WIN! $1,500 Worth Of Training Gear

Our mates at 442 have a great new competition, check it out!



The amateur season is well underway, but how is your team faring? Do you need to be reinvigorated with the latest training gear to lift both morale and your ability levels? Well, FourFourTwo has teamed up with our chums at Pro Sports Group to offer your team $1,500 worth of training gear!

[Enter now to Win]

The FFT Boot Camp-aign

FOURFOURTWO are launching Australia’s biggest ever boots survey to get a better understanding of what you want from your weekend wheels!

We want to know what you wear, why you wear them and what makes you buy them in the first place. Do you have to have the same boots as Messi? How much are you willing to splash? Let us know your views on what you wear so we can tailor our coverage to the products and releases that matter to you.

One lucky participant will also win a pair of silver adidas F50 boots for their efforts. So to have your say on what boots and boot information we should be providing, and be in with a chance of winning the F50s, simply head here and complete our short survey.

FREE 442 IPAD MAGAZINE

Every month FourFourTwo Australia delivers you unrivalled access to the world’s finest football players, Socceroos playing overseas and the biggest names in the Australian A-League.

The FourFourTwo Australia iPad edition brings you exclusive video and extra photographic content in addition to all the magazine content reformatted to suit your iPad.

Not only do we provide insight from the players themselves, we dig deeper to analyse how and why events on the pitch take place. Our Performance section covers the diets, drills and advice you need to become a better footballer.

By the time you put FourFourTwo Australia down, you will know what’s happening in football, why it happened and how you can do it yourself.

Download the app now for free and receive your free sample of the FourFourTwo Australia iPad edition. You can then purchase each new issue from within the app with all your editions stored in one convenient location.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/fourfourtwo-australia/id403878892?mt=8#

WIN LIMITED EDITION PANINI TRADING CARDS

 

Panini is proud to announce its newest limited edition trading card set - 2010/11 UEFA Champions League® Trading Card Set. And we are giving you the chance to win one of five of these box sets, worth $75.99 each!

For your chance to win follow the link

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/competition.aspx?CIaCID=529

Skoko’s Split Celebration

EXCLUSIVE: Josip Skoko will be one of the guests at an event in Sydney to mark 100 years of Hajduk Split – a club which holds a special place in the former Socceroo’s heart.

For the full interview log into...

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/203685,skoko8217s-split-celebration.aspx

Willing To Represent Football?

FOOTBALL fans are needed to take part in a rival codes challenge that could see you win $10,000 and a trip to the US. Are you the right person to represent football? Could you take shots on goal with two of your mates non-stop for 60 hours and prove that football fans are the toughest? Are you more passionate than footy and basketball players, dancers, artists and skaters? Sportswear giants adidas has put the call out for football fans or players to take a test of staying power, passion and determination and go all in for the ultimate reward – $10,000 and a trip to LA to see Katy Perry in concert, David Beckham’s LA Galaxy and a VIP LA experience. In an Australian first, passionate football players and basketballers will take on renowned street artists while AFL fans will be pitted against dancers and skaters – all six teams (three people in each team), will go head-to-head competing in their area of passion for 60 hours non-stop, all aiming to win the grand prize. The search for the challengers has commenced on Facebook, where football fans or players can get together in a team of three and nominate themselves to take on the challenge of kicking from the penalty spot, while another takes on the role of goalkeeper for 60 hours straight from Monday 18 April to Wednesday 20 April. The teams of three will be able to rotate amongst themselves, allowing for one member to be taking a break at all times to ensure they can last through the challenge, but it still won’t be that easy. Participants won’t be alone during the challenge with a number of high profile athletes expected to attend the 60 hour long live event in Queensbridge Square to offer their support and encouragement. Entries close on Friday, 8th April 2011. Click here for more information and to submit your team’s entry. http://www.facebook.com/adidas?sk=app_119617424780150

Light makes fast. Win adidas adizero football boots‏

If you want to hear a true story, when FourFourTwo were posted the first pair of adizero™ F50 boots, we thought the package that had arrived was a t-shirt – so light was the parcel we had in our hands!

