by Greg Bach
Be specific: Children relate best to specific instructions that are easily understood and implemented. Using general terms like “Get back on defense” is often confusing and unproductive. A specific remark, such as “Jimmy, cover number eight going down the sideline,” is much more beneficial.
Sidestep repetitiveness: You don’t want to sound like a broken record. If you do, your players begin tuning you out. Vary your comments. Avoid giving the same instructions. If you find yourself repeating the same instructions, take a close look at spending more time on that skill in your upcoming practices, because that may be a sign that the team needs additional work in that area.
Warming Up
A good pre-game warm-up is comprised of activities that get kids’ bodies loosened up, gradually elevate their heart rates, and prepare them for competition. Youngsters who take the field with muscles that are stretched and bodies that are loose have a reduced chance of suffering an injury, are more mobile and quicker to the ball, and are more likely to perform at a higher level. The older the child, the more susceptible he is to muscle pulls and strains.
During the warm-up, create a positive environment that has players confidently performing skills and enthusiastically looking forward to the game. Send positive messages through your words, facial expressions, and body language. An upbeat, positive attitude creates a positive and upbeat tempo that’s conducive to a great warm-up.
You may see the kids only once a week for an hour of practice between games, so game day may be four or five days after your last practice, and many of the kids probably haven’t even touched a soccer ball since you saw them last. A good pre-game warm-up helps reintroduce some of the skills that you worked on at your last practice and gets the players reacquainted with the feeling of running and kicking a soccer ball. We cover the essential exercises for pre-game warm-ups in Chapter 18 (along with pre-practice warm-ups and a host of other issues to keep your kids healthy and safe).
The Whistle Blows!
The players have (hopefully) listened to your pre-game talk. They’ve gone through the warm-ups. They’ve taken their positions on the field for the start of the game. The ball is in play. Now what? While your players’ skills are being put to the test on the field, your game-management skills are also being tested. Suddenly, you have to motivate your players, communicate with them, and rotate them in and out to ensure equal playing time.
Motivating during the game
Motivating kids is a never-ending job when you’re a successful youth soccer coach. Even if you deliver the world’s best pre-game motivational speech, it may be rendered meaningless if you don’t keep positively motivating the players during the game.
During games, kids may get frustrated when skills that they had no problem performing at practice just a couple days ago aren’t nearly as easy now. You have to convince your players that they’re doing great and instill in them the confidence to keep plugging away out there. The following sections outline a few tips to keep in mind when you’re motivating players during the game.
Don’t suffocate the players
Allow kids plenty of room to make some of their own decisions during the game. If you’re constantly shouting instructions and telling them what to do every step of the way, you hinder their growth and development in the sport. Sure, they’re going to make mistakes, but that’s all part of playing soccer and learning the sport. Giving children the freedom to play and to make some of their own decisions fuels their growth and enhances their learning.
Ease up on the yelling
Your team is excited on game day, and you are as well. Keep your emotions in check. Don’t spend the entire game shouting instructions to every player who makes a move on the ball. Hearing their coach’s voice booming every time they’re involved in the action can be disconcerting to players. Sure, you’ll have instances in the game where you want to get a teaching point across, and the only way to deliver it is to shout it out to your players. Just be sure to convey the instruction in a positive manner. Instructions that are delivered in a negative fashion or frustrated tone aren’t readily accepted by the players and likely are a detriment to their productivity.
Stand still
A coach who runs up and down the sidelines all game long — whether shouting instructions or simply being a cheerleader — is a distraction to the players trying to focus on the game. If you find yourself covering as much ground during the game as your players (and getting the same aerobic workout), chill out a bit.
Correct errors
Children often react differently when they receive instruction and feedback in practice than they do in a game. After all, being singled out during a game may be traumatic for some youngsters, who would prefer not to have all that attention heaped on them in front of family, spectators, and the opposing team. Choose your words carefully.
If a player isn’t following through on his shots like he typically does in practice, offer some instruction in a positive manner. For example, you can say, “Billy, remember to follow through with your kick at your target just like you did so well all during practice this week.” By taking this approach, you provide the player some important feedback that enhances his play during the game while giving him a boost of confidence by pointing out how well he performed the skill in the past.
Encourage hustling
You never want your players to be outhustled, because that’s one area of the game that isn’t controlled by talent or athleticism. The least talented player on the field can make the biggest difference by outhustling a player to a loose ball. Always encourage your players to give it their all when running after a ball, and reward their hustle with applause and praise. Whether they got to the ball first or not doesn’t matter. Getting that kind of effort from your players all game long is a real feather in your coaching cap.
