lkf free play best practices · hawk soccer services pitch deck why free play? “the opposite of...
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LKF Free Play Best Practices Hawk Soccer offers transformational soccer experiences for children in the Lake Country (Wisconsin) Area.
We are operated by professional educators, with over 20 years of educational, coaching, and parenting experience, who put children first, and also happen to have an extensive soccer background.
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An Educational Experience
COMMUNICATION “relationships and connections”
An Educational Experience
CONDITIONS “Built By Teachers,
Led by Facilitators”
An Educational Experience
COMMON SENSE “The BIG PICTURE”
An Educational Experience
CHARACTER“Our Rock”
An Educational Experience
COMMUNITY“BE the CHANGE”
An Educational Experience
CULTURE“Transformational”
Organic Learning Environment
Actions Above Words Service and Leadership
WE ARE An Educational Experience
Our mission is to put the correct pieces of youth sports together
How We Make Meaning A Return to Play Children and Families First
Values Based Programming
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Are We Actually Returning to Play ? “One of the crucial defining characteristics of play is that it's directed by the children
or players themselves. It’s self-directed. Adult-directed games like sports,or activities in school where a teacher is telling children what to do, is not play by my definition.
We are living in an age that might be thought of as a “play deprivation experiment.”
-Peter Gray-
Hawk Soccer SERVICES
PITCH DECK
Why Free Play? “The opposite of play is not work. The opposite of play is depression.”
Productive Play as Children Fuels Well Developed Adults
❑ Play is a Human Right❑ UN Bill of Human Rights
❑ Play is a Health Issue ❑ Smoking, Heart Disease, etc.
❑ Play is Happiness
❑ “Play is the most cost effective, self-directed, authentic form of learning there is.”
❑ Play is Common Sense
❑ Play is a Social System
Depression Anxiety Locus of Control
Common Sense
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❑ Kids Today Are: ✓ Stressed Out✓ Over-Scheduled✓ Over-Trained✓ Play = Time & Space to Be a Kid
❑ Child Development: ✓ Less Travel Time✓ Play With Friends ✓ Develop Character and Community✓ Best Soccer = Closest to Home
❑ Learning In Disguise: ✓ # 1 Rule = Don’t Use It To Get Better✓ Time = Build Life Long Learners (Players)✓ Learning Through Fun ✓ Develop an Individual Approach
Why Free Play?
“I didn’t have my first coach until age 16. I believe in play early and learn late.”
-Michael Jordan-
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Play is Its Own Language The Lost Language of Play
AcquisitionImplicit
Child Centered Play
LearningExplicit
Coach CenteredOutcomes
Free Play Deliberate Play Structured Practice Deliberate Practice
Play is a developmental model. Play is More than “Just” Fun." It’s how we “practice” the key skills we need to be successful people: Critical thinking, communication, creativity, coordination and more. We created Let Kids Fly as pathway for kids to acquire the skills necessary for adulthood, not just in soccer, but also other disciplines.
The Red Card Is Out
Tryouts
Putting Adult
Needs First
Soccer
Activities That
Are Not Game
Like or Fun
Shelling Out
Thousands of
Dollars to
Play a Game
Sitting In the
Car Longer
Than It Takes
to Play the
Game
Winning
Outranking
Development
Let Kids Fly is a “Back-to-the-Future” effort to deliver a modern youth sports experience and recall some of the traditional American elements of sport participation.
This Includes:❑ Having a choice in participating seasonally as opposed to a
year-round commitment
❑ Costs that make participation more accessible and less of a financial sacrifice for families
❑ Less travel so that kids spend more time playing than they do sitting in the car
❑ A focus on the person through intentional character and leadership development
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Youth Soccer Reimagined
Let Kids Fly
Inclusive Fun Family First Education BasedUnique Value
“Let Kids Fly” is an inclusive program open to children of all
ages and abilities. There is something for everyone and we take pride in letting each child find the joy involved in
playing soccer!
Our programs put families back to the forefront. We keep play close to home, reduce the cost,
and allow families the scheduling flexibility that other
youth sports organizations simply don’t care enough to
provide.
We strive to offer a unique value to children in Lake
Country and the community as a whole. Our soccer
experience promotes health through play and helps children acquire the essential tools for a
healthy adulthood.
We offer a Values Based approach that comes from 20+
years of teaching, parenting, and coaching experience in the
Lake Country Area. Our Educational Experience
Pyramid is shaped by the values that the Hawk Soccer
program embodies.
Hawk Soccer SERVICES
PITCH DECK
“For a session to be effective and for the brain to retain the information, the session should peak curiosity, increase motivation, provide interest, and be fun. The
environment plays a larger role than genetics when developing players.”Michel Bruyninckx
Hawk Soccer SERVICES
PITCH DECKDifferential
LearningConcentration Attention
Motivation
Emotion
LEARNING THROUGH
VARIATION
LEARNING
THROUGH PLAY
LEARNING THROUGH
CONDITIONS
LEARNING
THROUGH HABITS
Differential Learning
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Unique Play Environments
Inflatables
Field Turf
Small Sided
BB Court
Street
Tennis Court
Our Facilitated Free Play Games involve many different play environments around the Arrowhead HS Campus. We also utilize balls of varying sizes and weight, which allows for experimentation, learning, and most importantly fun!
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Our Model: Facilitated Free Play
Ball Types:Games involve different sizes and weights
of balls which allows for experimentation,
learning, and fun!
