Soccer Coach in Northern VA - Ask me anything

[asksoccernova]

Coaching since 2002

USSF B, NSCAA Premier

I have coached for 3 clubs in northern virginia, (one large, one medium-sized, and one smaller one)

Have not coached in a DA or a CCL team (or what was formerly WAGS), I have coached only NCSL.

Relationships with parents - a coach should not be going there, period. I have never witnessed it happening, and only heard one story of it actually happening, and it resulted in a complete disaster. That's kind of like watching American Dad and thinking that's a normal life for someone working for the government.

Benching a kid - There is only one situation I can think of where it's appropriate NOT to play a kid the whole game in youth soccer:

Your team is playing in a "scrimmage day" or preseason tournament where you have multiple (but shorter) games and a large roster. In certain cases, it would be OK to let a player know ahead of time that he/she won't be playing in that game, but you HAVE to make up for it by giving them double time in another game that same day. Any other circumstance besides a preseason tourney, scrimmage day, or something like that, I would say treating your players that way reflects poorly on the coach.

Development Academy - I don't have as much experience with DAs, but It would recommend it for two types of players to start out with:
1) The truly, truly elite player whose development will slow simply by NOT being in a DA environment

2) The player that wants to be the best he can possibly be no matter what... a player who is #20 on a roster of 20 players will improve more by training day in and day out with 19 players that are better than him rather than being the #1 player on the next level down and even getting significant playing time. If a player is mentally tough and can deal with that, it is the right environment. If not, its the wrong environment


CCL Next Gen


CL Next Gen is a progressive, forward-thinking, high quality, localized league system
specifically designed for the next generation of youth soccer players.
(every league claims this)

CCL Next Gen inspires and unites top clubs
to pursue youth soccer player development as it was meant to be: for the player.
(every league claims this)


Beginning Fall 2017, Next Gen will offer CCL clubs and non-CCL clubs participation in a high quality, developmentally appropriate, localized league(s) format.
(it should read "WILL DO OUR BEST TO...")


Next Gen is about giving the game back to younger players and focuses solely on the long term development of the athlete and club. Next Gen is not focused on wins/losses, standings, or a promotion/relegation model. It is club-centric, not team or coach-centric. And, importantly, Next Gen eliminates unnecessary long distance travel for young players, keeping players on the field more, and in the car less.
(NCSL doesn't promote/relegate at U9-U12 either, tries to minimize travel distances, so is there any difference?)

Next Gen gives the game back to the player through its “Power to the Player” methodology. This proven methodology affords youth players:
(what is this "power to the player" methodology??)


Specifically targets the 12U, 11U, 10U, 9U age groups
(so, it conveniently targets the age groups that NCSL doesn't promote/relegate)

Less travel, more minutes on the field
(how are there more minutes on the field... are the games longer?)

Emphasis on greater training and more meaningful matches
(Isn't training determined by the coach during the week? Meaningful matches just means TRYING to minimize mis-matched teams. You simply can't prevent it 100% of the time)

Competitive play that allows for creativity, skill building, and the thrill of risk-taking
(how do the habits that a coach encourages players to have in practices over a period of years have anything to do with league administration?)

Improved training and game environment to enhance player and coach development
(training environment is all based on the coach)

Greater individual player oversight and collaboration (with top coaches)
Does this mean that the well-known coaches at CCL clubs that have provided endorsements are going to meet around a table and discuss what they think is best?
That's fine, but really does it make any difference just by their names being on something and they brought CCL Next Gen up at a meeting?
can you give an example of what type of oversight and collaboration? does that mean the coaches chat before the game and agree to put even matchups on the field, or what?)

A long term approach to athlete development and overall success
(please find a league that doesn't claim this to be true)

Maximum roster flexibility
(if you don't need player cards and all the administrative hoopla just to play a game, I can see that as making someone's life slightly easier... but you do need them for risk management reasons)

20 years of proven CCL small-sided success, and consistency with the US Soccer Player Development Initiatives
(having a track record is good actually)

Next Gen also provides club-wide advantages. CCL’s club-centric model offers top clubs the opportunity to travel or host matches together, at one site. The goal is to help clubs grow and build from within. Club Technical Directors, Directors of Coaching and/or Age Group Directors can immerse themselves into the game day experience of their younger players and coaches on the same day, and at one site. Coaches with more than one team will have schedules deconflicted, offering more time to spend with their club’s next generation of players. No more travelling to multiple sites for matches. And finally, parents, families and fans will be able to carpool, share resources, and be at one site to help cheer on their club!

