[Help] Coaching football for the first time...help!

[Popeye]

Hello friends.

As some of you may know(I think I have said it on here lol) I am a teacher at a middle school and they have been struggling to find someone to coach the girls and boys soccer(football lol) teams. Well I finally said heck with it and told them Friday I would do it even though have never coached it before. I just didn't want these kids to be upset and not have a season because they could not find anyone willing to coach them.

Anyway, I know a bit about the sport due to watching us and just in general, but I know coaching it is a whole other thing.

Any tips for those who have done so? Practice suggestions?Anything else I need to know?Good books or websites to get advice from?

Looking forward to it! First practice is this upcoming Wednesday!

Thanks much!

 

[BadFish]

Hello friends.

As some of you may know(I think I have said it on here lol) I am a teacher at a middle school and they have been struggling to find someone to coach the girls and boys soccer(football lol) teams. Well I finally said heck with it and told them Friday I would do it even though have never coached it before. I just didn't want these kids to be upset and not have a season because they could not find anyone willing to coach them.

Anyway, I know a bit about the sport due to watching us and just in general, but I know coaching it is a whole other thing.

Any tips for those who have done so? Practice suggestions?Anything else I need to know?Good books or websites to get advice from?

Looking forward to it! First practice is this upcoming Wednesday!

Thanks much!

I've done a bit of coaching and a couple of philosophies i really like were:

a: Give the kids as many touches of the ball during training - try to avoid them lining up to do stuff. Have lots of balls so they can all have one - or one between two.
b: When they are actually playing try not to overcoach. Standing on the touchline shouting stops them from making their own decisions on the pitch. This means it might take a while to work things out but its better for their progression in the long term

I found that when coaching school teams you have a wide range of abilites in your team. Put your best ball players in central mid and try to spot that player that can finish to play up front. Build your team around these guys and try to find their strengths and fit them to where they will be most effective.

Here in Australia, in schools comps the most effective thing to work on is getting your back four to work together. Assuming they will play offside other teams will find this bit of organisation very hard to play against. Aside from encouragement, this was really the only thing I focussed on from the sideline. Of course once you have this sorted you can work on other stuff.

There are plenty of drills and stuff online. Have a google and pick what you like the look of. I used to choose based on the above philosophies and adapt.

Having a warm up/set up routine down pat for games is also really good. With school matches, I was often sorting other stuff pre-match (talking to the other teacher, parents, getting shit ready) so it was good to have a set routine that the players can run themselves (a good captain works well here).

Make sure the kids have fun. Sounds daft but ridiculous expectations and pressure can take away the fun for a lot of kids. Often when you have players that are used to playing with better players they can get frustrated with the newbies. Talk to the team about what they are expecting from this experience, and discuss that the more experienced players should see their role as bringing the newbies up to a decent standard (thus lifting the quality of the whole team).

Hope this helps.

 

[HastingsSeagull]

Excellent advise above and don’t want to try and say similar in a worse way. Watch lots of youtube videos but then word everything your way or make tweaks as don’t have to do the same. Just take the elements you liked and leave anything you don’t or chain drills together like an obstacle course. That age love it and it gets all your shiny equipment out on display to parents. If they are good enough that you get into tactics stick to what you know or like and don’t change too much. One or two detailed plans is better than one with 10 different tweaks, shifts etc. but not an early priority. Also if you can avoid 10 different positions and basically have 4 that’s a good tactic. I like 3 CB 2 WB 3 CM 2 ST as I only have to change what the wing backs do and I have very defensive or very attacking formations. Everyone else can run about as they like really. Kids will want to overcomplicate it (I’ll go more forward, you two stay further back) but can let them and not interfere if they still do your overall fundamentals and doesn’t take over those.

