I have always been passionate about soccer and know a fair amount of tactics from the professional world, watching them and studying. I have been thinking of getting into coaching for a while and would like to take that step. Ideally I think it's best to serve as an assistant perhaps at the beginning. However, a friend asked me to coach his team. They are a men's sunday league, ages 20-30, and are fairly competitive. However they only play games now and don't really have practice sessions. Should I take his offer or am I wasting my time on a team that just wants me to calls subs perhaps during a match and it would be very hard to impose a system on them with no practice sessions? Lastly, back to original question, any tips on how to get started if I do or don't do the mens team?
Here is a tip everyone wants to play the whole game even if they can't play more then 20 minutes without standing around because they are spent. Also no one wants to go to practice. Can you play the game and teach skill work. If not your perfect for most adult leagues don't book games in the morning they will always be late or don't show up. Collect all their jewelry before the game starts. Men wear more jewelry then women.
yeah i know all of that, i meant more if i was basically going nowhere coaching this team. I've coached and managed my own teams before, where I play as well, and basically everyone wants to be the star and no one works as a team. Hard to make a team without practices...
Ideally I'd like to coach older players but I'll start anywhere. I'm only 30 so eventually it would be fun to coach my kids teams (when i have them). I would just like to use all this tactical knowledge and put it to work
There is a lot to coaching. There is a different emphasis depending on who you are coaching. Developmental vs. Senior. And age makes a difference for developmental coaching. Pre-teen (zone 1) versus U14-U17 (zone 2) versus U18 to U23 (zone 3). Zone 1 is about fundamentals and heavy into technical and mental. Not a lot of contact time. Zone 2 is heavy into tactical and starts physical training. But you still need to coach technical and mental aspects. Zone 3 is pretty similar to coaching adults, but it is focused on player development rather than competition results. Looking at myself, I decided I was pretty knowledgable about tactical and mental areas, but weak on technique and outdated on physical. What I have done is studied what I could find on coaching soccer technique and on "strength and conditioning" coaching both generally and specifically for soccer. I have also looked at the long term player development model to learn what is age appropriate in the 4 aspects (technical, tactical, physical, mentality). Look at coaching education in the long term. We never know everything. So what is important is to keep improving. For instance coaching a men's sunday league team won't provide you a training experience, but it will provide coaching experience in tactics and mentality aspects, game management, and your people skills in managing the players. Add in coaching a zone 1 team teaching fundamentals and a zone 2 team teaching team tactics and you will get a broad experience.
Want to be a good enough coach to coach a good adult team? Get the team that do not want to go to practice and train to go to practice and train, and your on your way.
From experience, they're just looking for a team manager and not in the glorious Arsene Wenger mode. They're looking for someone to do the bitch work. Make subs, collect dues, make sure there are enough players at games, register the team and players. A team with good players won't want you telling them what to do. A team with bad players will want you to teach them how to play but there's not much you can do without practice.
That's right. They they want you to tell everyone else (including the referee) what to do (as long as it agrees with their view of course). I don't use an authoritative leadership style with adult teams. I use the natural leaders as informal captains and create a specific game plan and lineup by consensus. That way you have the group's natural leaders working for you instead of against you. I was lucky to have some very good players whose judgement was excellent.
yeah that's what I have learned with my teams. They don't want me to collect dues but I agree on the bitchwork of subbing since no one ever wants to sub out. Guess kids is the way to go...
