Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 On way to coach youth soccer, all you need is to go through this article and get to know every single aspect of teaching the game. Coaching kids about soccer is no rocket science but yes, it requires skill, knowledge, and a lot of patience. What follow are known strategies to teach youth soccer. Implementing them religiously will do wonders to your team.
Motivate them to learn: You know it but how do you identify the best way to do it? Allow the players to do activities that they like and even if they get wrong, take it easy. Through this exercise, you are encouraging the kids to be more creative and most importantly, have fun.
Name the teams: Divide the groups into small teams which allow you to better coordinate the affairs. It’s also a good idea to name the teams for inculcating a feeling of closeness.
Measure failures and success: To coach youth soccer, decide on a benchmark to evaluate the performance. One of the yardsticks could be an observation of whether the kids are having fun in training sessions. Are the kids enjoying soccer or playing as a team? Are they effectively picking up techniques of controlling, dribbling, and passing the ball?
Reward their efforts: It positively effects the performance of budding and experienced players. However, the rewards don’t need to be huge. For example a further 30 minutes rest or wrapping up the day’s job early for team performing best. And don’t reward individual feats. It is not feasible in a game like soccer where some players are better than others. It is therefore better to acknowledge the team effort.
Managing poor performance: It’s important in teaching soccer to carefully manage individual’s poor performance affecting the entire team. For instance: a player not making it to the drills in time should not be ignored. Have him perform a simple act as a punishment to make others aware of such mistakes.
Similarly, parents who tend to interfere in the team’s activities should also be handled like this. Control it in time and notify everyone about it. As a coach, be responsible to make decisions for the team. That said, parents involvement to a certain degree is absolutely essential.
Be a leader: Whatever you do is likely to be imitated by your players because a coach is always looked upon as a mentor. So you better mend your ways. Always be nice and polite to team mates, fellow coaches, and opponents. Make it to the practice ground earlier than the players. While practicing, avoid passing judgments on the players or the referee.
I can guarantee that applying these to coach youth soccer will lead your team to the greatest heights not only during the practice sessions but also in live matches. Sign up now and get many such youth soccer tips, tricks and professional comments available at our youth soccer coaching community. What you’ll find is important understanding of various phases in youth soccer.
Andre Botelho is a recognized authority in youth soccer coaching and has already helped thousands of youth coaches to dramatically improve their coaching skills. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make training fun by downloading your free ebook at: http://www.soccerdrillstips.com