The Red Bulls Academy hosted an NSCAA Special Topics course, "Reading the Game" last Thursday (April 18) night, using the MLS New York Red Bulls/Sporting KC game as the backdrop.

Binghampton head coach Paul Marco led the session before the match, equipping course candidates on what to look for during the match and aspects they can take back to their teams.

Todd Simmons of Staten Island Advance, wrote a recap of the game and the course ("New York Red Bulls vs. Sporting KC: The same song") at SILive.com. In part, he writes:

The program, called "Reading the Game", is sponsored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Coach Paul Marco is in charge of the soccer program at Binghamton University, and leads the session that meets before the match. He takes the coaches through a presentation, telling them to look at the teams before the match even starts, to watch these players in this game as a way to discover how to look at their own teams at home. Coaching is, he explains, like leaning back on a chair. Sometimes you lean too far and fall, but that disruption, that crash is not a bad thing. It is about getting out of the comfort zone. From there you pick the chair up, get comfortable, then move back to the edge again. The amount of information he presents takes the audience out of that zone but as the game begins, the slides that he showed shuffle past in the mind and the words come alive on the field. [+] Read full article

The NSCAA conducts Special Topics courses periodically in different parts of the country, as well as special clinics at various events. Some examples of Special Topics courses include zonal defending, sports psychology, striker play and management of soccer programs. Upcoming Special Topic courses are below; new courses are added to the schedule as courses are scheduled.

For more information about all NSCAA courses, visit the Coaching Course Guide to find the best fit for you.

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