Coaching kids..Fun or serious.

[chapperzUK]

I'll be taking a week off work to do mine. Fortunately I live close enough to the Soccerdome in Greenwich and they do the Youth Award badges quite regularly. If you get licenced the CPD events are well worth it too, went to one a couple of weeks ago by a coach at QPR and it was excellent.

Thanks for the tip. My problem is that I'm away from April to end of June and all Level 2 courses have 6 days in a row then 2 more a couple of months later and then 2 more a couple of months after that.

 

[FarmdogSUFC]

Been listening to this particular debate where a football coach has been sacked for wanting his youngsters to win!,Imo too many grassroots clubs sign youngsters who should be no where near a football pitch mainly because they have nil skill and the manager will be forced to give them pitch time which will have a dire effect on the team.

I am all for these youngsters to attend training sessions to build confidence and hopefully improve their skill level,When I played under 13 standard I witnessed so called kind managers who signed inadequate players who the manager then thrust into an actual game with the result being the other members of the team began moaning at said poor player for making error after error which destroyed that player.

Although I can actually totally see where you're coming from, I can't say I agree.

2 examples that stick in my head are 2 different right backs my team had back when I used to play. One was useless, had the ability but couldn't compete to save his life. Got grief about it week after week until he quit. It was harsh on him but he was never taught how to come up against a player, and lacked the confidence when competing. This is kinda where I agree with you, as he needed to be taught about competition. The other one was originally a striker from our D team but got put right back after the other kid left. Now this kid was terrible, no ability whatsoever. But he had desire to want to play. About 6 months later, he was genuinely our best player.

If we use your theory of don't play players that aren't as good as the others, he never would have become the player he is. As local level, anyone should be able to play IMO.

 

[mrsblue]

ESB,

You use the term "discipline " which is not in my coaching vocabulary as I would not dream of trying to discipline any player,In my experience if the coach is decent the players will respond.

I never stated coaches should be decent players only they are capable with the ball whilst knowing the laws of the game.

Regarding the EUFA coach my honest opinion was he had simply disappeared up his own backside,Last I heard of him he has gained his pro license I think,God help the players.

 

[mrsblue]

Sorry for the language, but that is bollocks.

When I was about 12-13 I joined a local team after about a year or so of not playing after my old team folded. I was one of the worst players when I joined because of not playing and spent my first season sitting on the bench and playing the last 5 minutes of most games. Do you think that was fun? How do you think my confidence was going to each game knowing I would be standing on the sidelines for at least 85 minutes. Even on one occasion I got onto the pitch and 5 seconds later (no joke) the whistle blew for full time.

At the end of that season I asked the coach why I wasn't playing much and he gave me an honest assessment. During that summer I played as much football as I could with friends or on my own and worked on fitness by riding my bike. When the new season came, I gave everything in training to try and start a match. My first start was actually in a position I had never played, but I won man of the match. From then on I started every game and improved dramatically from one of the worst players to be one of the better players. That season I won the Most Improved POTS and came close to winning POTS too.

Sadly the coach had to quit and someone else volunteered to take the team. They had no idea how to do training sessions, their idea was a jog around the pitch followed by a match. He would then sit in the club house the whole time having a drink before coming out with 5 minutes left to stop and say the team for the game on Sunday. No matter how I did in training I had no chance of starting as he would rather play his son in my position. This lead to me being unhappy and I quit the team.

The point is that kids want to play football rather than win. If kids aren't enjoying it, what is the point?

Would you have not been better served in your first season just to attend training?
Why did you remain at that club?
i can never understand why players remain when their pitch time is virtually zero as there are plenty of clubs around so better off trying elsewhere IMO.

 

[Pubey]

ESB. How did you find a team to work with? Seems a bit chicken/egg. Do you need to be actively coaching to go and get your badges, and how if so how do you coach if you don't have badges?

 

[mrsblue]

ESB. How did you find a team to work with? Seems a bit chicken/egg. Do you need to be actively coaching to go and get your badges, and how if so how do you coach if you don't have badges?

Most clubs require level 1 at least!,Look on county football sites and clubs advertise coaches/managers required,My advice is simply avoid managing and stick to coaching as that is fun and very rewarding whilst being the manager is normally one big headache.

 

[chapperzUK]

Would you have not been better served in your first season just to attend training?
Why did you remain at that club?
i can never understand why players remain when their pitch time is virtually zero as there are plenty of clubs around so better off trying elsewhere IMO.

I did that at my very first team because my parents couldn't take me on Sunday to games, I would just attend training and not matches and I felt left out TBH. Imagine going to training and they are all talking about the match which you couldn't attend, then at the end the coach would talk about the next match which you couldn't attend.

Why did I remain? Maybe it is just me, but I'd rather try and persevere than just quit. As I said in my original post, it worked and I was getting rewards through game time.

ESB. How did you find a team to work with? Seems a bit chicken/egg. Do you need to be actively coaching to go and get your badges, and how if so how do you coach if you don't have badges?

You don't have to have any experience to do level 1 and it is simply just an introducing to coaching. Level 2 is much harder, so I'm told, and you are required to do at least 12 hours of practical coaching to be able to pass it.