(define "top club". If my club applied to CCL Next Gen and we didn't fit the definition of a "top club", would we be refused if we showed up with the membership fee?)
(I can see how its more efficient to have every team in the same club on the same day. I don't think anyone can argue against that).


So here's my analysis:

CCL is a business. It is in the business of structuring a highly competitive soccer league. Its competitive advantage is that it attracts some of the best performing teams, players, and clubs in the region.

It appears that CCL wants to expand. However, it cannot just open the doors to every club in the area, otherwise it will dilute the perceived quality of the CCL. The best way to expand is to open it up at the younger age groups, and then once clubs are comfortable with the setup after a few years, pick the ones that have provided the best quality and level of competition and invite them to the CCL for the older age groups.

What they are trying to do is explain how CCL next gen is different/better from NCSL. The only difference I can see is that NCSL has a lot of administrative rules that if not followed to a T, penalize a team or club. CCL next gen is trying to say if you sign your club up with us, we won't overburden you with administrative work and will try to make your lives easier.

******note that it does NOT say that if your club signs up, you get to play games against current CCL member clubs and their teams***

This is marketed towards club technical directors, and these are decisions that those folks have to make. TD's are generally overloaded, stretched too thin, have fires to put out within their clubs, so anything that makes their lives easier is welcome. It also looks good on paper... hey, our teams are playing CCL now (even though "CCL" competition is all former NCSL teams, and the same ones you played last year since there is no pro/rel at the younger ages).

So basically CCL is going to try to slowly have the "top" clubs in NCSL move towards them at the younger ages, and then when they get to U13 I doubt they will tell all of them to go back to NCSL, which doesn't have the "Power to the Player" methodology of course. The ones that have sent competitive teams could be invited to stay for U13 and beyond with CCL.

[asksoccernova]

Soccer forums - somehow I stumbled upon this forum this fall and I found it interesting because its the only one I know of with people actively posting about the DC scene.

I read Potomac Soccer Wire and occasionally Soccer american articles, the comments are really interesting in SA and people usually identify themselves by name when commenting, sometimes there is very intelligent commentary.

[Anonymous]

Yeah well people here complain and brag but won't even mention a club or league haha good luck with names.

Unless you start it off mister coach man

[Anonymous]

Have you coached any players who you would consider elite? Like youth national team, star D1 team, or however else you'd like to define it? If so, could you tell they had a lot of potential at a young age?

[asksoccernova]

Yes, a few, all on the boys side

Yes, you can identify "elite" talent at an early age. Whether they realize that potential or not has a lot to do with if that player is in a program that looks after them, their family situation, if they have a coach that realizes they need special considerations, the laundry list list of Freddy Adu factors, and many other things.

One year I had a rising U9 boys program (about 110 players tried out, 3 teams were formed), and there were 2 players that were really at that level, (and 2 more that were borderline elite but not quite).

Those 2 players were very special even at 8 years old.

They were both from Hispanic backgrounds. One of them had never played any form of organized soccer before, and the other was playing up an age group in rec and was still outscoring everyone.
At the younger age groups, coaches are supposed to focus on teaching technique so the players can master the ball by U11/U12 and then you can start focusing on small group tactics. These 2 players already had that level of ball mastery at 8 and were years ahead...
Of course they were not "complete players" by any means but you could throw them out there and they could really play without any guidance. They were not physically faster than anyone else, but their speed of play and technique with the ball was very, very far ahead. It's almost like they didn't need any coaching on how to play... but with coaching, they got even better.

One of those two players (they must be U18/U19 or something like that by now) made the ODP Region 1 roster, and the other (the better of the two, actually) disappeared off the map for a while because the mother (single parent family) couldn't logistically bring him out to practice.. I just googled his name and he showed up last year on Potomac Soccer Wire on the "players who impressed" section.

