Coaching kids 10 - 11 years old

Plan out your practice plans in advance of the practice try to refine it before you step on the field, and put them on paper with times aloted for each exercise. But feel free to change the plan if you feel the need as the practice is going on. Take notes write down what player is weak at what. Easy to forget things if you just rely on your memory.

Patience.

Water breaks within a certain time alotment as well.

Most important thing you can give your young players besides your soccer knowledge is your love of game. Make sure they and their parents can see your love of the game at every opportunity.

Don't look down on those kids. They are people and they deserve your respect never foget that. Kids are very cool unless adult influences mess them up. Don't do anything to mess them up.

You have a chance to teach them, and make them better players and good people. Never forget this, it is not just a thing to do for college credits. Your now helping them get new life experiences take it very seroiusly.

 

The most important thing is to make sure they have fun. Never, ever, ever for a single moment forget that they're kids. And that you are there for THEM, not the parents, not the league and not for yourself.

On the field, a couple hard-learned lessons:

-DON'T, no matter the temptation, do the "Everybody line up behind this cone and then one at a time do this" bit.

First, because kids don't stand in line well, particularly boys. They get bored, they start poking each other and it can quickly become a disaster.

Secondly, because these kids don't spend much if any time working with a ball at their feet at home, the couple hours you have them for practice are the only times they actually DO something with a soccer ball.

So do you want them standing in a line 2/3 of that two hours, or do you do whatever you have to do to get every kid as many touches on a ball as is humanly possible?

Whenever possible, don't have 12 kids and one ball. Have twelve kids and TWELVE balls.

- When the majority of the group gets what you're trying to impart, STOP. Don't insist that everybody do it right. They won't.

- When you're doing an activity and everybody is having a good time, stop EARLY. Leave them wanting MORE. Don't ever do it until they start to get tired of it. 100% better to quit too early than to quit too late.

- CRITICAL - CRUCIAL - PAY ATTENTION: These kids attention span is about 30 seconds. Don't waste your time talking longer because they won't hear you. Professional educators will tell you: figure out what you want to say, then condense the thought into a short, simple statement, and THEN blow the whistle and say it.

The old "OK everybody, gather around and sit down while I talk for five minutes" is only acceptable on a hot day when you're purposely giving them a break. Otherwise, save it - I promise you they ain't listening.

- A HUGE temptation is to fill out scrimmages and small sided stuff with available older brothers, sisters, and especially parents and YOU. Bigger games, more realistic, right?

Wrong. You should practice in as close to game conditions as you can manage. And unless your league has your ten year olds playing against 40 year old men, leave the Dads out of it.

Above all, decide going in what you want them to leave with. That is, if there's just one thing that you would like every player to be able to do at the end of the season, what is it? Then make sure it comes to pass.

One season I decided that, come hell or high water, that every kid was going to be able to mark up and stay goalside of another player, no matter what. So we worked on it, just a little, every practice. I talked about it at halftime every game.

Another season we focused on transition: how fast can we recover a defensive shape after losing the ball. Once I spent a whole season not caring what the score was, but insisting that we string three passes together one more time than the previous game.

On top of that find a fewthings you can say a LOT and just patiently repeat them over the season. Anybody who's ever played for me will laugh themselves into hysterics imitating me saying "Play the ball in the direction you're facing" for example, but they all do it.

- DON'T FIX EVERYTHING. Kids do just about everything wrong. If you're constantly whining about every damned thing they do, they'll learn to ignore you and hate the sport. Pick what's important. Teach and coach them to do it. Congratulate them when they do. Let the other stuff go.

- Remember that you are the Coach. Don't try to be their pal - they have lots of pals. What they need is a coach. Laugh, relax, have fun, be willing to look stupid sometimes because you will, but the bottom line has to be that it's your show.

- Forget about the "I don't care if we win or lose" garbage. Of course you care - and so do they. The trick is how you react to it.

- On the sideline: SHUT THE FUKK UP. This is not basketball. Coaching is done in practice. Gametime is for players. Your job is to SHUT UP, watch, observe, take mental notes: who's doing what, what does your team need to do better, who responds to pressure, on and on and on so SHUT UP. Your job is to observe and learn, and you can't do this if you're yelling the whole time, so SHUT UP.

