Lynn’s Nikolakopoulos coaching North Shore Select youth team

Taso Nikolakopoulos is trying to bring a change in philosophy to youth soccer on the North Shore.Nikolakopoulos, who owns John?s Roast Beef in Lynn, has added a new element to his portfolio. He is the coach of North Shore Select, a boys squad of 10- and 11-year-old players.?We play not to win, but to develop and get better,” Nikolakopoulos said. “The boys don?t get down when they lose. They?re full-time soccer players who love the sport.”Nikolakopoulos coaches the team with Omar Basulto. The squad includes players from clubs such as North Shore United and the Aztec Soccer Club. The players represent towns such as Danvers, Revere and Boxford.?We try to alleviate the pressure that a club offers,” Nikolakopoulos said. “I try to teach them to simplify, use one another, communicate. When you put it together with skilled players, it?s a beautiful game to watch.”Nikolakopoulos stresses a two-touch system with his players.?Receive it, open up your body, know where to go,” he said. “The first touch is the most important. Touch it to where you want to go. Stop and direct it to the next one.”He added, “The team that runs the most usually loses. When someone has the ball, find a diagonal line for a player to see him.”Dribbling, meanwhile, is anathema to him.?Don?t put your head down and dribble,” he said. “Make the simplest pass.?If you watch the Premier League (in England), it?s a beautiful, crisp game. The passes are on the ground, they?re working it around.”The St. Mary?s graduate (Class of ?88) emphasizes getting touches on the ball for the players of today.?If you want a kid to develop, they have to touch the ball 500 to 1,000 times,” he said. “In an average high school game, there are 12-15 touches per kid, and less than three or four are quality.?Muscle memory is how they get their game. In most countries, they don?t have games until they?re 13 or 14. The more times your son or daughter handles the ball, the better they?re going to be.” Otherwise, he said, “it?s not soccer, it?s kickball.”Nikolakopoulos continues to play the game himself, for two teams, the North Shore Rovers, an over-40 Division 1 team, and the Lynn-based Boston Braves, a veterans team that has traveled the globe playing veterans of well-known teams such as Barcelona.His passion for the game runs deep.?I cried twice,” he said, “when the Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years, and when Greece got the game-winning goal to win the European Championships.”