Author: Gordy

I have served in the capacity of the board-appointed leadership role (since 2014), and on the board since 2010.  I farm in west-central Minnesota. My prior business background includes co-founder and owner of Davis, Thomas & Associates, Inc. (DTA) with offices in Minneapolis MN, Chicago IL, and Bangalore India.  I was a former systems programmer in the banking, hospital, and transportation industries.

MOTI Website Tip: Import Players

To import players, go to your team Roster available on the left navigation bar. At the bottom of the Roster click the “Import Players” button on the bottom right and you will see the following

Here you are presented with a choice of either the Sports Engine team management system or the Team Snap system. Select the desired system and click the “Import Players” button on the bottom right.

Note that when you give permission to the MOTI system to access your Sports Engine or Team Snap account, we are connecting in read-only mode.

For Sports Engine, you will see the following:

You need to provide your Sports Engine credentials to proceed and you might see the following screen authorizing the MOTI app:

For Team Snap, you will see the following:

You need to provide your Team Snap credentials to proceed and you might see the following screen authorizing the MOTI app:

After you successfully authenticate the MOTI app to your Sports Engine or Team Snap account, you will see a list of teams from which you can import players.

After you select the desired team, click the “Import Players” button in the lower right corner and your players will be added to the team.

Note that we only add new players to your team that do not already exist on your team. If you add more players in either Sports Engine or Team Snap, you can import players again and only the additional players will be added to the MOTI Roster.

MOTI Website Tip: Adding & Creating a New Practice Plan

As a coach you may desire to modify, add or change an existing practice
plan.

It is recommended that you do the following actions from a desktop or
laptop computer, creating and editing are done best in those environments.

Adding & Creating a New Plan

  1. Go your Plan Library
  2. One the far upper right hand corner click the “+” (plus sign). This
    opens a new Plan
  3. Fill in the Practice Plan Header

a. Fill in the ‘Practice Plan Title” with a new name

Suggestion: Use a prefix like abbreviated team name first followed by a name that is meaningful to you and players

b. Fill in the “Practice Plan Date” using the date picker (you can do this
later as well)

c. Fill in the “Practice Plan time” using the time picker (you can do this
later as well)

d. Fill in the “Practice Location” if desired

e. Fill in the “Practice Plan Description” up to 200 characters for more
communication to you players and coaches

f. Check the box to make this Plan Active (visible to others when
scheduled)

g. Organization – make sure your “organization” is visibly selected

h. Season – make sure your “season” is visibly selected

i. Team – make sure it is “your team” where you are adding the Practice
Plan

j. CLICK “SAVE PRACTICE PLAN” button

  1. Filling the Practice Plan detail (Drop N Drag)

a. Using the slider bar, scroll down the list of All Media and find the media you desire to add to your plan – Say a warm-up activity

i. You can use the Spy Glass at the top of the “All Media” list and type in
warm-up to see a list of items related to warm-up

ii. You can click on any title to watch a “preview” video of what the activity is before moving it into your plan.

b. Click the blue “EDIT” button

to unlock “your Plan” to allow you to modify it.

c. Using a mouse “Click-Hold-N-Drag” the media to “Your Plan” list

d. Click on the Time “5 minutes” preceding the media item to adjust the
time in minutes up or down

e. Click on the “comment” feature and type in an additional comment (if
desired)

f. Repeat steps a – e until the practice plan looks as desired. Then click
“SAVE PRACTICE PLAN” button

  1. Review “Your Plan”

a. Make adjustments as necessary

b. To Eliminate a media element, simply “Click-N-Drag” it off the screen

c. Schedule your plan when you are ready so your players can study it on
their own before they arrive at practice.

Example of “My Plan” for a U6 Practice

MOTI Website Tip: The Practice Plan – Creating or Modifying

Plan It, Schedule It, See It, Do It

If you are a Coaching Director, Recreation Director, Coach, Volunteer Parent Coach, or Player, you all have a responsibility to make practice time on the pitch productive and fun.