And one more thing: SHUT UP.

But it goes deeper than that: the true secret to learning the game of soccer is learning to MAKE DECISIONS based on a constantly changing set of input.

If the players have some yahoo screaming at them the whole time, telling them where to go, what to do and how to do it, then they AREN'T PLAYING SOCCER. They may even win, but they won't have learned the game.

Let me reiterate that: Soccer is about making decisions

Teach them. Let them play. Then get them back in practice and teach them some more.



Above all, be honest. They're not stupid and they know when you're bullshitting them. They don't expect you to know everything or be Ronaldo; they DO expect you to be fair. Beyond that, it's all gravy.

Good luck.

 

A few additional thoughts.

Both Richie and Bill gave a lot of good advice and I agree with most of what they said, so I'll add just a few ideas of my own.

First practice, arrive without a plan and start the players out with a good warm up and go to small sided games. Just let them play. You need to assess the hand you've been dealt. Watch them play and start evaluating both the individaul players and the team. Skills: who has what and are there team deficiences? Tactical sense and aggression: who seems to intuitively know the game? How comfortable are your players on the ball? Work rate: Who needs motivation? You're going to need a plan before you just into practice.

As you begin to know the players, start offering comments as they play ( this is still the first practice ). Encourage everyone and bring the intensity and enthusiasm levels up. End the practice with some sort of high energy competitive game such as " goal in the Middle ". Go home and develop your plan. Figure your team goals and how you plan to develop each player. Don't be afraid to reach a little. You can always pull back a little if conditions call for it, but if you don't aim high in the beginning, you will be disappointed.

That said, I agree with the other guys about practice, especially Richie's point about instilling a love for the game.

This is really good advice. I want to add that the coach should always be asking questions. There is no other way to check out what your players really know. Questions like " What do we do on a breakaway? " or " Who do you support in this situation ? " not only tell you what the kids know but also allow you the chance to clear up misunderstandings. The kids will pay attention to questions regardles of their age, just don't break the flow of practice for more than a minute or so each time. Questions after practice or during cool down are a very good use of time.

This is something that I'm going to steal from Bill. I've always believed this but I've never added it to my coach's clinics. You have to leave something for the next coach to do. It's all about job security.

This is the main reason that I wrote. I agree with the concept, players need to learn to make decisions. But, if the coach sits on the sidelines like a statue, learning will be diminished. I always heard from these pro and NT coaches about letting the kids play and then watch them jumping up and giving instruction in THEIR matches. I think that there needs to be balance. I've had success with "after the fact coaching", usually a single comment to the player to mark the play. Not " That SUCKED!! ", but maybe " you need to work on containment. " or " Talk to me about that play when you come out. ". If you wait until even halftime to make the correction, you will find that the player has lost all memory of the situation. It also doesn't hurt to have a bench coach to watch the match with the players who are out and occasionally comenting to the players about match happenings. It's nice for the head coach to tell a player coming out of the match " Talk to Coach X about your positioning. ". It allows you to stay in the match and still provide timely individaul coaching feedback for your players. Matches are also learning experiences - forget that at your peril.

I've done this for over twenty years and I still make the mistake of not always remembering my own good advice. Do the best you can and always keep the well being of your players foremost and you'll be O.K.

 

You're right of course. If the opponent has a runner on the off side headed for the box and my defender on that side is ball-watching, you can bet he'll hear about it from kindly old coach Archer.

I tell new coaches this with the hope that they'll at least shut up SOME of the time.

Actually, something that works for me is, if I REALLY want to make a point to a kid during a game, I'll call him over to the touchline DURING THE RUN OF PLAY. They absolutely HATE it. (Actually, like most stuff, I stole this from another guy) You insist that they look you in the eye and you make your point. They bounce from foot to foot like the grass was on fire but believe me they hear you.

 

The Coach's Role During Game Time

I didn't see it, but I heard that the winning U11 boys team (from Indianapolis) in the recent Disney 3 vs. 3 tournament was terrific. Won the final by a score of 11-4, something like that.

Apparently, that team's coach limited his comments during the game to key phrases such as deny, penetrate, or overlap. Periodically, he'd utter one of those terms, either as a reminder or as an instruction. Otherwise, he'd watch.

