"So tell me about your week": The Fall 2012 discussion thread

If only such rules could be enforced! I'd love it to have it go back to no coaching at all from the sideline! Especially with all of the crap constantly spewed out of the large number of joystick coaches I've faced - yikes

 

I'm a little torn here. At U9, we have a few people who have a lot of questions during the game, and it's nice to have more than one of us who can answer.

On the other hand, it's a little annoying when some coaches stand right next to the goal to do some joystick-coaching on their goalkeepers.

 

A huge part of soccer development involves decision making. Players need to make decisions for themselves on the field of play. At a young age they are just learning to do that and are therefore very slow. If a coach is constantly providing answers/directions, then those players learn to rely on that information. Instead, if the player is allowed to figure it out during play and encouraged for good decisions, then they will continue to do so and learn to do so faster.

Having questions during the game is a good thing for players! Immediately providing answers hurts their development.

That being said, one of the things I always try to do when a player is subbed out is to talk for a minute or so about their play. This is a great point to provide immediate positive feedback and also include a couple of suggestions for improvement. Almost always you can see the player taking that advice the next time they step on the field. You can see them thinking about what you say and then using their own understanding to put it into action.

When these kids get older they will be expected to make snap decisions in the flow of fast paced action. The best time for them to learn how to do that is when they are little -- the game is much slower and the results don't matter. So don't teach them to be robots! Teach them to be thinkers and doers.

 

Sure, when the question is "Should I be positioned a little wider?"

But I sometimes have questions like "Oh, is it my turn to come out of the game now?"

It's better than U7 and U8, where I sometimes had to fish players out of the woods. But there's still a bit of guidance needed.

 

Guidance is needed, it's just in how a coach does it and how much a coach does it.

I'm not totally silent on the sideline. I'll occasionally direct backs to move up to keep the shape and support the attack instead of staying planted on the 18, during a stoppage I'll direct a winger to try moving out wider when we have possession, tell a forward to "stay tall" to create space and not crowd the midfield.

Many times I'll "catch them being good" and compliment them, or ask short leading questions of them so they're still making the decisions, but it's not a constant stream from whistle to whistle dictating every move the players make like many coaches do. Most of the time I take notes to go over at half.

They can't make their own decisions doing that and more importantly that I see, they eliminate or reduce their communication among each other because they can't hear over coaches and parents.

I've had parents of my son's academy team tell me they can't understand why their coach "isn't coaching them" and hardly says anything during the game. Then they feel they have to start shouting "tips" at their kids to make up for it. That's when I walk away from them to the other end of the field and watch quietly. I've reinforced with my son to ignore anything coming from the parents side.

 

These couple of organizational questions are much different from the picture you were providing with your previous post. Yes, as a coach you must organize your sideline and substitutions, but I hope that it's obvious this is not what my post was about.

My complaints are pointed at the majority of the coaches we faced this fall.

Last year at the U8 level the coaches were still allowed to be on the field with the kids. I disagreed with this and stuck to the sidelines, which made it interesting to watch the opposing coaches run to get out of the way of our team, although some of them followed suit by halftime.

This year though, the coaches have to be on the sideline, which seemed to significantly increase their volume and the annoyance factor of the constant stream of instructions. I just wish there was a way to make them see how negatively they are influencing the game and the kids, and this was in a league where we don't keep score so there's nothing riding on the result!

 

Oh definitely. I'm basically agreeing. The coaches poised right behind the goal really annoyed me.

 

Just so its clear the rule limits who can give players--not substitutes--technical instructions. Just designating a substitution is not giving a player technical instructions. (Strictly speaking you are informing the referee of the substitution which cannot be actually performed until the CR gives permission for the player to leave the field and the new player to come on the field. Recreational matches with unlimited substitutions can get pretty informal on procedures.) And there is no limitation on coaching substitutes.

 

Well, this weekend the "foosball coach" was out of the country so I was in charge of the U8 team. Instead of the 2-2-2/"What's a midfielder, coach?"/stay on your vertical half/don't dribble in your own third/get it out of there shoutfest, I simply had three backs, three forwards, and used parents' side/middle/coaches' side instead of left/center/right. The whistle blew and off they went.

The center back moved up naturally into a CM role, the middle forward advanced to the striker role and not once were the kids in a straight line across the field. They were never confused about what role they played. They supported each other, rotated, covered, passed, made space and tracked back when the other team attacked...it was beautiful. And I the only instruction I gave them was in the second half to make at least two passes before shooting because the score was getting out of hand.

The other dad who helps (and admits he doesn't know anything about coaching soccer) is usually shouting a lot when the other coach is there because that's what he does. About halfway through the game he hadn't said much at all and he tells me, "I'm not sure what to say here." I said, "Nothing...they're playing great."

We have a little diminutive kid (the own goal kid from my previous post) whose dad must be from Brazil, I think. His kid had a Corinthians jersey on, which no one around here would have as just a fan. He's been kinda marginalized in previous games by the other coach because he's so small and not as aggressive. I gave him a lot more time out there and you know...the kid's a pretty smart passer and played well.

I had six kids score out of 11. One of the moms thanked me after the game. 'Coach' is back next week so it's back to foosball...

 

Anyone listen to Men in Blazers podcast?
http://meninblazers.com/post/37836340813/men-in-blazers-w-alex-morgan
At about 30:30 they were talking about Moyes coaching Everton like he was playing Fifa....turn left...pass...sprint, etc. Joysticking at the highest level!

 

So this week Coach Position Joystick is running late, and we have only seven players (7v7). We don't practice as a team, so when it's obvious he's not going to show, I hastily call the U8s together and set up three backs and three forwards with coaches' side/middle/parents' side and off they go.

Coach Joystick shows up about 2 minutes in. After he and his son get settled in, he looks out at the field and says, "Where are the midfielders?" I said we don't need 'em on this size field...three across, they fill in the gaps on their own when they support. They played great. But Coach Position must have his positions! So at half, he blows up what they had been playing and then puts them in a 2-2-2. The kids were then confused about where they should be and asking, "Where's left?" "What's a midfielder?" It was a cluster.

So where do the two middies go on a field size that doesn't require them? They move up so now they're crowding the forwards. "Spread out!" "You're too close!" It was heard the entire second half. It wasn't heard at all the first half...I wonder why? They had width and they had support.

Only two games left, thank goodness.

 

It is sad when youth sports are about the coach instead of the players.

 

On a free kick outside the arc, Coach Joystick starts shouting from the midfield line position where he was standing. "Set up a wall! Mark your man!" They all just stood there not knowing what to do. I walked down closer to where they were and said, "Find a red shirt." Boom, off they go to "mark their man," staying goal side. No wall needed when the other team is attacking with just three and the two are now marked.

The bad part in all this is that were unbeaten and the closest game we've had is four goals. The division we're in is inappropriate for our skill level. We're mostly club academy with some rec kids, most of the others are rec/rec plus. So to some parents, he looks like he knows what he's doing. They could do that without any parent instruction.

He told me he thought this was great for the kids. I told him this was not helping anyone on either team and that we should be playing the U9/U10 rec team division to challenge them.

 

Bulls..t.

You need a wall.



PS Sorry, couldnt resist. Played against one of those this weekend. Will post more later.

 

I think I saw a little soccer genius yesterday.

He was 6 years old playing against other similarly aged kids. He was playing as if he was much older player. He knew when to cut, when to shoot at the goal with accuracy, when to pass, where to pass and who to pass to. Would hustle back and regain possession for his team.

 

A player like that makes a coaches job easier....you don't even have to say anything. The kids all instintively try to emulate his play. You just have to set the stage and encourage them to persevere through the failures.