The good ol soccer coach, gotta love em. Failed player trying his hand at coaching, perhaps. Superstar wanting to give back to the game, maybe. Volunteered parent with no idea but with the best intention, we hope.
What makes a youth coach great?
Ask the question amongst the “so called” experts and you will get significant differences. Some will push the technical side while others will commit to the spiritual side of the game, which covers attendance, and the length of the smile.
Some will demand discipline; some will point the finger and most will flex their ego like a miniature King Kong punching his chest.
Gather around my good people, my loyal readers, I have a little secret.
If you have a coach that you cannot please, don’t despair. If you have a coach you cannot learn from, don’t stress. If you have a coach that is defending the status quo and his ego, laugh in his face.
Don’t become another sad statistic.
Have you ever talked to a child that has quit the game? Have you ever asked them why?
Most kids when questioned will play the role of the victim and mutter, “I was never given a chance!” Other academy award performances include “ The coach never liked me”, while they look at the ground with shame.
What a sad state of affairs.
A friendly reminder to all players and parents, “a coach is here today, gone today”. Sometimes a coach’s opinion is only an illusion and only you can give it strength.
What counts, what will separate you from the masses in soccer and in life is your passion, the size of your friggin heart and your insight into reality. Not the incompetent King Kong.
Set your own standard, your own goals and make sure to put on your thickest skin, you’re going to need it.
If you develop a thick skin and are persistent, soccer success is inevitable. Fitting in, keeping the peace and giving authority to retarded individuals only strengthens the status quo. Don’t do it. If you don’t rock the boat and you fail, you only have yourself to blame.
If you want a professional contract and the happily ever after, you need to stand up and stand out. Incompetent King Kongs are a dime a dozen. Imagine Soccer Coaches that have passion, integrity and do it for the children, not the money. Now there’s a concept.
To all soccer coaches with the best intentions, we salute you. To all those incompetent individuals with a whistle, eat my shorts.
“May the winds of destiny blow you to the stars.”
Measure failures and success: To coach youth soccer, decide on a benchmark to evaluate the performance. Some rules to understand this are whether the kids are enjoying the sessions. Make out if they really enjoy the game or play considering it as just another task. Are the players learning the skill of passing, dribbling, and dealing with the ball?
A player will have many soccer coaches in his lifetime, but only one career.
I coached youth soccer for many years. In my first introduction to th e team and their parents, I always tell them: “no parent has ever come to watch me coach a soccer game, they come to watch their child play and have fun”. That has always been my philosophy. I do teach the technical aspects of soccer, but I also stress fun and playing time. No matter what the skill level, all my kids got plenty of time on the field…
@ Howard, spot on mate. How are those straight lines going? Have you started on your diagonal runs yet?
@Jimbo LOL, thats a great point, “no parent ever come to watch me coach a soccer game”.
pretty sad that you needed to use the word retarded to get your point across. bet you never stopped to consider who you hurt when you use that word.
Mike, please accept my apology, I’m so sorry. I will make the appropriate changes.
Thomas
All going well thanks – doing most things now although not anywhere near top speed (I don’t have that gear anymore!)
Hope all is well with you,
Howard
heey
i want to use one of your articles about nutrition for soccer players for my fitness project but im not alowed to unless i know more about the author so can you tell me about yourself, maybe a last name ?
Hey Katie, when you get a chance, read the about page. If you need more details shoot me an email.