Scoring Zones:
Different players and teams score in
different ways to create challenge,
experimentation, and fun. Here the Blue
team has to get past the flags before they
can score.
Cooperation AND Competition:
Children learn and have fun through
games that involve both elements of
competition and cooperation between
teams. In this game, when a goal is
scored, the coaches move onto the field
with their ball and become “ZOMBIES”.
Players get the ball from the net and work
together to save the world from the
ZOMBIES! Players have to compete and
cooperate!
Scoring: All games involve elements of scoring
on a large goal(s). This let’s players
experience the thrill and decision
making process involved in soccer in
every game!
Scoring Options:
Our games involve multiple goals. This
promotes decision making and creativity
amongst players while providing players with
more opportunities to score.
Field Size:Games involve different sizes of fields and
different types of surfaces so that players
learn to problem solve in unique situations
that are different and varied in each
experience.
Music:
Our sessions involve music to allow for
a relaxed, fun, and engaging
environment for players to play in.
The role of adults is to be "architects of environment." We do this through
our organization of small sided games, different playing environments,
game conditions, and intentional character lessons.
Hawk Soccer SERVICES
PITCH DECKSocial
LearningIdentity
(Character) Practice
Meaning
Community
LEARNING AS
DOING
LEARNING AS
EXPERIENCE
LEARNING AS
BECOMING
LEARNING AS
BELONGING
Social Learning Theory
Hawk Soccer SERVICES
PITCH DECK
“I believe that a shift in the mindset about learning is in the air….from a view of learning as a formal process caused by instruction to learning
as an essential aspect of everyday life and thus a capability inherent in social systems.”
Etienne Wenger, Social Learning Capability-2009
VS
A Process Caused by Instruction (The Coach)
Found in Social Systems of Everyday Life
Hawk Soccer Character and Community Character: Learning as Becoming
Community: Learning as Belonging
Common Sense
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Equalization
Dr. Marianne Torbert identifies equalization as one of three interrelated concepts that when applied to play activities, enhances and increases the growth and development of children . The others are expansion and interactive challenges.
In F1 Racing, drivers use faster and slower cars. This impacts their ability to win races. When conditions become wet, drivers MUST go slower and the outcome of the race becomes more about who the best driver is. Ayrton Senna never lost in the rain!
Youth Sports work in a similar way. Organizations often focus on players that are bigger, faster, and physically stronger and ignore many other important elements to be found in the developmental process. When play is “equalized”, all players develop skill sets related to helping them becoming better players.
Principles of Play
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Principles of Play
Expansion
The principle of Expansion states focuses on anything that increases the number of potential growth experiences.
Reduce lines, lectures, waiting. Provide many opportunities to work and learn with the ball.
At Let Kids Fly, this means playing soccer with the ball as much as possible, and moving players away from doing boringcoach centered “drills” and “training”
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Principles of Play
Interactive Challenges Interactive Challenges allow players participating at their personal level contribute to the growth of other players who may be a level above or a level below. This is very important and rarely understood correctly. . Almost everyone understands the part of getting something out of it by playing "up" (OVERLOADING). Players see a faster level, they are nudged to speed up and grow their game.
The misunderstanding is that you cannot learn anything by "playing down” (Underloading)
Playing at a level below is the most misunderstood and perhaps the most integral piece of player development. Think street. As a youngster you must at some point step on the field for the first time. Someone on that pitch is a level or two (or three!) above you. They accept you on the field. They act as mentor, leader, keeper of the game. If they are playing against you they will beat you off the dribble. They will practice the most difficult tasks against the lowest level players, learning what they can do andtaking risks.
Kids who understand this get more practice, create a larger repertoire of movements, recognize the recurring situations and tend to rise to the highest level. Unfortunately the opposite is true. Often kids will drop out of games with younger kids, to them it's lame, it's not their fault, they lack the capacity to create and only enjoy competing, because they have nothing tolearn they are bored and the game is not fun. These players often struggle when they get older as ball comfort and creativitybecomes more important. Ted Kroeten-
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Principles of Play
Slanty Line The slanty-line concept takes the traditional method of the straight-line concept as typified in the old rope game of high-water low-water, where the rope starts on the ground and everyone jumps over it…Then two children raise the rope to a new level. As children are unable to jump over the rope they are eliminated until only one person is left… This approach is counter productive in the development of youngsters because it eliminates those who need the activity the most.
Games of exclusion use the straight-line concept that excludes players from participation.
Games of inclusion use the slanty-line concept and keep players involved in the activity.
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There is a game on Saturday and we are back to comparing
Children Compete…
Adults Compare
Virgil Van Dijk
Virgil Van Dijk was regularly on the bench until he was 13.
There is a document at Willem on the development of Virgil Van Dijk when he was a 12-year-old. The document refers to an evaluation and forecast on Van Dijk’s future. The coach said that he could maybe reach the 2nd team of Willem II.
This document can be shown to young players at the club now as it says a lot. We cannot predict the future, so instead of talking about the future, keep the system open. It is difficult because….
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Upon hearing my rationale, Sandra is incredulous: “You can’t just suddenly decide when you’re 13 that you want to play travel! You’ll be trying out against kids who’ve been playing hard-core competitive soccer since they were seven! You won’t be able to compete. You have to start young. You have to!”
Travel Soccer is Every Parent’s Nightmare
By Vicki Glembocki, Phillymag.com, 9/26/14