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Give your players confidence!

How a coach can build respect and long lasting relationships in women’s soccer

Giving players your confidence builds theirs. Being the first to consistently show confidence in and respect for a player creates an honest, strong, and durable relationship between coach and player. Sharing and showing confidence is the single most important factor in player motivation in women’s soccer.

To be successful in confidence building, you must sincerely love and respect the players and show that you are clearly willing to invest in and work hard for their long term success. This means never criticizing over today’s temporary limitations, always looking forward to the player’s potential ability, holding to high expectations shared with the player, looking for signs of progress, encouraging and praising small successes, and treating the player today as if she had already achieved her greatness and as if she were already a most valuable player.

If you can sustain and encourage a developing player over an initial 6 to 12 month period with love, praise, and encouragement, you will be rewarded with a greatly improved player willing to work hard to succeed for many years to come. You will then find it easy to continue to support and encourage the player, and you will enjoy the respect, appreciation, and support from the player and the player’s family.

Showing confidence when it counts is crucial. You will find that sincerely friendly laughter over mistakes cures much. Humour cuts through all the stress in even the most crucial matches. On game day, the coach who first starts criticizing players or who moans over mistakes during the match is far more likely to lose than the coach who is first to compliment and encourage good play or who laughs with his players over a mistake. Criticism is never beneficial, and is especially harmful (and never forgiven) in a group setting like the match. Players know when they’ve made a mistake. If they don’t, it’s your training oversight and you need to teach them more. Make a note, cover it later when everyone’s receptive.

Once you’ve built confidence in players and your team, don’t destroy it at half-time. Players look to your posture and facial expression as a reflection of their performance and match prospects. Limit your instructions to one main point and at most a couple of small ideas, say it all in 60 seconds or less. Players can only focus on a few ideas, and they interpret lengthy instructions as a sign of your sagging confidence in them. Their play in the second half will reflect the amount of confidence you share with them at half-time. To give confidence at half-time, gather the team and compliment several of the players for good things you saw in the first half. Laugh about the mistakes, including your coaching mistakes, promise to try to coach your best, and encourage all the players to play their best. The kids will know that you were paying attention, the individuals encouraged will feel great and continue to play with confidence, and the rest of the players will appreciate your fair treatment of their friends and will work harder to earn your recognition. When they play well, you will be pleased to give them the respect they seek in front of the team.

These are some of my personal observations, and perhaps they will work for you in women’s soccer. I offer these ideas but will not argue them with anyone, and I won’t pretend to know if these concepts work in boys soccer. After 10 years with different ideas and mixed results, I’ve enjoyed the last 8 happy years of fortunate results with these ideas. I treasure most the little successes in building players, and love and respect the players who have taught me so much about the game and about it’s players.

Five ways to streamline your practice

Many of today’s youth soccer clubs are limited to between one and three practices per week. Although there are a few clubs that are fortunate enough to train more than this, a common soccer coaching complaint is that it is difficult to try and cover all aspects of technical, tactical, and physical work in the time available.

For coaches who are holding extra practices to get work in, or are limited by weather conditions, here are five ways you can make your practices more efficient and effective when given time constraints.

1. Be Prepared…Have a Plan
Many coaches come to practice knowing what they want to do but yet don’t write it down. Instead it is all kept in their head! Keeping a record of each training session will allow you to develop a solid training plan that is both progressive and sequential in nature. Without a written plan it is difficult to peak your team at the right time. Remember the old phrase ‘failing to plan is planning to fail’.

2. Don’t separate conditioning & playing the game
It is not always necessary to include additional fitness exercises at the end of a practice. Be mindful that playing the game is conditioning. Incorporating training variables such as the number of players, the number of balls available, the size of the field, and touch restrictions are all ways to create various conditioning effects.

3. Include speed work in your warm-up
Speed wins soccer games. A great time to incorporate this type of training is at the tail end of the warm-up. The players are fresh and the training volume required for speed development is not very high. A quality speed session that focuses on technique may only take 5-8 minutes. This time invested will prove huge results on the field.

