Coaching youth teams.

[Twenty26Six]

However, you can't be too mean to them, basically because in my experience of coaching girls and boys at a soccer camp, their feelings are more likely to be hurt. But boys tend to be punks a lot of the time.

I'm never mean to the younger kids. Getting my USSF National Youth helped open my eyes to how you should/shouldn't do things with kids U12 and younger.

I don't think that girls are _more likely_ to be offended by comments. I think boys get offended _just as much_. However, it's different comments for the different groups.

Boys tend to get upset when you critique their play. They are _very sensitive_ when they've made a mistake. Girls, IMO, are more open to suggestion and help. However, you can't pick on a young girl like you can pick on a young boy. Young boys seem to have a thicker skin for that sort of thing.

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

I'm never mean to the younger kids. Getting my USSF National Youth helped open my eyes to how you should/shouldn't do things with kids U12 and younger.

I don't think that girls are _more likely_ to be offended by comments. I think boys get offended _just as much_. However, it's different comments for the different groups.

Boys tend to get upset when you critique their play. They are _very sensitive_ when they've made a mistake. Girls, IMO, are more open to suggestion and help. However, you can't pick on a young girl like you can pick on a young boy. Young boys seem to have a thicker skin for that sort of thing.

That's what I mean for the last point. You can have a bit more fun by picking on them, because they understand that it's all in fun. By punks, I mean the same thing as not liking when you tell them or even ask them to do something.

I would be taking my National Youth this summer, but my pops conveniently planned our family vacation the week I was supposed to go. It's disappointing. I will be getting my D later this year.

[Twenty26Six]

That's what I mean for the last point. You can have a bit more fun by picking on them, because they understand that it's all in fun. By punks, I mean the same thing as not liking when you tell them or even ask them to do something.

I would be taking my National Youth this summer, but my pops conveniently planned our family vacation the week I was supposed to go. It's disappointing. I will be getting my D later this year.

You'll enjoy both. And, if you're as much of a joker on the field as you are here, you'll do magnificently at the Nat'l Y. It was good time.

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

Team took third at State Cup. Should have made it to the championship, but my team has the habit of not playing well in early morning games. We had beaten the team we lost to, twice in two different tournaments previous, and we were clearly better than them. The boys had a good season, never finishing below 3rd place out of all five tournaments we entered. We were the second best team in the state for their age division, and only lost four games all season. Two semifinals and two finals. 'Twas a good season though, and I am looking forward to next year :). Now two weeks off, and then I start my job as an assistant back in the city where I go to college at.

Two separate points I wanted to add to this post.

1. In our final match of the season, the opposing coach (huge tool, I played against him and now I coach against him) decided that he was going to employ a little "gamesmanship" into our U11 match. Coming out of halftime, I heard him tell his player to foul our wingers near the half line because the free kicks won't do much and they won't attack us. We were just burning them down the outside all day. So thats what they did, they chopped and tripped my players down. Referee handed out three yellows, but we couldn't get near the goal, because they were just fouling near the half line, and it didn't stop with just my wingers, my forward got some nice cleat marks on the back of the leg. Now I employed gamesmanship when I was older, but seriously, they are 11, I wasn't happy to say the least and I took the coach aside after the game and told him politely that he was a tool. :(

2. There were three teams out of four from Bismarck that made the semi-finals. All 11 year olds, which was the first time that had happened for any city in ND. Next year, the city is consolidating the clubs into one, and the year after that, my age group will combine it's teams when they go 11 v. 11. Needless to say, we have a lot of talent and I still hope to be coaching these boys.

[Twenty26Six]

"Above all, Shankly is a players' man who knows that if he fights for them, they will fight for him. It seems a sound philosophy."

That's a good one to remember.

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

Well I am back to coaching now. High school boys soccer season started this Monday with first games happening 10-12 days from now. I am an assistant for The West Fargo Packers.

http://sportspageads.com/logos/wfhslogo.gif

The first week or so is consisting of two-a-days, with both conditioning and a lot of full-sided and small-sided scrimmages. We are doing this mainly to get all the boys in playing condition, but also to see where we are making cuts and who will be getting called up to the JV 1 and Varsity squads. We plan on dressing 16 outfield players and 2 keepers for each team. There is also a JV 2 team which will mainly consist of Freshmen and maybe a few slow developing sophomores.

