How To Coach Youth Soccer

If you ever dreamt about coaching or if you’re planning to coach youth soccer, the basic requirement for a good coach is patience and an understanding of the basic fundamentals of Soccer. You cannot coach the game of soccer if you don’t understand the basics yourself. Having played the game is not enough because a good soccer player doesn’t necessary mean that you will be a good coach.

When coaching youth soccer the main objective shouldn’t be winning or losing. Young children playing soccer should be encouraged to improve on their own skills within a team environment. The importance of winning should be overshadowed by the importance of developing a young player’s skills and physical attributes.

As a coach who is in charge of a young team, it is your duty to provide a pleasant atmosphere for the kids. Under no circumstance are you to criticize or yell at a child even if he is misbehaving or even if he has made an error. The greatest players in the world make mistakes and miss penalties. As a coach its best to keep it simple, organize less, say less and let the balls do the talking. Let the kids enjoy their training.

When your players make mistakes, encourage them to do it again and to try a bit harder. Encourage, praise their efforts and they will respond to you by trying harder. It’s been proven scientifically that children will train endlessly if they are enjoying themselves. So make training fun and you will be rewarded with a determined effort on behalf of the kids to improve.

Treat all young players equally and do not neglect any players for what ever reasons. Young children develop and mature at different ages so take this into account when training a group of about 16 players. Usually the children that don’t listen or seem more interested in horse play are the ones that go on to become superstars.

Coaching youth soccer may seem easy, but its not. You can simplify the process and make it enjoyable for the kids, but the overall process of developing a young child into a great soccer player can be daunting. Not all children are destined to become tomorrow’s superstars, but the time they spend in the game and in life, should be enjoyed. The most important thing a child should wear when playing soccer is a SMILE.