Who are the best coaches in the area?
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Anonymous
| A good coach gets the best out of his/her players |
Anonymous
A simple statement, yet so true ... and would add: “and also continuously improves their players’ knowledge and abilities.” |
Anonymous
| Here is a twist. Does a good coach improve kids who are labeled as not coachable? Or are they being a better coach just cutting those kids who are holding back the team from improving as a unit. |
Anonymous
Both. Those are not mutually exclusive and not necessarily the same kids anyway. |
Anonymous
Coaches will have to move on from players at the end of the season. Especially so at the DA/ ECNL level. It is not fair to the team to hold onto players that can’t compete. |
Anonymous
| Agreed. A good coach gives their best effort to help previously labeled kids, but at some point, some kids are better off somewhere else / doing something else. |
Anonymous
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I have seen this with my sons team, the coach took a couple of players that were not at the level, as the season went on the players did not play too much, parents get pissed, caused problems, bad mouthed the coach, said he did not develop etc....
I would imagine it’s not easy for coaches to move on from players but eventually it has to be done. It is sometimes best for the team |
Anonymous
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The best coaches can find a way to reach the kids others call uncoachable. You can't get everyone, but if you have a kid who loves soccer you should be able to find a way to work through most everything else. If they don't love the game or don't want to play sure there's not much you can do with those except maybe help them find something else they do love. If the player loves soccer and the coach can't help them it's probably on the coach.
I had one player everyone said was uncoachable way back--this was my oldest's team and they were U10 so almost 20 years ago. He was diagnosed with ADD but parents were smart enough to refuse to drug him for it. His struggles were more with school, his teachers couldn't stand him, but other coaches had struggled with him too. Any structure. He did love playing soccer so after struggling through the fist season I gave him a call and had a talk. Said the team was struggling and we really needed to make the best use of the limited practice time we were allotted. Told him he was the only one all the other boys looked up to and I needed him to be captain and help keep everyone focused so we could learn and improve and win more games. Never had a problem with him again. Not trying to brag with that story, just saying that if they love soccer you can find a way to get them on your side. Sometimes you may have to be a little creative about it, if that hadn't worked I would have kept trying other ways. By the way that kid did fine and was a straight A student by the time he got to high school. They moved away before that but he kept playing soccer. I've seen time and again players who were cast off in one setting find another setting and flourish and far surpass they group that thought they were leaving him/her behind. |
Anonymous
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Lot of good points on this thread. The reality is many 'good' coaches get labeled such because their teams win, which means they must be doing something right. But the reality of most winning teams is they have 1-3 special players who make the difference, or they have superior athletes or the coach has recruited well. 'Good' coaches SHOULD be labeled as such because they develop players, regardless if they're athletic, talented or untalented. Good coaches elevate his/her players and help them improve or stay out of the players' way to allow them to explore their creativity...
unfortunately...American culture usually uses wins and losses as the basis to judge youth coaches. |
Anonymous
| The best coach in the world is Jaon Ahmad, girls youth TD in Mclean. |
Anonymous
If you are expecting coaches to be psychologists or miracle workers, good luck finding them. |
Anonymous
Not the PP. I understand why you feel this way. The US Soccer youth development model describes what's desired in coaches at each age group. It aligns with everything the PP has described at least for the youngest of age groups. http://www.wenatcheesoccer.com/doclib/US_Youth_Soccer_Player_Development_Model.pdf Everyone should read it. Parents, coaches, referees. We have multiple kids in youth soccer with younger and older kids now. We've been through many coaches and a few clubs. Most soccer coaches are focused on having the strongest team possible, however that can be achieved. Nothing wrong with that. Most coaches aren't psychologists and no one expects them to be. The PP is saying that a good coach is a compassionate person that connects with their team in more ways than soccer. When a good coach connects with his team, the team functions as a whole and becomes successful together. That's the ideal approach and some might say unicorn and roses or whatever or go play rec. You really have to "want to understand " the age you're coaching and the game of soccer to become a better youth soccer non DA and non ECNL coach. A good coach and person, a good person that cares about their players, is able to see something is wrong and helps a player work through any issues. On the field, when a child struggles, as parents, you hope a coach could mentor them through whatever that might be. Kids struggling isn't always about having difficulty on the field, it could be difficulties at home. To a player, saying a few compassionate words can go a long way. It only takes about 2 minutes and it might change the direction of a player's development quicker than just not saying anything at all. There has only been one person we've known that has connected with their team enough to understand and help them through what is needed. It makes a difference. The team sees the compassion and wants to play harder for a person, the club, and the team. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
Not miracle workers but definitely definitely helps if they enjoy the psychological aspects of coaching. The point is they need to be willing to try to connect with each player as an individual. And there's definitely some luck in who's got which age group, but finding the right coach for your kid is more about putting in the hard work. They may be rare but there are good coaches around here doing great things with their charges. You just have to keep looking and looking and looking until you find one. |
Anonymous
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