4. Incorporate circuit training
Circuit training is a beneficial method to use when training large groups of athletes. It is also used to raise work levels and can be designed specifically for a strength, a conditioning, or even a flexibility emphasis. For example, set-up 8-10 exercise stations on the field and in groups of 2-3 players per station. Begin with 30 sec. of exercise at each station and 15 sec. rest (time to switch to the next station) and complete the circuit twice.

5. Organize practice so only minimal setup is required
Taking time to set-up drills can eat up the clock. Therefore where appropriate, make use of one space to accomplish multiple goals. For example, begin by having a team play a 7 v 7 non-directional possession game in a medium size grid, then progress to adding direction to the possession game, and then finally play to goals. A session of this nature can easily last 45 minutes to an hour with minimal setup required. You can even do all of your warm-up and speed work in this same area!

Characteristics of ten and eleven year old soccer players

They begin to develop the abilities to sustain complex, coordinated skill sequences.
Some of the players have reached puberty. Girls, in general, arrive earlier than boys.
Most players are able to think abstractly and are thus able to understand some team concepts that are foundational to the game.
They are beginning to be able to address hypothetical situations, and to solve problems systematically.
They are spending more time with friends and less time with their parents. They are susceptible to conformity to peer pressure.
They are developing a conscience, morality and scale of values.
Players tend to be highly self-critical. Instruction needs to be enabling. Show them what can be done instead of telling them what not to do.
Although they are more serious with their play, they are still mainly involved because it is fun.
They are openly competitive. A few may foul on purpose.
They are looking towards their role models and heroes in order to know how to act.
They have a more complex and developed sense of humour.

INVOLVING THE PARENTS

It is imperative that coaches get the parents involved. Not only are they are a major resource for your team, but the U-12 player still relies on their parents for support and encouragement. A pre-season meeting should be held with the parents so that objectives and team policies can be addressed. Some topics that you may want to address at this meeting are:

A means of contacting everyone without one person doing all of the calling. (phone chains)
Choosing a team administrator, someone to handle all of the details.
Complete all paperwork required by your league or club. ¨ Discuss the laws of the game.
Carpool needs.
Training and game schedules. How you feel about starting and ending on time, what your attendance expectations are, what you think is a good excuse to miss training.
What each player should bring to training: inflated ball, filled water bottle, soccer attire, shin guards cleats or sneakers.

Most importantly, your philosophy about coaching U-12 players. Let them know that everyone plays; that the game does not look like the older player’s games; that you are there to ensure that their player is safe and has a good time, as well as learn about soccer.

What your expectations for them is during game time. How do you want them to cheer? Do they know that they should not coach from the sidelines?

Above all, try to enjoy yourself. If you do, they probably will too.

THINGS YOU CAN EXPECT

Some coaches say that the 10 and 12 year-old players have “turned the corner” and are looking like real soccer players. However, games are still frantically paced and a bit unpredictable for the most part. These players know how much fun it is to play the game skilfully. As a result, we begin to see some the players drop out who recognize the importance of skill and become discouraged with their lack of it. Some other things that we can expect when working with this aged player are:

They will yell at their teammates when they make a mistake.
They will openly question the referee’s decisions.
Players will encourage each other.
They will pass the ball even when they know that they will not get it back.
Team cooperation is emerging. They will run to a spot, away from the play, even when they know that they might not get the ball.
They will point out inconsistencies between what you say and what you do. They are “moral watchdogs”.
The difference in skill levels between the players is very pronounced.
Some players might be as big as you are, some might be half your size.
Not only will some of the players come to training with expensive cleats, but some will also come with matching uniforms, sweatshirts, and bag.
Parents, during games, can be brutal. Some will yell at the referee at almost every call.
They will get together with their friends and be able to set up and play their own game.

