[pething101]

Hello. This is my first year coaching thread. Please feel free to offer your comments and suggestions as I suffer through my first year as a soccer coach.

[pething101]

Well, a little info would be a good.

First year coach at an inner city school in Fayetteville. I am the asst coach for the varsity and if we have enough kids I will coach the jv team.

Played soccer all through school up until graduation. Never very good but dependable as a defender. Of course, I last played in 1989 so that makes it tough.

Never taken any courses in coaching soccer, so any tips one can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Guess that is a good start.

[pething101]

Decent practice today. Had nine kids. One new kid.

Ran 2 miles in 15 minutes. Sadly, need to get that down to 2 miles in 12 minutes according to the coach.

Played some 3 on 1 keep away.

Need to work on trapping and passing. The basics are not our strong suit.

Played some 4 v 4 short side and saw some potential.

Need some different drills to emphasize trapping and passing.

[cpwilson80]

What age group do you have?

[pething101]

Originally posted by cpwilson80
What age group do you have?

9th - 12th grade. So far, only one senior.

[sydtheeagle]

Originally posted by pething101
Decent practice today. Had nine kids. One new kid.

Ran 2 miles in 15 minutes. Sadly, need to get that down to 2 miles in 12 minutes according to the coach.

Played some 3 on 1 keep away.

Need to work on trapping and passing. The basics are not our strong suit.

Played some 4 v 4 short side and saw some potential.

Need some different drills to emphasize trapping and passing.

Houston, we have a problem. If your coach said the following: "Ran 2 miles in 15 minutes. Sadly, need to get that down to 2 miles in 12 minutes according to the coach"about children, then he is an imbecile and your kids are likely to end up as useless as the lost generation of footballers we in England have endured for the past twenty years though now, finally, our coaches have learned the lesson and we seem to be emerging from the shadows.

Football for kids is fun. In very general terms, the important thing is not tactics and fitness, but learning to work with the ball and make the ball do the work, learning the confidence to take a man on and beat him, being allowed to make mistakes and still feeling secure enough to make them again until that daring move comes off, playing football with a smile on your face. Results do NOT matter. They are not what kids football is about. The great kids coaches develop players who love football, not teams that win games. Winning is utterly meaningless until the mid-teens. Any great developmental soccer coach will tell you that.

Please believe me. I hope for the kids sakes that you do. They're the losers if your coaches present obsessions continue.

[cpwilson80]

Sorry, the earlier one didn't come up for some reason

One idea that you might want to use is one I picked up from #1 Striker Camp (best camp I've ever attended): have a practice session where every drill ends in a goal.

A classic is having 2 goals about 40 yards apart with keepers. Split the kids up and play shortside. In the event that you have 16-18 kids show up someday, split them up into teams of three. Have two teams take the field, and have the other teams waiting behind the two goals. As soon as one team scores, have another team go on the attack with a new ball. Stresses tons of shooting, and also how to get back on defense; instead of having a turnover be the cause of the counter though, it is a goal.

[pething101]

Originally posted by cpwilson80
A classic is having 2 goals about 40 yards apart with keepers. Split the kids up and play shortside. In the event that you have 16-18 kids show up someday, split them up into teams of three. Have two teams take the field, and have the other teams waiting behind the two goals. As soon as one team scores, have another team go on the attack with a new ball. Stresses tons of shooting, and also how to get back on defense; instead of having a turnover be the cause of the counter though, it is a goal.

Thanks for the drills,

Is this something you do for a set time or until all the balls are in the net?

I am assuming no keepers.

[cpwilson80]

When is your season starting? If you are only two weeks away, I hope you aren't working on fitness in place of ball skills

To second, gaining a love for soccer is primary. Take the kids to games (Pro or College), suggest they watch some top Euro teams, hell, play some FIFA. Another one of my favorite adages: practice doesn't make perfect, it makes permanent. Most of the times I did a 1 v. 1 move in a game, it wasn't a result of conscious thought - you just react. How you will react is determined in practice.

Have the kids be fearless as well. It's OK to make mistakes, especially in attack. Be creative, play with some flair. Unfortunately, this also means sometimes initially ignoring results, but the long term goal is the development of the kids as soccer players and fans.

[cpwilson80]

For the drill, play with keepers (otherwise you get kids chipping from 30.)

You can play something like first to 5 goals or 15-20 minutes (I think that's what we usually did.)