Coaching Overview
Soccer is a
very interesting game because it is taught in almost every country
of the world. Because some countries produce better players than
others we can take advantage of these cross cultured studies to look
critically at what we do in this country in comparison to others.
It is clear that in the US we could do a much better job! More kids
play soccer in this country than any other yet we are unable to
produce more than just a few world class players. US Youth Soccer
national and regional experts have been challenged to explain this. From the many
theories that have been offered three important points stand out.
The first is creating too much pressure for kids to perform before
they have learned the game. The second is attempting to teach
younger players skills that are not developmentally appropriate.
The third is very simple, not making the play of soccer fun.
We allow kids to have fun with soccer by
letting them play freely. Of course we will offer some guidance and
structure but it is actually less than what most youth soccer
coaches presently do. Most of the skills in soccer are learned
while playing, so many of the experts are moving away from ‘drills’
and more to play. At each age there are one or two important skills
that can be specifically focused on and given lots of practice. As
kids move through the age divisions they are learning skills that
build upon each other and the end result is happier and more
successful soccer players.
This ‘progression of learning’ is the same
with all games of cognitive complexity including chess. In the
youth soccer arena paying attention to when the brain of kids is
ready for new facets of the game to be introduced is called ‘age
appropriate’. The correct term should be “cognitive appropriate”
but in our culture kids develop cognitively so consistently by age
that the term 'age appropriate' is acceptable. Most community soccer programs
run by parent volunteers make consistent errors in attempting to
demonstrate and teach complex soccer too early. This will not
likely happen here in Coupeville as that is why this essay about
youth coaching is written. Over the next several minutes of reading
you will begin to see the value of understanding this fundamental
and crucial youth coaching principle.
CWSC overview
Our soccer
program here in Coupeville is the beginning. We get to see the
game played in its most basic form by 5 and 6 years olds. As these
kids are developmentally all about themselves this is a perfect time
to learn the basics of ball control. Stop, go, left, right,
basically do whatever it takes to get the ball around obstacles and
get it into the net. No passing, just dribble and they will love
it. No other technical skills here. Dribble here, dribble there,
dribble everywhere!
By the time 3rd and 4th
grade comes around, kids, and the games they play, begins to take on
a social flavor with cooperation, communication, and teamwork
emerging as new exciting strategies. In soccer this is the magical
age of the pass. Attempting to teach passing prior to this age and
before ball control is learned will be frustrating and most kids
will not understand or enjoy the experience. As coaches it is our
job not to make this common mistake. Work on dribbling at every
practice regardless of their age and skill!
As kids make the transition from elementary to
middle school we typically see variable onset of growth spurts
resulting in a few big, strong kids playing against smaller, less
developed kids. This is a particularly challenging time for coaches
to maintain their focus on technical skill development. Team wins
can be achieved so easily by allowing the game to be dominated by
superior size, strength, and aggressiveness. We are at high risk
during these transitional years for slow physically developing
players to lose confidence and quit the sport. For this reason U-12
can be the most challenging age to teach and also the most
rewarding. Dribble and passing skills are still needed at every
practice!
The brain of a middle 8th grader fundamentally
changes. Repetition for mastery is no longer interesting.
Cognitive challenges requiring abstract thought and indirect
solutions are now quite engaging. Best coaching methods here are to
present a soccer dilemma and let them experiment and think
creatively in finding solutions. Reward and acknowledge this
creativity as it will become one of the games most sought after
player characteristics in competitive soccer. Community soccer
clubs who do not hire professional instructors, like ours, are at
risk of not successfully recognizing and supporting this freedom to
create the game. More on this important topic later.
By age 14 or 15 soccer instruction can shift to
emphasize tactical, competitive concepts. Our mission within CWSC
is to get kids to this exciting point in their soccer journey.
Collectively, we parent volunteers can accomplish amazing results
by creating supportive and challenging environments for each child,
and by sequentially introducing fun, simple, and developmentally
appropriate soccer skills.
