Soccer 1:1

 Parents & Friends,  

The qualities of a great teammate is the first week of homework we send to any new family in the Soccer 1:1 program. We follow that up with sportsmanship! 

This is what it looks like... 

Title: Sportsmanship 

Task: Please type up 5 ways we can show good sportsmanship in soccer e.g., being a referee is a tough job and they are human beings too. We always keep that in mind and are respectful to referees and their decisions. Have fun! 

It’s important to us that the families understand early on that we are not just teaching soccer. We want to teach values and life lessons. Not just being a good athlete but a good person as well who respects the game. 

Below is what one 11-year-old player submitted… 

1. Accepting the call when you foul someone. 

2. Not yelling at the referee. 

3. Help someone up if they fall. 

4. Telling people nice try if they mess something up. 

5. At...

Parents & Friends, 

Today I have a testimonial to share with you from a parent whose two sons attended our training program from December 2018 to September 2021. At that time they relocated to Marin but have stayed in touch. 

Dear fellow soccer families, 

My sons are two years apart and trained with Patrick for nearly three years. The semi-private two-on-one lessons were a terrific format. The boys would alternate performing drills with and against each other and as a team against Patrick. The emphasis of Patrick's training was on skills, fitness, and footwork, which often are not given enough attention in club training. The benefits have been huge. When we moved out of San Francisco, my younger son immediately placed into the local club's competitive team, mainly due to his foot skills. He continues to use these skills daily, as a midfield player with excellent passing ability that enables his team's strikers to score. I'd highly recommend Patrick's lessons for...

Parents and Friends,

Exciting news! We are running indoor winter training classes in San Francisco.

These will be futsal-based, for 1st and 2nd graders, and run for 12 weeks.

The sessions will be held at Moscone Recreation Center (Mondays) and Hi5 Sportszone (Tuesdays) and start next week.

Sign-up today!

Families these days are looking for options and want their child to experience different practice environment.

And practicing over the winter is a great opportunity to get touches on the ball, receive technical training, and get ready for the spring!

Supplemental training is the key to getting better.

Simply because the specific amount of practice time and technical training needed to improve is significantly underestimated in our local area.

For example the United Soccer Coaches player development curriculum for children in Stage 2 (6-8 year olds) recommends..

1. That the kids play 2 to 3 seasons per year
2. Participate in 40-60 training sessions per year training twice a week (100-120...

Parents & Friends,

I have a fantastic testimonial to share with you today from a parent whose daughter has been in our 1:1 training program since March.

Dear fellow soccer families,

Coach Patrick is an outstanding trainer! I have been very impressed with his ability to bring out the best in my daughter. We feel very lucky to have come across him. Here is a summary of our experience….

My 10-year-old daughter played in one of the big soccer clubs in San Francisco and wanted to get to a higher-level team. She was already one of the better players on the team, but wasn’t getting the skill-work she needed to improve. Lots of scrimmaging, but very little technique. I started looking for other options to get her the extra training she needed to be better prepared for the big tryout weekend in May and stumbled upon Coach Patrick.

My daughter began her training with Coach Patrick about 6 weeks before the tryouts. She was a bit apprehensive about 1:1 training and it took a...

Parents and Friends,

Most soccer experts and pundits had France making the final four in Russia but not getting past favorites Brazil.

That meeting never materialized.

Didier Deschamps’ team defeated South American giants Argentina and Uruguay in the knockout stages.

Then stopped Belgium in the semi-final.

Les Bleus weren’t a spectacular side but when it came to the crunch games they did what they had to do.

They were well deserved champions and will be strong favorites to win the European Championship in two years’ time.

Here are five reasons why they won the World Cup!

Getting the big calls right

First choice full-backs Benjamin Mendy and Djibril Sidibe had both suffered serious injuries last season.

Deschamps started Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez ahead of his two more experienced defenders. 

Pavard and Hernandez had only 11 international appearances between them but were two of the best full-backs in Russia.

They were equally effective going forward...

Parents and Friends,

Soccer fans love talking about the great teams, players, games and goals in history.