COACHING RATIONAL

Coaching at this age level is a challenge because many of the players view themselves as real soccer players, while others are at the point where it is not as much fun as it used to be because they feel that their lack of skill development does not enable them to have an impact on the game. They see their skilful friends able to do magical things with the ball and since they can not do this themselves, they start to drop out. Our challenge then, if the players are willing, is to keep all of the players engaged, involved, and make them feel important. (as though they are improving.) Skills still need to be the primary focus of training and players need to be put into environments where they are under pressure so that they learn how to use their skills in a variety of contexts. Here are a few other considerations as we think about working with this aged youngster:

Our goal is to develop players in a fun, engaging environment. Winning has its place but must be balanced with the other goals of teaching them to play properly. Some decisions will need to be made that might not necessarily lead to wins (ie: having players play different positions, or asking players to try to play the ball “out of the back”.)

Smaller, skilled players can not be ignored. Although it may be tempting to “win” by playing only the bigger players in key positions, the smaller, skilled players must be put into areas of responsibility.
Small sided games are still the preferred method of teaching the game. This makes learning fun and more efficient.
Flexibility training is essential. Have them stretch after they have broken a sweat, and, perhaps most importantly, at the end of the workout at a “warm-down”.
Overuse injuries, burnout and high attrition rates are associated with programs that do not emphasize skill development and learning enjoyment.
Playing 11-a-side games is now appropriate.
Single sexed teams are appropriate.
Train for one and one-half hours, two to three times a week. Training pace needs to replicate the demands of the game itself.
They are ready to have a preferred position, but, it is essential for their development for them to occasionally play out of their preferred spot, in training, as well as during games.

Training is now best if it focuses on one, perhaps two topics a session. Activities should be geared to progressing from fundamental activities that have little or no pressure from an opponent to activities that are game like in their intensity and pressure.

TYPICAL TRAINING SESSION

Here are some items that should be included in a U-12 training session:

WARM-UP: A brief warm-up is appropriate in order to get the players thinking about soccer and to prepare them physically for the time ahead. This should involve individual or small group activities that involve the ball. Since there can be one theme to the session, hopefully, the warm-up will lead into the theme of the day. Static stretching is also appropriate at this time, after the players have broken a sweat, again, hopefully done with the ball. The warm-up should get the players ready to play. It should be lively, fun, and engaging as well as instructional. There is nothing like a good, fast-paced activity to grab the player’s attention and make them glad that they came to practice.

INDIVIDUAL OR SMALL GROUP ACTIVITIES: Follow the warm-up with some kind of individual activity, not necessarily a real 1v.1 game, but some kind of activity where players act as individuals or cooperate in small groups in a game environment. An example would be a kind of keep-away game, or small sided games that bring out or emphasize a specific skill or topic. Keep players in motion at all times. Avoid having them wait on lines. Play games of “inclusion” instead of games where the “looser sits”. Be creative. These players like “crazy” games with a lot of action.

PLAY THE GAME: Small sided soccer can be used to heighten intensity and create some good competition. Play 4v.4 up to 8v.8. Be creative. Play with 4 goals, or 2 balls. Play with or without boundaries. Perhaps play to emphasize a particular skill (can only dribble the ball over a goal line in order to get a point). Use cones if you don’t have real goals. Keep players involved. Have more than one game going on at a time if necessary. Switch teams often, give everyone a chance to win. Also, it is important that every player has a chance to shoot on goal as often as possible. Finish this stage with a real game with regular rules. Players need to apply their newly learned abilities to the real game.

WARM-DOWN & HOMEWORK: Finish the session with a warm down. Give them some more stretches to do with the ball. You may want to review what you started the session with. Also, give them some homework so that they practice on their own. Challenge them with some ball trick. Can they complete a juggling pattern? Can one player kick a ball to a partner and then back without it hitting the ground? Can they do that with their heads? How many times can they do it back and forth? It is important to finish on time. This is especially essential if the players are really into it. Stop at this point and you will get an enthusiastic return.

U-12 TRAINING IDEA

‘NUMBERS PASSING’

Here is a good warm-up that will get players prepared for a session on passing and receiving skills. It is an example of how players can be challenged in an environment that is dynamic and can demand specific, targeted technique that has direct implications to the demands placed upon players during the real game. Since there is no pressure from an opponent, it is appropriate to use this activity during the warm-up.