Encouraging communication on the field
Soccer is a truly unique sport for a lot of reasons. One of the most notable is that play is nearly continuous, with very few stoppages, so communicating on the run is crucial for success.
Encourage your players to talk to one another and communicate what’s taking place on the field at all times. Their voices can be just as effective a tool as their feet and heads, whether they’re on offense or defense. Basic comments — such as “I’m on your right,” “I’ve got number five,” or “You’ve got a defender right behind you” — can be extremely effective. Monitor the communication techniques of your team, and give them feedback, the same as you would when teaching your players any aspect of the game.
You may have players who constantly yell that they’re open when they’re not, which is counterproductive for the team. Conversely, when players are open and shouting for the ball, are their teammates able to get the ball to them, or are they unaware of the communication and miss out on the opportunity? Let the players know whether their type of communication is beneficial and appropriate for the game situation. Also, be on the lookout to see whether good advice is communicated and used by teammates effectively. Communication among teammates is a skill that many coaches overlook. By encouraging communication among players, it’s as though you have a few extra coaches on the playing field. If you work on it at practice, you’ll see your team operating smoothly and as a cohesive unit during the game.
The timeout
Although regulation soccer doesn’t have timeouts, some beginner programs allow coaches to call them to help organize players and offer instruction. If your league has them, use them to offer positive encouragement and reinforce some key points you’ve been working on in practice.
With older or more advanced teams, run plays that the team has become very good at executing in practice. Give each of the plays you devise a creative name (or let the kids name the plays), and during the game, encourage your players to shout out the name of the play they want to run when the right opportunity presents itself. When kids are comfortable with a play and can run it successfully during the game, it can swing the mom
entum, get them feeling good about themselves again, and provide them renewed confidence.
Substituting players
Most youth soccer leagues typically allow coaches to make unlimited substitutions during stoppages in play throughout the game. Many beginner leagues may even allow you to change players during the actual course of the game, much like a line change in hockey. This change helps ensure that the kids receive an equal amount of playing time and doesn’t leave anyone stranded on the bench for an uncomfortable amount of time.
League policy dictates your substitution patterns and impacts kids’ playing times, so get familiar with these rules. Generally speaking, most leagues allow player substitutions after a goal has been scored, when your team is setting up for a throw-in, during an injury timeout, and after a goal kick has been called for either team. Usually, you aren’t allowed to substitute on corner kicks or free kicks. In more advanced leagues, in which the rules of soccer are adhered to more closely, your opportunities to substitute players are greatly limited.
In most cases, substitutions can be made only when the referee gives the okay for the player to take the field while the player he’s replacing exits. Again, in beginning soccer, the rules regarding substitutions are extremely flexible, so players may be able to go back and forth on the field like an assembly line. In more competitive leagues, players stepping onto the field or leaving the field must do so at the halfway line, which we cover in Chapter 3. A player must step off the field before his substitute can take the field, though this rule often isn’t strictly enforced in youth soccer leagues.
When you’re substituting a player, bring him out after he’s done something well rather than when he’s made a mistake. If a youngster makes a bad pass and is suddenly taken out of the game, he’s going to be afraid of making a mistake in the future and losing playing time. Also, when you bring a player to the sidelines after he’s done something well, you have the chance to give him a pat on the back or a high-five and recognize the nice play he just made.
The Halftime Speech
The first half is over. You’ve probably seen goals scored, as well as pretty passes; successful tackles; great saves; and (because you’re coaching youth soccer, and the players are still learning and developing) a fair share of poorly executed passes, missed tackles, and other assorted miscues. If you’re coaching beginning soccer, you’ve probably even witnessed a player staring in the sky at an airplane while the ball rolled by him or an opposing player scooting right by your defender who was waving to Grandma. Now you probably have only 10 minutes — tops — before the second half begins.
What you say during your halftime chat should be clear, concise, and uplifting. You don’t have to verbally replay the entire half of the game for the team. After all, your players were out on the field, and they know what happened — well, except for the little guys who were watching the plane and waving to Grandma. But you do want this time with your team to be productive, enlightening, and beneficial.
Improvising is key. Every halftime is drastically different all season long. You have to adjust your message to fit the mood of the team and how they performed in the first half. And you can’t cram everything you saw into the few minutes you have with the team. You have to be selective and choose one or two points that you want to stress or adjustments that you want to make.
Addressing kids of any age
The following are a few tips to keep in mind when gathering your troops at halftime.
Stress rest and rehydration
The players have been running up and down the field. Let them sit down and drink some fluids before you begin talking to them. Giving them a chance to catch their breath makes them more receptive to your comments. A shaded area off to the side of the field provides an ideal area for your players to sit and get refreshed. Sometimes, even getting away from the field for a few minutes does wonders for re-energizing your squad for the second half.
