I’ve hung up the soccer whistle but today it felt like i was just as involved from the sidelines as a parent. Hard fought 1-0 win for my daughter and I’m really proud how she commanded the middle of the field.
The Youth Sports Coaching Thread
it was tough but happy to be enjoying my daughter as a dad
Just finished our high school soccer season. I've been around this program for nearly 12 years. I was head coach for 6, assistant for 4, and off for a few years in between when my boys were born. I'm only an assistant now, going to 1 practice a week, and the home games. It's enough for me, and gets me my soccer fix. I love being around the high school age kids, and it's fun to see kids grow, from freshman, into upper class players. I'm also coaching with 4 young men whom I used to coach. Definitely a unique aspect of my return to coaching, but one that I thoroughly enjoy.
Like I said, we just finished our season, one that I'm glad the kids were able to have, with all that 2020 has thrown at them. We were able to capture our 4th straight league title, and although we fell short with some other tournament goals, the boys have a lot to be proud of. We were a very young team, so it was an up and down season, but overall I saw a lot of growth that has me excited for all those returning players. So blessed to be able to coach and be a role model for so many young men over the years. Proud of my former players who are now running the program. Not sure how many more season I will coach at the high school level with my boys getting close to starting in on youth sports, but I'll take each one that I get, and cherish the memories I have from each group!
Like I said, we just finished our season, one that I'm glad the kids were able to have, with all that 2020 has thrown at them. We were able to capture our 4th straight league title, and although we fell short with some other tournament goals, the boys have a lot to be proud of. We were a very young team, so it was an up and down season, but overall I saw a lot of growth that has me excited for all those returning players. So blessed to be able to coach and be a role model for so many young men over the years. Proud of my former players who are now running the program. Not sure how many more season I will coach at the high school level with my boys getting close to starting in on youth sports, but I'll take each one that I get, and cherish the memories I have from each group!
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- #605
Our fall season ended 8-8-1. I really don't sweat winning during the fall, it is our opportunity to develop pitchers, see girls at different positions, implement our offense and defensive plays, etc. Still, this was a bit of a frustrating season. The team has talent but just didn't execute/perform. We are playing 14A. We should have easily been about 12-2 over the first 14 games but terrible IF defense then a run of really bad pitching did us in. The last 5 games were in a tourney that was more of a B level tourney (by accident). It ended up being a nice reminder that we really are an A team, as we went 4-1 in that last tourney for 1st place. Nice way to wrap up the season.
deuce
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So, the city did a fall season and I signed my son up. I think they played one game with the spring season just before COVID threw a monkey wrench into the works, so I was excited to see how he'd do this time (as long as COVID didn't kill the season prematurely). A week before the season, get an email saying my son is "on a team with no coach (U6)". So guess what ... not knowing anything about coaching soccer, I volunteered. We won our first game, lost the next five, and tied on our last game.
Spring season is starting up again, and this time they're opening things up a lot more, so I have the oldest in U8 (where he's bound to be the smallest kid on the field, just like he was this past year in U6) and my four year old will be in U6 (his first sport of any kind). Director asked me if I would coach again. I told him I would, but I really wanted my oldest with a coach who knew what they were doing, and I'd be happy to work with the U6 kids. We will see how it goes for Round 2!
Good for you stepping up and helping out! Let me know if you need anything for the U6 kids to practice and/or work on. I've been a high school soccer coach for over 10 years, and would be happy to help out!
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- #608
Good for you for stepping up! It can be a thankless job at times but you are making a difference with the kids. I think you will find that season 2 of coaching is a lot easier than your 1st year. I’ll echo the offer you got - if you need help I’m happy to offer what I can. I don’t know soccer but I think I know a little something about coaching.
deuce
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Thanks to both of you. I'd be happy to take any pointers and practice tips I can. There is only so much "sharks and minnows" they can play during practice. I would really like to get them strong in the fundamentals, how to dribble, kick properly, and pass. Not sure if that's too much to chew with 4 and 5 year olds or not (I assume not). One of the issues I saw this year is that, unlike baseball, one or two good soccer players can really take over all aspects of a team*, especially at this young age when they're not really playing positions yet. Anything to help curb that a bit would especially be appreciated.
