Forget the flat-back four for a minute (because it doesn’t work…but that’s another story), forget pressing in the final third or over-lapping. The biggest asset you have as a youth soccer coach (or any sport for that matter) is to be fun!
If the kids are having fun at practice and games…they keep coming back for more. As they keep coming back looking forward to having fun, they put forth a great effort (because they WANT to, not because they feel that they HAVE to)…with that great effort and enthusiasm comes learning and improving.
If Landon Donovan has taught us anything, it is that a “happy” athlete is a productive athlete. Today’s kids and athletes no longer respond to hard-core criticism and negative instruction. That’s not to say that you can’t push them…but they need to WANT to do it…not feel (again) like they HAVE to do it.
It’s that simple…I tried to buck the trend for years, but it simply doesn’t work. The modern (aka soft) athlete is a different breed. And there is no better way to get them to WANT to come out to training and games than to HAVE FUN and BE FUN.
Show enthusiam! Come up with fun games! Let the kids play team handball at a soccer practice – they love it! Then they will be more apt to listen and learn when you slow things down (just a bit) to have a teaching moment. But make those moments quick, simple and then get on with it and move onto the next FUN thing.
Having fun at practice and games doesn’t mean that your team or club sucks. It just means that you get it. Sports are inherently fun, that’s why we all started participating in them in the first place….when did we move away from that?
Be creative…be inventive…but most of all, be FUN! You will see the benefits by the looks in the kids eyes as they roll up to practice, they will be looking forward to their time with you and their teammates and that…is what it’s all about.