I also assistant-coached a high school team with a 9th grader whose family had just moved from the Netherlands and was playing for the "C" level youth team at his age group for a club with a professional men's team in the Netherland's premier league. You just took one look and could tell that he didn't develop his game in the US... he could execute a lot of difficult skills under full pressure (first-time volleys, holding the ball while drawing in multiple defenders and very tricky/deceptive ball control, accurate one-touch shots and long-distance passes with odd surfaces of the foot (other than the laces/inside that we typically teach) that would bend in just the right way. He ended up playing at a D1 School in Virginia (not UVA), probably on some form of scholarship as I think he could have played at a higher D1 level.

One more that I had at U13 whose family was from Morocco where the player was already an "elite" player but in addition had gone through an early growth spurt so he had another advantage. That kid was a monster... just 2 full levels above everyone else on the team, and I had to adjust practice sessions to accommodate the fact that he would essentially "break" the drills. For example, in a 4 on 4 possession game, I would have to stack it as 5 v 3 and he would have to be one of the 3 just to make the drill work, or give him a touch limit of 1 or 2 touches. Otherwise, he would just break the exercise by dribbling circles around everyone. The other players on the team were good, but not great. He was 2 full levels of play above them. The family didn't know much about how soccer was organized here or what clubs are good, they just wanted him to play on a team. They moved to FL and not sure what happened to them.

[Anonymous]

Have you had parents talk to you about kids' playing time and ask you to play their kids more? If so, how do you respond?

Also, are you ok with kids leaving your team for a higher level team, or do you try to convince families to stay for the sake of the team?

[asksoccernova]

Playing time:

Generally, the club will set the guidelines for playing time, which are outlined in the Club Bylaws, especially for the younger ages. An example would be 50% for U9-U11, 25% for U12-U14, and no minimum for U15 and over. If the coach deviates from that in league games or anything outside of a tournament, it's a problem.

Bottom line is there must be a clearly communicated policy on playing time that everyone understands.

As the ages get older, the rosters get larger, and the games get more competitive, the coach will have more leeway to make more of a personal judgment about how many minutes each player receives.

I'm sure it happens a lot, but I've never been directly asked by a parent why their player isn't playing more. A coach should lay out the policy on playing time and make sure its clear to parents before the season starts. As long as the coach follows the plan, there should't be any issues.

More important than this is the coach's relationship with each set of parents. If the coach has a positive relationship with each set of parents and takes some time to speak/meet with each of them individually, parents will trust the coach's decisions more. If the coach does not take time to communicate with parents and just dictates things, they will feel like its a you vs. them thing rather than everyone being here for the same reason, which is to to create a good experience for the players.

If a parent were to ask me about their player's playing time, it means I have done something wrong already, either not communicated effectively or not followed a policy that was already laid out.

The best way to respond would be to just listen to what the parent has to say and then think on it before responding. It's a sensitive issue because playing time can be linked to just "how good" the coach thinks the player is, vs. "how good" the parents thing the player is, and all that. That's why player evaluations are also important.

If the parents have a copy of the player's evaluation, and they are ranked #18 out of 18 players in terms of their score, it should be understood why the player isn't playing more (and here are areas where the player can improve so they CAN get more playing time).

[asksoccernova]

Also, are you ok with kids leaving your team for a higher level team, or do you try to convince families to stay for the sake of the team?

Bottom line is the question: "What is in the best interests of the player?" Anyone (including parents) without a lot of soccer experience won't be able to answer that question. Players themselves also don't know. And the player's coach is biased because it is in his/her interests to retain the player.

You have to answer this question before you can start to decide if its best to stay or leave a team.



Its a complicated issue. It all starts with the coach and the culture he/she has set for the team.

Also, as a parent you have to know what your player's goals are!!!


There are a few types of coaches:

"A" coaches - incredibly enthusiastic, want to develop themselves as coaches and soccer educators over their careers, as well as develop their players, love to teach, extremely knowledgeable of the game.
John Ellis / Graham Ramsay (if you look them up) would be great examples. A younger "A" coach would be someone that translates that enthusiastic attitude and love for the game over to their players.
Just being around them makes you excited about soccer.

