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What are you in for?

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What are you in for? Welcome to the realm of children's soccer. Whether it is for school, club or social, between the ages of six to twelve, it is essential for kids to learn correct techniques and have a positive outlook on the sport. As a coach of U12s myself, I have put in countless research hours on how to effectively coach children and the impacts a coach can have. If you are reading this my assumption is that are going to be in a coaching role and whether it was your choice or not, it is not necessarily an easy task. So, don't fret because I am here to help! I will provide you my tips for engagement, drills and how to teach strategies as well as your impacts. So, stick with me because you're about to embark on a massively rewarding journey and if you do it right, you may just get a  kick  out of it.   Engagement  A key fact that I need to express to any first- time coaches or anyone who just wants to be better at the role, is that you need to make sure t...
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Drills and Planning

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Drills and Planning  Now that I have given you something to think about and you're starting to understand how important planning is, I want to try make it a little easier. Although you need to be well planned, most of you probably have jobs and not a lot of time to plan drills. So, I am just going to discuss a few simple examples to get you guys started, and once you know your individuals and what needs to be worked on you will be a pro at modifying and extended your drills and ideas. If I am being honest, some of my best drills, I have completely made up by dribbling on scrap paper. It's not hard, but a key feature is ensuring there is a direct purpose of what you are going to teach in a drill and how long you will do it for.  Passing is super important to soccer and you should try to focus on it for at least ten minutes every session. A simple yet effective drill is to have a circle or rectangle like above, keeping the ball off of one or two defenders in the middle. Inste...
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Your Impact

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 Your Impact I do hope by this stage I haven't scared you off. If you're still reading it does mean you're committed which is very important. I have given you a lot to think about but the fact is that a coach can have a huge impact on a young player's overall career, scary hey? Well if you do it right you will have a positive impact and it is not hard. I cannot stress this enough, you don't have to know everything about soccer but, you do have to know how to be a good role model. The way kids play is massively affected by the effort a coach puts into them. A good coach should know the needs of their players but fairly give attention to all and put in the time. A good coach needs to be able to give individual feedback that is supportive and positive.  The way we talk to kids can really affect them and a coach needs to be so careful with words, on our children's precious ear's. If you tell a child a drill is hard they will find it hard. If you  hype them up  a...
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