Maybe you have noticed that the video quality of Kudda has improved. Starting with the videos from 2 months ago, Kudda has invested in upgrading the quality of all of the new videos. When Kudda first launched 3 years ago, we were concerned about the file size and streaming costs. Understand that this was right at the beginning of the video revolution on the web. Most conventional video players were smaller as we took our lead from Youtube.
What has happened since then is the abundance of band width and the decrease of streaming costs. More and more sites have larger video players, higher quality and clearer videos. We went with a larger video player last September but our videos started to look a bit grainy in this larger player.
Kudda spent a great deal of time and resources trying to increase our video quality without increasing the file size. Our first batch of these new videos was Dan Kallaugher on Faceoffs in boys’ lacrosse. We have since added a huge addition to our wrestling section and lots of new videos for girls’ lacrosse.
The video quality was just aesthetic improvement as we have always felt that the quality of our coaches is the best on the web!
We hope that our viewers appreciate the improved quality of the videos.

Calling all coaches… is it me or are the players today lacking a lot of the fundamentals? Watching kids catch and throw the wrong way is becoming the norm. I remember my oldest daughter’s lacrosse team being very smooth, catching and throwing at ease when they were at the Midget level. Now my youngest is in this age and her teammates really struggle w/ the basics. They can’t catch. They don’t practice a lot on their own. Yet…they seem to play a lot of games, at least according to their parents. Maybe too many games and not enough practice?
Coaches all understand the balance between practice, where we build the fundamentals, and playing games, where parents get to see their children showcased.
It appears that the balance point between practice and games has shifted way over to playing games rather than practicing. Who has time to practice with so many opportunities to play in elite leagues and tournaments? There must be a reason why 10 year olds need to play 30 games a year? We’re too busy playing games to be able to practice.
As a result, our kids are lacking in the proper fundamentals.
Please note that Tiger Woods spent most of his youth practicing on the range than actually playing rounds of golf. It wasn’t until he acquired a certain mastery of a shot that he would even try to play it during a round. And where did he learn that mastery? Practicing… not playing. Perhaps the Tiger-esq training would better serve our players.

My coaching resources are drying up. I’ve been fortunate that over 40 coaches have contributed their content. Many of these were coaches I had worked with or friends of friends who believed in the idea of a free resource for coaches. I do have 3-4 coaches ready to go…just a matter of actually doing the videotaping. However, reaching out to new coaches… total strangers and convincing them that contributing their time and content to the site will help coaches all over…tough to do. Main question is “Will I get paid?”
It takes about 2 hours of their time to do the actual video work. It may take them a few hours before gathering their ideas, arranging for players and fields… but after the video session, I do everything else. The coach is pretty much finished except dealing w/ the paparazzi with their new found fame as being a Kudda-coach.
So I’m hoping that there are a lot of other coaches who would love to contribute and help grow their sport. I’m very interested in getting coaches from Field Hockey and Ice Hockey to contribute. I’m just not connected with those coaches and those communities to be able to even start.
If you’re interested or know of a great teacher or coach, please contact me at joe@kudda.com
Thanks

For all of these, please check the dates

Rutgers MVP- June 13-15th… Run by Rutgers University is a team camp. Players stay at one of the many campuses at Rutgers in AC dorms. Teams check in on Friday w/ their first game that night. They have 3 more games on Saturday w/ one last game Sunday before playoffs begin. They have 10 fields and lots of teams in attendance. At each of the fields they had 4-5 college coaches w/ more watching the better teams. I would recommend skipping staying in the dorm and just staying in a hotel in your parents. Parents are already paying for a hotel to stay… save some bucks and stay w/ parents. Try to get other parents to do the same. Plenty of hotels around the area. Pretty isolated campus as far as finding a close place to eat. Actually have to go downtown as there is nothing convenient.

Top 205, June 21-24? is run by Tony Seaman, Tierney and Cottle. Hosted at Towson University. Players stay overnight in the dorms which have AC.
In order to get into this camp, HS players need to be recommended by their HS coach. I’m not sure if there is a limit of how many recommendations each coach can submit, I’m thinking eight for some reason. Players arrive on a Saturday and there is a tryout/evaluation that night w/ team selections taking place. Sunday morning is a team practice followed by 2 games later in the day. There are 3 games Monday w/ a final game on Tuesday morning. The teams are coached by college coaches from different levels. There are 4 fields that have games but most of the coaches stayed on the 2 adjacent fields so they could watch a half of one game and then turn their chairs around to watch the other game. There seemed to be 75-100 coaches watching those games. If you’re not scheduled to play on that field…chances are slim that college coaches will see you play.
There is an All-Star game scheduled, although it was canceled last year due to the New York players having to leave early to take their exams.

