Coaching very young kids

[Michael Russ]

Originally posted by Bill Archer


None of your players will play for the USA someday. No, not even that kid you really think has talent. Trust me.

Both of my kids will play for the USA, and they will score team up to score 7 goals to!


The fathers want you to make them winners. The mothers want you to love them..

Not necessarily conflicting wishes


Above all, remember: being freindly is a great thing, but kids have LOTS of freinds. What they need is a coach. Teach them to love the game and you've done your job. You can't make a player. Players do that for themselves.


At my first practice I like to stand in the middle of all the kids, and then have each kid's parents stand on the outside of their kid. The I tell the kids that they are lucky because the most important coach they will ever have is here today, and I ask them to point to them.

Some point at me, and some point to their parents, and the real smart ones point at both me and the parents. Then I tell them they are all wrong. They should be pointing directly at themselves.


PERSONAL WISH: Someday, on my personal planet, I will abolish the post-game "line up and slap hands and say good game" ritual. Meaningless, stupid and, frankly, degrading. Just something we force them to do and pretend it's "good sportsmanship".

It's a crock and they know it. The only people who don't know it are the idiots who run leagues and insist that the kids do it.

That's intersting. I play in a men's league, and nobody forces us to lign up, but the vast majority of the players do still form a makeshift line and shake each others hand. I don't know if it's just force of habit, but I do know there have been times when players have also apologized and showed genuine sportsmanship during those few moments.

[Michael Russ]

Originally posted by Richie
It is good Michael, but on encouragement. Should we encourage play in general even if the player made what you would consider a bad play in a game. If you encourage the effort on a bad play so will the parents, and those little guys will think what they did was a good play when it was not.

Isn't better to encourage good play, and just be silent when they make what you consider a bad play. Then take notes on what that player did wrong, then correct that flaw in the next practice.

I think you should not verbally encourage all play. Encourage all play they can get confused. Plus, the parents will see what you do and encourage a bad play as well. So you will see a lot more bad play then you would normally. So teach players what a good play is and teach the parent what a good play is.

Richie

I would certainly agee that you don't want to encourage poor play, but it is important to remember to keep the 5 to 1 relationship between praise and criticism, especially at this young age.

Like you said, you really need to go out of your way to point out all of the good plays. at this age it might just be a good effort. When you do need to make corrections it is probably better to ask them what they should try to do, instead of telling them what not to do.

For instance instead of yelling, "don't pass the ball in front of your own goal" you might say "can we try to clear the ball up the sidelines"

Thanks for the thoughts.

[FreedomFan526]

That's intersting. I play in a men's league, and nobody forces us to lign up, but the vast majority of the players do still form a makeshift line and shake each others hand. I don't know if it's just force of habit, but I do know there have been times when players have also apologized and showed genuine sportsmanship during those few moments.

I agree with you on this one. I play in an adult league and after the games we all tend to walk around and shake hands. Sometimes compliments are given. Sometimes apologizes are given. Sometimes it is just a simple good game. I do not think we should stop the young children from doing this. Would you rather see the children shake hands and say good game without meaning it or see the children stomp off the field in tears or anger after losing?

[Elroy]

Originally posted by Michael Russ
That's intersting. I play in a men's league, and nobody forces us to lign up, but the vast majority of the players do still form a makeshift line and shake each others hand. I don't know if it's just force of habit, but I do know there have been times when players have also apologized and showed genuine sportsmanship during those few moments.

I agree. Sportsmanship is the most important thing we teach. What I don't like are the parent " tunnels " even when both teams are asked to run through.

[seanT]

I have for the past 2.5 years coached my now
6 yr old, and just started with my 4 yr old.

I think of it with the real little ones is a chance
to be outside, play and be active. With luck
they learn a little about following directions, a little about "team" and a little about soccer.

If they can try to kick it, and go the right direction, its a feat.

I think of practice each week as more like organzing a birthday party for kids than setting up a soccer practice.

You must keep them moving and keep it simple.
we play traffic cop (red light green light with a ball)
we play chase the coach, we do relay races.
(remember kids this each need to learn to run too)

But, having done spring and fall season for two years with the 6 yr olds, they are actually making passes, and startign to do positioning.
We are starting to work on technique and a little of positioning.

