rec soccer
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Anonymous
| Im coaching kindergarten soccer for my daughter for the first time. I know nothing. Any tips? |
Anonymous
| I know some K coaches that had printouts of age appropriate drills and guidelines from an online source. |
Anonymous
Are they all pretty good looking mom's? 
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Anonymous
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a) It's just a game.
b) It's just a game. c) Positive first, then suggestions for improvement. d) Don't micromanage during the game. e) It's just a game. |
Anonymous
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Don’t give in to pressure from parents. You’re in charge. If you have a manager, ask her to be a buffer. For many parents this is their first experience with kid sports and they can get nuts.
At this age it’s about fun, as PP noted. You want to foster a love of the game. Camaraderie is very important, as is resilience. Obviously you want to work on foot skills too but within age appropriate parameters. There are many online resources for this. |
Anonymous
| Take on the Kobe Bryant mentality.. Let those girls know. Your either with us or against us. Win or die trying. Mamba out.........(mic drop) |
Anonymous
| Does the League provide any training? If not, that's a problem. I would expect my kid's house soccer coach to at least know the basics of the game and some age appropriate drills and games. Agree that it's not about winning at this age, but it is about learning the game. |
Anonymous
| Snacks after the game are the most important job at that age. Make sure there is a schedule and backups. Make it fun! |
Anonymous
| I started coaching this age when I first started because they needed coaches. I didn't know any better and I just wanted to win...for the kids sake of course. : ) But I soon realized that it's all about making it fun. Your goal should be that EVERY kid is excited to come back next week....even your opponents. The goal is LONG TERM DEVELOPMENT!!! Remember, you are all in the same club and next year, the kids could be on different teams and possibly teammates, etc. Encourage all the players out there. They will keep score for sure. So do your best to manage that. I would reinforce that we are all in the same club and we are practicing against each other to see what we need to improve on and that they will score and we will score. At this age, we didn't have kick offs or any formal restarts. We played 3v3 to Puggs and coaches just rolled the balls in to a player when it went out of play. So we would roll the ball in to players who weren't as aggressive as the others so they got touches. Never tell a kid to clear the ball! Please have the parents relax and only cheer. It's useless to give instructions to the kid with the ball. These kids are so young and undeveloped mentally. It takes ALL their concentration just to dribble. Just imagine what's going through their minds....what direction do I need to go? where is the goal? how do I dribble? where is that bubble bee that just flew by me a second ago? When do I get snacks? They can't pass if they can't get their head up to see the field so don't yell for them to pass. They just can't...yet. Well maybe some can at this age. They will bunch up, I would try to tell one of my kids to try to SNEAK away from the pack and call for a pass and you'll surprise the other team if you get it. They used to like the idea of sneaking away. Lastly, if I could do it over, I would definitely incorporate some athletic, fun games in my practices. Kids don't get much in PE anymore I feel. After a warm of skipping and other coordination movement, try to get them doing cartwheels, doing bear crawls, crab walking, etc. For example...you can do some of these things in some warm up relay races. As to games to play in practice...tag with the ball (look up stuck in the mud), or dribble around knocking down cones (look up builders and wreckers maybe), spider man, Sharls and minnows. Lastly, you need to enjoy it. It's a privilege to work with young kids. Good luck. |
Anonymous
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1 - keep it fun 2 - have fun 2 - don't worry about chaos and craziness in games 3 - focus on basics--improving control of the ball 4 - lots of 1 ball/player activities in training 5 - teach your parents too--how to behave on sidelines and be soccer parents; give all of them responsibilities like taking pictures/videos, making the snack schedule, sending the emails, etc. 6 - keep it fun 7 - have fun . . . n - have fun n + 1 - keep it fun And don't worry if you have a kid who doesn't want to be there no matter what you do, there usually is at least one at that age. |
Anonymous
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The best coaches use fun games at practice.
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Anonymous
| Tic tac toe, sharks and minnows, keep it simple and fun. |
Anonymous
Not just after the game -- halftime too! |
Anonymous
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I'm jealous! I wish I'd started coaching when my kids were that young. It's so much fun!
Don't focus on tactics too early: https://www.footy4kids.co.uk/soccer-drills/tactics/soccer-tactics-and-young-children/ Don't let the parents yell too much (and don't yell too much yourself, during games.) https://www.ayso64.org/Default.aspx?tabid=862219 https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/05/silent-soccer-is-great.html |
Anonymous
| Try to encourage the kids to work with a ball at home. Soccer starts at home! |