Ultimate Performance Lacrosse- June 27 & 28
Run by John Tillman and Charlie Toomey. They have 2 sessions. From a parent’s point of view, this is the best camp/tourney. Teams have 4 games during the day with an hour off in between. Simply a round robin format with no playoffs… just play. Make sure to bring extra middies as it is hot and they play a lot of lax in a short amount of time. Lots of college coaches are there with the majority of them hanging out at the stadium field. If you’re out of town, Annapolis is a short drive and I would recommend staying near there. Especially if you’re playing on both days. They also have another tourney in the Fall with the same format and exposure. The Fall tourney is key for those juniors trying to get seen one more time.

Gait Cup- July 2-5. Run by Gettysburg College. Players stay in the dorms…some have AC while others do not. Club teams sign up and are guaranteed 7 games. The first 5 are round-robin and then teams are seeded for a tournament.
Teams arrive on Wednesday afternoon with the first games played Wednesday night. They have 3 more Thursday and 1 more Friday morning before playoffs. Depending on the field location, you could have 8-10 college coaches watching or on some fields…none. Seems that some teams didn’t get to play on the high-visibility fields while others were always there. I didn’t see as many college coaches as I have seen at other tourneys.
There is also an All Star game Friday night which is well attended by college coaches, as well as all of teams. Very supportive crowds!!!
Unfortunately, the scheduling of this camp coincided w/ July 4th weekend as well as the Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Getting around Gettysburg and trying to find a hotel room was very difficult.

Shootout- July 20-23. This is also a team camp…more so HS teams instead of Club teams. Run by Don Zimmerman at UMBC and Dave Ulrich from Georgetown. Teams play 1 game Sunday w/ 3 each on Monday and Tuesday. There is one more on Wed as well as a playoff game or two. They have 4 games going on at a time and there are 15-20 college coaches at each of the games. Very easy to get in and out of. Very easy to watch other teams play before or after team plays. Plenty of hotels in area.

Like a lot of you, I’m in that one week of the year where I’m in between seasons. Just finished coaching the U-13 girls basketball and am getting ready for U-13 girls lax which starts next week. As I’m getting fired up for the lax season, I find myself going through some advice that the Kudda coaches have given in regards to the start of the season. Fun and Fundamentals!!! Coaches have got to stress the fundamentals while keeping it fun. Still need to do the shuttle lines and passing drills but also need to make sure we have time in practices to scrimmage and just play. I had the pleasure of working with Brian Duncan, head coach at Essex Junior College, last week and he offers more advice about early season practices. Scroll down the clinics list to Brian Duncan.

You can also check out the a previous post for Youth Practice Plan below.
Here is a recommended time for each of the areas w/in a 2 hour practice.
Warmup 10 min
Stickwork 15 min
Ground Balls 10 min
Transition 15 min
Position 10 min
Settled ½ field 15 min
Full field 20 min
Special..EMO, Shooting 15 min

