[TheFallen29]

Hey, everyone.

I've been a soccer fan for a while, and I think I'd like to get into coaching. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas/places to go/whatever to get information on tactics, how to run a practice, where you can go to get certified, etc etc etc.

Anything would be appreciated.

[USA4Life]

check out these sites: nscaa.com and ussoccer.com
Both organizations have coaching courses. Some here will tell you that the US coaching schools are a waste of time. I think I learned quite a bit.
As for formations you can learn a lot by reading the boards. Check any of the pre and post US game threads to get ideas.

If you are coaching for the first time a 4-3-3 formation is very easy to use with young players.

This has four backs, three mids, and three forwards.
The forward line has a wing player on each side and one center forward.

Hope this helps.

[JohnW]

Originally posted by USA4Life
check out these sites: nscaa.com and ussoccer.com
Both organizations have coaching courses. Some here will tell you that the US coaching schools are a waste of time...

Most of the people who criticize the organizations have never attended one of their clinics, but that's another story...

Fallen, since you are just starting, each state has its own local US soccer organization that offers beginning coaching clinics. I would be surprised if New York didn't have its own web site.

In Minnesota, we have a Y certification, which is very basic rules and coaching for youth teams.

Then there is an E and D certification. Here, the difference is really the amount of time in class and what you are expected to do. There is a little more information on tactics, running practices, etc. The idea is that the higher the letter, the more experienced the coach, the more in-depth the information, etc.

After holding the D license for a year, you can go for the C license, which is offered by US Soccer at various sites around the country--but that's a way down the road.

The NSCAA has a similarly administered certification program, although I'm not sure if they are quite as "beginner" friendly.

The positives for attending a clinic or certification is that you can get some of the basics down and interact with other coaches. The usefulness of the different sessions varies--obviously, but I almost always take something away.

There are a number of web sites that give information on drills. Same with books.

I'll agree that you can find information on bigsoccer about tactics, strategy, etc. But to be honest, a lot of posting in the men's forums is pretty useless.

Finally, I suggest checking in on the referee forum. I rarely post there, but some of the discussions will help you with the interpretation of the LOTG.

Good luck.

jgw

[TheFallen29]

Another piece of advice I got was to become an assistant coach with a youth team somewhere, and watch what a coach does. What would you say to that?

Oh..and just to give you an idea of my background, I do know the basic Laws of the game and such...I've been a fan for a while, and I took a Coaching Soccer class in college (not a great experience, which is why I only start to think about this again two years after graduation).

Thanks for everything you mentioned, by the way.

[Richie]

"Another piece of advice I got was to become an assistant coach with a youth team somewhere, and watch what a coach does. What would you say to that?'

Good advice if the coach is good.

Best advice I can give you is start to play yourself. Learn the skills of the game yourself. Telling a player how to do something is useless. Showing them how to do things is worth a thousand words. You may like the game now, but play and have a good time playing you will love the game.

First thing you should pass on to the player before anything else is your love of the game. Do that then become a student of the game.

Watch other coaches in games and in practices.

Practice is more important then the game. Never miss practice.

Then join the coaches e-mail list. It was better years ago when more serious coaches were reg posters but it is still good. Put your question about the game to the list. Make sure it is just about coaching issues. It is not just on coaching issues anymore so the reg posters left.

However, the archives are excellent and easy to use. Put in a key word or two and your there.

I will post again with sites I think you can use and the coaches list site.

Richie

PS- Respect all your players as people that includes the very little ones. Always remember that you are a role model to them.

Richie

[Richie]

This is the coaches list soccer manual that we put out a few years ago. You can join the list from info given on the first page.

http://websearch.cs.com/cs/redirect....raham%2fmanual


This is the Decature sports soccer drill site. It has everything and then some in this one site.

http://www.decatursports.com/soccerdrills.htm

Richie

[Richie]

coaches list manuel something went wrong on the last post

http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~dgraham/manual/

[Bleacherbutt]

Originally posted by TheFallen29
Another piece of advice I got was to become an assistant coach with a youth team somewhere, and watch what a coach does. What would you say to that?

Be very selective about what coach you want to serve under. Don't just look for a coach who wins, look for a coach that makes his team improve throughout the season. Also, look for a coach that is willing to be open and share. Ask other coaches who have served as the asst coach for the skinny.

Other bits and pieces of advice--

I agree that practice is more important than a game and it needs to be communicated to your players and their families.

Develop a practice plan that focuses on one topic (maybe two somewhat related topics.) Younger kids respond better to practices that are a consistent length and approximate the same progression of activity. For example:

Warm-up
Foot skills
Explain (briefly) what you are going to cover
Demonstrate the skill/tactic
Small group drills to reinforce the day's topic
Larger group drills
Drills that approximate game situations
Scrimmage with restrictions
Open Scrimmage
Debrief

Younger kids need to do a drill two or three times before gaining mastery.

Develop an outline of what you want to cover for the season week-by-week. Don't be afraid to shift activities to emphasize areas that were weak in the previous game.

Catch players in the act of doing it right. Use that player as an example--it's a real pat on the back and a motivation to be caught doing it right. Be careful not create the "coach's favorite".

AYSO has published a book on life lessons learned from soccer which does a great job of explaining child development.
Good luck.

[blech]

- To the extent you can play more yourself, great. It always helps to be able to show kids how to do it, as opposed to merely telling them.

- Keep practices interesting. Make it fun.
----Especially with young kids (but even as you move up), it is extremely important that you move from drill to drill. You have to have some flexibility, but I try not to let more than 10 minutes go by without starting a new drill.

----Keep everyone involved. Try to make sure that you are coming up with drills that don't have players standing around for any significant periods of time. The more involved they are, the less opportunity to start daydreaming.

----It's not unusual to spend some time working on stationary drills such as passing the ball back and forth between teammates, but try to add something to these drills that sometimes get monotonous. Build passing drills into less stationary exercises. Or even make a competition out of it and ask the kids to keep track of the number of accurate passes in a row.

I agree about the need for repetition, but you have to accomplish it through different drills (possibly without the kids even realizing that they are working on the same skills). There are many useful drills on the websites previously identified, as well as in several good coaching books.

As for working as an assistant, I just think it really depends. There are many good coaches out there, and you can always learn from the bad ones as well. It can be a good opportunity to see practice plans and game plans developed. If so, make sure you are keeping your own notes so that you can build on those practice plans in future years.

Good luck.

[JohnW]

Originally posted by Bleacherbutt


Develop a practice plan that focuses on one topic (maybe two somewhat related topics.) Younger kids respond better to practices that are a consistent length and approximate the same progression of activity. For example...

Catch players in the act of doing it right. Use that player as an example--it's a real pat on the back and a motivation to be caught doing it right. Be careful not create the "coach's favorite".

I post my practice plan so the players can see it before practice begins. (Obviously, this would apply more to older players.)

BB's second point is really good--especially the better your team is. I have found that it is easier to forget this as you start coaching better players. I think it's because I sometimes take for granted some of the skills--tactical and technical--because the better players do them more naturally.

At least once a practice, I will find a player doing something well to praise publicly.

Something else that hasn't been mentioned is watching other successful teams at your team's level--or even one level higher. Watch what the players do, how they react, see if you can figure out what the other coaches are trying to accomplish tactically, etc.

jgw