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coaching kid sports

metsmarathon Sep 09 2016 02:56 PM

this fall, i decided that i would be a head coach in minimm's town rec soccer league. i had been thinking of signing on as an assistant coach, but then a friend of our told me that she was going to be an assistant coach too and it would be awesome if i would be the head coach. so what the hell, i decided. why not up the ante. i checked the box that said i would be a head coach. terrifying and exciting all at the same time. the team assignments come out and... wait, she's not my assistant coach. what happened? the assistant coach i did get was minimm's head coach from three seasons ago, and he loved him, so it's all good. but still... wha...? turns out, that while she signed up to be a head coach and was doing the training, she'd never received the emails about actually registering her kids, so they weren't in the league! oh no! luckily, the league had an open slot still, and even added one - she has twin boys, so that she could be in the league and, after some roster juggling, on my team. so it all worked out. i got suckered into head coaching, and she got out of assistant coaching. lol. so now, here i am. a head coach for soccer, instructing almost a dozen first and second graders in the performance of a sport i'd last played before i was their age, and then again in 9th grade but sucked and kinda hated it (because of all the running. no, really. the running.). so i pretty much don't know much about the game, and really need to study up. i think, though, that my level of understanding is at an appropriate level for the league; if this were 3rd graders, i'd be out of my depth for sure. so my questions for the group are threefold. one, i know a bunch of you have coached your own kids before. do you have any general advice? two, have any of you coached soccer before? and if so, three, do you have any recommendations for drills and games to play during practices? thanks!

Benjamin Grimm Sep 09 2016 03:08 PM Re: coaching kid sports

General advice: Forget that you're the father of one of the kids. Treat them all the same, and don't give your own kid any special attention. No extra perks, no extra attention, no extra criticism. I actually found that easier to do than I would have imagined. I was able to avoid the "bratty, entitled coach's kid" syndrome. I don't know if that's because of how I handled my daughter, or if it's just about the kind of person she is, but the results were good in either event. Another thing I found to be important: Make sure you show that you appreciate that each and every kid has shown up, each and every time. When they arrive, either at the game or a practice, give them a happy greeting by name. I've seen coaches who don't do this, and it's bad practice not to. I remember one soccer coach that my daughter had (I only coached her for softball) who had a little girl show up, say, "Coach! I'm here!" and he just snorted at her (because she wasn't one of the better players) and turned his attention back to his clipboard. He could have easily said, "Hey! Hannah's here!" before turning back to the clipboard.

Nymr83 Sep 09 2016 03:10 PM Re: coaching kid sports

three, do you have any recommendations for drills and games to play during practices? Soccer would be a good game to play during Soccer practice. Nothing turns kids off to sports more than being forced into a bunch of nonsense running/exercises/drills instead of actually playing the sport they signed up to play.

themetfairy Sep 09 2016 03:12 PM Re: coaching kid sports

D-Dad coached Little League for many years (we know nothing about soccer). I think his main strength was keeping things positive. Every game - even after the horrible ones - he'd sit down with the kids and talk to them about the positive takeaways from the day. He alwys told them, "Have Fun - Hustle - Be Ready" - we still have a sign in the garage from his Little League days with that motto. And make sure someone is assigned to bring snacks after every game. And someone is assigned to bring juice boxes. And that you keep spare snacks and juice boxes in your car just in case. I cannot overstate the importance of having a good post-game snack on hand.

