February 18, 2007

I teach kids to ski, so I have a little background in stuff like this. I'd say first spend some time trying to figure out why they're there (the players) and why the parents want them there. Some kids may love the game, some may just love physical activity, some may already be wired competitive, a lot may be there because their friends are doing it, and more may be there because their parents "suggested" it. Then you kind of put that all together and figure out some goals that everyone's going to be able to get with. You don't have to make powerpoint slides out of it, but you do need to try and find something that everyone can buy into -- and don't forget things like "have a lot of fun" as a goal. I know that this all sounds like navel-gazing, and you're wondering WTF to do when you have to blow that whistle for the first time and have a couple dozen pairs of under-12 eyeballs staring at you...but in a sense, it's what I do every day when I get a different group of kids to ski with, and have to quickly figure out what approach I'm going to take that day so that everyone will have fun and get better as a skier.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 07:40 PM on February 18, 2007

Hi Tex I've coached my daughter's soccer team for a number of years (she's now in the Under 16s). You will enjoy the Under 12s. So don't panic. At that age, they are playing for fun. I always rotated the players (we had unlimited interchange) so everyone got about the same playing time, no matter what the ability. If you explain this to the kids (and the parents) at the beginning of the season, it seems to work better when you make the inevitable 'sub' of the star player when you are 1-0 down. Also, don't be tempted to change the system in the middle of a game, stick to your plan. At the first session, get the kids to form into two teams and just watch without interruption for about 10-15 minutes. After a few times, you should be able to work out who is a natural defender, midfielder and striker. I then tended to keep the kids in these groups for specific coaching sessions, and use them in the rotation on game day in their 'preferred' group. This gives you a bit of flexibility, but the kids aren't trying to learn every position at once (I know, Ajax thinks differently, but there's only one of you!). For instance, take the defenders aside and work on marking, positional play, tackling. Midfielders spend more time on running, passing, and strikers on running off the ball and shooting. However, during training, everyone gets to do a bit of everything. Get a good book - there are some excellent training books with good ideas for practice sessions - this all adds to the variety. I used to warm them up with passing drills, then a bit of running, then into the specialisations (even practicing throw ins!) followed by a six a side game. Before the season starts, you will have to work out positions and responsibilities for set plays - especially goal kicks (it's hard to get that ball upfield sometimes!) and corners (defending and attacking). I almost forgot - if you don't have a goalkeeper, then everyone used to take a turn for half a game. The rotation then allowed them to play the full other half on the field, as compensation. Which means you'll have to teach goalkeeping to everyone, too. And make sure no-one picks on the keeper if she makes a mistake. I dragged kids immediately they bad mouthed anyone. Having coached my son's team, you'll find girls keener to listen and learn, and less likely to muck up at training. Keep us informed of how you're going!

posted by owlhouse at 08:17 PM on February 18, 2007

Me again. My old club in Canberra had a strict '4-3-3' policy for all junior teams, to make coaching easier and to ensure that when kids went up a grade, they were used to the same system. This is a good idea, i.e. sticking to the one formation, as Under 12s are still learning positional play, however I found that when we were attacking, the backline tended to stand around watching on the half way line. A big gap tends to form between the backs and the midfield, and it's handy to have someone in there. Therefore I gave a couple of the backs licence to move forward, which worked well. At training, is it possible for everyone to have a ball each? This makes skills sessions better, and all running exercises should be done with a ball at the feet. This makes a huge difference to enjoyment as well as skills development. With my Under 10-12s, I found working on close control was very useful, as was passing. I said at the beginning of every season that we were a 'passing team'. Even if the other side hoiked the ball forward and chased it ('kick and rush'), we were not going to copy them. You might lose a few games, but the kids end up enjoying it more and it is a better base for teamwork and further skills development. And goddam, we were also told by sports scientists that oranges were not good for players at half time! Water was the only thing allowed by the club.

