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The main difference between adult sports and kids’ games is that you should always remember that the kids sports are not as serious and results-oriented as adult games. You, the coach, and the kids should do it more for the fun of it. Aiming for the gold or winning should be a goal as long as you do not cheat or indulge in unfair practices just for the sake of it.

American culture is competitive, but there’s no call to instill in children the mindset that winning is everything. There are also other things to think about, such as sportsmanship and respect for the other players.

Too often, our children are fed the wrong messages by the media. They see players in fisticuffs, yelling and screaming at the referee, and other such actions; they read articles and listen to and watch commentaries that tell them that violence and cheating for the sake of winning are normal and acceptable.

Often the coach must undo, in practice and on the field, what hours of exposure to these messages do to children. Look around you: adults have disorganized the world enough with their selfish attitudes and disingenuous explanations. Do you honestly want to help pass this down to the next generation?

Teach the kids to accept victory with magnanimity and defeat graciously. The old saying “It’s not whether you win or lose; it’s how you played the game” should be emphasized. You probably already shake hands with the opposing coaching staff after a game, so try having your members thank the opposing team after the game, no matter who won.

Dissuade them from showboating, but don’t go so far as to totally stop acknowledging the good things individuals do – a little attaboy after a fourth touchdown, or an excellent block, is never out of line. Just don’t promote individuals so much that they start acting like they’re better than their team mates. This is demoralizing and disruptive.

As a coach you should inspire your members to give their best and work well with other team members to achieve the team’s goals. You are a role model for the children under your wing, like it or not. What you do impresses them more powerfully than what you say. So always carry yourself accordingly. Strive to emphasize sportsmanship, character, and trust.

Have a Plan

Always plan and think of your goals for the team. Discuss this with your team members. Take into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of each team member. The ages and sex of the members may vary and this should be carefully analyzed by the coach to maximize advantages and minimize the disadvantages. At their times of growth, not all boys and girls are going to develop at the same way or at the same rate.

Warm Up

Warm-up exercises before playing are very important. Some stretching and muscle exercises must be standard procedure before a game. This will ensure less injuries and more agility on the part of the players. They will become better prepared and stay focused as they move on into the game. It also gives them time to adjust from whatever it was that they were doing before – time to settle into the grove of playing team sports.

Keep It Simple

Remember to make your demonstrations of the skills or techniques simple for the kids to follow. Don’t try to cram too much information in one session. Demonstrations should not look complicated or time-consuming. Nor should they be boring; if you notice your team members’ attentions wandering while you’re talking, it’s time to either take a different tack on the subject or go do something else.

Practice! Practice! Practice!

Practice ensures mastery of techniques and skills. It also helps boost the kid’s confidence as they become more familiar with certain moves.

Be Flexible

Always be ready with alternatives should your main plans falter. Maybe doing something differently at that time is the order of the day.

Get Yourself an Assistant

Generals have lots of staff. The President has a whole Cabinet full of them. You’re a general of sorts too, aren’t you? Why don’t you have even one?

You’re not superhuman. It helps if you have someone help you do your job as coach. This would leave you free to concentrate on your players since you wouldn’t have to think about setting the equipment up at the same time. It can also be a lifesaver in emergencies to have another adult around.

Show Respect for Your Players

Don’t be too dictatorial. Be sensitive to the children’s limitations and emotions. Even if they look up to you for guidance and support, you must value their opinions and understand your players’ different personalities. Never humiliate a player publicly. Never corner a player until he or she has no option but to go through you.

If you’re explaining a play, ask them questions like, “What’s the reason for this?” or “Is there anything we should watch out for when trying this out?” The fact that you’re asking them reinforces their self-esteem and makes them feel like they’re an important part of your football team.