Yet, another eye-opener of a book is Michael Sokolove’s Warrior Girls. Sokolove looks into the alarmingly high rate of injuries in girls participating in sports and investigates why this is happening. With the advent of Title IX which opened the door for women to reap the benefits of playing sports in college, the discovery and subsequent discussion of the high rate of injuries to girls has been met w/ mixed feelings. For those proponents of Title IX, there is a fear that any discussion that suggests that girls are not capable of playing sports will damage all of the gains made in the last 30 years. So even top officials w/in women sports are reluctant to admit that this is an issue. However, one can’t argue the facts that Warrior Girls brings out
Girls are 8 times more likely to rupture their ACL’s than boys.
They are more prone to concussions
They are also more likely to suffer from “Overuse” injuries such as Shin splints, stress fractures and back pain.
Combining research w/ personal accounts of girls who have suffered serious injuries, he is able to weave together a compelling argument that this discussion needs to happen NOW. Other points of interest…
1) Physically and bio-mechanically, girls are very different than boys. Girls walk and run more upright than boys (the whole carrying a baby thing), they have a higher center of gravity which changes their running form, and they have wider hips which changes the angle to their knees. Some research also suggests that the muscles in the legs work and react differently than in boys. Even though physically they are different, all of the training, exercises and conditioning is done with a boy-centered approach.
2) More research needs to be done as to the causes of ACL injuries. Researchers know what happens in certain cases, usually a change in direction that causes the ACL to rupture but there are many other seemingly innocent moments on the athletic fields where this injury occurs. Seems that very small changes in the biomechanics of planting a foot… w/out the needed slight-angle-bend to absorb the shock…instead landing more flat footed and placing all of the force on the knee… seems to be another cause. What causes those small changes which cause the injury? More research needs to be supported.
3) There have been some very effective preventative exercise programs/initiatives started but these have been met w/ low enthusiasm. These programs involve a 30 minutes exercise/stretching/jumping sequence that teams should use prior to their practices/games. For those teams that utilize the program, the rate of ACL injuries to those girls drops substantially and pretty much disappears. This suggests that these programs work. However, coaches and even the players find it very difficult to give up the time in practice to do the program. Perhaps they would rather give up their entire season to surgery and rehab?
4) Where are the parents? In cases where girls suffered multiple ACL injuries, their parents stated that they knew it was dangerous for their daughter to return to sports so quickly but that they couldn’t do anything to stop them. Their daughters were too driven and too stubborn to stay on the sidelines. I guess that the parents found it too difficult to say, “no” to their daughters in order to protect them. Who is calling the shots at home?

Big picture is that there has been this acceptance in women’s sports that 25% of their team members will have a catastrophic ACL injury… it’s just the way it is. What Sokolove’s main point is that this is NOT the way it has to be and with discussions, further research and prevention programs, girls will be able to participate in sports w/out the fear of crippling themselves.

I also just finished reading Meat Market by ESPN reporter Bruce Feldman. Feldman spent a year embedded with the University of Mississippi’s football coaches as they went through the process of recruiting their players. Although there were far too many names of both coaches and players and it was hard to keep everyone straight, the book did a great job of exposing all of the ins and outs of the recruiting process. Now granted, recruiting in the SEC might be a little bit more competitive than other conferences, but it was interesting to see this process from both the players’ and the coaches’ perspectives.
Some highlights of the book…
1) Verbal commitments mean absolutely nothing. It is routine for players to verbally commit and then jump ship several times before officially signing with a college. What bothers me is that the players have no sense of what the word, commitment, means. I suppose that verbal commitments are just an archaic tradition left over from the days when a verbal commitment meant something.
2) I have tremendous respect for the coaches and the time they invest in recruiting. Ole Miss has the reputation as the hardest working group of recruiters. They spend thousands of hours watching game and highlight tapes trying to find those players that can help their program. Their analysis of these videos is brutally candid. In one video, they will rip apart a potential recruit for not being flexible enough or quick enough and then for the next player, watch 30 seconds and offer that player a scholarship right on the spot. These coaches also spend all of their time, either coaching Ole Miss, watching recruiting tapes, watching HS football games live, or traveling to meet w/ recruits. There is no off-season or slow-season for these coaches.
3) The importance of grades and character of the player in the process. So many outstanding players can’t play in college because of grades. Now there are lots of ways coaches can try to get around bad grades. There are on-line courses that players can take from BYU which help to increase their GPA… borderline diploma mills. There are post grad/military schools that players can go to for a year until they become eligible… but not a guarantee either. The coaches are also looking at attitudes and work ethics. Many of their recruits get left out because of character issues.
4) National Signing Day is the Day of reckoning for these coaches. This is when all of their efforts get measured. Can you imagine having your emotional well-being, future, and job evaluation be determined by the decision-making-process of an 18 year old?
ESPN has now made this day into a huge event so we’re able to see the antics of these future stars. How many more times do we need to see some selfish kid put on a college hat, take it off and put 2-3 more hats on, trying to build the suspense, before committing. Better yet, why are we glorifying these players and giving them this opportunity?
Overall, good read and very enlightening.