sharpie Sep 09 2016 03:53 PM Re: coaching kid sports

I coached baseball for about five years. Good times, being outside in the spring coaching baseball. Made a few lasting friends, learned some things about myself. I did find that I was a better coach for the younger kids than the older ones as I don't really know enough about teaching pitching nor how to fix a hole in kid's swing, That being said, the kids liked me, we won some, we lost some. Never really had the most talented team but I think most of them would say they had a good experience. The littlest sharpie (the former poster Lenny Harris) also played soccer for a few years mostly because his best friend played. He was never very good or very enthusiastic. He played in an indoor soccer league for a couple of seasons and liked that well enough but the regular game just wasn't his thing. Nor mine as a parent/spectator either.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 09 2016 04:24 PM Re: coaching kid sports

do you have any general advice? Have fun! Be sure to communicate with kids AND parents. Be clear with the kids that soccer practice is about soccer, and that they can have fun wrestling, video games, etc after practice. Get some parents on your side right away: 80% of kid soccer practice is retreiving balls that roll away, you'll need some help! --Also, nominate a Team Mom to coordinate snacks. two, have any of you coached soccer before? and if so, I have asst coached Lunchpail's team for several years, and may do so again this year three, do you have any recommendations for drills and games to play during practices? Are these first time kids? #1 lesson: No hands! No toes!! Get them to understand from the very start that they need to kick the ball on the top of their foot, on the inside of their foot, on the heel, on the outside of the foot, the knee, the shin, the chest, but never with their toes! Mostly top and inside! Also to the extent you can get them comfortable kicking with both feet, all to the good. Most of these drills you need parental help: Have each kid pair with their moms or dads (or one another) just gently kicking the ball to one one another: 10 top of foot, 10 inside of foot, 10 backheel etc. You can also do this with just kids, have them line up opposite a partner in lines. Get them to practice stopping the ball with a trap, then kicking back they way it came in. Kids love the "Monster" game: Set a perimeter with cones. Get a few parents to be Monsters (or Zombies) where they walk around slowly "chasing" the kids, who each have to avoid the monsters while dribbling their ball. Teaches them to think about keeping their balls close to them as they play. Kids really don't get skilled enough to pass with another or take big shots on goal till they're older (in my experience anyway) but practicing big shots is fun. Line up, one at a time approach the ball and kick at a goal Scrimmage games! (have parents line the sidelines to kick in errant balls). As far as the games go, try not to get caught up in results but emphasize improving week after week. A good kid soccer season IMO, is to rally from a few games below .500 to finish .500 or 1 better. If you start kicking ass too early you are vulnerable to having the season end less promisingly than it began. Even the worst teams Lunchpail have been on have gotten better, that's a positive thing. I've continued Sharpie's tradition coaching baseball and in the same league, and also feel I'm better with younger kids than older ones. Same rules apply regarding the importance of parental alliances and emphasis on keeping it about baseball during the time you have allotted.

sharpie Sep 09 2016 04:35 PM Re: coaching kid sports

Seconded about getting parents on your side, especially ones with reputations as being difficult.

Lefty Specialist Sep 09 2016 05:11 PM Re: coaching kid sports

I was a Little League coach for 4 years, and I agree- show no preference to your own kid. No more, no less attention than anyone else. And stay away from them on the sidelines. Any talking to them gets interpreted as favoritism by other kids and other parents. Have that clipboard. Doesn't matter what's on it. But stare down at it intently when you want to avoid talking to someone. Soccer leagues in our town make sure the parents are on the opposite side of the field. This wasn't possible in Little League so I brought my clipboard and stared down at it whenever some dad would tell me that Billy should be playing more. Every soccer team has a few kids that are better than the rest. Make sure everybody gets to play, though. Some parents do everything but bring a stopwatch. And appreciate everyone's effort, even the kids who trip over their own feet. At the end of the season invite the whole team out for pizza or ice cream. Works wonders.

MFS62 Sep 10 2016 03:38 PM Re: coaching kid sports

The last time I coached soccer was in the Army, with my unit's team. Most of the players who signed up had played the game for at least 10 years, so my objective was to get them to learn each other's strengths and weaknesses and feel comfortable with their teammates. There was nothing I could teach them, but being positive was key. I was lucky enough to have had one really good player who had moved here from Brazil. If there was something I should have done or said, he stepped up and helped. I have coached youngsters in other sports and the hints above about making everyone feel appreciated cannot be overstated. Let them have fun. Later