Maintain Discipline

Agree on the rules for discipline. Setting this early can lead to a more organized practice not just for one meeting but for the rest of the season. Earn and engage the kid’s respect so they will stay focused on the game and not engage in disruptive activities. If one team is practicing plays, the other players can be doing drills while waiting for their turn. This keeps everyone busy and prevents boredom. Have the assistant supervise one group while you coach the other.

Learn to Differentiate between Normal Roughhousing and Malicious Behavior

There’s no hard and fast rule to this, but call the member aside and talk to them if you feel it’s necessary. Don’t use exercise as a punitive measure. Benching them is more effective, as this deprives them of the chance to participate in the activity that they’re supposed to be engaging in.

Following these tips will assist you in creating a positive coaching environment for your team.

If you’ve always fancied yourself as the next Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho, maybe you’re already involved in playing or coaching football. Maybe you’re considering football as a good way of keeping fit, and want to know more about tactics and techniques. Perhaps coaching your child’s school team isn’t as easy as you thought, or maybe you just want to improve your own playing skills. Whatever the reason, there are many ways of learning how to play soccer, and becoming a better player or coach.

Summer soccer coaching courses in the UK are usually intensive and over a week or longer, and are often run by football clubs. Sometimes the course is staffed by former players, or players coming through the ranks and current players may make a guest appearance. Skills covered range from goalkeeping to shooting, and utilise soccer drills and other coaching methods. Soccer coaching courses can be expensive especially for a family with more than one football playing child and the best ones may not always be local.

Watching a lot of football, and hopefully picking up some skills from favourite players is useful, but not the same as learning how to play soccer from a professional qualified soccer coach. Imagine thinking you could learn to drive by watching a Grand Prix, or that you could learn to be a doctor by watching a TV medical drama.

Learning from books written by players or managers is another way of learning the necessary skills and techniques, but are not always practical on a soccer pitch. Books can be invaluable for the management side of football, and what better way for a new manager or coach to learn than from some of the most successful managers ever. It is difficult, however, for a team to sit round a book to learn a technique for example. Providing a book for each player could prove to be expensive, and may not be the best use of resources.

Using videos can be very effective to analyse all aspects of a match, including evaluating previous performances, identifying potential transfer targets, working out the best tactics and which techniques to work on. Videos can also be used to assess the strengths and weaknesses of opposing teams, and can even be more valuable that a scout’s report. Videos can be shown in a classroom environment so that the whole team can watch and learn. Being able to watch the video again and again, and watch it in slow motion can also be beneficial. The coach or individual players can watch the video independently, and see which areas could be improved.

Websites can combine video, text and images making it ideal for sports and academic learning. There are many online resources aimed at coaching football, and so finding the best one to meet your needs can be daunting. The level of the coach and/or players should be the main deciding factor. A site aimed at people who have no soccer coaching or playing experience will probably not be suitable for a professional club looking to prevent injuries or improve the mental performance of a player. All sorts of lessons can be found within these types of websites, including training plans for children of different ages, soccer drills, how to treat common injuries and much much more. As the player progresses, the techniques become more difficult, and the fitness and stamina will improve.

These types of soccer coaching websites provide a great deal of information and resources, and some sites are endorsed by a well known former player or manager. Learning how to play soccer from a professional coach or player, and being able to see techniques performed properly in real time by professionals, as well as explained in great detail by qualified coaches was previously only available via coaching courses. Now online soccer coaching is becoming popular, it can be invaluable, especially to younger players, who may learn better from watching than by reading. Football coaching websites may also offer help with working towards recognised professional football coaching qualifications As well as techniques and tactics, these websites may cover fitness training, recovering from injury, and sports psychology.

Whilst traditional methods of learning and coaching are still very popular, the rise of the soccer coaching website means that people all over the world now have access to the best coaches, football coaching methods and information, at any time. Professional clubs and players, as well as those at grass roots level can benefit from an internet based football academy. Just think, the club you play for or coach, could now be using the very same soccer coaching methods as the club you support!

