Let me ask you a simple question. In order to coach youth soccer, what 3 things should a coach do? Before you answer this question, it is important to know that youth soccer is all about letting the kids have fun. The spotlight should be on making the exercises exciting and enjoyable so that the kids always look forward to them.
Hence, to teach youth soccer, bear in mind the following conventions. These will allow you to guide the kids to become advanced players.
Let the kids have fun: As I said, youth soccer is all about having fun with the game. As a coach, make sure to regulate your sessions early enough. For example, make them start with warm-up drills that prepare them for the sessions. After that, get to the advanced exercises such as dribbling, passing, trapping etc.
As an addition, motivate the players to think out of the box. Encourage them to try new things and even of they are doing something wrongly, do not interrupt them. Chat about it after the end of the session. Parents need to be actively involved if the game has to be made enjoyable for the children.
To coach youth soccer, it is important since the kids will spend a considerable time with their parents off the field. Ask for cooperation from the parents since it is crucial in keeping a check on their daily diet, regularity in sessions, and encouragement.
Adapt to the age level: Teaching soccer to the youth is generally for kids between 7-14 years of age. At this level, it is very painstaking to find drills that actually make the kids happy. So, research a lot over what games you would like them to play. In addition, it is important to keep the age of the kids in mind while conversing with them as they may not find it easy to understand your instructions if they are too complex.
It makes sense to split the group into two and name them differently. This instills brotherhood. It is advised not to conduct a lot of trials too. A well designed session consists of both new as well as old tricks.
Write the exercises: It always pays to write the exercises on paper along with the results that you are expecting from them. It aids in providing a direction to the team effort. The documentation also helps you in evaluating the progress of the players. If anything requires to be changed, you can easily do so in a written documentation.
You can determine your goals easily too. It is perfectly usual for a few things to go wrong and in that case, you can always get back to the original plan.
It is safe to say that youth soccer is a dynamic, fun-filled, and yet a responsible job. But with these techniques and proper regulation, you will undoubtedly succeed at it.
Test them right way. These powerful techniques on coach youth soccer will make you successful and rope in great results. Subscribe to our youth soccer coaching community where there is a wealth of resources on youth soccer.
Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make coaching sessions fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Soccer Coaching Drills.