Keep your composure
Avoid rambling. Wanting to share all sorts of information with your team at halftime is natural. Instead of rambling on about a dozen different things, stick to just a handful of points that you want to get across before the team returns to the field. Limit how much information you throw at the team, and what you do say is more likely to sink in and be used by your players in the second half. Don’t send your troops back out on the field scratching their heads, wondering what you were talking about.
And never let the team know that you’re frustrated or upset. Kids feed off your emotions and your body language. Being overly emotional detracts from your ability to coach and to effectively interact with your players. Whether your team is up by five goals or trailing by five goals, maintain a positive attitude and demeanor. Avoid slumping shoulders, a bowed head, and a slow walk. Approach halftime with the same positive energy you brought to your pre-game talk, and your team will respond accordingly.
Highlight the positives
Stress great play by the entire team, not just a select few individuals. Point out the way the defenders worked together when they were pressured in their own end, for example, or how the midfielders connected on passes to create good scoring opportunities. Hearing praise for the hard work they put forth during the first half makes the players more enthusiastic to build on those efforts and duplicate those plays in the second half. Although constructive criticism is critical to getting the most out of your players, be sure to balance it with plenty of positive reinforcement to infuse them with added confidence.
Make adjustments
One of the most challenging aspects of coaching soccer is that no two games are ever alike. Everything from the playing conditions to your opponent’s skill level and ability is constantly different. On top of that, your team will have games when everything you’ve worked on in practice comes together perfectly and other times when they can’t seem to do anything right. Recognizing what adjustments need to be made and being able to share them with your team during this brief time period are the cornerstones of good coaching.
If you need to solve a problem, comments such as “We can’t allow them to keep beating us down the field” aren’t very productive. You need to offer solutions that the kids can grasp and put to use. A more appropriate approach is to specifically tell the defenders to play back five yards from where they’ve been playing, which youngsters can clearly understand. Also, solicit feedback from your players. They’re in the heat of the action, so they can be great resources for ideas on overcoming problems.
Focus on what you’ve worked on
Sometimes, coaches get so caught up in what the other team is doing that they lose sight of their own team’s strengths and what they’ve worked on in practice during the week. When your team has the ball, what skills have worked well for them in practice or in previous games? Don’t deviate and suddenly expect players to perform at a higher or different level. Pay close attention to how they performed, and reinforce that they play their own game.
Yes, it’s a cliché, but it may make a difference in how the kids perform: Play to your team’s strengths. For example, if you’re a great passing team, focus on ball control and connecting with teammates, and don’t worry so much about what the opposing team is doing. Reminding your team to play its own game generates a certain comfort level while promoting confidence and a renewed sense of teamwork.
Working with more experienced teams
When coaching older or more experienced teams, you can use the halftime break for a number of things. Because you’re under time constraints, you don’t have a lot of time to get into in-depth strategies, but if your instructions are clear and to the point, you can impart some great advice that can impact your team’s second-half performance. The following sections include some of the areas that you may want to touch on — depending, of course, on what transpired during the first half.
Get feedback from your players
During the game, you have your vantage point on the sideline where you’re taking in all
the action. But with all your responsibilities, you can’t monitor every single thing that’s taking place on the field. Utilize the different perspectives that your players possess for some great advice. By asking your players whether they have any suggestions to employ in the second half, you’re reinforcing your respect for them and their knowledge of the game, and you may gain some valuable feedback that can benefit the team.
Your goaltender is in a great position to survey the whole field, and maybe she’s picked up on how the opposing team has been able to maneuver the ball down the field. Or perhaps one of your midfielders noticed that the other team’s defenders have a tendency to move up in certain areas of the field and that can be exploited with a long cross-field pass.
Another benefit of this approach is that when players know that you’ll be seeking their advice, they focus that much harder during the game and are much more aware of different situations taking place on the field.
Address changing weather conditions
Mother Nature can cause all sorts of disruptions and, in the process, wreak havoc with your strategy. If the weather changes during the course of your game, be ready to make the necessary adjustments in your team’s style of play. For example, in windy conditions, take a more aggressive approach when the wind is at your team’s back, because the opposing team is going to have greater difficulty moving the ball out of its end.
Keep moving
Are your players constantly on the move, or are they turning into spectators when the action moves away from them? Are they providing support for their teammates by sliding into open spaces when they don’t have possession of the ball? Are they pushing forward when the team is on the attack, like how you stressed in practice? Are they moving back when their help is needed to defend? Remind players who don’t have possession of the ball to keep moving to ensure that they’re always in the right position when they’re called upon to make a play.