9-11 Remembrance and Opening Day Ceremonies at the PHSC
Potomac Highlands Soccer Club is located in Mineral, Grant, Hardy, and Hampshire Counties, of North East West Virginia. Our main club facility is Larenim Park, a perfectly groomed, five full pitch park centrally located between Hampshire, Grant, and Hardy Counties. The Mineral County facility has four perfectly groomed pitches. It is the only private youth soccer club in the United States. It is located in a lovely valley on Pattersons Creek, just before it runs into the Potomac River. The (North Branch) Potomac River divides Maryland and West Virginia. We are at the head waters of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal that runs from Cumberland, Maryland for 150 miles along the Potomac River to end in Washington, DC. One of the unique aspects of the PHSC is that extended families spend Sunday afternoons with their children of all ages playing at the same place in an old fashion fare ambiance. When heavy rain comes, only the soccer matches stop and the "fare" continues in the pavilion.
Brighton Park serves our Hardy County contingency. Brighton Park has four pitches, extensive pavilions and buildings for indoor Club activities. Brighton Park is located near Moorefield, West Virginia on the banks of the South Branch of the Potomac River. Our Grant County contingency is served by Michael Brothers fields, also along theSouth Branch of the Potomac River near Petersburg.
We can facilitate tournaments with ten full-size soccer pitches. We solicit and encourage soccer organizations to have tournaments at our facilities. We do this because it is difficult for our players to travel and otherwise get exposure to competitive situation. There are few soccer facilities in the Eastern United States with 10 full fields available at a token cost. There are 1000 low cost hotel rooms within a 20 mile radius and no traffic. West Virginia and Western Maryland are a playground of the East and offer many auxiliary activities, particularly white-water rafting, mountain biking and skiing. For summer camps we also have Camp Minco half way between the two soccer complexes. Camp Minco is a Mineral County School facility available to us in the summer. All 6th grade children in the County live at Camp Minco for a week during the school year. Camp Minco is two miles by back road to Larenim Park, a 5 pitch soccer complex. Often teams bicycle the two miles from camp Minco to Larenim Park. Camp Minco has 9 "cabins", each cabin for a soccer team and cadre. Meals are in the school dining room of Camp Minco.
Potomac Highlands Soccer Club Policies
Demeanor
When youth teams come to a public facility to compete, along with their parents and spectators, there is some times a slight undercurrent of hostility beneath the anxiety, fun, and entertainment of the match. However slight, it is there with many of the adults. Occasionally it becomes intense. For some reason, when people come to the same private youth club week after week, the parents and spectators for the different teams become friends and this hostility is not there. There is no undercurrent of hostility. There is cheering by all for both teams' good play. There is comarederie, with the a gemutlish, and warm ambiance all way around. This has nothing to do size of the league, or the level of play, or the familiarity of the opponents with each other. In fact the difference is so striking, we cannot explain the difference; and we have no other private clubs to compare it to. Were this not the case, we would have a policy with the usual constraints on sportsmanship and parental inappropriate behavior. So far, for the last 10 years, we have not needed such a policy. So our policies have to do only with logistics, playing and training. There is a statement on our registration form that we tolerate no criticism of players, spectators or referees and that any one who does criticize will be promptly refunded their money and not be allowed at the Club thereafter. It was not needed.
Cost
We have a policy of keeping the costs as low as possible without sacrificing quality. Each player has a top-of-the-line complete uniform. The grounds and pitches are meticulously kept with thick grass and are available to all players at any time. For example, the cost per player in the 2008-2009 season is $35 and $30 for two seasons, spring and fall and summer camp. Our free summer camps are held for four weeks, available to all players. Our instructors are the best in the World, with United States Soccer Federation, Bundasliga, English Football Association, Scottish Football Association, and Union of Europian Football Association credentials. We are able to achieve this incredible low cost by: (1) Enrolling our players in the US Club Soccer recreational player program at a very low cost. (2) Selling complete identical player kits with a reversible jerseys to each player for $20. These kits can be used year after year and then handed down to younger siblings or sold at half price. This also minimizes logistic misery for Club volunteers. (3) Providing no peripheral truck such as trophies, pictures, banners, balls, and the likes.