THE GAME:

Assign each player a number.
Players pass the football to the player with the # one higher than their own # (eg: 5 passes to 6, 11 to 1.)
All balls travel through the entire team.
After they pass a ball, they must run to a different spot on the field.
Players are first allowed unlimited touches, then only two touches, then one touch if they area able.
Ask the players not to let the ball stop, or to let their pass hit other players or balls.

TRY THESE VARIATIONS:

Left foot only.
Outside of foot only.
No talking allowed.

ASK THE PLAYERS TO:

Make eye contact with the person they are passing to.
Perform good passing technique.
Keep their body and vision open to the field of play.
Keep the person they are passing to in their line of sight.
Be active. Look like a soccer player.

U-12 TRAINING IDEA

‘CORNER GOAL GAME’

Here is a game that can be used in the middle phases of the training session. This game involves passing and receiving skills and is also a good activity for showing players the benefits of ‘spreading out’. It is a dynamic game with a lot of running. It provides a lot of ‘puzzles’ for players to figure out and demands that they cooperate.

THE GAME:

Set up the field as shown on approximately half-field, depending on how many players are on your team. (16 players shown. It is OK if one team has an extra player. If there is an odd # of players on the team, that gives the players a different puzzle to solve.)
10 yd. ‘squares’ are set up in each corner.
Goals are scored when the ball is passed into the square and then out to a teammate.
Each team can attack any one of the four goals.
Whoever has the ball is on offence until they lose possession, or if they kick it out of bounds.
Score can be kept.
Play with two balls at once to make the game exciting. (This will actually make the game two, separate smaller games going on at the same time.)

Ask the players to keep spread out and to try to attack the goal that is ‘open’. Keep possession, make the other team earn the ball. See if the players can recognize where pressure is coming from.

Written by Jeff Pill, NHSA Director of Coaching. Special thanks to Dr. Thomas Fleck and the National Youth Coaching Staff, Bill Buren, Dr. David Carr, Dr. Ronald Quinn, Virgil Stringfield.

Coaching style

Being a coach, like anything else, is a matter of “wearing a different hat.” It is not the same thing as being a parent, a fan or a role model. The coach has responsibilities beyond these. In order to fill them he will have his own views and they will be filtered through his “coaching glasses,” a set of assumptions about the children, the game, coaching and his role in the process.

The Children Active/Passive	The Game Plan/Vision
The Coach Lead/Guide	Coaching Whole/Part

The Children. They will either be active, i.e. curious, wanting to figure things out on their own, possibly stubborn, willing to learn through trial and error, needing to find their own answers to problems. Or they will be passive, simply vessels that have to be filled with the correct answers to all of their problems. Willing to accept the adult views as correct and subordinate their own to it.

The Game. The vision of how the game should be played. Listen to the words that the coach uses regularly, hustle, pressure, go, kick it long and a picture will emerge of what the coach values in the game. Is it a player’s game or the coaches game? Is a controlled build-up preferred to a quick counter attack? Will the team defend in the opponents half or drop back into their own?

The Coach. The coach can teach by leading, i.e. giving instructions, controlling, being at the centre of the activity and always having the answer. Or he can guide by offering ideas in place of answers, encouragement for the players to try their own solutions, covert instead of overt direction.

Coaching. How do children learn best? By learning the parts and then applying them to the whole? Or, by learning the whole and letting the parts take care of themselves? These questions are the focus of numerous books on childhood education and bring as much debate as how the game should be played.

Effective coaching is similar to being an effective doctor. First is the ability to diagnose the ailment. Next is the ability to prescribe the correct treatment. Finally, how to modify the treatment as the patient improves.

The important point in this model is that the different frames in the “coaching glasses” should support one another. Passive children won’t respond to a guiding coach. They’ll both wait for the other to take initiative. In the Dutch Vision the children are active, the coach guides, the game is centred around the player’s and they learn best by playing the game itself.

