Anyone coached kids soccer before?

[Queasy]

It is a U6 (under 6) soccer league. We signed my son up since this is the first sport he will be old enough to be eligible for. Apparently they have a coach shortage so I'm thinking of volunteering. It is an introductory league where they teach "KINS" (Kicking Is Not Soccer).

On one hand, I think this would be a pretty good experience. On the other hand, I'm not sure if I have the patience required for a whole group of 4-6 year olds! LMAO

KINS

 

[John P]

Yup, coached both my boys teams since Kindergarten, they are 4th and 6th grade now.

Pick up a couple of good books and a video or two. Organize some practice plans ahead of time and have lots of back up drills planned. They'll eat you alive if you are not prepared

Go here, do a thorough search and read up before you post, most new coach questions have already been asked:

and-again soccer coaching forums

Click on "Coaching Discussion Forum". Looks like they are down for maintenance at the moment.

 

[Mursilis]

Done 4 seasons, ages 4-7. Easy stuff, especially at that age. Just remember, coaching the young'uns is no time to try out your Bill Cowher/Mike Ditka methodology. Just have fun with it!!

 

[MichaelD]

Don't do it. Sure; it's fun teaching and watching them grow, blahblahblah.

But guess what? After the very first game:

1. Parents will come to your house, banging on the door, demanding to know why Johnnie was benched.

2. Parents will send you hate email b/c little Susie only played 59:00 out of the 60:00 game.

3. Angry soccer moms will physically attack you in the local supermarket parking lot b/c you benched Tommie at practice last week. After all, him kicking you in the nads was just him "Acting out his inner child" just like his psychologist told him to do.


Coaching any children's sport has nothing to do with wanting to make their little world better. It's about your Sadomasochistic desires for abuse, pain and terror at the hands of your peers.

You've been warned.


/marks topic to check back a few months from now

 

[dud]

Just bring a gun to protect yourself from the "MAD" soccer parents. You'll need it.

 

[theknight571]

If you do coach... make sure to hold a parents meeting at least once, if not more often, and try to get them involved... You'll need the help.

There are parents on my kids hockey team that wouldn't know anything about the coach if it weren't for those of us that have been on his team for 3 years now.

Also make sure to tell parents to talk to the kids about listening during practice/games/etc. Don't be afraid to make them run laps/sprints. As long as you make it clear to all what you expect and what the consequences will be, you should be fine.

IMO... At this age...above all...try to make it fun. If they hate it now...they won't play it later.

 

[DrPizza]

I've coached little kids before... it's very rewarding. I'd rather coach kids under 8 or maybe under 10 than any other age group.

Advice: don't do the drills that everyone seems to believe are important to developing skills. They're a waste of time with little kids. There are tons of games that are simple to play, and simple to understand the rules of. The games are a lot more fun for the kids to play than doing repetitive boring drills such as dribbling the ball around a bunch of cones.

Examples:

Get 2 or 3 hula hoops (or more, depending on the number of kids you have.) Spread them out on a field. Give the majority of kids a ball, and have 2 or 3 kids running around without a ball. Hula hoops are safety zones. The goal of the kids is to get their ball from one hula hoop to any other hula hoop to score a point. The goal of the kids without the balls is to intercept the other kids balls and kick them away as far as they can. What's learned: kids automatically learn to look up at where they're going and who is around them while they're dribbling. Kids learn to keep the ball near to them while dribbling (rather than kick it 20 feet and run after it)

Another game: red light/green light... play it with soccer balls.

Monkey in the middle - played with 3 players in a triangle and one person trying to intercept the ball. Teaches passing skills, control, and how to play around defenders. Later, once the 3 players have learned to dominate the one person, you can add in a 2nd person to work on intercepting the ball... this teaches the kids not to bunch up on defense (as is natural at that age level.)

You don't have to tell the kids what skills they're learning, or the best strategies for each of the games. The skills come naturally and the kids rapidly figure out the best strategies. About the only thing that may help during the games is to yell to the kids to "Play monkey in the middle" - if the other team is bunching up on defense, your kids will creme them if they remember how well they can keep the ball away from the opponents while playing that game. Yelling "don't bunch up" is futile.

As the kids get better and better at the games they're playing, simply experiment with adding simple steps to the games. Example: after they've mastered the skills for monkey in the middle while they're more or less standing still (of course, the defenders do a lot of running), switch it so that the kids have to play monkey in the middle, but also move themselves from one end of the field to the other. When you stop and think about it, that's exactly what you want the kids to be able to do - pass the ball back and forth, avoiding defenders, while moving the ball down the field.

One other thing - the more games you play that require the cooperation of 2 or more players, the more you're naturally going to build teamwork.

 

[GasX]

When I played in high school, I was recruited to ref the little kidddy games. It may have been one of the worst experiences of my life.

A 17 year old being forced to herd cats while getting yelled at by angry parents and copy-cat children for $10 is just not a good time.