We are experimenting with three different strategies/formations

-------Forward--------Forward----------Forward-------
--------------------Attacking Mid------------------------
Winger-------------Holding Mid-----------------Winger
--------Left Back---Center Back---Right Back----------
---------------------Goalkeeper--------------------------

--------------Forward-----------Forward----------------
---------------------Attacking Mid-----------------------
Left Mid-----Center Mid-------Center Mid----Right Mid
--------Left Back----Center Back----Right Back-------
-----------------------Goalkeeper------------------------

------------------------Forward--------------------------
Winger----------------Forward------------------Winger
---------Center Mid---------------Center Mid-----------
------------------------Stopper--------------------------
----------Left Back----------------Right Back----------
-----------------------Sweeper--------------------------
------------------------Keeper---------------------------

It should be an interesting season, I am already having a lot of fun getting to coach some older boys. Our team has a lot of potential and if everything clicks into place and we get leadership from the seniors and some of the younger ones step up we will end up in the state tournament. I will keep you all updated.

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

Well, two weeks of two-a-days have gone by, and tomorrow we head for the East-West Crossover, which are preseason games, where teams from different sections of the state play each other.

We have two matches tomorrow. One at 9, and another at 3:15, we play two teams from the West that were my rival schools when I went to high school in Bismarck.

It has been an interesting two weeks. Coaching high school kids is a lot different than coaching the U11s. Both have their positives and negatives, I enjoy both immensely.

The most difficult part about coaching in West Fargo is there are a lot of refugees that come and live there. Their kids are really good at soccer, but they are very unreliable when it comes to practicing. There is also a massive language barrier between the coaches and two of the kids. So much so, that we have to have one kid's friend/teammate translate for him and the other kid's 10 year old brother has to translate for him.

All in all, it's really fun though, get to learn a lot of new things and deal with a bunch of different personalities from kids, coaches, and trainers.

I'll keep you updated.

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

Halfway through the season already, and it has been tough.

I forgot how moody and egotistical high school guys can be. :D

The freshmen team are 4-1, and have got a decent shot at winning their league.

The junior varsity squad is 4-1, and are looking favorites to win the JV league.

The varsity squad is 1-1-5, and really have to dig themselves out of a hole if they hope to make the state tournament. The team has really struggled to score goals, and they have to win three out of the next five matches to make it to state. It is a possibility, since all of our matches have been 1 goal losses and sometimes we have been the better team.

Qualifying for the state tournament is a lot like the relegation zone in the EPL. There are 6 teams in our region. 4 make it to state. 2 go home early. We are the fifth team, but we are only one point behind the fourth place team, two behind the third place team, and four behind the second place team.

It's a fun time. Coaching high school boys is a lot harder than coaching younger boys. The older ones think they know everything and like to talk back more. It is more challenging but fun nonetheless. This year's squad is young, but we should be better next year, and even better the year after that. However, the seniors this year haven't made it to the state tournament yet in their soccer careers, so I hope they can make it.

[Twenty26Six]

Coaching high school boys is a lot harder than coaching younger boys. The older ones think they know everything and like to talk back more. It is more challenging but fun nonetheless.

The biggest thing is establishing a good relationship with the kids. The older they are, the less invasive you have to be with your comments and advice. They won't (at 16 and 17 especially) take to you right away. And, boys never want to hear anything about their game - but, you know that.

Establish a good relationship with the youngest kids, and your ability to help them will improve every year. My first year helping at my old HS was a mess, but it got better every year. :)

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

The biggest thing is establishing a good relationship with the kids. The older they are, the less invasive you have to be with your comments and advice. They won't (at 16 and 17 especially) take to you right away. And, boys never want to hear anything about their game - but, you know that.

Establish a good relationship with the youngest kids, and your ability to help them will improve every year. My first year helping at my old HS was a mess, but it got better every year. :)

It's pretty good with the younger boys, mainly because I have younger high school brothers so I know what to say and what not to say. I am less of a coach and more of a friend/older brother to the seniors.

It has taken a little bit, but they listen to me now. They have their days where I just want to put a soccer ball at their heads, but legal issues prevent me from doing so.

It was even harder for me getting into this job, because this wasn't the high school I went to. Not even the same city, so right away I was a true newcomer outsider person, but now they have accepted me and some forget that I didn't go to their high school and expect me to know stuff about it and their town. :D

[Twenty26Six]

They have their days where I just want to put a soccer ball at their heads, but legal issues prevent me from doing so.

I've had to drop from JV (9th and 10th grades - some 8th) to Modified (7th and 8th grades) because of my college class schedule for this year only. We're talking 12 and 13yo GIRLS!! How do you think I feel!

However, honestly, we're having a pretty decent year. We pushed the three best 8th graders up to JV, and I'm left with 21 girls - most of which are completely naive to soccer. Some of them have never played any sport before. But, I've never been as good at teaching technique as I am now, and they are really making strides.

We have our first game on Saturday. Last year, they had a better team, and they only won one game. We're hopefully going to destroy that mark.