I feel strongly that sportsmanship must be required.
Two of the real lessons of team sports are to cooperate towards a common goal, and to compete hard but not hold grudges. Both very important pieces.

Learning to shake hands and be civil even when you are really pissed off is a very valuable life skill.

[cpwilson80]

Originally posted by Elroy
I agree. Sportsmanship is the most important thing we teach. What I don't like are the parent " tunnels " even when both teams are asked to run through.

If I could abolish one thing in youth soccer, it would be the parent tunnel :)

This is really a great discussion. I know I'll be coaching some day, and it is nice to have these tips in the back of my mind.

For the former players who became coaches: what are some of the more difficult things about making the transition? I have helped out at practices for my younger brother and sister, but have never run one solo.

[kevbrunton]

I have a 3 year old and a 17 year old. I coached my 17 yr old from when he was 8 to 13 -- then he moved to higher level teams beyond my coaching ability. One thing I did when I got re-married was convince my wife that we should have soccer balls just laying around the house. From the time my older boy was 11, there were 3 to 6 balls just laying around -- all sizes from the little nurf type soccer balls, size 3's and size 5's.

Every once in a while, I'd do something like -- ok, this entire week whenever you are in the house, you ALWAYS have a soccer ball at your feet. He had to learn to dribble up stairs (really not that hard) and to dribble down stairs (very hard).

The practice of having balls laying around has continued to this day and the older boy still can't hardly walk through the living room without doing some little move or two on a ball -- usually involving doing something to flick it at his little brother.

When my younger boy was 4 months old, his brother was holding him up and taking a foot and "kicking" a nurf ball with it -- "Here's what you do with balls."

So the 3 yr old has literally grown up with balls at his feet. He plays soccer in the house EVERY DAY. He runs around dribbling, doing step overs, drawing the ball back with his foot on top, every move he's seen his brother do, he tries to emulate it.

Here's the point of all this -- our kids grow up good at things like baseball and basketball because from a VERY early age they are handling balls with their hands -- throwing, catching, etc. My 3 yr old does it too. But if they did things with their FEET from day 1 as well, they'd be much more comfortable with the ball. Encourage the parents of these pee-wees to let them have balls around the house. Start with soft balls, teach them to control them and things don't get broken.

My 3 yr old can chip the ball, drive it with his instep, receive it with the inside of his feet, drop kick it, punt it, hit rolling balls from lots of angles. He shoots to a rocking chair that has an open front and closed back for his goal. He does all this with BOTH feet. I haven't spent hours teaching him things either (in fact I haven't really spent ANY time teaching -- just playing with him) -- he sees it at his brother's games & practices & on TV and he just does it because the balls are right there.

[uniteo]

Hmm, interesting...

Absolutely the thing you want to work on in practice is developing comfort with the ball, and for 6 year olds I have found that this means dribbling, dribbling, dribbling...

As for positions...there are none at this stage, you are training a team full of midfielders.

But it IS absolutely crucial that you make a game out of it. The all-time favorite is tag where all the players but two dribble within a confined space, the other two (one child alone is too fast) link arms and tag the dribblers - who are then frozen. To be unfrozen, one of your live teammates must dribble or pass the ball between the frozen players legs.

somebody said you have about 30 seconds to explain things, I'd put it at 20. If you can't explain it that quickly, it's probably too complicated. But always use players to demostrate the activity before you try to let a dozen loose on everyone.

And finally, I cannot stress this enough, your ONLY job in coaching 6 year olds is making sure they get exercise and have fun. You cannot create a national team player, you cannot create a college player, or a high school player working with 6 year olds. The best you can do is help create a slightly above average 7-year old player. BUT, you can end a potentially promising 'career' by making practice and games no fun, or too competitive, or stressful to the point that a player gives up the sport. If you help them love the game, they'll come back, and you, or someone else, can make another incremental improvement next season. It should be fun for you AND fun for them.

Oh, and while I'm writing, the issue about whether to encourage players for a bad play is quite simple really. There are no bad plays for a 6 year old because every play is a learning experience. I wouldn't even mention something unless the problem is being repeated over and over;

Let's say Johnny passed the ball to the other team right in front of the goal, 4 times.