Plan It

While not all of you have a role in the specifics of “Planning It” [Creating a Practice Plan], those that do are:

Coaching Director or Recreational Director

Coach [Note some clubs have already done this work for the Coaches; if so, go to “Schedule It”]

Do this step via a Desktop or Laptop computer “NOT via a Mobile Device”

Create a Practice Plan for the Team to Use

Select a Practice Plan or create a new one with the “Theme” and sequence of training steps you want to follow by

  1. Go to the Plan Library on either your planning team or your team
  2. Open the existing Practice Plan, Copy the existing plan to a new name or Create a new Practice Plan
  3. Pick a “Theme” or select an existing practice plan with the theme you desire, such as dribbling, passing, attacking, defending, setting up a corner kick, throwing in, etc. This will be the focus of this training session.
  4. Create or modify the Practice Plan Header information

Practice Plan Title – for a new plan or a copied plan, you need to create a meaningful name.

Practice Plan Date – Select a date or do this when scheduling

Practice Plan Time – Select a time or do this when scheduling

Plan Location – Enter this or later when scheduling

Practice Plan Description – Enter the description of this practice, Theme, global coaching points, and any special instructions for coaches and players to understand.

Is this plan active? – You can create plans that are not active. They will remain hidden from view until they are declared “active.” Inactive plans cannot be scheduled. This is a good way to work on a new plan and avoid accidentally scheduling it.

Organization / Team info – This can be the name of the club but also of a team in some sports

Season – This is the season defined for this organization. There can be many seasons defined by your Organization with beginning and ending dates. It is important to understand that a Team, its plans, and its players exist for a season. Next season, it will be a new team. Examples are:

2023 Spring

2023 Fall

2024Winter

2024 Spring

Team – A dropdown will be used to select the team for this practice plan. Note that there is only one team to choose from in some cases.

Save the Practice Plan Header

  1. Create or Modify the Practice Plan Contents
  • This is accomplished by using the Left Panel – “ALL MEDIA,” and the Right Panel – “Your Plan”
  • First, begin by clicking the “EDIT “ Your Plan button so you can edit it
  • Use the Spy Glass on the left, “ALL MEDIA,” to search for desired Skills and Drills, or scrolling down the list of activities, grab-N-drag them over to “YOUR PLAN” where you want it. Repeat this process until YOUR PLAN looks good to you.
  • Change the “Time,” which is the duration you want to perform this activity
  • Leave a comment in the “—“ to the right side of the media element as desired for communications
  • Repeat this cycle until you have a complete plan. Remember to insert a “Small Sided Game” and several water breaks.
  • Save the Plan   

Schedule It

While not all of you have a role in the specific of “Schedule It”, those that do

  • DOC or Recreational Director
  • Coach [Note some clubs have already done this work for the Coaches; if so, go to “Schedule It”]

You need to do this step via a Desktop or Laptop computer “NOT via a Mobile Device”

Scheduling the Practice Plan for the Team to Use

  • Select a Practice Plan from the Plan Library
  • Go to the Plan Library on either your planning team or your team
  • Select Schedule from the Overflow menu to the right of the Practice Plan you desire to schedule.
  • Note: The scheduled date is when the plan will appear to the Player. If you schedule multiple plans, once a new date occurs where a plan is the “next” scheduled plan, it will appear. If there is no plan scheduled, then any date scheduled in the future will appear as the next practice plan. You may schedule as many plans in advance. The next practice plan will appear to the player after the previous date & time have moved to the past.
  • Select “Schedule”
  • Complete the Date and Time and “SAVE Plan” 

See it

Everyone has the role of “See It,” meaning watching and learning the contents of the Practice Plan

  • DOC or Recreational Director
  • Coach
  • Player

For the best viewing, view this via the MOBILE App. Open the MOTI Mobile App (a free download from the iTunes Store or Google Play Store).

