Get in the mix! Green Grasshoppers do 3v3. We got rained out yesterday. Rescheduled for Friday (I was hoping the organization would not just tack it onto the end of the "season" AKA October 28th). This thread has some great ideas on games for practice.
At U6 you're lucky if they stay on the right field.... At that age, I'd let them play. The main thing is to have fun.
Get them in the mix. At U8 we were still doing 4v4, we did a diamond with 1 D, 2M, and 1F. Key point I drill in my girls was everyone plays defense. So mids need to get back behind the ball too when the other team has it.
I do have a general question. So I'm not coaching this year. My daughter is in U9 (and on a "B" team). We've done 2 scrimmages and 2 games, and it appears to me that the coach has his starting line up. I'm personally perturbed for 2 reasons: 1. At this age, I think they should still be playing roughly equal minutes. 2. At this age, I also think they should all be playing every position. I watch these games and I think we're all crazy and taking this way too seriously. Am I just naive? I'd put my daughter in rec league, but I don't want her to fall too far behind if soccer ends up being the sport she wants to play long term. I'd look at other clubs, but I think they all do it too. I know my assistant coach last year for U8 expressed to me he didn't expect the girls to play equal time (though the club leadership was indeed for equal playing time). I'd form my own old school type team, but I looked into that a year and half ago and it seemed really tough to do that without a club backing you. And now most of my girls have been dispersed and it would be tough to cobble enough together to get a full team a year from now, which is the earliest I can do it. I'm already getting exasperated with youth club soccer, and I've barely gotten my feet wet. I should be happy soccer has come this far since I grew up playing 30 years ago, but it seems like the pendulum has swung way too far in the other direction. It's all too much too soon. Again, I'm hoping I'm wrong, please tell me if I'm just being stupid.
I agree with you. It's been a while since I have coached but the last time I was a head coach was U-11. My philosophy was the games didn't matter but practice did. I let the ten kids who worked the hardest start and they could pick their own positions. I kept records of who played where so everyone got a decent amount of time and everyone played all positions. Most coaches were playing players based on physical traits but I thought it was detrimental. The biggest boy at age 11 is not the biggest at 13, 16 or 18. Bodies change differently. One titanic problem was the parents. Everything from naming the team to player selection to tactics to position was a fight. They were a damn nightmare and a few went to the league commissioner over what I was doing. After one season, I quit. Wasn't worth the headache.
I coach my daughter's U8 Rec team and we developed a pretty good system on making sure everyone rotates and plays equally. The league tells us we need to but doesn't enforce it. What I see from other coaches in the league everyone generally does a good job at it. It helps that we don't "keep score" or track W/L (but the kids definitely do). Once I get to the point where results matter and its not fun to just go out and play I think I am done coaching. I ask my daughter after each season if she wants to move up to Club (where I will not be her coach) of if she likes Rec. She keeps picking Rec mainly because we have the same 8-9 girls come back every season and they've grown pretty close. Her soccer skills probably are falling behind but I don't care too much since she's having a good time (for now) and she isn't going to be a world beater (but she's pretty good).
My son is a month plus into his first foray into club soccer at the U11 level. He was in that fine space between enjoying but getting nothing out of rec and being just not quite good enough for club. His club fielded 3 U11 teams this season with about 11 kids on each, he's on the lowest tiered team. They play 9v9 and supplement the rosters by moving a kid or 2 up or down for each game. They club philosophy is to let the kids express themselves during games and to coach at a minimum. The coaching takes place during practice sessions. My son has gotten markedly better since last year. Of course, he's probably touched a soccer ball more in the last 5 months than he had in his entire life up to that point. He's also getting direct training for an hour and half 3 times a week. It shows. The games have been tough for the team. Lots of new players to club ball, being a third tier team we're playing a lot of 2nd tier teams because not many clubs field 3 levels. We had a rough tournament in Gahana a few weeks back where we were played off the field by the Sporting Padula team. Playing time has been not exactly even, but fair. My son has been splitting time at left and right back, playing about 50% of the match. He's gotten a couple of short shifts in midfield. He got a call up to the tier 2 team to round out their numbers this past Friday and only played about 10 minutes. I understand that. His game Saturday was cancelled. My main concern now is that my son and the rest of the players are able to keep their heads up. I'd love if they could find some success, even small ones.
Yes. That is where I am at as well. I know I do not want to coach as long as my father coached us. While Markus is only five, I know my days of coaching are meant to be for just the first so many years. After that time, leave it to the coaches who enjoy that level. I love coaching (teaching is in my blood, as they say), but I also know what is enjoyable for me. As I have mentioned previously, the time commitment also makes me pause.
I'm glad I did it for the 4-5 years I did. It was time to give back to the sport. It also eased my transition from being an active player. But you are right about the time commitment. I don't have that kind of time (or the energy) anymore. But I'll never regret doing it.
In the mix. They are there to have fun. Watching the others play isn't fun. At this age kids don't play "together", they play next to each other. It's called parallel play and it's normal. They like to play in the presence of other kids their age but not necessarily interact with them.
Agree - my youngest is 5, and I'm coaching his team this year. He's 6 years younger than our next youngest -- so after a year off & after coaching my older kids, I've had to really dial back my expectations, as well. I've had to remind myself that the goals are: a) have fun, b) make friends, c) learn to be a good sport, d) get a juice box (or gatorade) and a snack after the game If we manage to complete a forward pass that leads to a goal during a game this season, I might get so excited that I'll buy the whole team ice cream after the game.
