First time soccer coach seeks sage help!

[Ozark Coach]

Greetings, all!

I've been roped in to coaching soccer. My team consists of 10 kids, ages 10-13. The league is 7 vs. 7. I've been an assistant coach for three previous years on a 9 vs. 9 league, so this NEW league seems pretty strange for some reason.

Pracitices seem awkward. Take scrimmages, for example. Instead of a 16-member team, like I've seen in the past, that divides and plays 8 against 8, ...now I have a 10-member team (if everyone shows up) that plays 5 on 5. (Really it's 4 on 4, because the goalies are just hanging out at their respective spots.) On a large soccer field, it seems weird. Hard to figure out how to coach such a mini-version of the game.

My first practice had me scrambling to keep these kids engaged, because I assumed everyone would being a ball. Only three did!. (Argh!) Plus, Lord knows this age group is just plain tougher to talk to than the younger ones. Anyway, I'll quit whining. I need to get a handle on planning better practices, so I'm considering signing up for help from Grassroots. Looks like a strong place to get the help I might need (I hope)!

I thought I'd take a chance and solicit any sage wisdom regarding tactics/formations (I'm guessing a goalie, plus 2-2-2-?). If anyone out there feels led to throw me a bone, I'd sure be forever grateful. Has anyone ever coached this size of team? Plus, I'm assuming that a faster-pace practice would be beneficial for this age group. From what I've seen, the drills on this site would sure make it easy for me to do my job better.

Many thanks in advance, for any help! I wish you all the best!

[Jerzy]

Welcome to the brave new world of small-sided soccer. It is a bit of a change I know, but shouldn't impact you or your players play too much.

First off, formation. Without knowing you or your kids, I'd start off with a 2-3-1: gives you numbers in midfield without really sacrificing numbers in attack because everyone loves to run up and support the attack while it is much harder to do so for defense. If you feel more comfortable with the idea of a 2-2-2, then go ahead and go with it. The whole point of small sided soccer is to NOT spend a lot of time worrying about formation or strategies/systems of play, but to focus on developing the player. Soccer is not like baseball, football or basketball (typical American games that are very coach-intensive with play calling and timeouts and walks to the pitcher's mound) but is much more of a player's game. Your role as a coach is not to be a great tactician, but rather to be a facilitator, creating the environment so your kids can play.

There's lots of great ideas for games, drills and exercises here. Read Val's notes in the goodies and downloads forum and you'll get a lot to use there. If you want a good book to start with, we enjoyed Tony Carr's How to Coach a Soccer Team, which starts out very basic. If you want something to think about for NEXT season, Anticipating the Moment of Play by Harrison is one of my favorites and the basis for what I will do with my team this season.

Try to come up with a couple of lesson plans and post them here and we'll offer our critiques/thougts/suggestions.

[Val]

First thing, if you are playing 7v7, get the team off the large field. You're right, it is weird. Play on a smaller field. If you have 10 players playing, the rule of thumb is 10 square yards per player, so that would be a 60x40 field. Secondly, get your keepers out of goal and let them play too. We can help you with some goalie drills, but the amount of times they'll be involved "playing keeper" during your scrimmages is not worth the cost of having them stand around.

About the soccer balls, tell the kids to bring them, or tell the parents that balls are strongly suggested, so they should be bringing them for later practices.

I'll post more later, but keep your chin up and nose around the boards, there's a lot here to help.

[Val]

Check here for some ideas of how I am running my practices this year. I'll post more over the next couple of days, but most of these are good for beginning players (or beginner coaches), or if your players are slightly more advanced, for evaluating your talent a bit.

Building a Girl's Team and League: A Blog

[Ozark Coach]

Many thanks for the kind responses to my pleas for help! It' snice having some sage voices out there.
I'm not concerned with winning games as much as I am that the kids enjoy the process. Your tips/advice will help me accomplish that, Many thanks!

[Ozark Coach]

2-3-1, eh? Sweet idea! I'll give that atry when we are putting a game plan together. I'm still evaluating my team members. I'm looking forward to putting a position chart together so I can see them in action. Can't wait! Thanks again! Whenever you wanna chime in with tips, I won't stop you (grin)!

[Val]

Originally Posted by Ozark Coach

Many thanks for the kind responses to my pleas for help! It' snice having some sage voices out there.
I'm not concerned with winning games as much as I am that the kids enjoy the process. Your tips/advice will help me accomplish that, Many thanks!

Well, you're ahead of the curve if you really believe this. It has taken me a while to get to the point where development truly makes me happiest (I love to compete and it's taken me a while to learn to not to need to win at this level).

[Ozark Coach]

My dad played pro baseball for 17 years and [thank goodness] gave my brothers and me a healthy perspective about sports. I've seen far too many over-zealous coaches screaming at their young players, berating them for not doing well. Drives me nuts. They shouldn't be allowed to demean kiddos like that. But then again, some parents are about as bad. One time my dad and I watched a father hitting groundballs to his son. The guy was hitting them at warp 7 and expecting this little kid to field them like an adult. When he didn't "do well," the dad would start cussing his kid out. My dad wanted to go hit THAT guy some groundballs, to see how well HE'D do (ha). Anyway, didn't mean to ramble. It's just that for me, winning has always taken a backseat to the fun. I realize that at some point, there is competition. And as long as it's healthy, I have no problem with it. By the way, Val, your blog was a godsend. I incorporated some of those drills and we had a stellar practice. I felt confident instead of a wave of inadequacy. Sure glad there are folks like you willing to share. If I had a weekly plan-of-attack using dirlls like that, I'd sleep well. Guess I oughta subscribe to grassroots, eh? Thanks so much for making yourself available.

[Jerzy]

I love baseball, but I hate little league, and I keep running into coaches who tell me it has changed and the whole mentality has reversed course. And it hasn't. I still see and hear such stories, Ozark. It is what I love about soccer, we just don't have the yelling and immature behavior.

[mcolwell1959]

2-3-1 is good in English seven a side. The one up front should be mobile and be able to move the opposing defenders around and be quick to any through ball. The 3 in midfield needs to be able to get up and down and be able to pass and run with the ball. In englans the defenders are usually the less skillful but big in determination and sometimes size. I always look to develop a good keeper and have someone else as well who can go between the posts. I do alternate players around sometimes and it keeps them interested. I have a squad of 11 and so we have good competition for places although everyone plays. We do shout a lot rom the touchline still in England. The thing is we have so many club and teams everywhere that mostly Dad's do it and they are not qualified coaches, just former sunday morning players. This is why we do not develop players with great technique at an early age but have a enormous enthusiasm for the game.