Someone who can help players reach their maximum potential.

Def. of a good coach:
Teacher
Patient
Passionate about working with kids
Knowledgeable
Skilled
Customer focused
Free
Rare

Take a look at the SYA U9-U10 coach.....Once you do, think the opposite.

My 10yo DD said this to me recently: What I like about my coach is that we work hard at improving our skills and he motivates us to each do better. The sub coach (b/c of vacation) makes us work really hard for too long without out asking us to improve what we’re doing.

My son's had 1 good coach in all the years....

He knew soccer, holistically. He lived and breathed soccer. He watched soccer with the kids, he played soccer, he referred soccer, his kids played soccer, his family came to most games, he coached soccer.

He was not easy on the kids. We practiced year round, in the heat, snow, ice, rain, etc. Practice was NEVER cancelled. ever.ever.ever. We might stop for a little if there was lightening, but the kids knew there was going to be practice.

Kids did not run because they lost. He did the same practice win or lose. He talked to the kids after a game and never spoke of an old game again...it was over.

The kids played tough, they never flopped, they got fouled and they fouled. We did not stop playing hard because parents were screaming..."that's a foul", "#33 is fouling" "watch #22"... the kids just played. the kids got yellow cards because it is part of the game, not because they were dirty, which is the way some teams think.

the coach never spoke about "development" we played soccer, we learned soccer.

There was never a discussion about college (many play college), or pros (2 kids play pro now).

We played together, ate together, had parties together. The kids bonded, they liked each other and they were friends. They were not just kids they played this season or to get to another level.

one that does not sleep with my mom.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One strong sign of a good coach is what they can do with a weaker team. It is easy to win with a group of studs, and the "better" coaches often get the strong player pool, so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I've only seen a handful of coaches (boys or girls side) that can take a team with a history of losing and without re-inventing the team itself, turn it around. These coaches tend to be invested in the players themselves, which is one reason they get more out of them. And they are dynamic with where they play their players.

So because someone can maximize what they get out of a weak group of players they are a great coach, what happens when that coach gets a good group of players? A lot more thought goes into coaching high level players than weaker players. Technically, tactically, mentally, physically....
If you think that coach can go into an MLS Academy and do the same job he did with a sh**ty travel team you are most likely wrong. Sorry

Wrong again. I've seen rare coaches like this coach Academy too.

A good coach will put in the same amount of effort independent of the level of players they are working with

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One strong sign of a good coach is what they can do with a weaker team. It is easy to win with a group of studs, and the "better" coaches often get the strong player pool, so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I've only seen a handful of coaches (boys or girls side) that can take a team with a history of losing and without re-inventing the team itself, turn it around. These coaches tend to be invested in the players themselves, which is one reason they get more out of them. And they are dynamic with where they play their players.

So because someone can maximize what they get out of a weak group of players they are a great coach, what happens when that coach gets a good group of players? A lot more thought goes into coaching high level players than weaker players. Technically, tactically, mentally, physically....
If you think that coach can go into an MLS Academy and do the same job he did with a sh**ty travel team you are most likely wrong. Sorry

+1

Anonymous wrote:One strong sign of a good coach is what they can do with a weaker team. It is easy to win with a group of studs, and the "better" coaches often get the strong player pool, so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I've only seen a handful of coaches (boys or girls side) that can take a team with a history of losing and without re-inventing the team itself, turn it around. These coaches tend to be invested in the players themselves, which is one reason they get more out of them. And they are dynamic with where they play their players.

So because someone can maximize what they get out of a weak group of players they are a great coach, what happens when that coach gets a good group of players? A lot more thought goes into coaching high level players than weaker players. Technically, tactically, mentally, physically....
If you think that coach can go into an MLS Academy and do the same job he did with a sh**ty travel team you are most likely wrong. Sorry

Are they becoming better soccer players? Are they being pushed to reach potential? Can the coach help them meet their short and long term goals?

One strong sign of a good coach is what they can do with a weaker team. It is easy to win with a group of studs, and the "better" coaches often get the strong player pool, so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I've only seen a handful of coaches (boys or girls side) that can take a team with a history of losing and without re-inventing the team itself, turn it around. These coaches tend to be invested in the players themselves, which is one reason they get more out of them. And they are dynamic with where they play their players.

A good youth soccer coach has to have a very specific skill set.
He or she must first, of course, have a solid idea about how to develop players technically. More than that though, the coach must be able to translate that technique into tactics. That is a HUGE differentiating point in my opinion: how many coaches simply do technical drill after technical drill and end with a game of some sort that doesn't really relate to the technique? A really GOOD coach can take a technical point, create a progression that will allow the coach to see that technique in a playing environment, and then tailor both the technique and the tactics to suit his or her vision. Again, in my opinion, we live in an area where many coaches can do this, but we also live in an area where certain coaches are under the delusion that they are good without knowing enough to know their own deficiencies.
Within the subset of coaches who are on point with what I said above, there also has to be a lot of people skills, and those people skills have to be applicable to both kids and adults. A truly good coach must take an interest in each individual player and come to understand him or her to some degree. Of course, the coach must deal with the entire team in a fair manner, but a really good coach must know how to deal with individual players when they lose confidence, or when they are acting in a manner that negatively impacts the others, or when a player is injured and trying to play through it etc. He or she, especially with girls (IMO) must also be likable but be smart enough to not make that the priority. With adults, the coach must be quick to cut out or silence cancers and must NEVER engage in talking about his or her players with parents. A good coach understands that, try as they may, a parent cannot help but be subjective. It would be ludicrous to leave a parent's kid on the bench game after game because the team is functioning well or whatever an NOT expect blow back. This is especially true if the coach is paid. It takes a great deal of effort and understanding for a coach to navigate parental feelings, but he or she must do so with honesty yet also with compassion.
I would say there are still a great deal of really good coaches in our area based on all of that, but it does thin the ranks. Just my forty cents.

Anonymous wrote:Folks in this forum routinely indicate that a good youth coached team does wonders for your DC’s development.

So what exactly is a good coach? I’m not referring to coaches that yells/screams at his/her players. This is too easy to recognize.

So what does a good coach look like or do? Do they do drills differently, explains tactics well, recognize talented kids, etc?

My U12 DD has had only one coach thus far so I don’t know if he’s great, good or just average. I like his demeanor but I don’t have soccer playing experience to know/recognize a good coach. Please share your knowledge!

If they’re not at vda, they’re probably pretty good.

Folks in this forum routinely indicate that a good youth coached team does wonders for your DC’s development.

So what exactly is a good coach? I’m not referring to coaches that yells/screams at his/her players. This is too easy to recognize.

So what does a good coach look like or do? Do they do drills differently, explains tactics well, recognize talented kids, etc?

My U12 DD has had only one coach thus far so I don’t know if he’s great, good or just average. I like his demeanor but I don’t have soccer playing experience to know/recognize a good coach. Please share your knowledge!