You are correct. At U9 AND on a "B" team the minutes should be roughly equal AND players should be getting to experience all the positions. Listen, different philosophies abound but US Soccer recommends that kids get at least 50% playing time up to at least U10. Also recommended is exposure to playing all positions through U14 (including goalkeeping). Frankly I think you need to have an open and honest discussion with the club's director of coaching (possibly including the coach of your team). Find out the philosophy and see if that fits your goals. You might need to find a different club. Or you might be surprised that the director corrects the situation. You don't want to have an adversarial position with the director or coach, so be gentle, reasonable yet firm. Let them know that game time is critical to your daughter's development as is experiencing multiple positions. Explain that you have chosen club over rec for the benefits of this accelerated learning. All that said, I have very little information to go on. 2 games and 2 scrimmages is a small sample size and maybe other factors are at play. For instance I wouldn't want to set a child up for failure playing them in a position, or against an opponent, that would guarantee failure. The coach and club have a difficult balancing act. They face many pressures from all parents regarding winning vs losing, playing time, development, etc. Sometimes they don't even realize they have a problem. Communication can be helpful to both parties. If it doesn't work out, then I recommend looking at other clubs and particularly trainers/coaches that are a good fit for your daughter. If you need to do this, have a good understanding of their philosophy and how well it is implemented BEFORE switching. Most clubs and all coaches are different. They have a different culture and "vibe" about them. Find what works best for your daughter and go from there. My son and daughter play for 2 different clubs for this very reason. Both clubs have pluses and minuses, but one works very well for my son and the other for my daughter. As a parent, THAT is what is important.
No, I think you're spot on. The league I coach in goes up to a 5th/6th grade division (10-11 year olds / autumn league), and even at that level, the expectation is everyone rotates for roughly equal minutes & gets a chance to play all the spots on the field. I wouldn't have kept coaching if it wasn't that way. Maybe a few will play at the high school level, but for most of them, it is hopefully going to be something that they enjoy doing as adults & helps motivate them to stay in shape. I see my long-term goal as helping 8 to 15 kids not grow up to be obese adults (not a small feat in this country any longer). I think that it helps that the league by definition says its mission is to do things like develop character & advance the skills of all the kids, not stuck in some delusion that they're going to uncover the next Messi or Pele. I think way too many leagues/parents push kids way beyond what's healthy (in a lot of different sports). My wife used to teach 5th grade, and had several kids back in the day who missed school (due to their parents pushing) for stuff like traveling baseball teams, as 10 year olds. We're old enough now that those former 5th graders are now adults & she's kept in touch with most of her students -- and none of those kids who skipped school for baseball so much as made the minors in pro baseball...
Success comes in many forms. I'm more happy with excellent play and maximum effort that results in a loss, than poor play and effort resulting in a win. I understand that's difficult for a child to fully grasp. It's your job (and the coach's) to convey that message and keep their head's up. Always make effort and level of play (things they can control) the talking point. "Great effort today, loved watching you play". Downplay the result (things they can't control individually). The goal is to become a better soccer player. Also, playing the correct tournament, in the appropriate level bracket is helpful. Often a crap shoot on finding the "right" tournament, but finding the right balance of competition is key.
For sure. Our coach seems to be doing a good job of that and I am encouraging of the good things I notice. My son has gotten a lot better at things like shielding, turning up field and making a pass when he wins the ball playing at a LB/RB and I compliment him on those plays even in some of our lopsided results. He's improving in a lot of aspects of the game but his reading and understanding of movement off the ball is a glaring weakness. And that's really the entire game. Anyone can pass a ball in a static shape. Only the best will ever be master level dribblers. A player who is competent in the basic skills but instantly finds or makes space for teammates is a valuable player to a team. His training is not as intense as I think it should be. He told me one of the other players has been telling him he's lazy. I asked him why he thought that was. He didn't know and just thought the kid was being mean. I mentioned some of the things that I have noticed when watching: loafing back to the starting point when doing team drills, executing skill drills at a walking pace, being very static in possession games and not instantly hustling back when his team loses the ball. He's only played "real soccer" for 2 months now. I'm hopeful a switch gets hit. He comes home smiling from practice, really enjoys the time we spend working just the 2 of us, but the real game seems just a bit out of reach at this point.
A drill I was taught for this is football. Break the team down into groups of four and have the coach be the quarterback. Let the kids design the play and you will quickly see they understand the concept of spacing but not how it translates into soccer. That's where you try to take them from A to B. It worked for a few of the kids I was coaching but they were around ten years old and younger kids may not get the idea of the drill.
I didn't do football, but I did start with keep away (using hands). or really, like ultimate Frisbee rules but with a soccer ball. Then I would do the same thing but with feet only (but basically if someone has the ball they can't dribble with it and a defender can't take it away from them, only intercept a pass).
Agree with pretty much everything you said, except that when a season is 8 games, 2 games is 25%. Okay so that's not counting tournaments, but add in the scrimmages and tournaments and you've got 4 out of 19, which is still 20% of the season.
Understood. Guess I'm trying to say that I don't have much to go on. Could be other factors but you will have to be the ultimate judge. In my opinion it's worth a conversation with the DOC and/or coach. Just to get an idea if what you are experiencing is standard operating procedure for them or not.
So in coaching two teams this season. My U8's are monsters, and two time league champions My U7's are a totally different group, and lose every game by 20 goals. My question is this, what can I do to keep games fun for my U7's? It is 4v4 and no goalies, and my girls are so much smaller and slower than everyone on every other team. They hardly ever get the ball. I just don't know what to do/say to help them enjoy game days. Any ideas?
Yes. We play a variety of games (some that we've seen on here and some not. But they are space out and are rarely able to control the ball on any game. They enjoy practice. They just don't enjoy games because they never get the ball. Just watching the games though it feels like these girls are two or three age groups lower than everyone they play... Maybe give the other team bourban?
If they are that much slower and smaller, I would focus on making practice fun. Are they playing up a level?