Game On

I just finished reading James Farray’s Game On. Needless to say, it was an eye opener both as an educator/coach and as a parent. As I was reading I would say to myself, “Yup, that’s me”, or “I did that”.
The basic focus of the book is on our obsession w/ youth sports in the last 15 years and how this has adversely affected our children. Farray explores the rise in tournaments, national championships, and year-round commitments to sports and what effect this new obsession is having on our children. Each chapter in the book is dedicated to that corresponding age where children are pushed into sports. For example, Chapter One deals w/ the rise in parents using in vitro services that are designed to increase the chance of better athletic genes in your baby.
Several ideas/concepts were brought out
1) Is it genetic or environment? People saw what Earl Woods did w/ Tiger and now every parent believes that with the proper push, that their child will also become the top player in their sport. Therefore, we’re seeing parents signing up their two and three year olds for the local soccer leagues. Parents are trying to prepare their kids at the earliest possible age in hopes of creating their own little Tiger. Now some sports are better the earlier you start. The main example was golf that it’s easier to start younger players w/ the proper swing than it is if you started them later…in their teens. There’s a fear that if you don’t start early, someone else surely is and your kid will be left behind.
2) Not only are parents signing kids up into these structured leagues, but there are now more games and the seasons get longer. Parents feel that it’s advantageous for their 5-6 year olds to be playing 4 games a week. They feel that if they don’t, their child won’t be good enough to be picked for the travel/elite team when their child turns 7. And if they’re not on that team when they’re 7, those kids will be left behind and never be able to play HS or college ball… at least that’s they’re rationale.
3) According to the research, the children who had birthdays earlier in the year were more likely to be on the Elite travel teams and that those players who had later birthdays were generally left off those teams and eventually left that sport. Our youth sports rewards the early bloomers and those that have birthdays in the first few months of the year…oldest for that age group.
4) Signing them up at an early age is not the problem… it’s the sudden obsession w/ having these 3-4 year olds playing competitive games to the screams and delights of their parents. Farray looks at what other countries are doing w/ youth sports and notes that most of these are not doing any competitive sports until 12-13 years old. Up until then, the focus is on training skill acquisition, creativity and making sure it’s fun. Compare that to the US system or regimented drills and playing competitive games when players don’t have the necessary skills and what we have is pressured situations dominated by over zealous parents.
I’m seeing this right now coaching my 12 year old in girl’s basketball. We have two games/week with no practices. It’s 5 on 5… and it’s a zoo! Are they learning anything? Probably not. What would be better is if we formed a 3v3 league and they just played w/ limited adult interruption. They would get more touches, understand spacing, cutting… all those skills that they need to have to be able to play at the next level. But, imagine the parents when I propose this idea? “Everyone else is playing 5v5, our kids will be at a disadvantage.” Our culture/environment suggests that playing more games is the key to better players whereas the rest of the world realizes that is not true.
5) Parents feel that they have to attend all of their children’s games to “support” their child. What they are really doing is evaluating their children’s performance. Kids pick up on this and realize that they will be critiqued on their performance. Parents feel that this is how to “support” their kid. This creates an environment of pressure and anxiety that takes the fun out of playing. It now becomes parent-focused rather than kid-focused.
6) Farrey also gets into the effect of budget cuts on municipal parks and recreation…usually the first item that gets chopped. As result, there are not as many places for kids to play. There are not as many leagues and options for kids to play. As a result, we see that kids are not playing sports, increasing the country’s childhood obesity rate. He applauds the efforts of Carmelo Anthony in establishing the rec center in Baltimore and suggests that the private sector might be the ones to fill the void left by bankrupt parks and recreation departments.
7) My favorite part of the book was Farrey’s look at some of the governing bodies of sports…including the NCAA, US Olympic Committee and AAU. Farrey asks what if we took away all athletic scholarships and colleges gave away $ based on need. What effect would that have on our youth-sports obsessed culture? And if you want to see an organization just get raked over the coals, read Farrey’s sections on Bobby Dodd and AAU Basketball.

Kudda was privy to attend two college recruiting nights presented by the coaches at some of the top D1 and DIII programs.

For the boys recruiting night, Dave Pietramala from Hopkins and Gene McCabe from W&L presented the process from a D1 and D3 perspective. For the women, sponsored by the M&D Lacrosse Club, Kelly Berger from UMBC, Ricky Fried-Georgetown and Muffy Bliss from McDaniel College spoke.