Will focus on one point from my experience teaching same age group in schools. Find at least one goalkeeper who’s crazy and confident and make sure they actually play as a keeper not outfield all training. Some will only want to do it in matches. Even if they’re out being a sweeper keeper in training define it with a shirt or bib and make sure everyone knows. They can still join in with everything you do with the other 10 to feel included if you don’t want too much specific keeper training. The issue that pops up some years is the shy kid who gets bullied in class and doesn’t feel they want to join in fully but who does want to be involved, gets put in goal by their peers and thus decide for themselves they want to be a keeper. That’s awesome if they really do and they’ll listen and improve and help you massively through training by having another keeper, but as soon as there is a match everyone will argue and target that kid they all ‘dumped’ in goal. They won’t as much if it was truly your choice or their own. You need a kid who stands up to peers and who WANTS/CHOOSES FOR THEMSELVES to go in Goal without external pressures. When the best kids all want to be on the same team, do what you can to balance as you would but also always ensure they go up against the good keeper and keep his/her spirits up with praise. If I can get a good one I usually make him/her Captain as he can see everyone and whole field plus it helps me support him when he’s shouting at bullies or idiots.

It’s much harder to find a keeper than anything else. You might even find one in a different sports team who likes contact and getting dirty, but don’t send the sweet kid to the wolves else the entire squad will explode in arguments (I have actually had some great teams with good kids and values in plus push that on my kids, but that’s generally non-school squads where they put their football with coach ‘HS’ hat on walking on the field instead of continuing to wear their school hat) and you’ll loose the great work you did with that kid for months. It’s harder with school teams but just establish it right away and don’t put up with playground shit from one ringleader carrying over from the rest of the school day causing half the team to become twats. It’s a little different than the classroom and if other staff and environments don’t stop that crap then make sure it does stop on that field. Naughty kids generally respond well to structure as long as they feel like they’re achieving something in it and kids who have crappy home lives and take it out on others in class/school can find escape and such on the sports field.

Oh and get the parents onside if you can else shut down bad influences from that sphere during any time together. You can’t control outside that time or physical space but you are the boss during it. Parents are just like kids and will talk behind your back so anything you implement to help make sure you sound loud and clear infront of as many of them as possible not privately to one else they’ll twist it and moan. The most difficult parents are like that all the time to everyone it’s not personal and if you give their ‘difficult’ kid a space away from difficult parent then usually the kid will very quickly mellow out and be positive. As a teacher you stand up to parents in a different way but some will decide they can just stroll into the middle of your classroom (the field) and disrupt everything. You can’t let them and be too polite. Get your tactical brain on and find an excuse right away as once they start being too involved they will find a way to stay through other staff/admin but if you have a clear consistent system in place right away it’s established. Likewise if your star peer suddenly becomes different on match day when parent can watch, but isn’t like that in training when they can’t be present, identify that issue and make a clever plan.

Best of luck. It’s awesome once you’re doing it.

 

[HastingsSeagull]

A lot of Coaching is mental plus putting players in a position to succeed. Just ask G.P. It’s only 40% “ x’s and o’s “

 

[Icy Gull]

Good for you Popeye you have really embraced this soccerball

Good luck and as you can see you will get some great advice on here. Now you need to demand blue and white stripes as the team kit!

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Tell parents at the outset they are welcome to the first couple of training sessions but after that they can come to matches only of they encourage the kids, don’t moan at anyone (and I mean their own kids, their team mates, the opposition players and parents, officials and any coaches), don’t swear don’t smoke and generally set a good example - failing these they will not be welcome at matches.
Any parents in the early sessions that show any aptitude for helping out with training or match days should be collared early doors or they will all abdicate any responsibility and it would all be down to you (which you will find impossible).
After 30 years of this stuff, I wish you all the good luck tablets in the world. It can be the most rewarding experience but will test your resilience every week.

 

[Gwylan]

I've never coached football but I have a lot of years experience coaching rugby and cricket and many of the principles are the same.

You've had lots of good advice already: I'll add a few more.

Make sure all the kids are involved, there's a danger that certain kids will try to do it all. Make a conscious effort to make sure that they all get touches of the ball

Remember that kids develop at different stages: one kid may look like a complete klutz and six months later look like a star of the team. Sometimes it happens very quickly, it just clicks.

