So you’ve decided to coach kids soccer, congratulations. Coaching kids soccer is not rocket science, so they tell us, but it can be the most frustrating experience leaving you with little to no hair.

Let me ask you; is your coaching regime textbook? Do you follow those training manuals or even copy some of the drills found on the net?

What will separate you from all the other coaches?

Will you enforce your own ideas or will you follow in the failed path of many before you?

Where will you find your great ideas? That’s not really important, what’s important is that you add your touch to the game, your beliefs, your personality.

Where do you find good ideas?

Who cares?

It could be staring outside through a window. It could be reading a label on a bottle or reading the side of a cereal box. It could appear from the corner of your eye as you try and avoid those daggers. It could hit you as you run away from the disgruntled, angry mob (parents). You could find them in magazines, books or even proven training drills.

But your great ideas, your coaching ideas must tackle the status quo. Your ideas must address the problem soccer faces today. Your ideas must help reduce the mass exodus that is kids soccer.

Stop coaching from a book and introduce your ideas and beliefs. John S. Mill (philosopher) once said, “one person with a belief and an idea is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interest”.

If you’re looking for inspiration try love based soccer. It works!

“May the winds of destiny blow you to the stars.”

Let’s admire Christiano Ronaldo for a while.

The Manchester striker has supersonic speed and the safest ball control going around. He scores goals with the greatest of ease. But it’s his ability to run with the ball that is his priceless asset.

Let us emphasize again that in the modern game we should aim at minimizing long runs with the ball which slow the game down unless they open up passages for the quick counter attack. When you run with the ball, usually you prod it in front of you with one of three parts of the foot; inside of the foot, full instep and outside of the instep. A player looking for a career in soccer must be able to use all three variations even if the full instep technique is rarely needed.

Inside of the Foot

We push the ball with the same inside part of the foot that we use for passing. The ankle is loose and relaxed and the foot is turned slightly outwards. The ideal sequence is to use the same foot for every prod or touch of the ball with every second step. When a great player runs with the ball, he gives the illusion of the ball being tied to his foot, with the ball being under his body which gives his opponent no chance of intercepting the ball. The likes of Zidane and Figo were the best at this technique and it seemed like they never lost the ball.

Full Instep

This is the most difficult of the three techniques. We keep pushing and prodding the ball with the full instep about where the bootlaces are. The foot is turned down towards the ground and it hits the ball near the top. The real advantage of this method is that the running style is more continuous.

Outside of the Instep

The foot is turned inwards and we keep pushing the ball with the outside of the foot which all but embraces the ball. When the opponent is running alongside or parallel with us, we keep the ball on the foot away from him on his blind side, preferably with the inside of the foot or outside of the instep.

When the opponent is approaching directly ahead, we lead the ball with the inside, giving us a better chance to dribble past him. With beginners or kids begin coaching with the inside of the foot variety. First let them walk with the ball, taking care of their balance, the distance between the foot and the ball and the direction. Later, when the kids get the hang of it we can speed this up, first through jogging and then running with the ball.

Let’s teach youngsters to be able to use both feet. The ultimate is the player who can run with the ball, pushing it ahead of him with both feet, changing direction whenever necessary, slowing down and speeding up to get rid of an opponent. South Americans are the master of this technique, shielding the ball perfectly and changing directions with the slightest movement of the hips. The English on the other hand prefer the direct, energetic sprints which may appear more spectacular but where the ball may be lost from the foot.

When training youngsters always remember to encourage, be patient and train them with the biggest smile you can produce.

Do you have a coaching philosophy? Have you put pen to paper and actually developed your coaching philosophy? If you have, fantastic, great start. Are you upholding your coaching philosophy throughout the season?

For those of you that asked, “what’s a coaching philosophy?’ I’m glad you asked. A coaching philosophy reflects the standards you set for yourself and your team and it gives birth to your coaching values and belief. Before you decide to call yourself a soccer coach, make sure you’ve established your coaching philosophy.

Calling yourself a coach without a coaching philosophy is like driving a car without a license or embarking on a road trip without your trusty melways. The importance of a coaching philosophy is that it keeps you on track when things go wrong and helps keep the angry parents at a safe distance during the season.

But just a word of warning, even with a coaching philosophy penciled in and firmly placed, this does not guarantee you anything as a coach. The difficulty begins when you need to enforce it or adhere to it. Let’s use some examples to illustrate these difficulties shall we….

A few disgruntled parents approach you and question why the team is not winning more games. You quickly refer to your philosophy that states that winning is not as important as player development while you simultaneously wipe the sweat off your forehead.

John’s dad questions why the lesser skilled kids are receiving as much playing time as the team’s best players. You refer back to your philosophy that states that all players will receive the same amount of playing time irrespective of their abilities.

The presence of your coaching philosophy eliminates any surprises throughout the season. Explaining your soccer philosophy to the parents before the season commences eliminates any unnecessary headaches and provides answers to most questions that might arise during the season.

Your coaching philosophy is extremely important. Don’t just put pen to paper, really concentrate and put the necessary time in. In the long run, your coaching philosophy will reflect not only who you are as a coach, but also as a person. Lead your players in the right direction and instill values and beliefs that you want your own children to have. If you can accomplish this, your team will be champions irrespective of their win-loss ratio. Put things in perspective, coaching soccer at junior level is not the bigger picture is it?