There were several themes that were present at both evenings’ discussions:

Grades

Time Table

Club Lacrosse, Camps and Tournaments

Specialization

Future of recruiting

Grades

ALL coaches stressed the importance of solid academic achievement. There are so many top players that will never get admitted to these colleges because of poor grades. For example, during Jake Reed’s Blue Chip Camp, coaches were given their packet that also included player’s academic achievement. So often coaches would see a great player, turn to see the grades and realize this player had no shot of attending their college.

Coach McCabe stressed how strong grades make the process so much easier… coaches aren’t going to be scrambling and pleading with their admissions people if you don’t have the grades.

The Recruiting Timetable

All coaches addressed their timetable for solidifying their recruiting classes. For the D1 coaches, Fried, Berger and Petro, this process has been accelerated over the last 2-3 years. Petro shared that he has juniors right now committing and that he’ll probably have the 2010 recruiting class wrapped up by spring. For the D3 coaches, McCabe and Bliss, their timetable is pushed back a bit. Right now both coaches are solidifying their 2009 recruits. McCabe told us that he’s looking at juniors but will start to recruit them come springtime. Check out Coach Fried’s thoughts on the timetable by clicking on The drop down menu for “Choosing a Playlist” and selecting “Recruiting Timetable”

Club Lacrosse

The coaches addressed the proliferation in club teams, recruiting tournaments and camps. They all urged players to limit the number of tourneys and camps that players attend in the summer. One area that divided the men and the women coaches was the role of the Club Coach. Coach Petro seemed very concerned with the influence of some of the club coaches in the recruiting process. He and McCabe revealed that they rely more heavily of the HS coach, who probably has more contact and interaction w/ the players during the year and has a genuine vested interest in helping their players make the right college decisions. Petro shared some stories of some club coaches who charge their players a fee for contacting college coaches. That, with the incentive to boost that the club’s players are attending certain schools to increase enrollment made both coaches much more focused on the HS coach’s opinion. This differed from the women coaches who rely on the input of the Club coach almost as much as the HS coach. Then again, girls’ club lacrosse has been around longer than the mens’ club scene.

Specialization

The topic of Specialization came up on both nights as parents asked if it was better that their child play lax instead of basketball or soccer. The coaches all agreed that they look for those athletes who play multi-sports. They don’t want the players who are just lacrosse players. They’re looking for that well-rounded athlete. The players will specialize in college- no need to do it in HS. All coaches agreed that there is no advantage to playing just lacrosse year round and that it’s better to play other sports.

The Future of Recruiting

The women coaches felt that since their sport is growing, both in the number of players and in D1 schools offering scholarships, the timetable won’t change too much. Not so with the men. Petro feels that it’ll be even more competitive since there are only 50+ D1 schools and lots more players from all over the country. He sees colleges possibly looking at freshmen and possibly younger in the years to come. McCabe is alarmed, as were the other coaches, at the number of tournaments and recruiting camps that are stretching family budgets and players’ intensity. Unfortunately, since there is a huge financial incentive from running these events, the coaches feel that we’ll continue to see an increase in the number of camps and tournaments.

Protective and safety devices for Youth Athletics
Lack of safety devices creates a liability exposure

While attending a Little League Baseball game I witnessed a foul ball go into the stands. In itself this is not an issue, but when you take into account that there is not a fence down the third base line protecting players or fans this creates a liability exposure. No one was injured; however the propensity for an injury is great. The local organization does not own the property that they play on however that does not release them from the exposure. The “I didn’t know” defense would not have merit. Had a player or fan been injured during this event the organization as well as the property owner could be held liable for any injuries that could arise from such a situation.
The solution to this issue was solved by installing a twelve foot high fence down the third base line. This cost was absorbed completely by the organization with the hopes to prevent any unnecessary injuries.
Fencing around a playing field may not be the only exposure you have when it comes to the fans. What is the condition of the stands? Do they provide a safe place for the fans to sit, or are they the same stands your great grand parents watched your parents play. Even if you have no ownership in the property, knowing that the property is safe is in your organizations best interest.
For more information regarding youth athletics and liability insurance, please visit the K & K icon on this website.