"B" coaches - someone that has played the game, has gone through licensing courses, and does what is expected. They show up to practice prepared, do everything they need to do, the players have a good time and learn/develop, put together competitive teams, but they don't quite have that unbridled passion that an A coach is able to infuse in them. Also, a "B" coach does not put in much extra time/effort to build relationships with parents and extra work to help their team. When you coach 4 teams at once, it's hard not to fall into becoming a B coach in the "soccer factory". A coach that works with multiple teams but still keeps that enthusiasm is an "A" coach.

"C" coaches - someone who does the minimum - minimum licensing, minimum effort, minimum preparation, minimum attention & communication with parents and minimum thought into each of their players.

"D" coaches - hopefully we are doing a better job of keeping these people off the field.




We should all aspire to be "A" coaches in an ideal world, but realistically there are many "B" coaches doing well and that is satisfactory. If you feel your player is with a C coach or below, leave anyway.

If they are playing for an A coach, stay!!
If they are playing for a B coach, see if the player can be moved up an age group within the club for more of a challenge. If not, seek out an A coach at another club.

Also, it depends on the player's goals. If the player decides he wants to be #18 on a roster of 18 and be challenged day in and day out, then seek out another team. Most players would not be able to handle that, but they would develop faster.

Any time a coach has to try and "convince" someone of something, they are already on loose footing to begin with. Especially our club vs. their club.

Just my 2 cents but my decision factors would be:

#1 - the coach
#2 - the club
#3 - friends / social group

If it was a definite "elite" player, as a coach I would want them to stay with my team but play ODP or something supplemental so I could retain them.
If they are so, so good that I felt that they were being held back by the players around them, then I would recommend that they play up an age group within the club.

Any coach never likes to see their best player leave for another club unless it is a definite higher level that our team won't even play against because they are so good. If it is a competitor club or team that's only marginally better than the player's current club, that's bad.
Any player that is that truly "elite" or whatever will already be a subject of conversation among the coaches and they will know that that player needs special consideration.

The "A" coach will congratulate the player on the new opportunity and wish them well (but you shouldn't leave an "A" coach!!!)
The "B" coach will not be happy initially but then move on with the program
"C" and below coaches will use bargaining tools to try and keep the player because that player is their only hope to win shiny things.

[asksoccernova]

.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the next gen breakdown, there did seem to be a lot of marketing speak and it makes sense that was geared for TD's.

[Anonymous]

asksoccernova wrote:Also, are you ok with kids leaving your team for a higher level team, or do you try to convince families to stay for the sake of the team?

Bottom line is the question: "What is in the best interests of the player?" Anyone (including parents) without a lot of soccer experience won't be able to answer that question. Players themselves also don't know. And the player's coach is biased because it is in his/her interests to retain the player.

You have to answer this question before you can start to decide if its best to stay or leave a team.



Its a complicated issue. It all starts with the coach and the culture he/she has set for the team.

Also, as a parent you have to know what your player's goals are!!!


There are a few types of coaches:

"A" coaches - incredibly enthusiastic, want to develop themselves as coaches and soccer educators over their careers, as well as develop their players, love to teach, extremely knowledgeable of the game.
John Ellis / Graham Ramsay (if you look them up) would be great examples. A younger "A" coach would be someone that translates that enthusiastic attitude and love for the game over to their players.
Just being around them makes you excited about soccer.

"B" coaches - someone that has played the game, has gone through licensing courses, and does what is expected. They show up to practice prepared, do everything they need to do, the players have a good time and learn/develop, put together competitive teams, but they don't quite have that unbridled passion that an A coach is able to infuse in them. Also, a "B" coach does not put in much extra time/effort to build relationships with parents and extra work to help their team. When you coach 4 teams at once, it's hard not to fall into becoming a B coach in the "soccer factory". A coach that works with multiple teams but still keeps that enthusiasm is an "A" coach.

"C" coaches - someone who does the minimum - minimum licensing, minimum effort, minimum preparation, minimum attention & communication with parents and minimum thought into each of their players.

"D" coaches - hopefully we are doing a better job of keeping these people off the field.




We should all aspire to be "A" coaches in an ideal world, but realistically there are many "B" coaches doing well and that is satisfactory. If you feel your player is with a C coach or below, leave anyway.

If they are playing for an A coach, stay!!
If they are playing for a B coach, see if the player can be moved up an age group within the club for more of a challenge. If not, seek out an A coach at another club.

