The essence of the program is to enable student athletes to excel in the sport of soccer with the opportunity to balance their athletic and academic requirements and aspirations. To successfully achieve this; the Secondary Program is broken into two components:

 

Development Program – Grades 8, 9 and 10

Working with student athletes, the PASS coaches would focus on development while maintaining a healthy balance between sports and school academics. These student athletes are at a stage in their lives and would gain positive life-time behaviours such as:

• Fair Play

• Treating teammates and competitors with respect

• Abiding by the rules of the game

• Playing drug-free

 

Select Program – Grades 11 and 12

Recognizing that educational success shall take precedence over the pursuit of sports objectives, student athletes selected for the Grade 11 and 12 Select Program must meet the academic and soccer criteria set out by the British Columbia Ministry of Education and the PASS coaching staff. Prior to acceptance to the Select Program, all applicants would be assessed by the PASS coaches and the Burnaby Central Secondary staff.

 

The game of soccer can be broken down into nine simple categories of development which encompass every aspect of the game -- passing, ball control, dribbling, shooting, individual and collective defending, heading, crossing and goalkeeping.

Each of these has three separate concepts of development. There is the technical aspect (the how to). Then the application of technique in opposed circumstances with smaller numbers and some elements of cooperating and opposing players (tectac). The third level moves the practice into more complex situations with larger numbers of both cooperating and opposing players (tactical) where the considerations of how a team would function in the 11-a-side game are worked on.

Working within these three concepts, the Secondary Program schedule would consist of four days of on-field training (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday) and one day of classroom theory (Wednesday). The proposed weekly schedule may emerge as follows:

 

Monday

• On-field training

• Both boys and girls

• Stretching (the right way)

• Skill Development

• Speed and Agility

 

Tuesday

• On-field training

• Girls – passing, movement, support and possession

• Boys – finishing school (including goalkeeping): defending and finishing

• Building to game situations: 1 on 1; 2 on 1; mixed bag; shadow play

 

Wednesday

• Classroom session

• Both boys and girls

 

Thursday

• On-field training

• Girls – finishing school (including goalkeeping): defending and finishing

• Boys – passing, movement, support and possession

• Building to game situations: 1 on 1; 2 on 1; mixed bag; shadow play

 

Friday

• On-field training

• Both Girls and Boys

• Game Day

• Team Competitions: skills and small-sided games

 

Classroom sessions would include

• Diet and Nutrition

• Mental Preparation

• Strength and Conditioning (on field and classroom participation)

• Fitness Testing (on field and classroom participation)

• Coaching Certification (on field and classroom participation)

• Refereeing Certification (on field and classroom participation)

• Tactical Discussion: Systems of Play; Functional Training; Positions and their Roles

• Special Guests: National Coaches; University Coaches; Professional and National Players