Me: Johnny, come here real quick
Johnny: Yeah?
Me: You know how the other team keeps getting your passess in front of our goal and scoring? That's not really working for us is it?
Johnny: [shrugs shoulders]
Me: Okay, let's try to dribble the ball out and score, and if you're going to kick it away, kick it toward the side, away from the other team. Can you try that?
Johnny: [nods]
Me: Alright, go score!

And when Johnny does it right you get him to come over for a high five.

[Bill Archer]

I agree. A fun discussion. On BigSoccer. Imagine that. :)

Anyway, I want to be clear about the post-game thing.

What I object to is how phony it is. The kids line up, under direct supervision of some idiot adult, stick out their hands, walk by each other and robotically repeat "good game" like to nobody in particular until they reach the end of the line.

If this is "good sprtsmanship" or "making friends" or whatever, I wish someone would tell me how. Most of the time, they don't even LOOK at the opponent.

What I prefer to do, when I can get away with it, is this:

After the match, I quickly get everybody's attention and tell them to walk over to at least three players on the other team, including at least one guy who beat you somehow, look him in the eye, shake his hand and say "nice game" or "good job" or "got me that time" or "you guys have a good team" or something similar.

I mean, excuse me everybody but isn't that how it's done?

(I also insist that they all approach the referee, shake his hand and say "thanks")

[nsa]

Originally posted by GPK
I did first year U-8's after 5-6 years in the U-12 and U-14 levels and didn't enjoy it.....I liked the teaching aspect of it, but often felt like a babysitter more than a coach....When doing U6 and U8 I had a rule that there had to be a responsible adult present for every kid so that when Johnny or Sue needed individual attention, there was someone there to do it while I dealt with the other kids.

Get those parents involved. Spread them out and have 'em stand with their legs apart. You now have a dozen goals for the kids to score on. Wind 'em up, let 'em go, and see how many goals they can score in 2 minutes.

Standing still, the parents become giant dribbling cones. Use the parents to help feed in balls for 1v1 or 2v2 play.

I never promised to teach their kid any soccer, but I did promise that I'd send 'em home tired. ;)

[Richie]

NSA said "Get those parents involved."

He makes a very good point. Make it a fun time for the parent they are more apt to bring their kids to practice. Plus besides turning out players you may even turn out future coaches.

Pass on love of game to both players and to the parents. It becomes a much better experience for you as the coach doing that. Also as NSA said the more help you have the better.


Richie

[Michael Russ]

Warning.

If you are gonna have the parents run, you might want to have them stretch a little first. In my first scrimmage between my 6 year old and their parents last year, a I heard this popping sound come from one of the dads. He spent the rest of the season in a cast with a torn achillies tendon.

[nsa]

Originally posted by Michael Russ
Warning.

If you are gonna have the parents run, you might want to have them stretch a little first.:) Poor bastard.

No, I don't expect the parents (mostly moms) to run around. The examples I gave have them being stationary or relatively stationary. Shagging balls, picking up cones, etc. Anything that makes them feel part of the practice and maybe some of it goes home with them and their kids.

If you're lucky enough to have a mom or dad with some experience and skills, use 'em. Better yet, get a couple local teenagers to help and demo at practice on a regular basis. Some schools have "community service" requirements. Working with a U-little team should qualify.

[quackman]

I'm helping a buddy coach a team of 7 and 8 year olds. He claims that the biggest problem they're having is they're "too polite" and aren't showing any aggressiveness or competitiveness. We don't want the kids to be overly competitive at this age, but it would be nice to see them trying too. (Rumor has it that in the past the team would just stand and watch, while going several games without scoring a goal.) Are there any games/drills that can help with aggressiveness? Also, does anybody have ideas on how to teach a healthy level of competitiveness without instilling a "win or else" ethic?

[nsa]

Originally posted by quackman
I'm helping a buddy coach a team of 7 and 8 year olds. ... does anybody have ideas on how to teach a healthy level of competitiveness without instilling a "win or else" ethic? Don't use goalkeepers in practice. Set up four goals. Teams can score in any of them. Watch the excitement rise as the practice game scores become 22-20. :) Then use four goals, still no 'keeper, but they can only score in two for it to count for their team. Finally, only two goals, no 'keepers.

Also, do a mini-tournament in practice, 1v1 or 2v2, no 'keepers, with the teammates on the outside feeding new balls in when they go out. Time it. Don't let them play longer than 2 minutes to avoid total exhaustion.