If I was coaching, my philosophy would read,

The coaching staff of Soccer Mastermind FC understand that your children play soccer because it’s fun.

Here at Soccer Mastermind FC, we never forget that the game of soccer is just that, a game. It’s not about the win-loss ratio and its definitely not about the trophies. It’s all about enjoying the game while simultaneously learning and developing soccer and life skills.

It’s about sharing and playing in different positions so that all the players learn the necessary skills. It’s about receiving equal playing time irrespective of playing ability.

It’s about learning the game through a variety of fun games, where players have as much contact with the ball as possible and develop and learn at their own pace without pressure.

Parents are involved and encouraged to applaud, praise and show their appreciation while fetching the balls.

If parents are given this at the start of the season and agree to it, everyone involved will have a great season irrespective of the league ladder.

A survey was conducted in 1987 by the Australian Sports Commission- They interviewed and surveyed young children that were participating in the game of soccer. The questions varied, but here are some crucial questions asked.

• What do you enjoy about participating in sport (soccer)? The answers were provided so they had to select the most appropriate and place them in order.

1. Improving their skills.
2. Playing the game.
3. Having a good relationship with the coach.
4. Playing in the team (not sitting on the bench).
5. Being with friends
6. Having an exciting close game.
7. Competing and trying to win.
8. Wearing the correct uniform and gear.
9. Beating their opponents.
10. Winning medals or trophies.

• Children were asked to complete the sentence, “The most important thing about soccer is…….”. The children answered by placing the following statements in their specific order

1. To play as well as you are able.
2. To have fun.
3. To be fair.
4. To beat your opponent.

• Children care and feel strongly that:

1. All players in the team should have an equal opportunity to play in matches.
2. It is more important for all players to play than for the team to win.
3. Learning to play the game is much more important than winning matches.

• If the children were allowed to give some advice to the coach, this is what they would say…..

1. Don’t yell so much.
2. Teach us more.
3. We want more involvement.
4. Let us express ourselves.
5. Encourage us more.

Throughout this case study it is clearly evident what the children want. The common theme from all the answers was, the children wanted to improve their skill and develop as players. They wanted to be active and have fun with their friends, rather than win soccer matches. So whats the problem and the main reason why children stop playing the game they love?

In countries, such as Australia, soccer is not seen as the number one sport and the children don’t organise themselves as much and the game has developed in a more structured manner based on an adult system. The problem stems from the high level of adult involvement! Can you tell me why this is a problem? Above we have the answers to why children play soccer, straight from the children’s mouth. Adults, although with the best intentions, apply pressure to their children and enforce an adult definition of success. Success can have many definitions and outcomes, but in this case, “you are successful as a coach and as a player only if you are winning games.

“Winning games!” The children aren’t worried about winning games at a young age. Check the above list, it ranks last in every question. There is nothing wrong with winning, but having this as the sole criteria and objective in junior soccer is very limiting and harmful. Do you ever wonder why parents yell and scream abuse at junior soccer games? When winning is the only objective, it leads to some of the ugliest scenes in junior soccer, such as hysterical and abusive shouting by both coaches and parents and even club officials.

When children are exposed to abuse like this it results in too much pressure being placed on them. What was supposed to be fun and enjoyable, now becomes scary and highly emotional. The drop out rate from junior soccer is far too high and this is due to the over emphasise placed on winning games combined with the bad behaviour of coaches and parents.

Just remember next time your watching junior soccer, the children playing are not little adults. What they want is clear for everyone to see. Read through their answers again and try to enjoy the experience.

A good Soccer Coach must be able to demonstrate and carry out the following 11 Steps.

1. Must have basic knowledge of Soccer and have an appreciation for developing kids. The coach must be aware of the different physical development of boys and girls. The coach must also be able to discover the childs limitations and not push past these limits.
2. Must make an effort to distinguish between different children and accomodate for all different personalities. What seems to be accepted by one person doesn’t necessarily mean it’s accepted by another.
3. Must understand all the children in the team. Some children are in the team and take it very seriously while others are forced into participating by parents or are playing because all their friends are playing.
4. Must realise and accept that all children are individuals and are at different levels of matrity. Be it differences in physical or emotional maturity.
5. Needs to accomodate children with disabilities and be sensitive of children coming from different social, economic and racial backgrounds. At no stage are you to segregate players according to their background. Each player/ child should be treated the same to make them all feel part of the team.
6. Must be skilled at teaching the basic fundamentals of soccer. Skill development is the major reason kids play soccer. As the kids abilities and skills improve, so does their enjoyment.
7. Teaches young soccer players to enjoy success and to respond to failure with renewed determination.
8. Has more than winning a soccer game in sight. Long term goals of helping young children develop physically, psychologically and socially should take precedence over winning a soccer match. A soccer coach dealing with young children should emphsise the important values of life in correlation with soccer.
9. Emphasises improvement, competence and striving for excellence.
10. Help children develop positive self-images and teach standards of conduct that are accepted and rewarded by society.
11. Teaches and demonstrates conduct and values that reflect desirable values.
12. Last but not least, a child should never be exposed to any forms of neglect or abuse. The soccer team should be looked upon as the child’s second family and feel the love and trust of a family atmosphere.

A successful soccer coach for kids should convey the following traits

1. joy of competition
2. the importance of effort
3. self image and character building
4. power of kindness
5. wisdom of honesty
6. a good influence
7. rewards co-operation
8. must display patience.