What’s a pass, a shot on goal or a turnover?   If you are recording passes, are you going to try to record every one or are you only recording passes that ‘move the play forward’, or ‘passes that are made under no pressure from the opposition’.  It’s our call – but make sure you discuss them and define them, and make sure they are meaningful to your age group.   If you are gathering stats it is vital that you define what is meant by each term you are using.   This allows coaches and players to understand exactly what you mean if you find an individual had six incomplete passes.  Presenting clear cut definitions also helps the person collecting stats to be more objective and systematic – it will make their task easy.  And, it will provide your team with more consistent and meaningful data.

What do you think are the problems with defining the stats you are going to collect?  Any stories?

Feedback is the food of champions. But it can also choke up the toughest of players.   Players appreciate information on their performance, but they will only be receptive to it if they feel it is balanced and constructive – and too much emphasis on the negative is a sure way to close the ears.   Do not fall into the trap of collecting only negative data about your players.  Giving your players access to their stats on Statzpack is a way to empower your players and make them feel involved – but make sure the data is relevant and your players are mature enough to take look.   Get in the habit of choosing positives to start your stats feedback and always end on a constructive note.

When giving feedback to your team make sure they can digest it and make sure you do it at the right time.   During game intervals players can only take in so much information in. And don’t use ‘numbers’ unless you really have to.  Use language you and they understand. Focus on the outcome you want.  Use the data to drive your message, don’t let it be your message.  For example let’s say you have identified that 82% of free kicks in a game so far have been conceded by your team, and 74% of those have been in your half, mostly committed by a Sarah in left midfield.  Convey the message clearly, but focus on what the possible cause may be and what action you want to see.  “We’re conceding too many free kicks in our half, this is causing us too much trouble on our left flank, it created one of their goals, what we need to do is be less reckless in our tackling and cover for each other.”   

Sharing more info and use of numbers are likely to have more of an impact at training sessions when you have more time to communicate.  Combine the data with real language.  Telling Sarah that she conceded 56% of all our free-kicks will have a limited impact if you don’t combine that with some discussion on what the probable causes might be, and what your desired outcomes are for her and the team.  

 Never use data to beat up on a player.  Harping on Jonny because he had 10 unsuccessful passes and only one good pass all match will accomplish nothing in the long run.  Statistics are a tool with which to improve players, they are not the end all be all.

Today we have a guest post from Denise Martin of Enhance Sports Analysis.

They say that women are better multi-taskers than men but when it comes to recording stats during a game it’s vital to cut down the number of tasks regardless of gender!  Many people who start to use Statzpack for the first time tell us, ‘I really found it hard to record the stats and watch the game’.  Well that’s probably because you can’t do both at the same time.  You’ll certainly find it hard to cheer on your team and record meaningful accurate stats.  Even more difficult if you are actually coaching or one of the team is your child J.   It’s important to create for yourself an ‘observation environment’ away from vocal crowds or from your buddies chatting about the night before.  Ideally you should have one person with you who is tuned in the game and will help you with game info during the match.  Arrive early so you do not get stuck sitting in a row where you have to let people in and out past you or in a place where your view can be obstructed. And if needed where a hat that says ‘Do not disturb’ on the front.  Or even as one user from Vancouver, Canada told us  ‘It’s easy, I just sit up on the bench, away from the guys, plug in my earphones, kick into Bruce Springsteen, watch the game, and record the stats.’  Good idea, just watch the battery level on the iPod touch!  denise@statzpack.com

What do you get if you combine a 17 year old Man United fan and our new App, ManU Tracker.  Answer = a lot. So here are the stats that this user – David – recorded using our new App.

Soccer coach? Want to get game stats? Try out iSoccerStatz. Available on iTunes now.

Today we have another guest post from Denise Martin. In my last post I talked about defining your stats, this time I’m talking briefly about setting that process out.  Agreeing the stats should be discussed amongst the coaches working with the team, and even you are the only coach – take some advice, talk to the players or another coach.  It’s really important that the set of stats are talked about and agreed upon within the team.  You really want to avoid having a discussion about them each week.  

And.. PRACTICE.  Don’t forget to try out ‘your set’ in a practice or challenge game. Review them.  DISCUSS.  Are they useful? Can we do this each game?   Will they be useful if we use the same set each game, or shall we use a different set for each game? The one thing that is for sure, for most grades you will likely be better to trial, revise, discuss and set out a plan.   Unless I’m wrong? What are your experiences?

We’ve set out a new approach to support soccer clubs and to help get our product out there. It’s a great way to add value to your event, plus a great way to try out our products. We already have a few takers, including this upcoming tournament in Texas this next weekend:  Dynamos Puma Select Annual Valentine Tournament.

If any of you organise tournaments and want to add more value to your event get in touch at tournaments@statzpack.com

Come along to one of our upcoming demonstration sessions.   Find out how our system can give your club the edge, test it out for yourself and see some of the new features that will be included in the 2010 version of the product (which will all be free to those customers using our system).   Find out which senior county teas are using the system – how they use it and why.  The event is free admission.

Current Schedule:

Dunloy Cuchullains Clubrooms, Antrim
at 8pm on Monday 22nd February 2010

St. Patrick’s Donaghmore, Tyrone
at 7.30 on Monday 8th March 2010

Anaghclone GFC, Down
TBA

All coaches and club officials are invited to come along.

Any further questions or queries please do not hesitate to contact aileen@statzpack.com, or call us on NI 0845 544 0805 or ROI 01 485 3211 to find out more or book a place.

We’ve teamed up with girlsinfootball.co.uk to offer the chance to win a subscription to Statzpack Soccer.  Get over to this up and coming new website and enter the competition.  We look forward to reading all the entries.

As exhibitors at the NSCAA convention we saw first hand how sport can be used to connect people with a cause, and how very quickly people can make human connections.  One of our neighbours at the convention was Kicks Against Breast Cancer.  An annual tournament run by a Louise Waxler with the core aim of raising awareness and funds toward beating breast cancer, and to date they have raised over $100,000.  Check out their site www.kicksagainstbreastcancer.org

And in the wake of the disaster that hit Haiti last week, one bright spark or probably two, put together the idea of fund raising for the Red Cross by putting together the Haiti United T-Shirt. Selling for $17.99 all funds will be channelled to the Red Cross.  Go join the 2000+ people who have already gone online and supported this worthy cause.  As a footnote we had a soccer coach from Haiti visit us at our stand and he could tell us some pretty grim stories – he had been lucky enough to have left Haiti before the earthquake struck, but had the nightmare of dealing with some very tragic news.  Soccer didn’t seem that important all of a sudden.