Can't do that unless you've done a hell of a lot of teaching beforehand, of course. But this would seem to me to be the correct model for what a coach should say during a game.

Our kids required a bit more instruction

 

Just wanted to throw in my two cents. I think all the advice given on this board has been dead on. I started coaching fifth graders four years ago, right out of college. I have learned a lot about coaching and have had to correct common coaching mistakes that I made\make. Here in Missouri, the soccer association has an excellent licensing program. The one thing I picked up out of those sessions concerning coaching this particular age group is that these are just kids out to play soccer for various reasons. It could be because the parents are forcing them or all their friends are playing or they really love the game. Take one moment to remember going to practice when you were a kid and think about the reasons you were out there. It may be a combination of things, but I doubt you did it because you wanted to become the next Pele. So first thing is remember these are kids that will need discipline at times but this is their "playtime" so make sure they are enjoying the hard work you put them through.

Second, I can't stress the importance of keeping the yelling to a minimum. Yes there may be a time as one guy pointed out when you have to yell at your least attentive defender to mark the kid making a run at the far post. But otherwise, casual remarks to them and easily understandable directions such as pressure, time, delay, hug the line, etc., will work. Included in this is the effort you must make to keep the parents under control. The worst thing I have ever seen on a soccer field occurred when two teams of second grade girls were playng their 21 v 1 version of soccer, while the parents and coaches were going ballistic on the sidelines. It was pathetic. Do not for an instanct think that you can't casually walk over to the sideline after a game or during halftime and tell a parent to stop yelling directions. I have done it and no I didn't like doing it, but it worked. Dont't be confrontational; just remind them of their resonsibilites as spectators. Most parents are good. It's usually that one guy who never stops.

Finally, if you don't get to practice excited about it, stop coaching. If you don't wake up on Saturday's pumped for the game, don't coach. You have to enjoy this. There will be plenty of frustration especially with older pre-teens, but if dealing with the frustraiiton zaps the pleasure of coaching, then stop.
These kids will respond to a coach who is firm yet fun, skilled but not the best, and serious but excited about the game.

 

i agree with a lot of the advice already posted.

one thing i try to do is to have practices be about one concept (maybe two, but usually one). maybe it is passing, or trapping, or supporting the guy with the ball, etc. obviously, there is some overlap as you have to trap balls before you can pass them, and so on, but i then try to put together a string of drills focusing on my one concept. this reinforces that concept, and is a good backup just in case one of the drills doesn't work. i then end each practice with a scrimmage, and this is another opportunity to reinforce with them that day's concept.

it is difficult sometimes to set up numerous drills, but do try to change them as frequently as possible. even if you're working on the same skill, a change in drills will break up the monotony of it and keep them more interested.

30 seconds max! they want to play soccer, or at least run around and kick each other.

i don't agree about YOU being involved in scrimmages. i wouldn't allow parents, siblings, etc., but i truly believe that you can play a valuable role, provided that you remember that you're scrimmaging with 10 and 11 year olds. you shouldn't be dribbling or scoring, but it is good for them to see someone making runs, supporting off the ball, distributing the ball wide, switching fields, etc.. explaining it is one thing, seeing it is another. be careful. don't hurt anyone. pull up if there is any possibility of a collision. but this can definitely make them better players. (that said, i wouldn't scrimmage with them every time, and you can perhaps remind them about what they're doing or not doing when you are not in the game).

coaching during games is a tough call. certainly, if it is negative, i don't see any point for it with these kids. but i also think that they can benefit from some coaching. they're not going to remember everything from practice. and, in my view, these games are just additional practice, albeit in the form of a game. my outside midfielders or forwards will often just want to run straight forward. i'll frequently remind them to come wide. defenders need to be reminded to find someone to mark, not just to watch the ball. and so on. i'm not talking about shouting/coaching for the entire game, but i am talking about selectively reminding kids about things that you worked on in practice. some times, it will only take a few reminders. other times, it will continue for several games. but this is, in my opinion, part of the learning process. again, keep it positive, and always judge their reactions to you (and back off it is gets to be too much), but there is value here.

good luck. have fun.