Welcome to the website that will help you become a better soccer player or coach!

Coaching soccer for the first time can be intimidating. If you're concerned coaching soccer isn't for beginners or people that never played the sport you'll want to read on for some great beginner tips to get started. As a general rule, make practice fun, as that is the most effective way where kids will learn and absorb information. While making practice fun is a simple answer, how to do that is a much more difficult one to answer especially for a new coach. Here is what you can do to help create the best environment in your practices and games! How to coach soccer? (Beginner tips to get started) Be a coach that is a role modelKnow why you're practicing and be intentional with the build up (we'll expand on this later)Start watching more soccer and immerse yourself in your player's world!Take a free introduction course to USSF coaching center https://www.ussoccer.com/coaching Beginner tips for new soccer coaches Be a coach that is a role model. Think back to when you were a kid and had any kind of educator whether they were a teacher, coach, or parent. There are probably a few of those that still stick out to you and likely had a larger impact than the ones you've forgotten about. Strive to be a role model for your team - remember these are young and impressionable kids even if you're coaching up to high school teams. Sportmanship and teamwork are large parts of the lessons we are trying to impart on our teams. Every organization and team environment begins with the person at the top, and you are at the top of your team. Ensure you are being positive in your interactions with parents, other coaches, and referees. Shake hands and take losing as an opportunity to learn. Don't yell for mistakes, you want a positive reaction to learning opportunities. Say one of your players in practice doesn't understand the drill you've just explained and executes poorly. Is it better to raise your voice and tell them how dumb that was or is it better to ask them if they understand and to explain it back to you? Or one of the best coaching tips I've ever received is to allow your players to play out the drills with their best understanding even if it wasn't your intention because guess what? It was probably something in your explanation that wasn't clear enough. Be firm when mistakes are made consecutively while building confidence. Your goal as a coach is to help your players learn many different facets of the game. If they feel comfortable trying new things in an attempt to learn instead of feeling scared to feel the wrath of coach they will have a much easier time engaging in the learning process. Short lines, more engagement. Keep this at the top of your list while planning practices. If you have a drill where you have two lines that take turns shooting on one goal and there are 20 players... well you're about to have a lot of bored, disengaged players. Maybe you could have them pass from one line to the other and then switch sides, add another goal on the other side, or split your attackers and defenders. Make it fun and remove pressure. We're going to keep saying it but this is really the easiest way(and most difficult to do) for your players to learn by doing. Keep practices light, fun, and competitive. Your team will thank you for it and don't worry - they will know when to get serious for games. How does a soccer practice work? One of the most tangible ways to improve your coaching and practices is to ensure your lesson plan has a consistent skill or message through the buildup. Let's take an example: Planning a good practice is critical to coaching young kids all the way to adults. Let's say you want to work on 1v1 defending for today's practice. Here is how you would set all activities towards that one skillset to reinforce the different things you're trying to impress on your players: In warmups you could have your players try to knock the other players balls out of an enclosed space When you move to a drill you could have 1v1 blocks in small rectangles and specifically coach jockeying and using your body. In small-sided games you can reinforce the lessons you were just teaching in the drill and stop the game when someone does something good specifically related to 1v1 defending. You can also make the game where defending effectively counts as a point or a goal. In full sided games you can then do the same by reinforcing those 1v1 defending skills to the whole team when something goes right or wrong - again specifically related to the skill you've positioned your plan for that day. 5 Things you'll need as a soccer coach Balls Yes balls. I mean these are pretty important... you can't play soccer without having a ball. Cones You will use cones for almost every facet of practice from drills to games to goals. Get yourself some of these and maybe some of different heights! Ball Pump There is always one kid on every team that comes with a deflated ball. You know who you are... Jacob I'm lookin at you buddy. Pop up goals These are the best goals to play small sided games and make everything easier on the preparation and cleanup side of practice. They fit in every car folded up and have some great uses as goals or targets for passes! Practice Pinnies You're going to want to split your teams up into smaller teams for drills and games. Get yourself some practice pinnies to make instruction a bit clearer!

Welcome to the website that will help you become a better soccer player or coach!

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