your coaching style is off the charts and I appreciate all you do. 😀😀😀🎉🎉
Good luck in the sport.
Forever a fan.
Testimonial by Vic Rosencrans for Soccer Awareness Training
"Our son Jacob has always been a hard worker, especially when it comes to soccer. He started playing a bit later than most of his friends – at U-9, and initially, was visibly behind his teammates in both skill and intellectual aspects of the game, but he never shied away from any opportunities to train and practice, and slowly but steadily started catching up. At the same time, his improvement over the last year was exponentially greater than all the progress he’s made previously, and we believe Wayne Harrison’s training made the most significant contribution to that.
Without going into specifics of Wayne’s philosophy and core tenets of his training (the numerous books he wrote, as well as all the material on his website could certainly do better job than us), the end result is quite apparent: Wayne’s constant and consistent focus on players’ soccer awareness and intellectual development and his natural ability to engage kids at a very early age certainly pays great dividends. Miraculously, Jacob is more confident on and off the ball, makes split second decisions (which predominantly are the correct ones), plays with visible poise and confidence even against older and physically more dominant players, does his best to exercise half-a touch mentality thinking about his options prior to receiving the ball.
Also worth noting, Wayne’s training does not stop with kids. He educates parents as well, recapping every training session with at least an email that details exactly what was accomplished and for what purpose. Such extensive insight into the why’s and how’s of his training makes it so much easier for parents who are interested to be in a position to help their children to excel."
Vic Rosencrans
54 Pages
We want to stay with our own game plan as closely as possible; based on what we practice and to keep it simple for us; as we dictate to our opponents; and we impose OUR WAY on them.
But there will be many occasions where we must change the system of play and we may have to adjust to suit the opponents.
Here are some ideas for you to consider for your team starting with the 13313 and 14231 systems of play.