Available now in your mailbox and online is the Special Pre-Season issue of the Soccer Journal, the official publication of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

In this booklet are more than 30 training sessions and diagrams coaches can use to develop their teams’ attacking and defending talents, as well as fitness training sessions.

“The NSCAA always strives to deliver member benefits that underscore our commitment to soccer education and to you,” writes Joe Cummings, NSCAA CEO, in the forward. “Our editor, Dr. Jay Martin, reviewed over 500 articles for this special issue [...] We trust you will find these articles useful as you prepare for your upcoming season.”

In addition to attacking, defending and fitness sessions, Jeff Vennell, Academy Senior Staff member and former NSCAA President, provides tips on how to create an effective training session. His steps include:

• Selecting a practice topic
• Organizing the appropriate equipment
• Creating a learning environment 
• Selecting you coaching methodology 
• Organizing the practice: the warm-up, main activities, concluding activities and the warm down

Being a pre-season manual, this special edition includes brief articles specifically around the philosophy and psychology behind practice. One article readers will find interesting is “Enhancing the Quality of Practice” by former NCAA Division I coach, Dr. Mike Voight. He writes about the methods coaches could use to improve practice and keep players motivated.

Readers will also find an article by Richard A. Schmidt from Human Performance Research on the principles of practice. He discusses the reasons for practice, goals of practice, scheduling and the importance of feedback in practice.

Members can take advantage of this exclusive member benefit by accessing the full issue online, in addition to the print version mailed this week.

Not an NSCAA member? You can take a sneak peek of this issue and be sure to join or renew today.

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