Also, it depends on the player's goals. If the player decides he wants to be #18 on a roster of 18 and be challenged day in and day out, then seek out another team. Most players would not be able to handle that, but they would develop faster.

Any time a coach has to try and "convince" someone of something, they are already on loose footing to begin with. Especially our club vs. their club.

Just my 2 cents but my decision factors would be:

#1 - the coach
#2 - the club
#3 - friends / social group

If it was a definite "elite" player, as a coach I would want them to stay with my team but play ODP or something supplemental so I could retain them.
If they are so, so good that I felt that they were being held back by the players around them, then I would recommend that they play up an age group within the club.

Any coach never likes to see their best player leave for another club unless it is a definite higher level that our team won't even play against because they are so good. If it is a competitor club or team that's only marginally better than the player's current club, that's bad.
Any player that is that truly "elite" or whatever will already be a subject of conversation among the coaches and they will know that that player needs special consideration.

The "A" coach will congratulate the player on the new opportunity and wish them well (but you shouldn't leave an "A" coach!!!)
The "B" coach will not be happy initially but then move on with the program
"C" and below coaches will use bargaining tools to try and keep the player because that player is their only hope to win shiny things.

Is it in the players best interest to specialize positions at U10 ? The training is well run and kids play all positions in training and scrimmages, but for games and tournaments every player is locked into the same 1 or 2 positions. Only two keepers rotate in goal, they are very good but don't do any kind of special training or practice for keeper. Those two also get much less PT at other positions and did not volunteer to play keeper. Same thing happens at other positions, two kids only play defensive positions, they are clearly the best defenders. Not sure if this is good or bad developmentally for U10, the coach has not communicated anything with parents so I can only guess this is to try and win league games and tournaments.

[Anonymous]

My opinion is that at U10, players should be able to play two different field positions well.

That's good that the kids are playing all positions in training and scrimmages to start out with.

Assuming the team is playing 7v7, the possible "slots" for field positions would be:

Left / Right Back
Left / Center / Right Midfield
Left / Right Forward

Every player will have one natural position that they are very good at. The coach should be searching out each player's "second best" position and give them enough playing time in that position for the player to become highly reliable when playing there. This makes each player more versatile/dynamic, and also creates depth for the team. That could mean splitting playing time 50/50, 60/40, or even 66/33, between the player's best and second best positions.

Those 2 defenders should also be splitting time in another position, even if its 66/33. I know the pain of moving your best defenders out of position, but its important to give other kids experience there too, otherwise in the long run, your team will have no depth at that position. Maybe keep one of them at defense while the other one rotates out.

Sometimes players develop comfort zones on one side of the field, they need to play the same position on the opposite side of the field (but I would not count that as a true "second position" because the role is exactly the same. The only difference is they may have to use their non-dominant foot more often, which is good for their development.

L/R backs should be 100% interchangeable
L/R mids should be 100% interchangeable
L/R forwards should be 100% interchangeable

So to answer the question, in competitive situations (league, tournaments) if the players are getting significant playing time in 2 different positions, that's satisfactory.

When it comes to the goalies, each player should spend one half in goal (lets say there are 12 players, so each player should get a half over the course of 6 games). The problem is, there are just going to be players at that age who are very ineffective goalkeepers, make unintentional mistakes (kicking right to the other team on goal kicks, running out of the goal, etc) because they don't know anything about the position, and then you also lose them as a field player during that time.

So if you had to rank your players 1-12 in ability level, its hard to justify putting any of your top players or even your mid-range players in goal when they are semi-clueless there, plus they don't have any special interest in playing GK, and then are not playing a field position either.

The domino effect is that the only 2 players who are playing GK are having their development short-changed because they are in goal all the time. In rare cases a player will specialize in GK at that age, but it may be because a parent was an experienced goalkeeper and the child really wants to play there. If a player really expressed a lot of interest in playing goal at U10, I'd say give them half a game at most in goal, get them some GK training through the club... but they are not locked in to GK forever by any means.



On one hand, at U10, the games do not matter at all in the long run. Zero. Results mean nothing.

