Coaching My Girls In Soccer This Fall!

Yup, I never thought I'd be one of those Coaching Soccer Dads, but here I am, just had my first Coach's meeting today and our first Practice will be this coming Tuesday! If you would have told me when I was 20 something that I'd be doing this, I probably would have laughed at you and said that you were smoking too much of the funny weed! But, at the request of my girls, not only did I sign them up for Soccer for the Fall Season, but I also signed myself up to be an Assitant Coach for the first time ever! Kinda funny since I don't know anything about Soccer. I guess I'm gonna learn fast! Is it anything like Football? Well, with the exception that you can't use your hands?

Amy has also informed me that if our girls like playing this game, I'll probably be stuck coaching till they decide they don't want to play anymore. Hey, that's okay though. As long as they are having fun and I'm having fun too, I wouldn't have it any other way! What's good about this is that I get to be the Assistant Coach for THEIR team! So this should be fun for all of us! Can you tell that I'm absolutely stoked about this!? As I'm sitting here going through the Coaches Pamphlet, I'm noticeing that they have put in the Characteristics of the children for the age we are coaching. Some of these are quite funny, but still we as adult coaches need to keep these things in mind:

1. Short attention span
2. Can attend to only one problem at a time.
3. May understand simple rules that are explained briefly and demonstrated. May or may not understand or remember: what the lines on the field mean; what team they are on; what goal they are going for. We need to be patient and laugh with them as they get 'lost' on the field.
4. Easily bruised psychologically. Shout praise often. Give "hints", don't criticize.
5. Need generous praise and to play without pressure. No extrinsic rewards(trophies, medals, etc.) should be given for winning.
6. Prefer "parallel play" (will play on a team, but will not engage with their teammates. Thus, a 3 against 3 game is, in reality, a 1 against 5 game because they all want the ball at the same time.
7. Very individually oriented (me, my, mine).
8. Constantly in motion, but, with no sense of pace. They will chase something untill they drop.
9. They are easily fatigued, but recover rapidly
10. Development for boys and girls are quite similar
11. Physical coordination limited. Eye - hand eye - foot coordination is not developed. Need to explore qualities of a rolling ball.
12. Love to run, jump, roll, hop, etc.
13. Prefer large soft balls.
14. Catching and throwing skills not developed.
15. Can balance on their "good" foot.

Yep, it seems quite funny all of this, but yet, as adults and our desire to win, we can forget a lot of these things and ruin the whole experience for the kids. After all, the whole reason we do this for them is so that they learn, learn to share and learn to just plain ol' have fun! And along the way, us adults can relearn those qualities as well. This is going to be a fun season, and I hope to make it fun not only for my girls, but the other kids on our team as well. Wish me luck!