One of the most important things that we teach in our youth football coaching program is to know the direction of basic defense. This is something we focus on specifically at our youth football coaching site. This is because if you know the direction of basic defense and apply it in your coaching program, the outcome is that you are most likely to become successful in any youth football game. In our youth football coaching program, we teach our team the fast way to defend and how to defend.

In our youth football coaching program, we have what we call the 5-3 defense. For us, this is the most effective direction of basic defense that you can have. This kind of defense would consist of 8 people: we have 5 down line men and then 3 line backers (defensive backers). These defensive backers usually go to the left, and they must have a striker. Now, the purpose of this defense is to have 8 people as the most technique-sound people: they do not need to be the biggest, nor the fastest; they just have to cover the outside and the inside. And if somebody will pass right at you, then worry not, because you will be in the right position to defend!

The important players in this kind of defense are the Nose Guard (or Nose Tackle), Line Backer and the Tackle. In our youth football coaching program, the Nose Guard is placed in the center area (who acts as the A gap); the Line Backer has the back side A and C, and they do the running (who acts as the B gap); and the Tackle has the back side B (who acts as the C gap). As for the nose guards and the tackles, they will use the technique that become the discipline that they use in the field. They always let the inside leg up (towards the ball). The line men are all linebackers. They do the same footwork drills and the same technique. It should always be remembered that the first step is always to their gap and try to reach the back side back.

In youth football coaching, to have a good program, you should know how to divide and organize the days for the program. This is something that we focus on specifically at our youth football coaching site. Getting the days organized for the youth football coaching program is one factor that should be given of great importance. In this article, you will be able to see how we, in our youth football coaching program, divide the days and organize them efficiently.

The first 3 days of our youth football coaching program is dedicated on learning every step we’re going to take for the rest of the year. We go right from the beginning and into the drills. Among the kids that we have in our team, we determine who’s the best player, who’s the running back, who’s the quarterback; basically who’s going to be the “who” in the field. We let the kids decide on where they would like to position in the field and go anywhere they want. We let any kid do what they want to do based on what they think they can do. Then our coaches evaluate them if they are really fit for their positions. They also learn the basic fundamentals, from starting, stopping, and positioning themselves in the field.

In the 4th and 5th day, we give the kids their pads. In these days of our youth football coaching program we start to see who really wants to play football. We do drills that are designed for aggressiveness, technique and tackle. Everybody participates in these drills. The 6th day is what I consider as the most physical day before the season. In here, we find out who is “there” and “not there” in the game. We determine who is capable of doing the techniques provided in the last 5 days. By this time, we determine the positions or the capabilities of that kind of position. (Now it should be noted that what is being taught in the first 6 days are straight warm-ups, nothing fancy and nothing outrageous.)

Then after the 5th and 6th days we pretty much know where we are going. Our kids are on the right track and they know what we’re doing. By this time in our youth football coaching program we have a general direction about 3 weeks out, as we have already completed a whole week. We’re expecting to see individual people at position at all times. We also give the kids options. We give them options that they’re running backs, linemen, tight end, etc. And in addition to this, one of the biggest things that I find very important when you start the season is to put yourself in a position to scrimmage some of the better teams. In our case, we have high schools that run jamborees and it’s 12,14,16,18 teams get together at a high school and they run 3 sets of 20 players each (10 players in the offense and 10 players in the defense) and you pretty much know by the end of that where you stand.

Now, the last week is basically a “tune up” in our youth football coaching program. You come into this game very prepared by the help of the previous 4 weeks in training and practice. You understand the team that you are playing. You are going to go forward; and move forward as this week goes on. And as the season goes on all the stuff that we’ve learned from day 1 until day 5 are to be continued and elevated everyday. We expect a little bit more every time. And before the first season you should be ready to go on to that field with complete football technique.

So these are the helpful ways on how to divide and organize your days in your youth football coaching program. Organizing and dividing the days in this manner will really help you in achieving your goals for your team!