Youth Soccer – Enforcement of Soccer and Youth Soccer Offenses
Many youth coaches think that somehow a run-dominated offense at the youth level is not “high school” level football. That’s far from the truth, there are plenty of high school teams across the country that rarely pitch and thrive.
Some examples of youth soccer offenses
Right off the top of my head, Don Markham’s Bloomington High team in California set a record by scoring 880 points in a 14-game season, with over 90% of the touchdowns being runs and over 90% of the yards coming. in a hurry. Locally, the most dominant large school program is Millard North, which has around 2,500 students and is located in suburban Omaha. They have won 3 state titles in the last 6 years and have played for many others. Millard North consistently averages 400+ rushing yards per game and last season had at least 3 games where they not only didn’t pass for a single yard, they didn’t even bother to attempt a single pass. Millard North lost in the state championship game last season in a closely contested game.
Some staggering numbers:
A coaching friend of mine attended a training clinic a few weeks ago and reported on John Shillito at Zeeland West High School in Michigan.
Here are some interesting stats about Coach Shillito’s teams:
Three-year record of 34-4 at ZWHS
In 13 years, more than 26,000 rushing yards, averaging more than 9 yards per carry
Twenty-three 1,000-yard rushers in thirteen years.
They have only thrown for 500 receiving yards twice in a season
Nine different Fullbacks have rushed for 1,000 yards in a season
In 1999, 3,500 yards in the trap game alone… 7,000 total yards in fourteen games.
Some keys to Coach Shillito’s success:
Get ready to blockade all fronts in the world. Energy off the ball, Passing is a small package, all action play, Look for an athletic lineman, mobility is more important than size, Practice things that apply to offense, No shots or sled work, No tackle on the scout team, Ball moves at a very fast pace.
Does any of this sound vaguely familiar to those who have been to my clinics or read my book on Youth Soccer Coaches?
National Pop Warner title game
Just because the rage or fad today seems to be all about the extended pass attack, remember that the two teams in the country that played in this year’s Pop Warner National Championship game in Junior Pee Wee (age 9-11) completed only 25% of their passes. Yes, these two 15-0 teams combined to complete just 25% of their attempts. The most important fact was that another 25% of those attempts were intercepted OR resulted in a capture. So if the top 2 Pop Warner teams in the country out of thousands of teams are completing the ball at that rate, how well will the average skillful teams do? You do the math.
I have nothing against the pass, I love scoring with it, it’s a valuable weapon in youth football and we’ll make sure we execute our passing packages well. But if he thinks he can consistently move the chains by throwing the ball in youth soccer with average kids, the facts don’t support his opinion.
Use this data to help shape which of the many youth soccer offenses makes sense for your youth soccer team.