Active AimA Journey and Destination

Comments (3)

1. hammer said on :2/Jan/2009 at 07:01

   Well i'm from England and i now live in Canada. I played competitive football(soccer) for many years. I'm 53 now and still play recreational football, i am also an insructor at a football(soccer) academy in the summer. I find that when people (parents) who know nothing about the game, coach a team, they tent to give the players bad habits. Last year i was asked to help coach a high school team. People (parents) were telling me how good this player was and how good that player was. Believe me my friend there were only one or two players that even knew the basics about the game. I'd say "get the best coaches that you can" but if you live in a redneck town, good luck with your search. All the best mate, and enjoy the greatest game on earth.
   References :
   I think Spooky_A has lost the plot. I always make sure that the young players have fun. But when they get to be 11 or 12 they should know the basics and I have found that many don't. In most parts of the world you can sign professional papers at 15 or 16 years old. You have to grow up. It's not like America where you can't even have a beer until you're 21. I try to instil the passion and love that I have for the game.

2. Spooky_Angel said on :2/Jan/2009 at 07:01

   So many times during a game did I want to go on the field to instruct my players. I understand your desires and frustrations. As coaches we want our kids to learn; we want them to play the game the way the game is intended to be played. If we could only be in their minds; telepathy would be wonderful. Then they would learn positions, overlaps, and tactics.

   Notice the above is the adult coach's point of view. The child would differ: If he would only be quiet and let me play the game. Why does he have to talk/shout so much? I am glad I have learned not to listen to him. Why doesn't he let us have fun have fun?

   The question I have for you, coach, is what are your goals? By going on the field and instructing are you applying adult standards to a child? Are you pushing them into an adult version of the sport while they want something different? Are you letting them be kids?

   Obviously from my questions, you know where I stand; however, fear not intrepid coach, as you read on you will see that you have a great opportunity to do your on field instructions. I, personally, think that the frustration your kids might experience is not that they cannot apply your advice but the fact that you, the coach, are screaming at them above the din when they would prefer peace and quiet so they can play the game. They are losing interest because it is not fun. They don't want to be screamed at. You would quit, too.

   Briefly, when you have a contest with another team it is called a game, and from a child's point of view, a game should be an event in which they can play with minimal adult interference. The requirement that prohibits the coach from offering any more then a limited amount of tactical advice is one of the best rules in all of sports. It lets the players PLAY. During the game, we coaches should quietly watch and observe learning what we need to work on during the next set of practices.

   In those practices we can apply the 9 step approach; and, as your remember, steps 6 and 7 include a cooperative small sided game (step 6) and a cooperative scrimmage (step 7) in which there are interruptions for instructions in line with the theme of the practice. This is your opportunity to do your on field coaching, remembering to be silent during the competitive phase of the practice.

   The more I coach, the more I realize that the game is its own teacher, and if you leave the kids alone they will discover that many things work and don't work on their own. If it works they will be positively reinforced by their success and will do it again. If it doesn't work they will stop doing it. They do not need a coach to nag (excuse me, instruct) them while they are playing, and I have rarely seen a frustrated player who has been permitted to play.

   This year I have spent many hours on Saturdays refereeing under10 games. You should get out there and do it. I have observed that the more successful teams have quiet coaches who have obviously permitted the players to learn during practices and games. The louder coaches rarely have better teams, but do have the teams with poorer sportsmanship.

   Finally (but who knows, I might ramble on), I would like to restate a basic tenet I have written several times in the past. When a child signs up for soccer there is a verbal contract. He is asked if he wants to PLAY soccer. He agrees to play the game. If he were told there would be an on field instructor who would be on the field during the game telling him where to play and what to do, he would never sign up. In my training program I spent some time working in the Phoenix Indian Hospital. I remember discussing asthma with a child's father who was an elder of the tribe. Towards the end of the conversation I commented that the father said very little. His response has stayed with me: "Little rain good for crops; too much rain causes flood."
   References :

3. der Bomber said on :2/Jan/2009 at 07:01

   of course of course and of course.it's not about the age that matters but the knowledge and ability to really control the kids whom he coaches.and please make sure the 18year-old-coach is a very good player and he knows the rules of the game.better if he is a regular player with his college or high school
   References :