*on the flip side, I also saw how losing could really mentally seize those same kids who were then afraid to go on offense because they wouldn't necessarily trust the rest of the team to defend properly despite my pleas to the contrary (and yes, it could have been entirely a failure in my coaching).
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- #610
Assorted thoughts...
Whatever you are doing at practice, 1 minute for every year old they are then move on to the next thing. This is the test to know what the kid’s attention span is. So if you’ve got 5 year olds, @5m per drill.
As I’m not a soccer guy, I’ll leave the technical stuff to those who are. I can only offer that in hoops and baseball you have to be very realistic about how much you are going to accomplish. If the kids enjoy the sport and experience enough so they come back and play again, you’ve had a successful coaching season.
With kids that age you can’t do it yourself. Helper parents or assistant coaches are a must have.
Whatever you are doing at practice, 1 minute for every year old they are then move on to the next thing. This is the test to know what the kid’s attention span is. So if you’ve got 5 year olds, @5m per drill.
As I’m not a soccer guy, I’ll leave the technical stuff to those who are. I can only offer that in hoops and baseball you have to be very realistic about how much you are going to accomplish. If the kids enjoy the sport and experience enough so they come back and play again, you’ve had a successful coaching season.
With kids that age you can’t do it yourself. Helper parents or assistant coaches are a must have.
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- #611
Today was one of those days. Really deflating, hurt feelings, mojo way down. Sometimes this is the most thankless job ever.
deuce
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Last soccer season was miserable for U8. We didn't win a game. Kids played hard, parents were appreciative, but I know the kids were frustrated. U6 was a different story. Won 5 of 6, but again ... it only takes one kid with skill to take over a game, and I had that kid.
Oldest son was still tops on his team, made All-Stars. He wanted to try out for travel ball, and made the team.
Great! I thought. I can relax from coaching, and with travel ball schedules all over the place, I could beg off from coaching U6 too and just be Dad following my kids around to games. Guess again ... travel ball coach asked me to be his assistant. LOL. It's ok ... I'm learning alot, and these kids are - for the most part - hungry to learn and competitive. We'll see how it goes.
Oldest son was still tops on his team, made All-Stars. He wanted to try out for travel ball, and made the team.
Great! I thought. I can relax from coaching, and with travel ball schedules all over the place, I could beg off from coaching U6 too and just be Dad following my kids around to games. Guess again ... travel ball coach asked me to be his assistant. LOL. It's ok ... I'm learning alot, and these kids are - for the most part - hungry to learn and competitive. We'll see how it goes.
I will give you the biggest take away from coaching young kids. Its not about winning or losing. Its about learning and getting better. After games, talk to kids about what they didd well (really helps if you can correlate to areas they needed to work on). Yes, winning helps, but if one kid carries a team and the other kids do not get better you failed as a coach. It really is that simple.
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After recent ridiculousness in another thread, I did my biannual local coaching search and was surprised to get a hit. The role isn’t a fit for me, but there may still be an opportunity to coach at the high school level. I sent out a feeler email and we’ll see if I get a bite.
After 3 months of preparation in the weight room and on the practice field, my 7/8 grade football team has our first game tonight. I think we are ready. We have played a couple of modified scrimmages but you never really know until you hit that field when it counts for the first time.
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- #616
Good luck to you and your team!
Good luck and have fun!
deuce
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Soccer season update: Select ball is interesting. Had a couple of seasoned kids who have played travel ball before, and the rest are all raw, having played in either rec, which coach calls "hero ball", or in school which is probably not much better. We started the season with a tournament, and first game out were completely crushed. We turned around to win the next game, and the following morning were up on the eventual champs before giving up two goals in the final five minutes to lose by one. Too many out-of-position players resulted in kids squeaking past and getting close shots onto goal. While the kids were disappointed, it was a valuable learning experience for them.
Based on those results, we've been hammering positioning and trusting your teammates to do their jobs and make their plays. Coach also switched them to play in a 2/2/2 format (it's 7x7 for this age group). Our two best players are in the middle so they're playing both ends of the field, and our next best two are on defense to help shut things down. We have a very athletic kid in goal, and a solid striker. We went 2-0 in our first week of league play.
It's been great to sit back and observe someone who actually knows what they're doing, coach. I've learned a lot. He's tasked me with doing skills work with the kids on practice days, so mainly working on dribbling, passing, kicking. YouTube has been a valuable resource.
