Here’s a really simple way to remember some of the key soccer coaching factors that are required in determining your team philosophy and run with it. Using this philosophy for your youth team can be very practical; and simpler than you may think.
The 6 essential factors which are required for an effective youth coaching philosophy are; parents, coaches, excitement, selection, time, and success windows.
Consistent Parental Support: When we talk about soccer training the influence of parents is vital in the mental and physical development of your players, most importantly on the day the match is taking place. It’s not enough just to provide the parents with the brochure, “parental responsibilities” at the beginning of the term. An effective strategy would be is to have regular meetings with them to remind them the essential points and share problems.
Developing soccer coaches: Training of soccer coaches should be an integral part of your philosophy instead of targeting the players. Try and see if you can make one of your kid’s parents to become a soccer coach? They would be most suitable and a great option for the future.
Selection: The greatest reason for players with great soccer skills to lose interest is non-selection. Studies show that players would rather get selected for a bad team out of the fear of getting rejected for a good team. Hence, a fair selection system should be used so that all the players are given equal game time.
Time: The session should be started on time and the parents should also be told to be on time. When the start times and finish times are clearly defined, you can execute the session very well.
Excitement: Is it necessary that every soccer coaching session should be fun? Try to make every session an enjoyable one but also remember that you cannot do it all the time. As such, adopt excitement as an alternate.
At the time of training the kids, it is valid that coaches face problems with ideas on how to make training interesting. Therefore, the biggest obstacle that coaches face is to be creative enough to bring about new drills every now and then.
With soccer drills, it is necessary that you increase the challenges for the kids so that they grow. The best way of doing this is to get started with a game, look for a problem, and then rectify it with a drill.
Success windows: Try and include a success window for the season as a vital part of your training sessions. This needs you to determine a lower limit and an upper limit of time with a view to measure the level of success that needs to be achieved.
As an example, time frame of minimum four and maximum eight weeks. This can be worked out for both the team and individual members.
Do yourself a favor and have a soccer coaching philosophy like this become a part of the development phase of your kid’s training once the basics have been covered. For more information, join our youth coaching community which has a collection of relevant material and resources on youth soccer.
Andre Botelho is the author of “The Expert Youth Soccer Coaching Guide” and he’s a recognized expert in the subject of youth soccer coaching. Learn how to explode your players’ skills and make coaching sessions fun in less than 29 days! Download your free pdf guide at: Soccer Coaching Drills.
Tags: soccer coaching, soccer drills, soccer skills, soccer training