PTSA - Coaching F.A.Q.

In an attempt to help educate novice soccer coaches, we have assembled a set of frequently asked questions. Since the answers to these questions are so subjective, we thought it would be fun to post several sets of these answers so that you could be exposed to different points of view. If you would like to answer any of these questions, or post questions of your own, just drop us an e-mail.

Here are the questions...

Why me?
What skills (qualities) do I need to teach kids at a particular level?
Where can I get materials so that I can learn the skills that I am to teach?
Is it important to win?
What do I do if we aren't winning any games?
Should I have the players specialize in a particular position?
Is there anyone willing to sit down with me and answer my coaching questions?
What formation should I run?
What are the responsibilities of each position on the field?
Should all kids be made to take their turn as goalie?
At what age, do we keep score?
What do I do with a problem child?
What do I do with a problem parent?

Here are the answers...

Why me? Because you are probably the father/mother of a child that cares enough to not only help develop your daughter's or son's athletic and social skills, but also cares about children in general, and are gracious and responsible enough to develop other's children.

What skills (qualities) do I need to teach kids at a particular level? All levels: patience, fairness and humility. Grasshoppers: basic trapping and kicking - passing and position are lost on grasshoppers. U6/U8: basic trapping and kicking, heavy on position and passing - in depth knowledge of the game is not necessarily needed here by a coach. U10/U12: all of the above, repeated over and over, knowledge of the game sufficient to teach restarts, defense, offside, midfield vs. offensive play, very structured practices to teach skills and prevent boredom. U14: patience and humility.

Where can I get materials so that I can learn the skills that I am to teach? Hopefully, we'll have a library/reference. In addition, helping an established coach for a season, who is about to move up to the next age group with his child while you remain behind with your younger child, is very helpful.

Is it important to win? No. It is more important to teach that one doesn't have to win to enjoy the game. I've coached in-house only and always stressed the improvement of the individual child over the improvement of the team, and rarely have had winning records as the result. I'd like to think (and in some cases got affirmation) that 1. the kids became better players, 2. the parents appreciated not having their kids yelled at, 3. team growth was a function of individuals assuming (without their cognizant knowledge) leadership qualities, 4. I didn't embarrass myself and the children by yelling at referees due to a desire to win.

What do I do if we aren't winning any games? Live with it. In my case, since I played every child at every position in every game (sort of answers the next question) it didn't promote winning. Of course prior to the season, at the first practice and meeting of the players and parents, I stressed my philosophy of not caring so much about winning as I did about their children learning while having fun, this seldom was a problem. Of course, one has to develop a thick skin for the occasional overheard comment from the dads. Also, very important, one has to use positive reinforcement with the kids both when losing by a large margin ("just keep playing hard, we'll correct our mistakes in practice this week") or if losing by a small margin or tieing ("hey, that's the best game we've played, we're making good progress, you guys really played hard today") You get the point. Gotta be sincere though, or they'll lose respect for you in a hurry. How one handles losing is a severe test of one's character. If ever a good and proper role model is needed, it is how you conduct yourself with children (parents aren't so important here) in this instance, it is very important here. Like it or not, these kids really look to us, and reflect us, as we conduct ourselves as coaches. A lot of character can be displayed and learned here. This could be the single most important question/issue we can answer for a coach. Not from the standpoint of HOW do I get a win, but HOW do I handle it if we don't.

Should I have the players specialize in a particular position? No, every player should learn and specialize in every position. Again, from an in-house perspective, every child should have an opportunity to play forward, midfield, defense and goalie. If you don't stress this in-house, when the time comes to make a travel team, wouldn't you want that child to be multifunctional and not one dimensional? Goalie is a little different. It takes a certain mindset to play goal. Most girls do not want to play goal. Up to U14 (at which time they flat out refuse to play, and will take you up on your threat to sit the bench instead) I always devoted a week of practice to teaching everyone how to play goal, and gave them at least a quarter in a game to have "fun" playing it. Sometimes this helped with losing. By playing kids in goal who they and the team know aren't good at it, helps rationalize a loss that might have happened anyway.