It is not a surprising mistake to make though when you realise the adizero™ F50’s weigh in at just 165g per boot, which is very light indeed. That’s Kate Moss eating a rice cake on a cloud-type light.

The boots are designed for speed and the pro players we’ve spoken to already say it is like wearing nothing at all. So if you are a lightening-quick player looking to become even faster, or a slightly sluggish character looking for a boost, then these boots are just the ticket.

Our friends at adidas have been kind enough to give us three pairs of adizero™ F50 boots to give away to you lucky readers! Pictured is the orange colour way, but we also have a pair in black and another in chrome for you.



http://au.fourfourtwo.com/competition.aspx?CIaCID=522

FOUR FOUR TWO CHRISTMAS OFFER

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FourFourTwo Special Announcement
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Click here to view this message online:
http://www.haymarketmedia.com.au/promos/house/01112010/Christmas_EDM_FFT.html

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GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFTS FOR UNDER $50!

If you or someone you know loves football, you should hurry and take advantage of
our special Christmas subscription offer.

Purchase a magazine subscription to FourFourTwo or any of our great magazines for
under $50!

You or your loved ones will have their magazines delivered to their door, every
month. It's the gift that keeps on giving! What are you waiting for?

8 issues for $49.95

SAVE $21.65

http://newsletter.au.fourfourtwo.com/cgi-bin16/DM/t/eCCUX0dfQWm0qfA0BFu40EM

ROUND BALL MEDIA RELEASE

Mount Gambier’s Community Football Initiative, The Round Ball has continued to increase its stature in the soccer community by winning a nationwide coaching search.
Leading soccer publication Four Four Two recently called for coaches nationwide to apply to write for a new section in the magazine and website entitled Performance.
The competition provided the opportunity for successful coaches to write on a coaching periodical once a fortnightly.
CEO of The Round Ball, Scott Dickson applied for one of the positions and was fortunate enough to have his application short listed. “The first part of the application process was to provide a coaching c.v. and list of my credentials as a coach. I was thrilled at being short listed” Dickson said. “The next part was to write an article for the magazine as a sample of our direction and style and I was over the moon to find out that I was given the opportunity to provide an article for publication.”
Dickson’s first article “The REAL coaching blog” was published online last month and his second article “The MOST important thing” has recently been added.
“I am really enjoying writing for the magazine, Four Four Two is the leading football magazine in the country and one of the highest selling magazines on the market in the UK.”
“I have received some very good feedback from the editor of the magazine and from several of the other contributors to the website. I am really enjoying contributing and the opportunity to publish my opinions on coaching.“
Dickson’s articles will feature fortnightly on the Australian Four Four Two website

The REAL Coaching Blog 2

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/blogs.aspx?CIaBEID=2135

I read with interest both Andy’s latest blog and the feedback he was given and the main point is that as coaches, we are all unique. We all have our own style that we take with us. You may be the local Fergie, hairdryer at the ready or perhaps Rafa is more your style, leaving the players to guess what’s going on, or maybe you are one step ahead of the local pack, in possession of the master plan and the special one oozes through your veins.
The most important thing that you need to have is your own style, something that is unique to you and something that you will be remembered by. Structure and organisation are two key ingredients that you must possess, the third and by the far the most important is developing relationships.
You need to know the players you are working with, where they are coming from and where they go when they leave your care. This is essential to all players regardless of age or ability, to a large extent the younger, the less developed and the more disadvantaged deserve your attention most of all.
When they turn up for one of your sessions, be there. Now, I don’t just mean be there in being there, I mean really be there for them. When you are taking your session you need be there for the session, 100% organised and 100% committed to the group you are working with regardless of where you are, who you are working with, or what you have just been doing.
The local u12 side deserves the same attention to detail that van Ship would put in to the Melbourne Derby or Pep will put in when Mourinho’s men come calling this year. I know that they are full time coaches, have a coaching staff to back them up and maybe a few million more reasons to be prepared than you do, but those kids deserve it.
You should have a session plan for every session that you take and it should have a purpose and an outcome. You should know where the team is and where they are going and your session will sit in that slot. Maybe between a one nil away loss and the return fixture, maybe the last training session prior to the start of the season it doesn’t matter when it is, there is always something that will guide the session and an outcome that should follow otherwise you are just filling time or rather wasting both theirs and your time.
Planning the session is simple and requires
about 5 minutes using a template like this.
What are your goal/s for the session?
How do you decide on what they should be?
How are you going to break up the session?
How much time are you going to spend on each element?
And what resources do you need for implementing the session?
The best way to plan your resources is to overlap and reuse an area or an a teaching tool. That way you don’t have to hire a mini van or borrow your dads Ute to get the gear to training, and if you forget something you can do without it. I will talk about this in a later blog.
So, how do you decide what to focus on for the session? What is your main goal? The best way to do this is to think about what you need to improve on from last weeks game or training session if it is preseason. You will need to think about what the team did well? What area/s does the team need to improve? What did individual; players do well? And what areas do individual players need to improve on?
It is the answers to these questions that will give you the opportunity to direct your focus. You need to remember that you can’t do everything in one session.
For an all round approach when choosing your drills focus on one area that was good, focus on one area that needs improvement, and focus on one drill from the last training session to reinforce the learning for your players.