Based on those results, we've been hammering positioning and trusting your teammates to do their jobs and make their plays. Coach also switched them to play in a 2/2/2 format (it's 7x7 for this age group). Our two best players are in the middle so they're playing both ends of the field, and our next best two are on defense to help shut things down. We have a very athletic kid in goal, and a solid striker. We went 2-0 in our first week of league play.
It's been great to sit back and observe someone who actually knows what they're doing, coach. I've learned a lot. He's tasked me with doing skills work with the kids on practice days, so mainly working on dribbling, passing, kicking. YouTube has been a valuable resource.
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- #619
We recently finished the fall softball season. I learned I have a very strong team, probably top 3 or 4 ish for the highest level of play at our age. There’s one team in particular that’s going to be trouble but I think we are going to be in the mix to win state. If that happens you’ll see a news story about the grown man crying on a softball field 
Thats awesome! Always fun to have a good team! Best of luck!We recently finished the fall softball season. I learned I have a very strong team, probably top 3 or 4 ish for the highest level of play at our age. There’s one team in particular that’s going to be trouble but I think we are going to be in the mix to win state. If that happens you’ll see a news story about the grown man crying on a softball field
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- #621
So I gave up coaching soccer this last fall because I thought it was time. Went to the boys' games whenever they were in town and I missed everything about being on the other side of the field with them. Ended up committing for one final competitive spring season before they are in high school. I'm really excited about it!
Well I'm a couple days behind on this but the emotions were still a bit raw and I needed to let them sink in a little.
My 7/8 grade football team finished up our season Saturday with a tough 14-0 loss in the Kentucky Middle School State Championship game. We had our chances but ultimately it just wasn't meant to be for us. Our boys played their butts off until the end and that's all I could ask for. The season overall was a huge success. Finished 11-2, District Champions, Region Champions and as I mentioned State Runner-up. We have 3 boys who will represent us on Team Kentucky in Kansas City next weekend for the Central Regional for a chance to move on and play in the Middle School National Championship in Florida. Very PROUD of our TEAM to say the least and it was an honor to Coach them.
As for me, I think it's time to hang up the ol whistle. I've been with these boys since they were in the 1st/2nd grade. Watched them grow into great football players and even better young men. Their future is very bright and I can't wait to see what their 4 years of High School will bring. It's time to enjoy watching my Son and the rest of these young men from the stands. They will never understand the impact they've had on me over these last 8 years and all I can hope is that they feel the same.
My 7/8 grade football team finished up our season Saturday with a tough 14-0 loss in the Kentucky Middle School State Championship game. We had our chances but ultimately it just wasn't meant to be for us. Our boys played their butts off until the end and that's all I could ask for. The season overall was a huge success. Finished 11-2, District Champions, Region Champions and as I mentioned State Runner-up. We have 3 boys who will represent us on Team Kentucky in Kansas City next weekend for the Central Regional for a chance to move on and play in the Middle School National Championship in Florida. Very PROUD of our TEAM to say the least and it was an honor to Coach them.
As for me, I think it's time to hang up the ol whistle. I've been with these boys since they were in the 1st/2nd grade. Watched them grow into great football players and even better young men. Their future is very bright and I can't wait to see what their 4 years of High School will bring. It's time to enjoy watching my Son and the rest of these young men from the stands. They will never understand the impact they've had on me over these last 8 years and all I can hope is that they feel the same.
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MrBlast
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This is the first year I haven't coached a single sport. I thought I wouldn't miss it but I have. I was asked to coach again but I passed. I wanted to travel and play golf.
I started out coaching youth boxing at a local club. Did that for a few years. Coached youth swimming for a couple of seasons. Took several years off when we started having kids of our own. Then I got into coaching high school aged travel basketball. Did that for years. I doubt I'll get back into it again. I'll do one-on-one coaching for some kids that i know, if they ask. But my coaching days are over until I have grand kids. I do miss it. I'm not gonna lie.
I started out coaching youth boxing at a local club. Did that for a few years. Coached youth swimming for a couple of seasons. Took several years off when we started having kids of our own. Then I got into coaching high school aged travel basketball. Did that for years. I doubt I'll get back into it again. I'll do one-on-one coaching for some kids that i know, if they ask. But my coaching days are over until I have grand kids. I do miss it. I'm not gonna lie.