Coaching during matches

Soccer Culture

The essence of the soccer culture is that soccer is the “player’s game”. What this means is that, once the game is underway, the players are expected to make their own decisions as to the right thing to do in any situation, without interference from coaches or spectators. Of course, in a professional game, there are plenty of spectators with an opinion but their input is thankfully lost in the noise of the crowd. In a youth soccer game with only a handful of spectators, loudly-voiced opinions and “suggestions” are all too easily heard (at least by the other spectators – see below).

This soccer culture is alien to most North American sports, in which the coach is effectively a part of the team, controlling plays, using a timeout to stop the other team’s momentum, instructing a player to run or stay on base and so on. Irrespective of whether you think this is good or bad, [I’ll admit that I prefer to make my own decisions], it is not the soccer way. Once the whistle blows there are no practical mechanisms provided by the laws of the game for a coach to influence the outcome. The players make individual decisions, good or bad, and collectively have to react as a team to the strategy and tactics of the their opponent. They learn to do this in two ways, first at practices, where the coach does have control, and second and, ultimately more importantly, by experience at the games. This is the origin of the soccer coaching adage “the game is the teacher”. It takes a lot of games to get the experience, but there really is no short cut, much as coaches might wish there were!

Many coaches find this situation frustrating, especially if they also coach a sport in which they do have more control. A common reaction is for the coach to become a “shouter”. In the extreme this takes the form of a continuous barrage of shouted verbal instructions to the players, which is essentially an attempt by the coach to “control” the game. At any game with a noisy crowd this doesn’t work, of course, although some coaches develop remarkably loud voices trying. This style of coaching at the game is sometimes also referred to as “mini-coaching”.

What’s the Law?

FIFA law states that a “coach may convey tactical instructions to his players during the match and must return to his position immediately after giving these instructions. The coach and the other officials must remain within the confines of the technical area, where such an area is provided, and they must behave in a responsible manner”..
The spirit of the FIFA law is that coaches convey only occasional instructions to players and these are limited to “tactical”, that is “off the ball” instructions. The expectation is that coaches use the game to observe their players in action and use what they see as feedback into the practice situation.

Discussion

Let’s start by admitting that many veteran coaches, including the author, have followed the humbling path from mini-coaching to being an observer and cheerleader at games. We’re not perfect either. Sometimes we lapse into bad habits under stress because we’re human. But we believe in the soccer culture and strive always to be good role models. In this section I will discuss some of the issues surrounding mini-coaching in more detail and explode some myths.

1: Instructions get through to the player on the ball.

It’s hard to accept this if you have never played a team sport. The truth is that, when concentrating on handling the ball, it is impossible to process instructions. Players shut out extraneous inputs; all they hear is a general background noise. Of course, if they are close and you shout really, really loud, they’ll hear you, but in doing so they will probably lose focus on what they are doing and lose the ball.

2: Players like being shouted at [told what to do]

Even if they do, [I haven’t met any yet – and you have to ask them to really find out], it isn’t helping them make their own decisions, and they’ll never become good soccer players if they don’t. Some coaches justify their behavior on the grounds that the kids need really the instructions and that it helps them become better players. It’s possible that this could be true but at what cost? Again, it’s hard to appreciate this if you haven’t played a sport with a “coach”, but most adults would find it irritating and unsettling to be the subject of constant verbal instructions. Kids spend their whole lives being told what to do by adults. Historically they learned to play sports without adult involvement. Times have changed so that organized sports are now the norm, for better or worse, but that doesn’t give adults the right to take over their games. It’s the players’ game.

