Soccer Drills and Practice Plans for your youth soccer team
When I was a youth soccer player a decade and a half ago, soccer in the United States was in a much different place. Paid trainers were not yet the standard, and volunteer coaches ruled the day. Players, although serious about the game, didn’t seem to plan as much for their future, either playing with the intention of getting a scholarship for college, or even playing professionally. The youth soccer game has changed quite a bit these last few years.
On the whole, the youth soccer game has progressed to a higher level in the United States, and I think what is most responsible is a combination of technology, education and dedication. In my day, the Internet was in its infancy, and the bulk of recreational coaches were at a loss for how to plan practice. The majority just showed up to practice with a garbage bag full of balls, pennies, and cones, dumped them on the field and went for it. No rhyme or reason, but it sure was a lot of fun.
Nowadays, the recreational youth soccer teams (at least at my local club) get two sessions with a paid trainer, and the program, at least from the standpoint of recreational coaches, is much more standardized. It is easier to educate the coaches inside your club, using great coaching programs and soccer videos or even your club’s website. This improvement to technology has made becoming a competent coach possible in less time.
From the player’s perspective, I think kids are much more serious about soccer on the whole as they were two decades back. What accounts for this change, I am not entirely sure, but I do know that the combination of more lenient borders, relaxed guest player rules, and the wide scale acceptance of paid trainers are either symptoms or the cause of a more competitive youth soccer game. Player’s parents pay thousands of dollars so that their kid can play at the club that will most likely lead to a college scholarship. From the outside looking in, it all must look a bit insane.
For all of you new or less experienced recreational coaches, I know it must be a little intimidating. I would suggest getting up to speed with some coaching videos, or even outsourcing your season practice plan.
For everyone else who has been around the youth game for awhile, feel free to chime in with your opinion about how the youth games has evolved, and what you think is most responsible? Please leave your comments via the form below:
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Write a Book about Soccer, Get Paid
SoccerDrillBook.com is currently seeking soccer coaches looking to try their hand at writing about the game. Specifically, we are looking for books and drill ideas that are focused on a specific facet of the game. An example of a possible topic is “25 drills for Improving Team Defense” or “15 essential skills drills for U-12′s”
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Soccer Book for the Coaching Masses
Soccer Season Outsourced is a Soccer Book I compiled with the inexperienced or time strapped coach in mind.
First and foremost, the practice plans are laid out to be effective regardless of how much time or knowledge you have to invest in planning practice or learning about soccer. In other words, just show up, run the drills directly from the book and emphasis the coaching points. This way your players will know what they are trying to accomplish, and you can focus their play to develop their understanding. If you have drills of your own you would like to work in, or you want to repeat certain drills, the practices in the book are flexible enough to allow this.
The other advantage of this soccer book is that it is a friendly format for either printing or running the drills directly off of your Smart Phone or iPad. Super flexible practice plans that will guide your players to soccer greatness, check out my soccer book today.
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How do I survive coaching first time players as a first time coach?
by USSF “A” Licensed Coach Sheldon Cipriani
You have registered your 6 year old son or daughter to play on a recreational team or in an academy. You have been kind enough to volunteer your time as the coach and the first day of practice is upon you. You spent hours planning a session and you feel prepared, but it is not what you thought.
You have exhausted all of the activities you know and you still have 45 minutes left in your practice. The players do not listen, they are not receptive to instruction, some are crying, others are playing with butterflies, and there is at least one kid whose sugar consumption before practice has altered his behavior significantly. You are asking yourself what have I got myself into this season?
If you knew what the most important thing was at this age group, I am sure you would breathe a sigh of relief. It would also help you invest your time more economically when planning sessions. The most important function of the coach in this age group is keeping the game fun while developing body coordination and a sound technical foundation.
If the kids are having fun, then they are motivated to invest time in the sport. Improvement is inevitable. Improvement is accompanied by self esteem and the desire to be competitive. So basically, if the kids have fun doing the right things in practice, the rest takes care of itself. I am sure you would like to know what are the right things to do at practice.
Before you start thinking about a practice session, it is important that you understand the characteristics of the players you are working with. Cognitive ability and physical limitations are the two most important factors to consider when planning activities.
Tactics and fitness are non existent in this age group, so save yourself the frustration of trying to include this in your practice. The golden rules to follow are: no lines, no laps, and no lectures. If you adhere to this, your life will be much easier.
The players must engage in fun activities that help develop coordination, agility and speed of reaction. Some should be without a ball, but most must include the use of a ball. Training with balls of different sizes and textures, should be used in all body coordination activities
This helps the players develop a refined feel for the ball. Participation by the parents is encouraged, especially those with playing experience. The kids love this. Technical development is continued through the use of fun educational games, as well as small sided games with small goals. No keepers please. Get more of Sheldon’s Practice Advice
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What happened to those winning U12 players?
by USSF “A” Licensed Coach Sheldon Cipriani
“They were such a good team when they were younger” is what you hear the disgruntled parents say when the games are not as easy at U15 and losses occur on a more regular basis . “What happened? We have the same players.” There are many reasons for the change. Some players lose interest and enthusiasm, parents decide to move players to another club, or some kids stop playing soccer. The problem with this is these reasons sometimes stem from a very common problem.
The team is picked at U10. There are a number of brave athletes on the team. Many games and tournaments are won. It has nothing to do with collective soccer ability at this point. The players are faster and stronger. They overpower opponents and their success is equated to development. Practices are geared towards position specific functions. Crossing and finishing can be seen as a part of practice everyday. Not much attention is payed to technical work.
Parents of other teams admire your organization and patterns of play, which is worked on diligently in training. The parents love the constant direction given by the coach. Who to pass the ball to, when to pass/shoot/cross, where to pass/shoot/cross. They think he is a great coach doing a great job, because they are winning.
I know you are thinking “what is wrong with this?” Well the unfortunate thing is, you do not see what is wrong with this until the kids are playing 11v11 at 14 years of age. The games now present scenarios that they have never been taught to cope with because their practices were devoid of game related activities that fostered imagination, creativity and game intelligence.
What worked against naive younger teams no longer yields the same results. The team responded to coach’s commands, as everything was centered around him/her. The fact that the game is player-centric had little relevance when these kids were being “taught to win.”
The athletic advantage has now diminished and the quality of soccer is now a significant factor in the game. Something the players have only addressed at a superficial level. The teams they beat when playing 6v6 or 8v8 are now more competitive because they have taught how to play the game. The opposite is true for the falling stars. They were taught to be competitive before they were taught how to play.
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