Imagine you are reffing a game where there are 3 callable fouls per second and you just call the ones that directly affect the flow of the game so that the kids can actually get some exercise between stops. The parents only see the fouls that involve little johnny's shins and literally scream at you when you fail to call them. Meanwhile they get pissed and scream more when you blow the whistle for little johnny's blatant transgressions. The kids see all this screaming and then figure it is okay for them to start yelling at you too.

 

[mugs]

4-6 year olds? NO WAY.

It's good that they're teaching them kicking is not soccer though - hopefully they actually learn it. I remember playing at the 6-8 year old level it was just one big pack of kids following the ball around.

 

[CPA]

I've coached kid's soccer and currently coach kid's football. Both were rewarding.

As for the parents, if you lay the ground rules at the beginning of the season then they usually won't give you a hard time. I've coached for 6 years in football and have never had a parent angry with me. I listen and I'm prepared if they have questions or concerns.

 

[Baked]

Lesson #1 - Head butt your opponent in the face.
Lession #2 - Slide tackle your opponent's ankle.
Lession #3 - Flying elbow to your opponent's jugular.
Lession #4 - Flop like somebody kicked you in the nuts.

 

[CPA]

Originally posted by: mugs
4-6 year olds? NO WAY.

It's good that they're teaching them kicking is not soccer though - hopefully they actually learn it. I remember playing at the 6-8 year old level it was just one big pack of kids following the ball around.

We call it "Magnet Ball".

 

[DrPizza]

Hey... I just checked your link...

Exactly... you've got to teach the kids not to just boot the ball and chase after it... Games are far more effective for the kids than stupid drills at that age level.

And, re: the concerns of people above about parents... There is *absolutely no reason* why a goal of winning games should trump having all players play an equal amount of time. During the games, that's where you're going to be going nuts - keeping track of the amount of time the individual players have played. I have never had a parent complain that their kid didn't play enough. I make it clear up front that at this age level, I am absolutely not going to bench players with poorer skills in favor of players who are stars. If your primary goal for this age group is simply to win games, then don't even bother coaching. There are already too many coaches who over-emphasize winning for these young players. Especially for the under 6 players, the goal is for the kids to learn some skills and have fun. No parent is going to criticize you for helping the players to enjoy the game. If you're out for blood, and insist on winning every game, then the only parents who are going to enjoy your coaching style are the parents of the kids who stand out as athletes. The rest of the parents will pull their kids out of the league within a year or two, which is a shame, because many of those players simply haven't matured enough physically to be skilled yet. I coached an 8 year old who by himself could score on a team of 12 year olds - I wasn't doing my job if I didn't teach that kid how to use team-work. I bribed him with a little extra playing time every time he passed the ball to a team-mate and the team-mate scored a goal from his pass... No parents ever complained about that either - the star's parents thought he deserved more time, since he was so skilled (he went on to be a high school stand out), and little Suzie's parents were thrilled that although Suzie spent 2/3's of the time on the field picking dandelions, she scored a goal - an accomplishment that thrilled her and she never would have done without cooperation from the other player. ("I'll give you 3 extra minutes of playing time if instead of kicking it in yourself, you pass it to Suzie right in front of the goal. Suzie, he's going to pass the ball right to you in front of the goal.") 12 years later, Suzie still calls me coach when she sees me, her parents always take the time to say hello when they see me as well. She went on to be an excellent player in high school... but she picked more dandelions than kicked balls while playing at the younger age level.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: Queasy
It is a U6 (under 6) soccer league. We signed my son up since this is the first sport he will be old enough to be eligible for. Apparently they have a coach shortage so I'm thinking of volunteering. It is an introductory league where they teach "KINS" (Kicking Is Not Soccer).

On one hand, I think this would be a pretty good experience. On the other hand, I'm not sure if I have the patience required for a whole group of 4-6 year olds! LMAO

KINS

i've coached girl's softball (10-12 y/o).
it's a blast. kids are generally receptive and respectful, at least around here.

 

[DrPizza]

Oh, one more thing... The league I was in (and I was a charter member of the board when it became incorporated) emphasized the fun aspect of the sport vs. putting winning above all else. It was not tolerated to have kids benched for an entire game. We also did not tolerate unruly parents, and frequently told parents that we had higher standards for behavior on the sideline than did Little League. If they continued to scream at refs or coaches, they would be asked to leave the field.

But, it is amazing at how little understanding the parents have of many of the rules... off-sides is probably the best example.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
But, it is amazing at how little understanding the parents have of many of the rules... off-sides is probably the best example.

Heh...I officiated soccer for the college rec leagues and even some of these college age kids have any understanding of off-sides.

I don't think that will be a problem with a U6 league though because there is no off-sides.

 

[John P]

For a good parents letter, go here and read the text in blue (about the 5th post down):

"Parenting - SI article" thread at and-again