And, best part, I have the majority of these girls on JV for the next year or three. :)

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

Well, this season turned out to be a rebuilding season for the WFHS Packers. The Varsity squad ended up missing out on the state tournament. The JV team took second in the East Region Freshman League. The Freshman team took second in the East Region Freshman League. We have some good guys coming through. Hopefully we make state next year, and possibly win state the year after that.

We needed to win 2 of our last 3 conference games and failed to do so. It was a tough year. But out of our final roster of 18 players, we had 7 Sophomores and 1 Freshman. So we have some good things to look forward to.

The State Tournament is this coming Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I will be going to all games. My alma mater is the number one seed from the West Region so they have a chance to win the state title.

[Grinners89]

Currently coaching Sth Yarra under-12s, with the same squad that i coached for the 2nd half of last season in the under-11's. Two new, quality players in after 5 pre-christmas, pre-season training sessions.

I honestly think that i have found one of the best 11/12 year old shot stoppers ive ever seen...and he has only been doing it for the 5 sessions in December :eek:

After rotating GK's throughout the 10 weeks last season, he came to me in the 1st session in December and demanded to be the team's GK. Absolutely amazing shot stopper, however his distribution can certainly improve. Btw this is a kid that when he started, the same week that i did, he couldnt pass a ball further than 5 metres...no exaggeration. He is one of the quickest learners ive also ever seen. Now he isnt afraid to take free-kicks in training and has a good passing technique.

In training, the way the boys pass the ball around is extroadinary. I matched them against a few mates of mine (all over 18) with the youngens outnumbering the oldies and they did very well. However, producing this quality in a match will take some time to get their confidence right up. Especially against the physical sides, as we arent a very big and physical team apart from 3 or 4 players.

My team even know that the A-League is a s***/poor standard of football. What good kids! :p

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

I miss soccer!

No coaching or playing indoor soccer anymore, the season is over.

2 months until I start coaching outside.

:(

All I get to do is watch soccer. It's nice, but damn.

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

Bump.

I start coaching again in 2 weeks! Very excited!

How is everyone else's season going?

Here is a link to the new club I am coaching for. It's a consolidated version of two clubs and an indoor association. Dakota United Soccer Club. The club is new and the website is new, but both are good. You can go on and look at the different programs offered and the "mission statements" by the president and board members.

Dakota United Soccer Club (http://www.dakotaunitedsoccer.com/)

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

First tournament of the season for my boys. And I think we fared quite well.

I took 3 Dakota United U12 boys teams to a 20 team tournament in Fargo, ND.

The teams were evenly split talent-wise, because besides a few special players we are continuing to develop all of our players because they all have potential to become good players. Especially this group of players, they are a very solid group.

Anyways. One team took second, losing 2-0 in the Final. Another team tallied the fifth highest point total, but only the top 4 move into the next round. Finally, the last team was drawn into the group of death and only managed 1 draw and 2 losses from 3 matches.

All of the teams played competitively in their matches.

In the final we faced a bigger, stronger, faster, better team from Winnipeg, Canada. My boys played well and held them scoreless in the first half, despite conceding a very soft penalty kick.

Started the second half strong and tested their keeper 2-3 times. About half-way through the second half our boys lost their heads for a couple of seconds and conceded a soft goal. 5 minutes later (10 minutes remaining in the match) we were denied a clear penalty when our forward was pulled down on a break-away. The other team's coach even said at the end of the match that he would have given it had he been officiating.

Anyways. Games can't be won or lost by referees. With 10 minutes remaining I threw caution to the wind and began pushing hard for the equalizer. Came close twice. Conceded in the final minute after switching my team to a 1-3-3.

Overall a good, but tiring weekend. Our new consolidated club is really shaping up nicely. I like the way things are setup right now and we are developing some good players.

Dakota United...Remember the name!

;)

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

Bump.

Almost done with the summer season. It was a fun summer season. I coached in the DUSC academy. 6-12 year olds, boys and girls, I have some hilarious stories (Including one where a 6 year old boy told me he was the next Leo Messi :)) and learned a lot about coaching different ages. I coached the U12 traveling boys teams and we fared well most of the season despite not having our best players (they moved up to challenge themselves at U13 and U14).

Next year. I will continue to work with the academy, but I will also be moving up with the U13s. There is a possible regional team in the works, which is exciting. We have a good number of very good players that just love the game.

This fall, I will be moving back to Bismarck and coaching the JV team for the rival local high school of where I went. I will also be training the U13s in prep for regional league next spring. In the winter I will be coaching FUTSAL, and in the Spring it will be time for girls soccer coaching and/or refereeing.

Coaching year round? Don't mind if I do.

I am also getting my C sometime between January-March.