[JohnR]

I agree with kevbrunton - a lot of this starts at home.

A child who grows up surrounded by soccer -- by siblings playing the game, by balls lying around, with games on TV -- is likely to be a damn good little player.

I think of the best, most enthusiastic 9/10 year olds on the local U10 travel team -

1) Fourth sibling, the other 3 all played travel soccer

2) Ditto -- fourth sibling, the other 3 all played travel soccer

3) Oldest of 4, the dad played Division 1 college soccer

4) Oldest of 5, the dad played ethnic club ball

All these kids were real good by the time they were age 6 - top 1% for their age group. Three years later, they're still top 1%.

All of these kids grew up with soccer balls lying around and think it's natural to mess around with a ball at the feet.

Kid #4's family room has no furniture except a net, and a handful of balls lying around. The permanent soccer play room. It's used a lot.

Amazing how good kids can get at an early age with that kind of background. Kid #4's younger brother is 6, turning 7. In first grade. Plays on a strong U9 competitive team in a strong Chicago suburban league, is one of the best players on the team. Good with the ball at his feet, and very good positionally (!).

If the habit of screwing around with the ball doesn't come from home, then perhaps the coach can instill it. Turn the house into one with balls rolling around the living room! Can't think of a better contribution that a little-kid coach could make than to do that.

[uniteo]

Originally posted by quackman
Are there any games/drills that can help with aggressiveness?

You coaching boys or girls? My expereice is that for girls that becomes less of a problem around 8 or 9. two exercises come to mind;

Have the players pair off...one holds the ball (yes, with their hands), then tell the other to take the ball away...have them wrestle over the ball, switching partners...a lot of girls especially just aren't used to anything physical like that. The exercise gets them in a more aggressive mind frame and let's them know it is okay to take the ball, especially when everyone knows that is the object of the game/exercise.

I also like to run a 1 v. 1 exercise where I'll roll out a ball and two players have to try to win the ball, possess and return a pass to me. In addition to setting that frame of mind, they learn the right way to win the ball...taking angles, using your body to win the ball, shielding when in possession, creating an opening to pass.

[quackman]

It is a co-rec team. I think it's 10 boys and 6 girls.

[m-chill]

I've coached my oldest son since he was three; he's now 6. i'll try to add a lil from my experience, though i know each team and age is unique. what has helped me is that i've always had a co-coach. this helped big time. it gave us the chance to work with kids in small groups or individually. i think it has made all the difference. when they were 3, almost 100% of the practice time was spent with players dribbling. each kid has there own style and i tried not to give them a certain technique or "the right way" to do things. i did my best to help them get comfortable on the ball by watching them on the ball and having them try new techniques only if there style wasn't working. i've noticed many players on other teams looking very awkward trying to emulate the "right way" to do things. the dribbling focus was on turning, cutting, varying speeds on the ball <GO fast, GO slow>. when they were 4 we added shooting, shielding, and keeping on the right side of the ball<goal side, this kept all players in the play>. i really emphasized focusing on the ball. when they were 5, we worked on positioning, passing, trapping, switching the ball, and tackling. things really changed that year and we really looked like a team. now that they are 6 we are keeping possession, putting together many passes<forward, backwards, and square>, switching the ball a multitude of times, moves to get out of trouble or to beat a player, tactics and even corner plays. Of course, each player is working on his own level and finding their own way to contribute to the team. i've always had goals for each practice and player, once the team/player mastered a skill i went on to the next item. i've chosen my "items" by seeing what the team/player needed to help us be more successful in the games<not winning but playing well>. an example would be at age three knowing how to turn the ball with pressure is essential to have success. lastly, kids are like sponges. they'll only stop learning when you stop teaching. keep challenging them; you'll never imagine what they'll achieve.

[HeadHunter]

For the former players who became coaches: what are some of the more difficult things about making the transition? I have helped out at practices for my younger brother and sister, but have never run one solo. [/B][/QUOTE]

Easily the hardest thing was the fact that I couldnt get out there and play. Remaining dispasionate during both practice and games is extremely hard when you can "see" the build-up so easily but your players cant. Also if you, like I do, transition at a relatively young age communication with parents can be rather tricky. Other than that take as many courses as you can, steal drills from your old coaches and make sure that what you do fits there skill level