  1. Read the Team Announcement Board
  1. Open the Practice Plan by touching the Practice Plan Bar.
  • View the entire Practice Plan
  • Touch the practice element you wish to view.

 Pink Icons are Skills

 Green Icons are Drills

  • View and listen to the practice element and perform the skill up to 200 times before practice

Do it

Everyone is in the role to “Do It,” meaning the Practice Plan

  • Coaching Director or Recreational Director
  • Coach
  • Player

Go to practice knowing you are prepared and ready to work on the skills you’ve seen and the drills as a team to become a unified group working together.

Coaches, encourage your players. Keep things upbeat and moving. Pause when necessary to review a skill or where it applies during game play in an activity/drill.

Players – remember your learning. Watch and listen. Work hard. You will have fun!

MOTI Tip: Audio Controls

MOTI Soccer app Audio Controls give the user complete control over the audio
playback including volume, play/pause, mute, restart-when-done and
“scrubbing”. The audio controls are accessed through the audio button
(below outlined in blue) on the right side of the top menu bar.

Pressing the audio button will bring up the audio control panel (see
Controls Overview, directly below).

Controls Overview

Once the audio button is pressed, the audio control panel will be
displayed, as shown below.

Mute Button

The mute button (number 1, in the above image) allows the user to mute and
unmute the audio. The audio will continue to play, however, sound will not
be heard. This button has the two following states:

Unmuted

In this state audio can be heard, if playing. Press this button to mute the
audio.

Muted

In this state no audio will be heard, when playing. Press this button to
un-mute the audio.

As a note, the mute setting will be remembered between viewing drills.

 

 

Volume Control Set

The volume control set (numbers 2, 3 and 4) allows the user to control the
volume level of playing audio. The parts of the volume control set are:

Decrease button (number 2)

Pressing this button will decrease the volume by 10% of the volume range.

Increase button (number 4)

Pressing this button will increase the volume by 10% of the volume range.

Volume slider control (number 3)

Pressing on the round button and dragging across the screen (either right
or left) will adjust the volume up and down. Sliding left decreases the
volume. Sliding right increases the volume.

Restart-When-Done Button

The restart-when-done button (number 5) allows the user to select if the
audio will start again at the beginning once it is completed. This button
has the following states:

Restart-when-done (highlighted)

In this state, when the audio reaches the end, it will restart at the
beginning.

Do not restart-when-done (not highlighted)

In this state, when the audio reaches the end, it will stop and will not
restart until the Play button is pressed again.

As a note, the restart-when-done setting will be remembered between viewing
drills.

Play/Pause Button

The play/pause button (number 6) allows the user to either play or pause
the audio. This button has the following two states:

Playing

In this state, the audio will be playing (hearing the audio, however, will
also depend on “Volume” and “Mute”, both in this document). Press this
button to pause the audio playing.

 

Paused

In this state, the audio is paused. Press this button to start the audio
playing.

Scrubbing Control Set

The “scrubbing” control set (numbers 7, 8 and 9) will allow the user view
and control the position of the audio. The parts of the scrubbing control
set are:

Current audio location readout (number 7)

This readout is the current location (in seconds) of the audio that is
being heard.

Audio length readout (number 9)

This readout is the total length of the audio (in seconds) of the audio
track.

Position slider control (number 8)

The position of the round button represents the location of the audio that
is being heard. Pressing and dragging the button left or right will change
the position in the audio track. Drag left to position the audio earlier in
the track. Drag right to position the audio later in the track.

In conclusion, the Audio Controls give the user complete control of every
aspect of audio playback in the MOTI Soccer solution.

View information about App Camera Control here.

MOTI Website Tips: Announcements & Message Emoji

Announcement Board 

As we head into spring it is often important to keep the entire Team informed. As a coach, you simply need to update the Announcement board if you don’t have a access to a team management app. It is simple and you can do it from your mobile phone.