3: I only ever provide positive instruction and encouragement

I hear this a lot and I’m sure some coaches really believe it. However, if you’re a real shouter, you will inevitably get seriously involved in what’s happening out there on the field. Eventually when something goes wrong, you’ll let your guard slip and some not-quite-positive remark will emerge, because it’s practically impossible to keep the brain properly engaged when in verbal torrent mode. As an example, what do you think is the impact on your players of a shout of “Wake up, defense!” immediately after a goal is scored? I would suggest to you that this belittles the players and simply expresses the coach’s dissatisfaction with their play. It is not positive coaching and it is unlikely to improve performance on the field. Other tell-tale phrases are those containing “you should have…” or “you need to…”. While well intentioned, these remarks will be perceived as criticism by the players. I don’t know too many adults who respond well to public criticism, let alone kids. Just remember, the players only “need” to have fun. Finally, panic shouts of “Get it out of there!”, “Shoot!”, “Boot it!” just overload the players with noise. They rarely have any useful effect, except to make players feel more nervous and unsure of themselves. Great performances are not made in a mental state of panic.

4: I have a really nice voice at 90 decibels

My experience is that listening to a shouter coach, however well intentioned he/she is, just gets plain annoying after a while. It certainly spoils my enjoyment of the game. Spectators (parents) come to watch their children play, not to listen to the coach.

5: The parents expect me to instruct the kids at games. No parent has ever complained about my coaching style.

Many parents are equally unaware of the soccer culture, and simply transfer their expectations from other sports. Others are themselves intimidated by a coach who is a shouter. Some, seeing progress in their child’s soccer development, may put up with the shouting because “my child is learning a lot this season”. [Many shouter coaches are indeed good at teaching soccer at practices].

6. It’s ok to complain to the referee if he/she makes a call you don’t agree with.

Mini coaching often goes hand-in-hand with public complaining about the refereeing. Again, if you are involved with the game at the mini-level, you are going to react deeply to every call, just as if you were actually out there on the field, and if you’re verbalizing, you’ll find it very hard not to say something critical. There is no margin for discussion on this one: public complaining about the refereeing is not acceptable, period.

7: It’s very important to me that my team wins the game.

A lot of mini-coaching has its roots in the coach being too personally invested in the success of the team. This is dangerous ground that can lead to some truly bad behavior by coaches. And, yes, it happens every season. Sometimes a coach is trying to make up for his or her failed success in sports by playing vicariously through the team. Other times the drive to win (at all costs) is just too deeply embedded in his or her personality. Other times the coach feels inadequate if the team isn’t successful and attempts to remedy this by mini-coaching. If any of these resonate with you, just remember “it’s for the kids”. You are a teacher not a player.

8: Should coaches be silent at games?

No! The opposite extreme of a shouter is the truly silent coach, which is easily mistaken for indifference. Players do like to be praised when they do well. There are plenty of opportunities at a game to provide praise and positive encouragement to your players. It’s also perfectly ok to communicate tactical suggestions just so long as you don’t do it continuously. For example, instructions to your defence to move up with play, and occasional positional advice. What you should not do is try to teach positional play at a game by constant instruction.

Conclusion

If while reading this you recognized some of your own behaviour at games, try to examine your reasons for mini-coaching. Hopefully some of the arguments above will persuade you that there is another way that will achieve the same results and, in the process, let the kids play their game in as natural a way as possible.

Characteristics of twelve to fourteen year old soccer players

Training

Boys and girls at this age …

“shoot up” in height when they enter puberty. This rapid growth creates an imbalance between the length of their torso and legs;
often find it difficult to move around in a fluid manner because of the physical changes they are experiencing
on the other hand demonstrate greatly improved strength and speed.

Consequences

The basic technical principles need to be adapted to this greater swiftness.

Their ability to grasp concepts means: they can be taught more demanding tactics.

Fitness and stamina are improved, primarily through playing. Training should occasionally be supplemented by simple circuits, jumping exercises, games and exercises to improve reaction and acceleration.

Playing

Boys and girls at this age …

like playing in a competitive team, i.e. in a group which shares the same objectives, norms and interests, find the “security” which they lack or consciously reject in other areas of their lives at this time. Psychological insecurity is stabilized merely by belonging to a team;
can also perform more specific tasks within the team because they have a better grasp of the game.

Consequences

The recognition by teammates and coaches of the importance of individuals’ performance in the team’s success helps to boost young players’ self-confidence. Each player must be given tasks geared towards his particular strengths without limiting individual initiative, creativity and enjoyment of the game.