On the other hand, the weekend game is something all the kids look forward to all week, the parents look forward to it all week, and you as the coach are planning for in practices all week. Every family that is going to be at the game has put off other plans and is going to make a drive plus the hour of getting a 9 year old ready just to make this game happen.

So when you get out there as a coach, you're probably not going to say "hmmm I think I'll just stick every player in their weakest position so they learn what areas they need to develop more". (you might do that in a scrimmage, though).

Generally you will start the game off with the strongest starting lineup with the players in their strongest playing positions. Once the game begins, you will be able to tell if:

1) Your team will dominate
2) Your team is slightly better
3) This will be an evenly contested, competitive match-up
4) The other team is slightly better
5) The other team will dominate

I don't think about this consciously when I'm coaching, but in the back of my head, I have a sense what type of game its going to be, and then I rotate players around according to what type of game we're in.

With 1 and 5 games, the result of the game will already be determined in the first 10 minutes, so I will rotate players in different positions all over the place because no meaningful result is within reach for the lesser team, and the game should be used as a learning experience

With 2 and 4 games, I will rotate players into different positions here and there to see if I can create matchup advantages in different parts of the field, to plug a hole that the other team keeps exploiting, or to see if a player can make an impact on the game if I place them here or there on the field.

With 3 games, I will play the players in their best positions that they are most comfortable in, and because the game is so tight, the level of competition brings out the best of their ability and they can improve their level of play this way. They may play a little in other positions, but most of their playing time will be spent in their best position.


During the course of a league season, you will have a range of different types of games, so its up to the coach to adjust.

With post-season tournaments (only do 2-3 tourneys a year at younger ages anyway), you do play to win with players in their best positions until the game becomes a 1 or 5, then at that point you use it as a learning experience and start rotating players around more.


This is just my opinion, I know others would disagree with me and say that every player should play every position in league games. At U10, I'm satisfied as a coach with them being reliable in 2 positions.

[asksoccernova]

Actually, correction to my previous post... in 7v7, the possible field positions would be:

L / C / R Forward
L / C / R Mid
L / C / R Back

[Anonymous]

How do you handle parents who simply want to to win each and every game? Talking U Littles

[asksoccernova]

It starts with over-communication, very early on. Even before the season begins. Send out a weekly email to your team outlining what you will be covering in practice that week and what "theme" or series of age-appropriate games you will be playing. There should also be some kind of season plan in place that outlines what you will be covering each week.

In the very first email, include a section about Player Development Philosophy (your club/organization should already have one, so you can use that) and Game Results.

State that wins and losses at age 5 etc. are not important for the long-term development of the players. Make 3 priorities for the season - for example, having fun, learning the fundamentals of soccer, and developing social skills

Every week, notify parents of the practice theme of the week (dribbling, passing, shooting etc). The way you measure progress is to see if the players are attempting to use a skill learned in practice into the game. Whether they succeed in passing the ball correctly or not doesn't matter... the fact that they TRIED and it was something they learned how to do for the first time in practice that week is a big success.

Let the parents know ahead of time that your team will win or lose some games by a lopsided score, and some games will be very close ones that can go either way.

Regardless of the win/loss results, you want to make sure that the players are having fun, developing basic skills, learning to focus, and enjoying being part of a team.

Ask that parents be supportive of the individual players and the team regardless of the game results, win or lose (there will be some of both and its unpredictable from week to week).

When parents hear this same message from the coach week after week, they eventually start to get the picture. Literally every time you talk to a parent about how the team is doing, mention player development, improvement, theme of the week, etc.


Your club or organization should have a season plan or manual for recreational coaching working with the little ones. If you don't have one for some reason, ask the program director. The next step is to take the F License online course (or an equivalent course that covers the same information) so you are not just reading off the session plan and doing exactly as it says, but you start to learn how to change things around to fit the players, or make up your own activities that suit the group you are working with.

http://www.ussoccer.com/coaching-education/licenses/national-fhttp://www.ussoccer.com/coaching-education/licenses/national-f





Kids cannot play soccer the way it was meant to be played until their cognitive development catches up with the number of players on the field... just as they start to get comfortable with 4 or 5 players on the field at 7 years old, at U9, the numbers increase to 7v7 and the field size doubles. Then they have to learn the game all over again until finally they go to 11v11 at age 12.