Well, Buck found out on Monday that he's the head coach of a bunch of 8-9 year olds at the YMCA. It's been many moons since I played youth league soccer, but I remember the basic stuff, so I'm hoping that some of you soccerphiles out there might be able to provide some useful info.
I was just going to ask the same thing....I am coaching my son's 4 year old team. Last night was our first practice, we worked on learning to stop the ball with our feet, and passing to a teamate across about 10 yards or so...then we kicked a few in the net...then we dribbled the ball for 10 yards and then kicked it in the net. It was a blast. I love having a whistle.... DD
Corrupted by power already ehh DD DD you will have a hard enough time teaching positions, and getting them to actually play in those positions. I always remember watching the little kids all following the ball while like 3 kids stayed in position, but often they would be playing with the grass or siting down or something like that. Buck I dont know how advanced these kids are but teaching kids how to square is key. and give and go stuff. inbed in them that just pounding the ball as hard as they can and as gigh as possible in not always best. I know i thought it was when i was 8 and if they really see to know the rules, try and let them know its a game of posession. they do not always have to move forward to be making progress. passing back but keeping the ball is 10 times better than making a useless pass forward, or trying to force your way past a defender when you can just be patient and hold posession. also encourage them all to watch the Womans World cup on TV this month. it is good soccer and it will show them how the game is supposed to play.
Every kiddie soccer game I've ever seen just has a big blob of 20 kids all moving in one direction for about 50 feet, then moving in the other direction for 50 feet. Every once in a while, a kid manages to break off the blob and kick a goal...
From word problems from 4th grade math - does that make 9 MILFs? or would it be15 MILF's? I suppose Rocketman95 could answer it best. Clock is ticking...
I started playing organized soccer at age 10 so I kind of remember what it was like. During the games, we generally played in our positions. There was no strategy during the games and the coaches didn't even try to coach during the games. Basically, they would manage the substitutions and just tell us we were doing a good job. At practice, there were drills and they tried to teach fundamentals. We all hated that and just wanted to scrimmage. Even though the lessons may not have kicked in and were completely out the window during the games, later the drills made us all better soccer players. I also remember that we had a contest before each game to determine the captain. Whoever could kick the ball the greatest number of times without letting the ball hit the ground would be captain.
I coach at the Y also. 6 and 7's. We won last week 10-0, so my "you don't win, you don't get snacks" is working out real well. I teach my kids spacing, to avoid the A-Train amoeba; sweet spots on the field, particularly avoiding the amoeba near the goal; and most importantly the starts and stops for each position. I want them to know if they are a mid-fielder, they can go this far on offense or this far on defense, same for forwards, and defenders. They each learn their role. A Drill I use is starting with the defender, pass to the midfielder, who passes to the forward, the forward dribbles and scores. Three lines working at once, right, left and center. I have each player follow the ball, but stop at the position where they should no longer follow the ball. It worked to perfection in week 1, perfect spacing, good passing, almost avoided the amoeba all together. I attribute their success to my Lombardi game day speech: "Look some of you will be good as soccer, some of you will be horrible, and exactly 2 of you will end up stars in the porno industry*" *From Will Ferril's Class Day Harvard speech - hilarious stuff; e-mail me if you want a chain joke. Good luck. And remember at the Y to have FUN. And also remember it is more FUN to WIN!
OH MY GOD. That has got to be the smartest thing I have ever heard. I do need to become a soccer coach. MILFS. I work at a grocery store, so I see lots of MILFs every day. But Soccer Mom. WOW. where do i sign up? I don't have any kids. I could get by.