And, someone said this earlier but it's worth repeating, don't do elaborate drills that take long explanations (and don't have long lines of kids waiting their turn). It's going to be hard for you if you're the only one but do keep things short

I'd also try to get some formal qualifications as quickly as possible. Not only does the training give you a lot of ideas but it also helps to give you authority with other parents.

 

[Sarisbury Seagull]

I’m a coach and love it, hopefully you will too.

There is some good advice above but it’s difficult to give too much specific advice on type of training and drills as you will find you have to tailor it to the ability of the players and their enthusiasm for playing.

If they are younger or not the most proficient, just keep it simple and fun. I see some coaches who think they are the next Guardiola putting on ridiculously complicated drills for young kids and they just look bewildered.

With regard to kit and training, I would say the most important thing ahead of any other fancy kit you can get is to make sure you have enough balls so they all have one each (and the correct size for their age).

Get them on the ball individually all the time in training, I can’t emphasise this enough. Drills that involve dribbling, skills, turns, touches all the time with both feet. Also lots of one on ones. If they are younger, spend most of the training sessions just doing this, you will find they develop a lot quicker.

The kids will all want to play matches at the end of training, this is a good thing to do but keep them small games. For example, if you’ve got 12 players, play 3 v 3 or 4 v 4 games rather than 6 v 6. This way they should all get involved and get touches.

Totally agree with the comment above about parents too, try and keep them away as much as possible. They are the worst part of coaching kids! If it’s in a school, I assume you won’t have to worry too much about that.

Good luck!

 

[BN9 BHA]

No surprise an American member of NSC has got a bigger signature than anyone else on here.

As you were……good luck with the football coaching, sometimes the kids are better behaved than the parents.

 

[BNthree]

Good luck with the coaching. A lot of the FA courses are online only now:

https://thebootroom.thefa.com/learning/qualifications

The “Playmaker” course is free and online and a good starting point if you’ve never coached before.

 

[OGH's Libido]

One ball for every 2 children is a golden rule! Work out your drills/exercises from there

Sent from my SM-A125F using Tapatalk

 

[Swansman]

This drill is going to be your best friend:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiYfxRcjZrw

Its a classic, very simple, very very good, could be varied a lot (size, number of players, number of touches etc) and is just a mainstay drill in any football team at any and every level.

I don't know if you have 1h or 90min sessions but for a 1h session this would be a decent training session:

1. 5-7 min warm-up (don't need more at that age). What they're doing isn't all that important as long as they get warm. They can, even should, have the ball with them, but no shooting or passing as that could cause injuries when not warmed up. If you are coaching girls you should add a couple of minutes of knee strength practice as it helps a lot to prevent ACL injuries which are very common when girls play.

2. Rondon for 10-15 minutes. Change instructions 2-3 times (like one touch or two touch or can't play to the player you got the ball from).

3. Some practice that involves shooting but also other elements (just queing up players to shoot is pointless as you never have that space in a real game, and you always want drills that emulates the game). 10-15 min, if you can change some part of it midway - do it, it keeps the players alert. This is a fairly basic one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmIz4Nl-xiQ

4. Some play-oriented drill. A good one with many variations, easy to adjust (number of players in each teams, size etc):
Use a fourth or so of the pitch, but you can mix up the size of the pitch if you're doing the drill more times.
Team A has 6-8 players, a real goal and a goalkeeper that starts with possession. Team B has 2-4 players and two cone goals with no keepers. Team A is supposed to play out from the back,use their numbers advantage to score in the cone goals, Team B are supposed to try to win the ball back and if they do they have 10 seconds to score or it starts over with the Team A goalie again.

5. Finish with normal 11v11 (or 7v7 or 9v9 or however they do it in America) as the kiddos always want that. Not necessary to give it to them every week but as a rookie you might want to. Of course you can do some messing around with instructions - like two touch only, or having one or two midfielder carrying a different-coloured vest that means that they're always playing with the team that is in possession (this will help you if you're uneven numbers).

