since my hubby blew out his ACL...he volunteered me to be the assistant coach for my daughter's rec team. fair's fair i guess since i volunteered him to start!! remember i have never played and all i know about soccer is what i have learned from watching my daughter. so basically, i am just repeating what the coach is teaching. i am the cheerleader/motivator for the girls who really don't want to be there and one that handles all the boo boos. they are 1st and 2nd graders. today they played thier third game of the season, i just wanted to tear my hair out!! while out of the game, one of them came to me every five minutes to ask how long until the game was over? she wanted to go home and get pretty!! two didn't want to go in at all. one went in but just stared at the ball as they ran by her, again. this same girl wanted to play keeper but while warming up before the game, my daughter took a shot on goal and nailed her in her thigh. she no longer wanted to play keeper. then we had 6 that didn't want to come out of the game. YEAH!! i have taught riding lessons off and on for 20 years. every kid that has come to me...wants to be there. i am a girl scout leader. all the travel girls...WANT to be there. do these parents realize that their kids DON'T like playing?? FORGET it if it is muddy!! they will melt. so to every parent that has coached/coaches rec.....you must have the patience of a saint because...i thought i was a pretty patience person but i can't put myself through this again!! it is painful!! LOL! can't do it!! edit: please don't get me wrong..i never once lost my patience with any of them and do everything i can think of to motivate them! they are a great bunch of little girls!!
One of my friends (a rec coach) got in an arguement with a competitive coach. The competitive coach said he was better and that the rec coach couldn't do his job. My friend challenged him to coach a rec game. He said the guy wouldn't have a clue about how to hide a wallflower. The one good thing about rec ball is eventually that those players who appear to not to want to be there, well suddenly they do want to be there. Suddenly they are a force out on the field. Sometimes it takes years, sometimes it takes the first goal of the season.
You definetly must have patience and the right attitude to be a rec coach!! Things I've had: - kids that stand still - kids that want to go over and say hi to mom, during the game - kids that won't go on the field with mom - kids that just want to talk with their friends during the game It's fun!!
A few years ago I was coaching a young rec team, first timers for the most part, U-6. I had one youngster who was only 4, but his older brother played so the league let him play on my team as well. In this league we are on the field with the players during the game. This one young man would not leave my side the whole time, did not want to get anywhere near the ball. Whenever I would move there he would be standing in my shadow. Finally I said to him "What's up, don't you want to play?" "Coach", he said, "it is hot out here and this is the only shade I can find on the field!"
Coaching rec, especially in the young ages u5-u6, can be very frustrating but it is also very rewarding. I coach in an instructional league and travel league. The most enjoyable times have been in the instructional league. Watching how a girl being so afraid to move from a spot the the field to becoming a force as a forward in two years. Seeing a very non athletic boy smile when he finally kicks a ball during a game...ball actually kicked into him but it made him happy that he had some input in the game. This year will be my last in the instructional league b/c my daughters will be moving up to travel. I already feel sad b/c I'll miss all the many little adventures that happen when little kids are learning how to enjoy soccer.
My experience with an older girls rec team last year was absolutely priceless. One of the cool things about rec soccer at older levels is seeing how the smart kids who might not have the physical tools to play select-level can be a force at rec level. One of my favorite players was a girl with a deformed heel which made her a step slow as a defender. But, she had a great feel for the game, and consistently took great angles on attackers. We had some interesting kids on our team. The club we joined asked if we would take on some additional girls. The girls we got were all really nice, and 2-3 of them were fine players, but a few we got were really quite "interesting": - One girl complained of stomach cramps toward the end of the first half of a game. The coach asked what she had for breakfast and she replied "Cheetos." - One girl was ALWAYS late to the ball, to the point of being dangerous. She had a strong leg, and would end up kicking opposing players long after the ball was gone. She didn't mean to hurt them; she was just REALLY late to the ball. - One girl was easily a select-caliber player. We learned why she played rec when she quit the team: Her cheerleader friends made fun of her for playing soccer.