Coaching Youth Soccer?

Effective coaching of youth soccer teams can be daunting to new soccer coaches and even seasoned coaching pros have their moments. It is not an easy task to get a bunch of wild kids to play in harmony without having a nervous breakdown, never mind putting together a winning team.

Take it from me, it is not as difficult to be a winning coach as many folks think. You can have practices that the kids will enjoy and games in which you win most of the time. In my twenty-plus years of coaching youths from ages 5 to 16 in both travel and recreational soccer, my teams have never come in less than second place and most of the time we were the champions and there were no superstars that carried the teams, just regular players just like on your team. I say all this not to boast, I'm not the most skilled coach around, but to illustrate that you, as an adult, can get your kids to win. You don't need superstars. You just need team players and the right method to get them to play together. A well organized team will always outperform a team with merely a superstar or two.

The one strategy that has produced teams of well playing youths involves their self-esteem. My success with soccer kids stems from my one-on-one time with them and treating them like individuals and great achievers. I make each one feel important and explain exactly how he or she contributes to the team. I also let them know that I expect them to make mistakes because that is how you grow and that means that you are trying new and better things.

Sometime throughout our normal practices and then reinforced at every game, I take one of the kids to the side with my arm around their shoulders and say something like, " You know, John, I've been watching you and I think that you are one of the best forwards I have ever seen". And I say a few more words about their abilities and walk him or her back to the others as practice continues. I do this with each player, maybe one per practice or so, so that it is not a noticeable thing.