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Recreation Date published: 10/17/2008
By KURT NICOLL Presentation over substance can sometimes give athletes a mental lift and a different perspective of how they can be successful. Several of the Fredericksburg Area Soccer Association's more experienced players were familiar with the strategies and drills extolled by visiting Dutch coach Richard Meulenbeek, but found this week's 90-minute soccer session beneficial nevertheless. "I think it is more intensified. Doing it over and over again, getting more repetitions in. So you get better faster," said 14-year-old Jake Keller, who attends Riverbend High School. "We've gone over all of this before. It's just a different way to do it," he said. Keller was one of approximately 30 members of the FASA U15 Elite girls and boys teams that participated in Wednesday's session at Fredericksburg Academy. Meulenbeek held previous clinics in Florida and New York in 2005 and 2007, and agreed to a two-week visit to the area after meeting FASA technical director Carl Gray at a tournament in The Netherlands earlier this year. Meulenbeek said U.S. soccer is lagging 6-7 years behind Europe in terms of overall skills, but added a favorable forecast for future success, particularly for the U8 and 10 boys program. "I want them to learn a new system--3-5-2," he said concerning his principal focus here. "You start with the basic is inside your foot, control over the ball and give a good ball [pass]." The end result, hopefully, will be a higher level of teamwork that will produce more scoring opportunities. Both of FASA's U15 teams came into the clinic in upbeat moods following first-place finishes in Columbus Day tournaments--the boys in Roanoke and the girls in Manassas. "The older kids are probably getting a little more out of it," FASA coach Jack Hitchens indicated. "But he worked with our U10 and 11 girls team Tuesday and did a fantastic job with basic touch drills and stuff like that." Besides being the U15 Elite girls assistant coach, Hitchens also directs the U11 girls team as well as serving as head coach for the boys and girls soccer teams at Fredericksburg Academy. Hitchens and U15 Elite boys coach Rob Jobrack assisted in Meulenbeek's presentation Wednesday night. How much retention the players exhibit remains to be seen, but Brett Carroll was duly impressed by the clinic held on Tuesday.
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