The referee is never your problem.
Today's touches
Coach said it more than anything else: 1000 a dayJuggling — 100 with alternating feet
Left, right, left, right. A drop resets the count. Little touches, waist height, over the standing foot.
No record yet
Conditioning — full-field ladder
From the back line out to each 10-yard line and back, all the way up the field. Record your best time and try to beat it.
No record yet
What a coach like this is actually watching
Seen in the first ten minutes
- First touch — especially receiving under pressure
- Passing weight and accuracy
- How fast you can play once the ball arrives
- Acceleration and change of direction
- Whether you compete for a ball you might lose
Seen over several sessions
- Scanning — do you look before the ball comes
- Body shape when you receive
- Knowing when to pass and when to carry
- Movement when you do not have the ball
- Defensive positioning and recovery runs
What actually decides it
- Do you listen the first time
- Do you try the correction immediately
- Do you recover after a mistake, or sulk
- Do you work when nobody is watching
- Do you stay switched on when the play is somewhere else
- Do your teammates play better with you on the field
The third column is the one entirely within your control from the first session. It is also the one a coach with thirty years of evaluating players notices fastest.
Coach West — style and objectives, in his words
- Drive understanding of the game — set expectations and hold players to them
- Instill a passion for soccer
- Respectful treatment and discipline; group coaching
- Technique, technique, technique — 1000 touches a day
- A team that thinks, passes, works hard, and takes the right risk at the right time
- Challenge and learning above wins — though winning is the goal
- We build out of the back, and through the centre
- Tactical play in every formation and every position
- Style of play over winning: pass the ball, keep it on the ground, build out of the back
- Building young men — work, respect
Expected of you
1000 touches a day
The single thing Coach repeated most. It is the price of admission at this level.
EFFORT
The one thing that is entirely in your control, every single session.
Always be prepared
The right kit — both kits at every match — in the right place at the right time.
Be EARLY, not on time
15 minutes before practice, 45 minutes before a game. Coaches are there 15 minutes before that.
One ball — practice, games, home
The same ball you train with at home is the one that comes to the field.
Referees are OFF LIMITS
No exceptions, no comments, no faces. Not yours, not your parents’.
Expected of parents
- Let the players be responsible and make mistakes — that is how they learn
- Understand the objective: build young men, develop them as players
- No coaching from the sideline — let the coaches drive style and tactics
- Praise effort, not results. The results will come
- After a game, let him cool off. Talk shop once he brings it up
- Referees are OFF LIMITS
- Drive preparation — remind him, but the player is responsible
Referees are off limits — players and parents both
Next session
Tomorrow · 5:45 PM
Woodson HS — Aux Field
This week
- Monday5:45 PM
Woodson HS — Aux Field
On the field 5:30 PM · leave home ~5:10 PM
- Tuesday7:00 PM
GMU RAC Field
On the field 6:45 PM · leave home ~6:20 PM
- Thursday5:45 PM
Woodson HS — Aux Field
On the field 5:30 PM · leave home ~5:10 PM
Before you walk on — five things
- 1Arrive early15 minutes, boots on, ball out.
- 2ListenWhen Coach talks, the ball stops and so do you.
- 3Play simpleReceive → scan → pass → move. Not: receive → beat three → lose it.
- 4Defend hardWorking without the ball is the fastest way to get noticed.
- 5Take the correction“Yes, Coach” — then actually do it on the very next rep.
Bag check
- Both kits (every match)
- Shin guards
- Boots + trainers
- The same ball — practice, games, home
- Full water bottle
- Weather layer
The coach
Todd West
Boys ECNL Director · Head Coach, U13 ECRL (BRYC Academy)
U15 Boys ECNL head coach, Fairfax VA Union 2026-27
202-531-0148Text only — direct contact by text message
- Head coach, American University men’s soccer, 19 seasons (164-142-47)
- Four-time Patriot League Coach of the Year · two Patriot League titles
- Three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16
- Assistant coach, U.S. U-20 National Team
- Assistant coach, D.C. United
- U.S. Region I and Virginia ODP coach — teams to Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France
- Head coach, Lake Braddock Secondary School 1993-96 (47-13-6); 1995 district, Northern Region and Virginia state champions
- USSF National “A” License · George Mason graduate and four-year starter
What we don't know: There is no reliable public parent or player review of his current BRYC coaching. Expect high standards and detailed correction — that is what a career at this level suggests — but judge the rest from how he actually works with you.
Background and experience: PlayMetrics → My Team → Summary → Roster → Coach’s link
After 3–5 sessions, ask this
“Coach Todd, thank you for the chance to train with the group. From what you have seen, what are the two or three things I should work on most to be a stronger player at this level?”
A specific answer — “scan earlier before you receive”, “first touch under pressure” — is worth more than the invitation itself. “Work harder” is not an answer; ask when and where.
Not: “Am I good enough?” · “Will I make the team?” · “How much will I play?”