Main emphasis during games on the use of space and the careful build-up of play.

Care

Boys and girls at this age …

distance themselves further from adults, looking to establish their own fixed place in the world;
are often prone to considerable mood swings and inconsistency in their performance during this orientation phase;
receive support from their friends and peers during this somewhat insecure process of “finding themselves.”

Consequences

Players at this age must be shown how to be independent and share responsibility.

However, coaches must not issue all the orders, plan and organize everything, block out criticism. Instead, their main job is to encourage the youngsters to find their own solutions and develop their own ideas.

Each player must be allocated suitable responsibilities.

Characteristics of six to ten year old soccer players

Six to eight…the wonder years

Attention span is a not at a “competitive” stage.
Inclined towards small group activities.
Always in motion: scratching; blinking; jerking; rocking….
Easily bruised psychologically. They will remember negative comments for a long time. Shout praise. Give “hints”.
They want everybody to like them.
Developing physical confidence.
Starting to imitate older players or sports heroes. Want the same “gear” as them.
Lack sense of pace. They go flat out until they drop.
Skeletal system growing rapidly. Often results in apparent lack of coordination.
Cardiovascular and temperature regulation system is not developed. Their heart rate peaks quickly and they overheat quickly. make sure that they get adequate water breaks.
Limited understanding with personal evaluation. “If they try hard, they performed well” regardless of the actual performance. Thus, they need to be encouraged constantly, and asked “Now, can you do this?”
Better at recognizing when the ball is out of play, and remembering what goal they are going for… but, in the heat of battle, they will sometimes still forget. They still find it difficult to really be aware of more than one thing at a time.

What to expect

Six, seven and eight-year-old players are a bit more compliant than their U-6 counterparts. They will be able to follow 2 or 3 step instructions and are starting to have a good understanding about what it means to play a “game”. They are also starting to cooperate more with their teammates. In fact, they now will recognize that they even have teammates by the fact that they occasionally, and I mean occasionally, will pass the ball to a teammate, on purpose. Often, they will repeat the phrase “I can’t do that!”, but, will quickly run to you to show you that they can, even when they only think that they can. Some other things that you can expect to happen during a season with this age group are:

There will be at least 200-300 falls during the season, but, now they will usually pick themselves back up.
The puddle in front of the goal is still too tempting to resist.
Some of the girls are a lot tougher than the boys.
They will still want to wear a training bib, even when the colour is identical to their shirt.
It will be impossible to remember who is whose best friend as you try to make up teams.

Nine and ten…turning the corner?

Gross and small motor skills becoming more refined and reliable. Boys and girls begin to develop separately.
Ability to stay on task is lengthened. They have the ability to sequence thought and actions.
Greater diversity in playing ability and physical maturity.
Skills are emerging. Becoming more predictable and recognizable.
Some children begin moving from concrete thinking to abstract thinking.
Able to pace themselves, to plan ahead.
Increased self-responsibility. They remember to bring their own equipment.
Starting to recognize basic tactical concepts, but not exactly sure why certain decisions are better.
Repetition of technique is very important, but it must be dynamic, not static.
Continued positive reinforcement needed.
Explanations must be brief, concise, and mention “why”.
Becoming more “serious”. Openly, intensively competitive, without intention of fouling.
Still mostly intrinsically motivated. ¨ Peer pressure starting to be a factor.
Adult outside of the family may take on added significance.
Prefer identification with a team. Like to have good kit, equipment, balls.
More inclined towards wanting to play instead of being told to play. Will initiate play more.

