Can one coach manage more than one team?

[dohickey1234]

We are on a competitive soccer team and are being told that our current coach will manage two competitive teams in the fall. I am concerned that it'll stretch this coach too thin. Is this the norm? Are there pros/cons to this? We are fairly new to soccer, so not sure if this is common among other competitive teams. Thank you.

[GKmom]

We have seen this often. At u9, our coach covered 2 teams. It was ok for practices and some games but if there was a conflict he always went with the A team. At u14, DC had a coach who did this but he seemed to do a better job splitting time between A and B and they avoided having both teams scheduled for tournaments in the same weekends. At u15, we are once again in the same boat but at a different club. This time around the coach has 2 teams in my son’s age group and 1 younger team. He seems absolutely exhausted but he works hard to never shortchange any team. What I have liked is it allows kids to move up if they are showing improvement. What I dislike is that the teams often practice together and the needs of the A team can be different from the B team. When my son was on the B team it seemed to raise the level. When he’s been on the A team, it does the opposite.

[dohickey1234]

GKmom wrote:We have seen this often. At u9, our coach covered 2 teams. It was ok for practices and some games but if there was a conflict he always went with the A team. At u14, DC had a coach who did this but he seemed to do a better job splitting time between A and B and they avoided having both teams scheduled for tournaments in the same weekends. At u15, we are once again in the same boat but at a different club. This time around the coach has 2 teams in my son’s age group and 1 younger team. He seems absolutely exhausted but he works hard to never shortchange any team. What I have liked is it allows kids to move up if they are showing improvement. What I dislike is that the teams often practice together and the needs of the A team can be different from the B team. When my son was on the B team it seemed to raise the level. When he’s been on the A team, it does the opposite.

Thank you for this insight. This is exactly what I think could happen. Practices will be all together, but if there is conflict with the game schedule, my assumption is that the coach would choose the older team because they have been with that team longer (so I consider it the A team vs the B team). Not sure who would fill in for B team. It's something I think about when choosing a team for next year. Thanks for your response.

[akindc]

The simple answer... yes, this is the norm, especially in the bigger clubs.

[dohickey1234]

akindc wrote:The simple answer... yes, this is the norm, especially in the bigger clubs.

Thank you. What if it’s a small/newer club? In bigger clubs, there seems to be more stability and resources, so even if it’s the norm, it seems like there is some consistency or at least other coaches. This is a small club so I fear it could be a frustrating.

[dmv_directkicks]

dohickey1234 wrote:

akindc wrote:The simple answer... yes, this is the norm, especially in the bigger clubs.

Thank you. What if it’s a small/newer club? In bigger clubs, there seems to be more stability and resources, so even if it’s the norm, it seems like there is some consistency or at least other coaches. This is a small club so I fear it could be a frustrating.

Also keep in mind that for most, coaching at the club level is a part-time job. So, to attract and retain good coaches, clubs have coaches work with least 2 teams to ensure it is worth their time & effort. With this in mind, many travel directors attempt to schedule game so that there aren't conflicts. Also, many tournaments schedule games to assist in limiting conflicts if coaches work with more than 1 team.

With 6 years on the travel level, my daughter's coaches have always had at least 2 teams.

I can't imagine a smaller club could retain (good) coaches if they only had 1 team.

[itsagoal]

dmv_directkicks wrote:

dohickey1234 wrote:

akindc wrote:The simple answer... yes, this is the norm, especially in the bigger clubs.

Thank you. What if it’s a small/newer club? In bigger clubs, there seems to be more stability and resources, so even if it’s the norm, it seems like there is some consistency or at least other coaches. This is a small club so I fear it could be a frustrating.

Also keep in mind that for most, coaching at the club level is a part-time job. So, to attract and retain good coaches, clubs have coaches work with least 2 teams to ensure it is worth their time & effort. With this in mind, many travel directors attempt to schedule game so that there aren't conflicts. Also, many tournaments schedule games to assist in limiting conflicts if coaches work with more than 1 team.

With 6 years on the travel level, my daughter's coaches have always had at least 2 teams.

I can't imagine a smaller club could retain (good) coaches if they only had 1 team.

Agreed. DD's coaches have always had 2 teams, generally 1 age group apart so that both teams can practice together. When there is a conflict for games, etc., our coaches have generally stayed with the younger team (sometimes that's DD's team and sometimes not depending on the year).

[Nova2Euro]

The whole "club-vs-club" league structure that exists in the area is set up to accommodate coaches who have multiple teams. It's common.