Prior to
television and the moving of professional soccer players from one
country to another, each culture had its own style. For
example, the English style was more direct play because of the
wet and muddy surface. In contrast the South American style
had flair and slow buildup on attack. This has all but
disappeared in professional play. With American youth play,
however, there is a very distinct style. It is in the
method of passing, receiving, and kicking. Most of the time
soccer passes are on the ground, snappy, crisp, and exact, with
the foot turned sideways and level to the ground. Watch
professional soccer on TV. This is also the "shape" of
the body on receiving low balls. In contrast, for long
passes and lofted kicks, the ball is contacted at the shoelace
with the ankle locked down. Most American players have no
one to mimic for proper form. In addition, inexperienced
youth coaches often have parents out passing back and forth with
the players at the beginning of practice. This is a systematic
way to teach bad habits. As a result, passes and kicks are
usually halfway between these two and the ball is chipped and not
accurate. As a result, there are seldom more than two or three
passes linked together before the other team has possession
because of improper passing and receiving technique. This
is true through high school and college age players. Bad form
causes little damage and is of minimal concern or consequence
prior to age 12 to 14. At age 10 or 11, habits can be
corrected. After this age, what ever poor form the player has,
essentially, can be corrected only with difficulty and often bad
form re-occurs under pressure of the match (see "Teaching Soccer Fundamentals"
by Nelson McAvoy). At the Potomac Highlands Soccer Club, we
make an effort to see that parents who are conducting practices
in the 11 to 14 year age bracket reinforce proper
technique. Coaches training is given by "A"
licensed PHSC coaches and visiting American and foreign
professional coaches, especially for youngsters 12 to 14 years
old .
Good training and coaching methods also provide small-sided games with minimum emphasis on match results in order to encourage experimentation by the players. In soccer parlance this is called, mimicking street ball. Graham Ramsey, world recognized youth coach and Maryland State Youth Soccer Association Director of Training and Potomac Highlands Soccer Club mentor, has this to say:
Why Play Small Sided Soccer? "What makes for skillful soccer play? What type of game encourages players to try clever tricks? The answer, obviously, is small-sided games. Yet, the vast majority of junior leagues in the country only play the adult game of 11-a-side, where chance and force generally crush skill. There should be a national crusade to advocate small-sided leagues. Skills would stand a better opportunity to flourish.
Small-sided games provide better prospects for enjoyable and educational participation for all concerned - children, coaches, and parents - than full-sided 11-v-11 games. If you wish your child or team to improve and express their creative abilities more fully, then consider small-sided soccer is the vehicle that offers these opportunities. It makes no difference whether you play 3v3, 4v4, 5v5, 6v6, or 7-a-side.
Simplify the game. For both players and coaches who are newcomers to this great sport, the best way to learn the game is by means of the simplified version, with fewer players on the field. In order to learn to play soccer well, youngsters need games that encourage the personal or fundamental skill development. Small-sided games are ideal for this purpose. The combination of the opportunity for each player to touch the ball often and make game-situation decisions on a scale a youngster can deal with successfully. Having fewer players makes it easier for younger players to see and understand their mental "pictures" of the game. This is the beginning of good-decision-making and the basis of skillful soccer.
More touches and more time. On average, in 11-v-11 soccer, each player should touch or make contact with the ball around 30 or 40 times per game. However, on each team, there tends to be a more physically developed child with propensity to dominate the play, getting more than the average number of contacts. As a result, each team also tends to have more frail youngsters who will get fewer contacts. For these children, any of the touches will be poor or unsuccessful. Is this conducive for improving those children's soccer skills? I think not! Less players on the field means more space per player, and more space means more time. For a player who is developing skills, time is an especially vital factor. More time will allow the child to make more composed decisions, this, improve the skill level of that player.
Flexibility of positions. Another benefit of having fewer payers on the field is that the coach is not trapped into thinking about systems of play. Instead, he can concentrate on basic techniques, skills, and very simple tactics. Coaches should not regiment children to certain positions or restrict them to play in only one par of the field. By all means, the coach should give a position as a base of operations, but allow the players the freedom to go forward when attacking. This especially applies to back players, as I have seen three fullbacks standing like soldiers on guard watching the play from afar in their own penalty area while their forwards are trying to score at the other end.
Developmental versus professional model. The habit of thinking in adult terms often means children lose out. We tend to over-organize or blindly imitate the professional model. Because adults play 11 v 11, then we think our children must play the same game. This is comparable to giving a child a quadratic equation as an introduction to math in elementary school. Absurd, yet we do it! Like any form of learning, the task must be reachable for children to obtain success and learn. This is why small-sided games are important to enjoyment and learning the sport.
Children are egocentric.Large-sided
games are of little use to children. Their world, for the
most part, is an individualistic one. Cries of
"mine" or "that's my ball", are common
especially for players younger than nine years old. These
players crave instant feedback for their efforts as though they
were 
playing the game
alone. It is for this reason that youngsters naturally
choose to play in groups of two or three, experimenting on their
own terms. Adult concepts of team play, systems, and
squads, of 14-16 players have very little chance of
success.
Furthermore, it is unrealistic--and unfair--for those children to play in competitive leagues where they cannot successfully compete because they lack fundamental skills. This is the time to learn by discovery and refine personal skills. Take a look at how many of the world's greatest soccer players began. The majority, like Pele, did not play on organized teams until they were 12 or older. These players gained their graceful skills from many hours of practicing by themselves with an old ball, or in small groups playing two-on-two. They played and practiced without worrying about the results. They experimented without being criticized. They gained confidence and by their early teens, possessed a high degree of ability." At the Potomac Highlands Soccer Club we try to encourage, simulate, and mimic this.
2008 Fall Tournament