posted by owlhouse at 11:35 PM on February 18, 2007

It looks like the wise ol' owl has it about covered. I too have coached youth soccer, boys, girls, and mixed teams as well over the past 20 yrs. But then I work in recreation admin. and deal with different sports year-round also have 2 kids of my own. (I call them kids although they hate it when I do, 19 & 16 now). My email is on my profile, if you would like, send me a note because I would do better talking on the phone with you better than trying to write stuff out. Not long distance for me to make a call. Also, there should be a coaching clinic prior to the season you might want to attend if for no other reason than to be covered by league liability insurance just in case. At least that is what we did when I lived in Ft. Worth some 15 odd years ago or so.

posted by Folkways at 02:05 PM on February 19, 2007

Also, keep the periods of instruction, when there is no physical activity going on for the majority, as short as possible so that the players don't tighten up. ...and so the kids don't get confused, distracted or bored. I like to tell myself that I have a ration of 50 instruction-words per day (that's a full day of skiing), and that anything I say in excess of that is just going to leak out their ears and down the drain. A little talk and a lot of practice, that's how I find it works best.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 05:19 PM on February 19, 2007

Good luck this season Texan. I am sure it will be a lot of fun and also be a very rewarding experience. The links that Amateur provided are very good, however you may need membership to view the drills. Here is another useful free link Jeff Pills Drills. He is one of the Womens National Coaches, there are also tips on there on a wide variety of things to expect, training specific for each age group, etc... I would use some basic ball skills (dribbling, trapping and passing, juggling) to start your first session. Then let them play a lot. Start with small sided (3 v 3, 4v 4) then build up to full sided. This will give you an opportunity to evaluate everyones skills and mindset. Once you get into the season I would spend 1/2 to 3/4 of the time with skill building drills, then finish with games- small or full sided. The biggest advice I would give is to make sure whatever drills you use there are NO LINES waiting to participate, do things which move quickly and do not allow idle time standing around waiting. This is when they will get bored, start to lose focus and begin socializing. Make sure everyone gets at least 500 touches on the ball per day. It sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. I make sure my HS and college kids get at least 1000 touches per day. Best of luck and please let us know how it is going.

posted by urall cloolis at 06:33 AM on February 20, 2007

Good luck Texan and keep us up to date with how you get on.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 07:59 AM on February 20, 2007

We had our first practice yesterday and I can't tell you how nervous I was. Heh. I can believe it. The first time someone gave me a group of kids and said, "Okay, go teach 'em!", I was just about scared to death, but you dive in and do your best and it works out. Sounds like you got a terrific group. I really hope you'll keep us updated on your team! Maybe a flickr page?

posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:13 AM on February 20, 2007

If you or anyone else is looking for an easy website for your teams, eteamz (www.eteamz.com) is a very easy site to set up. You can also make them public, password protected, or a combination. I know a lot of teams that use it and make results, etc...public and password protect photos, personal info and anything else that they do not want floating out there.

posted by urall cloolis at 10:15 AM on February 20, 2007

The team name is Kicking Chicks, and I had nothing to do with it! Thanks urall. The league is actually on E7 (eteamz) now and it seems to work fine.

posted by Texan_lost_in_NY at 11:46 AM on February 20, 2007

"We had our first practice yesterday and I can't tell you how nervous I was." I think (hope) this is normal, Texan. It happened to me too. I guess kids are just scary at first. "Just remember to win at all costs and you should be fine." Heh. I'm struggling with this bit right now. The team I took over at the nearby school was going to stop playing, as it hadn't had anything more than a transitory coach for over a year and you can tell, because, well, we're not very good just yet. We've lost all three games so far, but I think I can see some result of always, always having a ball now... In our last game I set them a challenge, from the second half kick off, to see how long they could keep the ball. Go backwards, go back to the keeper, keep the ball moving, keep making triangles and supporting each other and let's see how long we can keep the ball. By the tenth pass the parents on the sideline were giving it the full "OLE!" every time we moved the ball and the team loved it. We almost made three minutes of solid possession, which in a 20 minute half, is not too bad and it got the "crowd" really on side too.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 01:24 PM on February 20, 2007

A confidence pool. That would kick ass.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 06:39 PM on February 20, 2007

So, Texan.... How did it go?

posted by Mr Bismarck at 12:23 PM on February 27, 2007