03-20-2008, 09:39 PM
Most teams (and new coaches) are thrown into games after just a fewpractices, often before the coach has had a real chance to teach theplayers anything. Thus, new coaches often feel intense pressure to"win", and may take early losses personally. This can lead them toworry excessively about where to put their players to maximize their"wins" when they really should be worrying about giving their youngcharges valuable experience in all parts of the field. These same fearsof "failure" (i.e., not winning) can also cause some youth coaches tofocus on a few stars and relegate the rest to the bench or supportingroles. When this happens, most of the players don't learn anything orhave any fun, and even the development of the "stars" can be harmed inthe long run.
How You Define "Winning" Will Affect All You Do
It is important to let players and parents know what the coach definesas "winning" at the start of the season. In their developmental years,kids really do "win" at soccer or, for that matter, any other sport ifthey have fun with their friends; learn enough about the game to becomea fan; and get some healthy exercise. Numerous studies show that whilekids certainly enjoy winning contests, their short attention spanallows them to quickly forget the score in the last game, at leastuntil some adult makes a big deal out of it. In addition, because kidsare naturally more focused on their own performance than on theperformance of the group, kids can be perfectly happy if they had agreat game themselves even if the team lost in a blow-out.
Because kids have these wonderfully short memories and an ingrainedfocus on "me", any coach can have a "winning" season by setting thekids up to succeed at some task in every game and praising them forthis accomplishment. Of course, a good coach also wants to teach themto work together and to whittle down the "me" focus a bit. Therefore,good coaches will include some team objectives that encourage the kidsto work together (e.g., "Let's see if we can get 3 passes in a row ineach quarter"). So, don't be afraid to use a long-term focus and todefine "winning" in a way that gives everyone a fair chance to succeed.
Develop A Long-Term Focus
The first few games simply show the skills that any prior coachestaught your players and give you an idea of their natural athletictalent. So, the last thing on the mind of a new coach should be worriesabout winning the early games. Instead, the focus properly should be onlong-term skill development. When this happens, the wins ultimatelywill start coming to your team as they become one of the more skilledteams on the field. This can take up to a year or more, so be sure tolet everyone know in advance that you do not intend to worry at allabout the short-term won/loss record.
How does a new coach who knows nothing about soccer get these kidstrained and organized, so that they will be the most skilled? It is notvery hard, as long as you keep it simple.
How You Define "Winning" Will Affect All You Do
It is important to let players and parents know what the coach definesas "winning" at the start of the season. In their developmental years,kids really do "win" at soccer or, for that matter, any other sport ifthey have fun with their friends; learn enough about the game to becomea fan; and get some healthy exercise. Numerous studies show that whilekids certainly enjoy winning contests, their short attention spanallows them to quickly forget the score in the last game, at leastuntil some adult makes a big deal out of it. In addition, because kidsare naturally more focused on their own performance than on theperformance of the group, kids can be perfectly happy if they had agreat game themselves even if the team lost in a blow-out.
Because kids have these wonderfully short memories and an ingrainedfocus on "me", any coach can have a "winning" season by setting thekids up to succeed at some task in every game and praising them forthis accomplishment. Of course, a good coach also wants to teach themto work together and to whittle down the "me" focus a bit. Therefore,good coaches will include some team objectives that encourage the kidsto work together (e.g., "Let's see if we can get 3 passes in a row ineach quarter"). So, don't be afraid to use a long-term focus and todefine "winning" in a way that gives everyone a fair chance to succeed.
Develop A Long-Term Focus
The first few games simply show the skills that any prior coachestaught your players and give you an idea of their natural athletictalent. So, the last thing on the mind of a new coach should be worriesabout winning the early games. Instead, the focus properly should be onlong-term skill development. When this happens, the wins ultimatelywill start coming to your team as they become one of the more skilledteams on the field. This can take up to a year or more, so be sure tolet everyone know in advance that you do not intend to worry at allabout the short-term won/loss record.
How does a new coach who knows nothing about soccer get these kidstrained and organized, so that they will be the most skilled? It is notvery hard, as long as you keep it simple.