As a reminder, you should put up any changes to your schedule or specific instructions for the upcoming practice or game.

Also keep in mind you can put in a simple weather statement and or link to the US Weather service like this https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=43.6797&lon=-114.3677#.Wpc9tmrwaUk (this can be obtained by going to https://www.weather.gov/ putting in a city name or zipcode and then copying and pasting the result in the link (see insert)CV

Then consider a statement about dressing for the weather

Message Emoji available now 

When sending a brief message to a player or the entire team or another coach you can now brighten up everyone’s day with an emoji.

Remember everyone responds to recognition and a simple message of re-enforcement is an easy thing to do and means a lot to the person on the other end.

MOTI Tip: Screen Sensitivity

Changing the 3D Screen Sensitivity according to Player / User Age

Using the MOTI Soccer App can be fun for young players.  There are controls available to enhance or simplify their user experience. I encourage you as parents or older brothers and sisters to help adjust these controls for the age of the player.

The Sensitivity Controls for the 3D player of either the 3D Skill or 3D Drill are located under the “Settings” Button.

This is available on the 3D Skills and 3D Drills player at the top of the screen. Touching this opens up the Sensitivity Menu.

This menu allows the user to adjust the controls. For younger players under the age of  7 years old, the sensitivities should be turned down since their motor skills are not yet as refined as older players (ages 7+ to 50). Older players 50+ may want then less sensitivity as well, so they can move and track around on the view without going hay-wire.

If you see a user having difficulty using the screen punch and zoom or rotation, odds are it can be cured by adjusting the “Sensitivity” of the action they are using.

MOTI Tip: Point-of-View & Transparency

MOTI Sports release a new version of MOTI Soccer (Version V1R6 in iTunes & Google Play) on January 5, 2018. (previously known as MOTI Mobile) Changes were made to system security, speeding asset retrieval and other enhancements. A new option that allows the 3D Drill author to set up one or more preset points-of-view is now available. It also allows the author to setup a default view, which is used when the 3D Drill is initially opened. The beauty of this Mobile App is to allow the user to view the animation to view the 3D Drills from any perspective 360 degrees around the 3D Drill, it is helpful we thought to have the author drawing the drill to setup a few named pre-set Points-of-View (POV). So keep an eye out for this as new 3D Drills as added to libraries for inclusion into your favorite Practice (session) Plans.

To use this feature:

  • Click the “View” Icon
  • Menu of Points-of-View appear
  • Select the View you wish to see and the Camera view will change instantly

Sample POV – RightLower


 Controls Transparency:

During the USC Convention in Philadelphia, some users brought to our attention that some of the Coaches using our system mentioned how the Joy-Stick and Elevation controls on the Soccer App can get in the way of viewing at times.  During our development meeting our engineers reminded us of the user’s ability to change the “Controls Transparency”. They demonstrated the change to us and we thought it would be good to pass along. As you are viewing a 3D Drill you’ll notice the “Gear” in the upper right hand corner of the screen.   To change the Transparency – which on most devices will lighten up the Joy-Stick and Elevation controls just do the following:

  • Touch the “Settings” Control in the upper right hand corner
  • A drop down box will appear of Controls
  • Slide the or press the minus “-“ by the “Controls Transparency” to the desired state

Most users will find the lighter transparency better.

MOTI Website Tip: Adding User Language Choice

You may have noticed we are adding things to help people for whom English
is not their first language. We truly feel that Futebol / Football / Soccer
/ Foitbal needs to have a training system that is inclusive of all players
and coaches on the world stage.

As your players and coaches look at their profile, they can choose a favored language. Until we have those audio tracks completed, they will continue to receive the English audio track. However, we are working at adding Spanish and Portuguese audio tracks for all of our 3D media, both 3D Drills and 3D
Skills.

As a coach editing a practice plan, you can now ignore moving in audio tracks
completely as we handle that under the covers!