Number one general advice would be: always be positive. Don't give negative criticism about their ball playing abilities, all it does is to create fear and the player may avoid doing certain things on the pitch to avoid criticism - and if they stop doing something, they're never gonna get better at it.

 

[Super Steve Earle]

Presumably no heading these days?

 

[Curious Orange]

Good luck with the coaching. A lot of the FA courses are online only now:

https://thebootroom.thefa.com/learning/qualifications

The “Playmaker” course is free and online and a good starting point if you’ve never coached before.

The Playmaker course is a great introduction to how to set up for training and making it inclusive, and you can do it in your own time. It won't give you specific drills, but there are plenty to look through on the FA website (and elsewhere) and can usually be searched for specific age groups.

I subsequently took the Introduction to Coaching Football course (formerly level one) so that I had all the necessary coaching, safeguarding and first aid qualifications to coach Junior Orange's team.

 

[chaileyjem]

One ball for every 2 children is a golden rule! Work out your drills/exercises from there

Sent from my SM-A125F using Tapatalk

Agreed. Time on the ball is really important .

Lots of good advice on this thread - and you’ll know most of this as you’re a teacher ! But my tips
I coach under 7s and under 6s and all I’d add is - it’s games rather than drills, be playful (I pretend to be a zombie, a crab, a monster and ham it up for what is mostly games of tag) . Emphasise it’s fun by hamming it up yourself.
- nearly all the games we play is one ball per player. Lots of different abilities so they should be spending most of the hour touching the ball.
- don’t assume too much. This is what dribbling means, this is a kick off, we’re trying to score goals in that goal.
- encourage encourage encourage. Lots of high fives.
- keep it moving ( so have it well planned) . They will get distracted. Forget, start chatting, cry, wander off back to their grown ups on the side. So lots of comms and pace and simple instructions .
- get help. It’s so much easier to do “scoring goals” games with helpers retrieving balls etc.
- good luck. ! It’s some of the most rewarding things you can do.

 

[Curious Orange]

Presumably no heading these days?

Certainly not in training for the younger age groups. There is going to be a trial of no heading in matches in some U12 and younger leagues this season, with a view to adopting it across the board next season.

 

[Half Time Pies]

My sons team use a training system called Coerver which seems pretty good: https://www.coervercoaching.com/

I think there is some sort of link up between them and Real Madrid.

 

[Eeyore]

Hello friends.

As some of you may know(I think I have said it on here lol) I am a teacher at a middle school and they have been struggling to find someone to coach the girls and boys soccer(football lol) teams. Well I finally said heck with it and told them Friday I would do it even though have never coached it before. I just didn't want these kids to be upset and not have a season because they could not find anyone willing to coach them.

Anyway, I know a bit about the sport due to watching us and just in general, but I know coaching it is a whole other thing.

Any tips for those who have done so? Practice suggestions?Anything else I need to know?Good books or websites to get advice from?

Looking forward to it! First practice is this upcoming Wednesday!

Thanks much!

Crikey, it's a warm time of year in North Carolina. So I guess the first instruction is to make sure it's not too intensive.

 

[Swansman]

My sons team use a training system called Coerver which seems pretty good: https://www.coervercoaching.com/

I think there is some sort of link up between them and Real Madrid.

Not a massive fan of Coerver tbh. Sure, it was groundbreaking when Wiel Coerver was the first one to really put a training method on print, but a lot has happened since and the Coerver methods are a bit outdated, with most teams nowadays having more game oriented drills with more context and several parts of the game being practiced at the same time. Most professional clubs these days seem to think that doing a dribble ten times in game like situations gives more value than standing on your own doing the dribble a 100 times and I'm inclined to agree.

 

[dadams2k11]

The only tips you need is to make it Fun and ask them questions, i.e if they didn't do something right, don't have ago at them, stop play and ask them how they could have made it better.