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Can anyone direct me to resources for coaching kids' soccer?

F

Fausto

Elite Member
I have been roped into coaching my son's team (4-5 year olds). I played as a kid and enjoy watching soccer but I know basically nothing about coaching....much less coaching kids this age.

Day 1- Slide tackles

Day 2- Pretending to Fall Down and Be Severly Injured In Order to Draw a Yellow Card


...and so forth. 😛
 
Just have them do simple passing and dribbling. At that age its all about fun. You can also make up games to keep them interested.

I've played for 17 years. Teaching them how to fall will be invaluable when they get older and knocked over.
 
saratoga172 said:
Just have them do simple passing and dribbling. At that age its all about fun. You can also make up games to keep them interested.

I've played for 17 years. Teaching them how to fall will be invaluable when they get older and knocked over.
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Yeah I am primarily thinking "keep it simple". Dribble to that line and back, dribble through the cones, learn to pass and trap the ball, etc.
 
I used to get in fights at soccer practice. Myself and another kid would always beat up this fat ass who always started shit with us. Eventually when we would fight, everyone would just stop practicing and watch us fight, even the coach. Hilarious.
 
4 and 5 year olds? Just keep them moving for 30 minutes. Rapid fire simple things.

everyone run to that cone and back!
line up and take a shot at goal
everyone dribble to that cone and kick the ball back to me
run in place for 20 seconds
go get a drink of water
2 lines - 1 passes to 2, 2 shoots
everyone yell loudly - YEAAAAAHHHH!!!
line up - coach rolls ball, kid chases it down and dribbles back. go get a drink of water
team huddle

go home and drink
 
having coached 4-5 year olds before, there is nothing to teach really other than.

Don't use your hands.
Don't push people.
Listen to the whistle.
Some passing/dribbling.

and use the things Gasx said for practices.

4-5 y/o soccer is like herding cats, it's madness.
 
4-5 is really too young to teach technique or anything like that. I doubt you can teach kicking with the laces or inside of your foot at that age, for example.

Run, dribble, pass, shoot...that's about all you can do.
 
rcpratt said:
4-5 is really too young to teach technique or anything like that. I doubt you can teach kicking with the laces or inside of your foot at that age, for example.

Run, dribble, pass, shoot...that's about all you can do.
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My five year old can do much of that stuff, but that's from me teaching him 1v1. Team practice sessions such as we have before games on Saturday morning are just about wearing the kids out so they take a nap. The parents will thank you.
 
GasX is totally correct...just keep em busy.

at that age, no matter what you do in practice, they are going to spend games running around the ball like a rugby team in a scrum.
 
Even at 10, my kid/teammates herd up around the ball until it squirts out. Hilarious when they were younger. Not so much now but I still enjoy going.

Unless your child decides not to play, you're probably on the hook for several more years.
 
highland145 said:
Even at 10, my kid/teammates herd up around the ball until it squirts out. Hilarious when they were younger. Not so much now but I still enjoy going.

Unless your child decides not to play, you're probably on the hook for several more years.
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Yeah, I'm aware of this. Thing is, my son is super-duper-mega into sports, so I really don't mind.
 
Been a while since my kids were that little, but now it's the grandkids. Important things that I remember are

1. pass the buck - er, delegate. most parents love to get involved but don't want to be in charge - get them to do any actual work. If any parents are good at soccer, get them to demonstrate something and then supervise the kids trying to do what was demonstrated
2. often, the hardest part is making sure everybody knows where & when soccer practice is - schedule changes, iffy weather, field availability etc. figure out a fool-proof way to notify everybody and you're golden
3. refreshments are vital. 4-5 year olds will die a horrible death if not fed at practice
4. end-of-season party - plan it early.
5. soccer moms - learn to deal with them. If they're on your side, your life will be easy.
6. Let the soccer moms handle the soccer dads, don't get involved with the aggressive dads if you can possibly avoid it.
7. Find out which parent is in the medical business and rely on them to tell which injuries, if any, are serious.

Have fun. At this age they're so adorable.
 
i googled this game that my daughters played when they were the same age range and playing soccer called "sharks and minnows". i found it on this site http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/soccer_games_for_young_children_part2.htm# which has other games you can play as well.

basically, the kids would show up, do a couple of drills to get the basics down (dribbling down to the cones and back, passing between two people, etc) and then play these types of games and then possibly attempt a scrimmage of some sort in the last few minutes of the practice.
 
blackdogdeek said:
i googled this game that my daughters played when they were the same age range and playing soccer called "sharks and minnows". i found it on this site http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/soccer_games_for_young_children_part2.htm# which has other games you can play as well.

basically, the kids would show up, do a couple of drills to get the basics down (dribbling down to the cones and back, passing between two people, etc) and then play these types of games and then possibly attempt a scrimmage of some sort in the last few minutes of the practice.
Click to expand...

I was an assistant coach for my 4 year old's soccer team in the spring. We generally did drills to help teach coordination (moving with the ball), following directions and team play. The drills are pretty simple to do. You can find them on sites such as http://www.freeyouthsoccerdrills.com/coaching-youth-soccer.html.

After a couple of practices we did short scrimmages which were fun. Be prepared to deal with a whirlwind of emotions and a wide range of attention spans.
 
images


Coach McGuirk: [drunk] You wanna know something? *Anyone* can become a soccer coach. Like, they don't regulate. Like you have to get a degree, right? So you're qualified.
Nurse Kirkman: Yes... I do have a degree.
Coach McGuirk: Yeah, I'm not. You can become coach, of a sport that you don't care about, you don't know how to play, you're not good with kids. But I have had the job for three years. You'd think that they would check up but they don't.
 
MrChad said:
I was an assistant coach for my 4 year old's soccer team in the spring. We generally did drills to help teach coordination (moving with the ball), following directions and team play. The drills are pretty simple to do. You can find them on sites such as http://www.freeyouthsoccerdrills.com/coaching-youth-soccer.html.

After a couple of practices we did short scrimmages which were fun. Be prepared to deal with a whirlwind of emotions and a wide range of attention spans.
Click to expand...

I am mentally buckling down already. Fortunately the practice is all of 30 min, so I think I'll survive.
 
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