Right now, they just all have to learn the same skills. First thing to teach is control while running. So LOTS of running with the ball AROUND idle objects. Thats is definitely FIRST. Once they get decent at that, you start getting them to pass the ball to each other. After that, teach them the different ways to shoot the ball at the goal. So now, they know how to run, pass, stop the ball at their feet, and shoot. Once everyone is acclimated to this, you start teaching ideas. What they should do, shouldn't do. Not tun in groups, and to help each other out at all times on the pitch. If you get them to do this stuff relatively regularly, after a while, you'll start seeing them grow into the soccer player that they should become. You'll see how some are better at shooting, some passing, and some defending. That is the best part about coaching kids, when you see them growing into their future role on the pitch.
Buck - I don't know squat about soccer, but I have had six seasons of coaching baseball and basketball to 8 - 11 year olds over the last 3 years. Some general observations: 1. If you remember the soccer basics, that's good enough. 2. Don't take the losses/disappointments too seriously, the kids sure don't. Just remember the sodas for after the game, and everything will be cool. 3. Plan your practice time and keep the practices moving. Everyone should have something to do at all times. The vast majority of practices for kids team sports involve incredible amounts of time with kids standing around doing nothing. They get bored and lose interest. 4. Good luck with the MILF's. We expect a post-season report.
You have to do it in stages. Set out definite goals - in this fun, fitness and team oriented goals. Define roles and importance of selflessness and what you expect from them. Also expect to the parents how you intend to run your "ship" so that there will not be a "assault" Then proceed to work on various skills including and not limited to; 1. Heading 2. Trapping 3. Throw-in 4. Passing 5. Chesting etc. When I coached those little kids, I often went of my way to purchase healthy fruits drinks and snacks as a post match reward for their hard work - win or "lose". I always tell them nobody loses in those kind of matches. Though my competitive side always wants me to field my best players, I try to always make sure I give equal amount of playing time to all the kids. Always bear in the mind the primary objective of this noble task you have undertaken - to build those young kids physically and emotion. No extremes. Don't get too emotional. Don't let any parent get to you. Stay withing proper perspective. Finally have fun and improvize if you have too.
You forgot number six. 6) flopping, and then grab your leg like it is broken. Then have the trainers put you on a streacher, and wheel you outside of the touch lines. Then one minute later, you run back on the field like nothing ever happened.
Which one? I'm at Weekley. VOR: Whacha mean by "how to square"? It's only been 10 years since I played in HS. Thanks for the tips all.
Clear Lake.YMCA. Best of luck, Buck. It's fun to watch the kids grow and lose their timid ways. I have one girl returning from last year, who never got within 10 yards of the ball all season, she was like Pluto to the ball's Sun. This year in game 1, she had three clean take downs, TAKE DOWNS while going for the ball! I had to put her as a defender because I was afraid she was going to hurt herself/someone else. One tip, set up a chart with the number of kids on your team. A grid with 4 columns, one for each quarter. Example: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Player 1 M F D G Player 2 F D G Sit Player 3 G F D M (sorry if it was already self explanatory) I make sure each child plays 1 quarter of each, defender, mid-fielder, forward and rotate goalies each quarter. That is the best way to make sure that all the kids play and get a taste of each position. It's methodical, but it allows you to stand on the sideline, not worrying about doling out PT, freeing up time to laugh at things like takedowns before yelling "NOW TALK SOME TRASH AFTER THAT TAKEDOWN!!! NOT IN MY HOUSE!!!! TALK SOME TRASH!!!". Then realizing your at the Y, yell "It doesn't matter if you win or lose, just have fun" p.s. I'm no expert, but have found the above to be fair for all the kids.
Well, I dont have any firsthand experience with soccer, but I can tell you all the drills we do in lacrosse, which as far as I can tell, would work well with soccer. First off, we start by running laps around the field. Then we do line drills - dominant side, non dominant side, passing skills, etc... Then we usually go to three man weave, star drill, 2 v 1's 3 v 2's, 4 v 3's offense outnumbers defense, then defense outnumbers offense, one on one drills, (all of these you should take to goal) then we usually end where everybody takes shots at the goalie.... yay for me cuz i'm the goalie. if you have any questions, lemme know. I'll be back on later tonight after practice
