What follows is a simplistic way of bearing in mind the essential soccer coaching factors ate determine the team philosophy and moving along 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.
Regular communication with Parents: When it comes to soccer training, parental influence is the key influence in the mental and physical well being of your players, especially on the day of the match. It’s not enough just to provide the parents with the brochure, “parental responsibilities” at the beginning of the term. Arrange for regular meetings with them so that the key points can be repeated and concerns shared.
Developing soccer coaches: Training of soccer coaches should be an integral part of your philosophy instead of targeting the players. You may try if one of your kid’s parents can become a soccer coach? They are the perfect choice for this job, and could be tried in the future.
Selection: One of the biggest reasons why players with great soccer skills drop out 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. Thus a logical system which provides the players equal game time should be used.
Time: Start the session on time and tell the parents to be on time as well. The start and finish times that are clearly defined make for an effective session.
Excitement: Is it a must that each soccer coaching session is interesting? Yes, try to make every session enjoyable for the kids but also understand that it may not be possible every time. So adopt “excitement” as a substitute for this.
When you train the kids, it is perfectly natural that coaches have problems coming up with different ideas on how to make sessions fun. So, the biggest challenge in teaching soccer is to be creative enough and keep introducing new and innovative ideas so that the kid’s remain interested in the game.
In soccer drills, it is a good idea to keep increasing the level of difficulty every time. A method of doing this is to start a game, introduce a problem, and then find a solution of it in a drill.
Success windows: Try and include a success window for the season as a vital part of your training sessions. This actually requires 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.
For example; time frame of minimum four and maximum eight weeks. This can be done for both team as well as individual team members.
In your interest, embrace a soccer coaching philosophy like this become a part of the development phase of your kid’s training once the basics have been covered. To get the most out of your soccer coaching skills, join our youth soccer coaching community where you will find the best resources, tips, and tricks 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.