Coaching kids' soccer

Coaching the game

1. If you haven't coached it in practice, it's simply too late to do anything about it. Accept it! Don't try to fix it by shouting at the kids on the field. Which brings me to...
2. Don't try to instruct kids who are on the field, during the course of play. At best, they won't hear you, either because of noise and the size of the field, or because their focus is elsewhere. "That's at best?" Yup! At worst, they will hear you. That spells death to anything good they might have done. You can't split your focus between doing and listening. If they focus on what you are saying, execution suffers. Bringing us back to #1 again.

• Making notes of what to work on at the next practice. Also any lineup changes you see that you need to make.
• Making notes of things to talk to the kids about between periods. This is usually things to tell particular kids, but might be for all the defenders, or maybe the whole team. Accept the fact that you probably won't have any effect on skills with these talks; that's gotta be done in practice. (Rare exception: the kid did it fine in drills and scrimmage, and maybe in last week's game; just remind him.)
• Talking on the sidelines to the kids not currently in the game. You will almost always have a few sitting out each period. You must keep them in line, but discipline was seldom a problem on my teams. I'm talking about sharing with them what you see happening on the field. "What did B do there? Was that the right thing? What should he have done?" They will grow in their understanding of the game, and might even be able to apply it when they go into the game next period.
• Planning who will play which positions next period. You probably made a plan before you came to the game. As the military saying goes, "Plans are useless, but planning is essential." You knew the considerations when you made the plan. You didn't know that two of your defenders would not be at the game. You didn't know that S never really got it when he was training for right wing Now is the time to draw on the thinking you did while planning, and come up with a new plan. You don't want to waste valuable coaching time between periods doing this, so do it while the kids are on the field.

What to bring, and why

• Why shorts? You play soccer mostly with your legs and feet. You will play better if there isn't any loose fabric between your skin and the ball. (I suppose spandex or lycra tights might work, but that wasn't a thing when I was coaching. And most boys I know would not put up with it anyway.) Bear in mind that they are going to be running around working up a sweat; you don't want them dressed for play in what would make you comfortable standing around watching. I used to play soccer myself into December, and always wore shorts for it. And I never felt cold during the game; the activity kept my legs warm just fine.
  
  In the cold months, it is OK to bring along warmer clothes (e.g.- sweat pants) for when you are sitting out a period. But you will not be allowed into the game dressed that way, not on my team.
• Shirts. That's a uniform thing. The referee needs to know which players are on which teams, and they often need the team shirts in order to tell. For the same reason, keeping the referee informed, the goalkeeper must have a shirt of a different color. I insist that it can be worn over the team shirt (or perhaps interchanged in really warm weather), because you may get to play some of the game at a position other than 'keeper.
• Drinks. I don't mention it on the handout, but it's OK to bring your own drink to a game. It just isn't as important as at practice, because one parent each week will be serving refreshments on the sideline at half time. This is good team-building for the parents, so let me encourage you to institute the same custom at your games.

Warmup

• Not everybody is punctual. I am, so I'm more annoyed than most coaches would be by lateness. But I know that, annoyed or not, I have to cope with it as a coach. So I build a little leeway into the time I expect them to be there. But only a little. There is at least 20 minutes of stuff to get done with the kids before the game starts.
• We do a warmup. It usually consists of:
• Stretching.
• Jogging about 300-400 yards.
• A drill to get the soccer reflexes and focus started. The drill is three offensive players against three defenders and a goalie, and the cast rotates every "round". A round lasts from the time I throw the ball in until (a) a goal is scored, (b) the ball is cleared by the defenders, or (c) the goalie controls the ball.
• I talk to the team. At the very least, I have to tell them who is starting and in which positions.

Playing time

• The first period, 11 play and 3 sit.
• The second period, 11 play and a different 3 sit.
• The third period, 11 play and yet a different 3 sit.
• At that point, I have 9 players who have played 2 periods and the rest (5 players) have played three. So the fourth quarter...
• The nine who played two periods all play the fourth quarter. We need two more, so two players get a bonus; they play all four quarters. The other three sit for the first time in the game.

Mistakes

• I always wait until play moves away from the player that made the mistake, or until play stops for some reason. In rec soccer, this is usually a matter of seconds.
• At that point -- a lull in the player's involvement -- I might shout to catch the player's attention and then shout the correction. This only happens if (a) the correction is three words or less and (b) the player can be expected to understand and apply those three words. Not usually the case, so...
• Most of the time, I take the player out of the game. On the sidelines, I can talk to him about what went wrong, how to fix it, and whether he fully understands the problem and the solution. I am careful to be explaining, not scolding. Treat them like adults (even if you are simplifying the explanation because of their age), and they won't feel bad about it. Once I am sure he understands and is willing to apply it, I send him back in (unless it is within a couple of minutes of the end of the period).

• Arguing with the ref. Teach the kids not to argue with the ref. Not ever! Make sure every one of them hears that admonition several times, so they can't claim they didn't know. Also make the point in practice by "loading" the scrimmage. In the scrimmage, you're the guy with the whistle. Make a few egregiously bad calls. When the offended team argues, stop the game and remind them that they should never, ever argue with the ref; just accept it and get back to playing. After the first one or two, which are reminders, start benching kids from the scrimmage if they persist in arguing. Some people only learn from experience.
• Fighting or retaliating. Sometimes it's not fair. Sometimes the opponent gets away with it. But instead of retaliating, they need to understand; tell you or tell the ref directly. And you should talk to the ref between periods if they tell you, or even if you see something they don't tell you about. Also talk to the other coach. You really should remain on good terms with the other coaches. It's their job to teach their players sportsmanship. But, make no mistake, it's your job to teach your players.

Points that didn't fit elsewhere

• The kid hates the warmup exercises (most often the jogging) and manages to come late accidentally-on-purpose, just late enough to miss exercises.
• The kid who decides he likes the center forward position he played last week. So he skips practice to avoid being trained for a different position next week. That way, the only place I can put him this week is center forward.