442 PERFORMANCE APPLICATION

Welcome to the first edition of performance, a Four Four Two coaching initiative.

In this weeks edition of The Round Ball Blog we will be highlighting the importance of organisation in your training programs.

First of all, lets get your first session of year sorted for you. Get there early, set up your drills, I like to use cones in grids that can be easily moved around to expand the training area as your session progresses.

x x x x x
x x x x x

Greet each parent as they arrive and introduce yourself to each new parent and welcome them to the session. I like to have a handout ready with a few organisational pointers, time of sessions, required training items like shin pads and water bottle, my mobile number and so on.
As each player arrives get them started on warming up, they can start passing with a friend in the grids set up earlier and this will make a easy transition later on.
When the session begins bring the group together and discuss the objective of the session and the content to be covered.
I like to have short and sharp sessions that keep the players on their toes, no standing around and no lines whenever possible. I like 75 minute training sessions but I am aware that most coaches find 90 minutes ideal.

Here is a common break-down for a 90 minute session

Warm-up 15 minutes (5 minutes light jogging, 10 minutes stretch)

Soccer Drills 10 minutes (1st Drill)

10 minutes (2nd Drill)

10 minutes (3rd Drill)

Fitness 30 minutes

Game 10 minutes

Cool Down 5 minutes

If you use this as a rough guide you can easily change the time values and number of drills performed to suit your needs for each session.
The first drills at training are vital, they need to capture the attention of the players and they set the standard for the entire session. After setting the goals of the session the warm up follows, now there are heaps of great warm ups around however I tend to like the Coerver Drills both with and without the ball and the FIFA 11+ Warm Up is great to cover the essential requirements. it can be downloaded at...

http://f-marc.com/11plus/index.html

The cards are very good and can be added to your coaches notes and I also like the beginner, intermediate and advanced options.
Yes, that is a good point, a coaching scrapbook or folder with drills added is a great way to keep track of the drills you pick up at workshops or in observations of other coaches.
I like to keep session notes as a record and for reflection, if something doesn't work, change it and note the changes, that way you will avoid the same mistakes next time around.

(Thats all I can fit in to the 500 words, hope it is okay?)

WIN FREE TICKETS

Score a trip to the Hyundai A-League Grand Final with QBE Quiz Striker.

It's the football quiz for the football know-it-all

QBE has launched an online football knowledge quiz that will run over a period of five months.

Complete all 5 monthly quizzes to the best of your ability and you'll go into the draw to win the
major prize - a trip to the Hyundai A-League Grand Final.

The winner and a guest will stay in a 4-star hotel in the city of the Grand Final with a daily buffet breakfast for two before you take your seats at the big game. If you live outside the state of the
Grand Final, the prize also includes return flights to a maximum value of $2000.

Each month you'll also have the chance to win some great prizes including Hyundai A-League tickets, Greater Union movie gift cards and QBE Insurance vouchers.

Here's one to get you started...
Which player scored the most goals in the 2006 World Cup held in Germany?

To find out the answer and for your chance to WIN, visit www.qbequizstriker.com.au and follow
the prompts.