Individuality
Each youth
player brings a unique blend of personal, social, and intellectual
characteristics to soccer and it is our objective to support and
encourage the continued growth of this uniqueness. For a small
soccer community like ours to develop quality soccer players we need
to support the many different styles of soccer that our kids bring
to us. The important thing for you coaches to remember is that
there is no one best teaching, coaching, and playing system. It is
interesting to note that many of the best and most creative soccer
players in the world learned the game on their own in the streets
and villages of countries that had little structure for these early
years. Creative solutions to the common situations of soccer are
best solved with young unrestrained brains. Thus it is okay to
simply observe kids playing soccer rather than feeling compelled to
comment on every choice that a child makes. Allowing kids to make
errors and learn from them is a powerful coaching skill that is
effective and preserves individuality.
Winning
In the older age
divisions the most difficult task you will face over the course of
the season is to resist the temptation to make coaching decisions
based on your need to win games. To develop basic soccer skills all
players deserve the opportunity to play all positions. They all
learn to attack on offense and they all learn to defend on defense.
Once again allow all players learn by trial and error. Learning
from mistakes is an essential method for all of us to learn by,
especially kids. Don’t let your need to win interfere with their
need to experience and learn. For example, at U-10 having one
player stay back on defense to kick the ball away when the other
teams attacks is a strategy to win games. The problem here is 2
fold. The other players fail to learn that they are all responsible
to stop attacks and the player staying back gets little action and
the action he or she does get is to just give the ball a big kick,
which is not a valuable soccer skill. Also by focusing too much
attention on winning you may be creating an environment where
players are unwilling to play with risk and creativity, two highly
desirable soccer skills. Find a balance that works for you.
The ‘kick’
To many people
kicking the ball is the game of soccer. In actuality it is not. It
is no more representative of soccer than throwing a basketball is to
the game of basketball. In soccer we either pass or shoot. Just
like in basketball. We do not teach basketball players to just
throw a ball forward and we do not do that when teaching the game of
soccer. In the little kids we teach them to dribble the ball
forward and as they get older and more skillful we teach them to
pass it forward.
Technical Overview
As stated
above the game of soccer has many similarities to basketball. The
object is to maintain control of the ball by moving it around from
player to player to get good opportunities to shoot at the goal. To
achieve this each player needs to be able to control the ball well
enough to prevent the opposing players from stealing it. They also
need to be able to pass it to a teammate with the correct pace and
accuracy. These are the technical skills of soccer that you should
spend time on at every practice regardless of their age. These
skills are not easy to learn quickly and take considerable practice
over time. Watch any professional game and you will be absolutely
amazed at the individual technical skills of the players. Moving a
ball up the field with defenders all around is not easy and takes
many years to learn. Spending time at each practice devoted to
developing these technical skills is another area where community
soccer programs often come up short compared to professionally run
programs.
Fun: Simply stated, if it is not
fun they will not return to play again. Your mission as a coach is
to organize soccer activities that are fun AND teach the
developmentally appropriate soccer skills. You will find that being
a successful youth soccer coach is simply being able to organize fun
stuff that is challenging. I have many soccer activities for each
age that will make you a success! Attempting to win games by
placing emotional pressure on kids to perform is a recipe for
disaster.
Developmental Curriculum
In the
young ages we focus all our attention on ball control skills. Simply
moving around the field with good speed and ability to change
direction if needed while keeping the ball in control. About the
time they master this skill then spacing and passing skills can be
introduced. This usually happens right around age 8 or their 3rd
or 4th season. They will then spend the next 3-4 years
growing and learning to master ball control, spacing, passing, and
simple small group keep away skills.
As a coach you should expect that the first
part of every season should consist of soccer activities that allow
you to gauge where your players are on this continuum of technical
development. Even if they are U-12 you may end of spending the
first third of the season reviewing and mastering ball control and
the correct technique of the pass. As the Director of Coaches and
the Technical Skills Director of our club I have spent time with
each age group developing my own sense of where our players are and
can help each of you make this assessment accurately.
I believe that if you understand this big
picture you can dramatically decrease the time it takes for your
players to move along the continuum of development. Focus your
efforts in practice on creating an environment where kids can be
free to experiment and take risk and find their own style and
solutions. Give advice and show through simple demonstration.
Young children learn by seeing and doing, not listening. Favorably
reinforce a willingness to try new skills even if it was not
successful. Present soccer activities clearly and simply and give
them time to figure out how to find solutions.
For specific developmental curriculum for each
age group click on the hyperlinks on the left upper section of this
page.