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 that the children are engaged. Engagement correlates with a peak of improvement and there is one way to make sure kids are always engaged. Although, it is not necessarily easy, as a coach you want to plan all your drills to have an element of fun and challenge or change that can create some competition. When coaching, you want to focus sessions on a key skill in one of your initial drills and then usually it is built on later and you make a point of reinforcing it. In the more fundamental skill-based drills you want to be able to create a change simple which allows challenge or competition. This will be discussed later on when I share some of my drills and how I plan them in advance. If, however, it is a simple passing drill, challenges could be anything like introducing a second ball or you count the number of passes to reach a record. These simple changes can boost the intensity and make players switch on quicker and most importantly have fun in what they're doing while practicing a skill. Any small sided games will always help, believe me, kids love games! Playing small games allow kids to practice their skills in a fast paced, game like situation which is essential for them to develop and reinforce the points you need to. Tune in again next week when I pass on more of my information and we will get down to some of my specific tips for drills and planning.