Put Best Coaches at Younger Ages

Kids first, soccer second, this is what ‘s needed for our coaches’ priority in our club programs. When you find both, you hit a homerun. There are many coaches out there that have soccer experience, however, they have trouble with 10 and 11 year olds. Coaching younger players is quite a challenge for them.
We look for people who understand children, what helps kids enjoy learning. It’s easier to gain more soccer experience than to learn to work with younger kids. The soccer part of it, we can educate, we can work with them, there are courses out there.
It takes a unique individual, an inspired individual- people who played soccer and go into teaching - they have soccer experience and can relate to kids. For those people that have that quality and ability- I think they recognize that it’s not difficult to help kids to have fun and enjoy soccer and people who don’t have that quality it’s difficult.
You have to find a good balance, and that’s why we need the best coaches at the formative years- U-10,U-12, and U-14. Those coaches know how to run a practice where the kids are learning ,however, their minds are on how much fun they’re having.
There are a hundred fun games and tag games, also, ball gymnastics with the ball at their feet, as well as coordination games to create enjoyment and ball control. The coach is trying to inspire the players to have a love affair with the ball where they want to play more, rather than the coach asking them to do more. In order to change the soccer culture at the older levels we must first change It at the younger levels.
We want the kids to work hard at the game, but they don’t know it because of the fun they’re having.