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28 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2010 ERIC RIEHL / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER INTERNATIONAL CAMPS: Professional academy coaches from several world class clubs are visiting the Oakville Soccer Club this month to work with young soccer squads. In left photo, Rodolfo Rodriguez of Argentina's Boca Juniors works with Oakville under-14 player Olivia Holmes. Above, Francisco Llacer of Spain's Valencia explains a drill. RIZIERO VERTOLLI / OAKVILLE BEAVER International soccer coaches in town to work with youth squads By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR Keeping the ball away from the opposition worked pretty well for Spain at the FIFA World Cup, and Francisco Llacer believes it will work for local youngsters as well. The Spaniard is one of six international soccer coaches working with youth teams this week at the Oakville Soccer Club, part of Inside Soccer's international team camps and coaches symposium. "The more time you have the ball, the more chances to win you have," said Llacer, who has worked in Valencia's youth academy for the past four years. "We train to do that. To touch the ball and pass the ball. To find the clear space because the other team can move well but when we move the ball from one side to another side and then come back, maybe a defender or winger hasn't moved properly and then we have the free space." Llacer used drills like monkey-in-the middle as he worked with Oakville's under-11 girls' teams Tuesday morning at Pine Glen Soccer Centre. He said he's seen a great improvement "The more time in local players from you have the a year ago, when he ball, the more also worked with chances to win Oakville youngsters. you have." "I remember that they couldn't do a lot n Spanish coach of things. This year, Francisco Llacer there's more things they could do," he said. "Dribbling, skills... last year, they couldn't keep up. Now they could keep the ball very easily and they were moving and controlling the ball the right way, making good passes." Another Spanish coach, Sergio Dominguez of Seville FC, is stressing similar things to the kids he works with. "The philosophy of Seville is ball possession and playing wide on the sides," he said through a translator. Dominguez, the assistant coach of Seville's senior men's team, said he was impressed by the under-11 players he worked with, particularly their thinking and vision of the game. "They could be using the space better and the speed of which they make their passes, instead of trying to dribble too much," he added. Portuguese coach Joao Plantier agreed with Dominguez's assessment. "We're working on technical work with the kids. Dribbling, passing, reception... and a little bit of the specialized things, showing the kids what they have to do in certain positions of the field," said the coach of Sporting Lisbon's under-13 team. "(Oakville players) know how to do it, but I think they have some problems with using the space in the field." Llacer said that knowledge will come in time. "In Spain, we don't play hockey. But if we played hockey, we would need 20, 30, 40 years to be at a good level," he said. "It's normal. They're improving." Other coaches at this week's camp included Rodolfo Rodriguez and Vladimir Nieto of Argentina's Boca Juniors and John Hassan of England's Watford. New coaches in town next week for the second week of the camp will be Jeff Bookman of England's Chelsea, Leonardo Mouwen of Turkey's Galatasaray, Rafael Aranda of Spain's Levante, Daniel Goncalves of Sporting. Llacer and Rodriguez will be returning for a second week. The coaches symposium, which runs today (Friday) and tomorrow, will have professional coaches sharing their various coaching methods used within the academy programs of profile clubs.