IF you go the youth route, like you I wanted to ease into it and be an assistant, but they're so desperate for coaches (probably everywhere) that if you put your hand up then expect to be thrown into the fire immediately. I probably made my entry into coaching much more difficult than it had to be, but you probably learn best from those experiences. Even if you know the game well and are a decent player, get into a basic coaching course ASAP—you'll reinvent the wheel if you don't and go through the pains of finally getting to the wheel. If you can't, thankfully, it's a simple game. dribble the ball pass the ball receive/control the ball shoot the ball get it back from the other team learn the rules learn to celebrate and for some, learn to play goalkeeper try not to turn the ball over (EVER) learn how to do all of the above to accomplish objectives by yourself, then with a teammate, then two teammates, etc... in a fun, enjoyable, competitive, and safe manner
Are you looking to do this on a volunteer basis or to make some money? Are you located where you expect to be for a while (i.e., where your kids (when you have them) might be playing in 5-10 years? If you're looking to make some money, I'd try to get into that setting immediately, even if you have to volunteer initially. If you're not doing it for money, you might consider an established rec league if there is one in your area. The knowledge of parent coaches continues to improve (some), but they'd always welcome a knowledgeable person willing to donate time. I wouldn't be surprised if you would be able to get your own team in the Fall (and it's not too early to be inquiring about that), but even if you had to be an assistant, you might end up being the head coach in practice. I started with a guy who was a longtime baseball coach - he liked to give the big motivational speeches before and after the game and he was very good in terms of how he interacted with the kids, but he didn't know a lot about soccer and he let me run most of the practices. That said, there's definitely something to be said for more of an apprentice route for a season if you can get yourself in a situation as an assistant coach with a very experienced coach. You probably know this, but one of the biggest frustration that you may encounter in the rec setting will be the disparity in soccer ability, experience, and commitment on your team. The disparity typically diminishes as the kids get older due to natural attrition on both ends, but it still presents some unique challenges. In the end, you can end up with some pretty good players and some pretty good athletes who haven't had a lot of good coaching. As I mentioned, ideally I'd look to an established organization, as they will have some available training (and it will be free), and even though you know the game, there is a learning curve to being a good coach and running a good practice, so soak up what you can. Then, if you're interested, consider going out of your own pocket for additional courses. Also, thinking long term, if you've spent the next 5-10 years as a coach with various teams in the u12-u19 divisions, by the time you begin to circle back through the u-littles with your own kids you'll know everyone who runs your league/region/whatever it's called. If you anticipate that you'll move before then, this is less of a factor and why I asked that question initially, but still a potential benefit to you in the long run. Also, in some of these leagues, they have select or allstar teams that continue to play after the regular season and this can be a way to get to coach some of the most experienced kids and to potentially work with another coach and get experience. This can be harder to break into if there is an established coach, but let them know you're interested, be willing to shift to a younger age for these parts of the season, and be willing to contribute as an assistant as everyone is getting to know you. A couple other thoughts: - Tempting as it may be to want the oldest age group they'll give you, keep in mind that those kids won't necessarily have been coached by someone with a lot of experience. You don't have to tell them that you're making a multi-year commitment (and may well decide it isn't what you're looking for after a season or two), but another option would be to start at the u12/u14 level with the plan of moving up with a core group over time, and then when you get to the older level, you'll be working with a group that has had the benefit of your coaching for several years and be able to do even more with them. - When I started, I also had the mindset of wanting the older age kids and being able to get into more tactical aspects of the game. There remains something to that, but having now done all of the age groups, I'll simply summarize it to say that there are pros and cons at every age. You might be happy at all of them, and it may be that any number of factors leads you in one direction or another, but don't be surprised if the age group you find you enjoy the most ends up being different than what you expected. Galaxy fans stick together , so PM me if you'd ever like to discuss anything and/or once you get started should you ever need a sounding board!
Thanks dude, really appreciate the great advice! I think I want to do it more for free and fun. I really love the tactics and would love to go from "bar stool expert" to something i'm more involved in. I might be waiting a few years to get going however since I am going to be starting my MBA next year and doubt this is a good time. However, I will definitely dive in later. The apprenticeship approach sounds perfect as well since I'm not to knowledgeable about running practices. Doubt I will be staying in my area forever as well. I'll def PM you
So true. But coaches have to deal with some disparity in soccer ability, experience, and commitment in coaching any group of players at any level. What was frustrating about the disparity for me coaching U10 to U12 rec was each year the club would assign me a completely different group of players, at least 6 of whom would be complete novices. So I had to repeat my initial U10 season plan over and over, starting with "this is a ball" and a tour of the field. It doesn't hurt to review fundamentals, but I figured this cost me 4 weeks of training. Rather than get upset about the assignments, I took it as a compliment. But what was more frustrating was dealing with the previous bad coaching of well-meaning coaches teaching their version of proper "tactics" rather than fundamentals. Once you overcome the "stand here" metality, the team play will transform quickly with good movement, positioning and support in all 4 moments of play. (Used shadow play for defensive principles and transistions and unbalanced SSGs to teach attacking principles.) Simply because we attacked and defended as a team, we had numbers up with and without the ball. Kids and parents can see the difference. Coaching U-Littles is rewarding because the learning curve is steep so you can see progress relatively quickly.
On my soccer link are sessions for a men's club soccer team, click on Sessions and Men's Sessions http://members.iinet.net.au/~pfaulks@westnet.com.au/