And what makes a goal great, is it the skill, technique, timing, or athleticism?

Where do team efforts rank such as Belgium’s deadly counterattack versus Japan?

There’s a lot of criteria to consider and it’s open to debate.

Some goals are so good though that the quality is universally acknowledged by the soccer public.

Gareth Bale’s bicycle kick in the Champions League final against Liverpool goes straight into that category.

Tremendous athleticism, technique and creativity.

That goal will always be remembered because it was on the big stage in a match of huge importance.

Russia of course was a big stage too and while we didn’t quite see a strike of Bale’s quality we did see some fantastic finishes.

There were 169 goals scored and these are my top five.

Benjamin Pavard (France vs. Argentina)

France were only behind for 9 minutes at the World...

Parents and Friends,

The heavens opened for the closing ceremony and a rain-soaked France were crowned world champions for the second time with a 4-2 victory over Croatia.

It was a fantastic final and a great spectacle especially for any young kid watching for the first time.

It’s all over for another four years but we have the women’s World Cup next summer in of all places… France!

Some of the stand-out stats from the match were…

• Les Blues were the first team to score four goals in a World Cup final since Italy lost 4-1 to Brazil in 1970 and it was the highest-scoring since England beat West Germany 4-2 at Wembley in 1966.
• The six-goal tally matched the combined total of the previous four finals 2002 (2), 2006 (2), 2010 (1), 2014 (1).
• France’s Kylian Mpappe became the youngest player since Pele to score in the final and was named the tournament's Best Young Player.
• Croatia captain Luka Modric won the Golden Ball as the best player at the tournament....

Parents and Friends,

The men’s World Cup only comes around once every four years and that’s what makes it so special!

And after a month of competition, excitement, great goals and games, what’s been a fantastic tournament will conclude today with the final.

The semis wrapped up Wednesday and of course there was lots of drama and talking points

• France beat Belgium 1-0 and will play in their third World Cup final (1998, 2006, 2018). Only Germany (8) and Italy (6) have reached more finals among European nations.
• Les Bleus ended Roberto Martinez’s men 24-match unbeaten streak, a run that stretched back to his first game in charge, a friendly against Spain in September 2016.
• Croatia defeated England 2-1 and Gareth Southgate’s side became only the second team to be ahead at half-time in a World Cup semi-final and not win (hosts Italy lost to Argentina in 1990 on penalties).
• The Three Lions have been eliminated in their last four semi-finals at major...

Parents and Friends,

Following four fantastic quarter-final matches Belgium, Croatia, England and France are the remaining teams.

The semis will see France playing Belgium on Tuesday with Croatia facing England the following day.

Some of the big talking points from the last eight were…

• Brazil lost to Belgium and have been knocked out by a European side for the fourth time in a row (France 2006, Netherlands 2010, Germany 2014, Belgium 2018).
• The victory was a big win for Belgian player development: eight (35%) of their 23-man squad were educated at Anderlecht’s academy,
• France were victorious over Uruguay and became only the second team to beat three South American nations in a single World Cup. The Netherlands eliminated Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil at the 1974 tournament.
• England defeated Sweden and reached their first World Cup semi-final since 1990.
• The Three Lions have been set piece masters scoring five of their 11 goals from corners or free kicks.
• Croatia beat...

Parents and Friends,

There were some thrilling games and fantastic goals in the round of 16.

And the tournament looks wide open although five-time winners Brazil are still favorites.

Some of the big talking points were…

• French forward Kylian Mbappe (19 years) became the youngest player to score two goals in a World Cup match since Pele against Sweden in the 1958 final.
• Belgium fought back from two goals down to beat Japan 3-2 and became the first side to do so since West Germany knocked England out in 1970.
• England won their first ever World Cup penalty shootout having been beaten at the 1990, 1998 and 2006 tournaments on penalties and the European Championships in 1996, 2004 and 2012.
• Messi and Ronaldo’s miserable World Cup knockout record continued as they exited having not scored in four tournaments each.
• Spain legend Andres Iniesta announced his retirement from international duty after the loss to Russia.
• Spain’s defeat meant they have lost on all nine...