What to expect

Some coaches say that the 9 and 10 year-old players are beginning to “turn the corner” and starting to look like real soccer players. However, games are still frantically paced and unpredictable for the most part. These players are starting to find out how much fun it is to play the game skilfully, but they will still stop and laugh if the referee gets hit in the backside with the ball during a game. Some other things that we can expect when working with this aged player are:

They start to understand offside, but still forget themselves when the goal is in front of them.
They will really beat up on each other during practice… especially boy’s teams.
During a game, the parents will scream out “HAND BALL” or “COME ON REF, CALL IT BOTH WAYS” at least fifteen times.
They might cry after the game if they loose, but will forget it if you ask them if you want to go out for burgers and fries.
You might actually catch them practicing on their own without you telling them to do so.
Their parents are telling them to do one thing during the game, you are telling them another thing, but what they end up doing might be what their friend is telling them to do.
You will see a pass that is deliberate. You might even see a “back pass”!

Even smaller sided games (ESSGs)

A lot has been made about 4v4 and its relationship to football (soccer). When you accept that “a soccer coach coaches soccer, not something else” and that “4v4 is the smallest form of real soccer” it appears that 4v4 is the smallest game that a coach should use. This is not the case. There are several situations and reasons why small sided games should be smaller than 4v4.

Age/soccer age. When children are introduced to soccer at 4 or 5 years of age, parents and coaches can confuse the activity with the sport. Soccer is a complex game when you take into account the role that insight and communication plays in it. Children at this age lack the intellectual capabilities to grasp the objectives and meaning of the game. Socially, they are concerned with themselves and can’t get past “I, me, mine.” They are not “playing soccer,” but using soccer to develop skills. For them, 4v4 is too big and too complex.

For older children being introduced to the game there is a different problem. While they may have the mental and social skills to understand the objectives and are able to work together they lack the necessary tools to execute their decisions. Their speed of play are not up to the level necessary to play “real soccer.” They either expend too much energy or might even “shut down” when they are faced with too much resistance. This is the fight or flight response to stress. Reducing the numbers below 4v4 is a good way for them to become comfortable to the game.

Even older, experienced players can benefit from smaller games. Demands can be made that focus on specific problems, especially 1v1 skills and self confidence. Better communication skills can be developed, responsibility and ownership for tasks can be highlighted and improved in these soccer like games. The basic skills needed for teamwork can be quickly developed.

The following demonstrate how numbers below 4v4 effect and contribute to the learning environment inside of the games. When these numbers are combined with different goals and rules a general lesson, such as speed of play, can be presented with considerable variety.

2 vs 2 Basic Game

Team work starts with two. If players cannot solve the simple problems they face with a partner they will not be able to function in any larger team context. Therefore, 2v2 in modified forms (different goals and rules,) offers them opportunities to learn how to work together in the four main moments. At this level the concepts of zonal play and man to man marking can be introduced. Players learn that, in a team, they can share responsibilities and are dependent on each other. They are constantly involved in the play, either with the ball or in a helping role, (sometimes by staying out of the way.) They can come up with their own plans and responsibility/ownership falls on “you or me.” Accountability is very clear.

A basic requirement in soccer is being able to handle both sides of 1v1. In 2v2 the players are constantly exposed to this moment. The difference between these situations is that in straight 1v1 the “game” is over very quickly and players “must beat” their opponent or they fail. This produces a high stress situation. 2v2 offers players the option of choosing the moment when to take on their opponent or simply keep possession of the ball. This lowers the stress level which can enhance the learning environment.

3v3 Basic Game

Bunch ball is a constant problem in youth soccer. This results from the players inability to maintain their shape. The distance and angles between the players is lost and, as a team, they are not able to work together efficiently. Since three players make the smallest shape, a triangle, 3v3 games in modified forms are an excellent way to introduce this concept. There are still lots of 1v1 opportunities and the basic lessons from 2v2 can be expanded and built on. 3v3 also guarantees that there is open space somewhere on the field.

Uneven Numbers Act as a Bridge

Going from 2v2 to 3v3, or 3v3 to 4v4 may prove to be difficult for some players. In this case uneven numbers can be a bridge to help them get across the learning gulf. One objective in these games is to help players learn how to use the new situations that larger numbers create against lower resistance. Do they use each other in the most team efficient manner? Do they take advantage of the opportunities presented in the game? Do the players recognize when they are numbers up and have that advantage? Do they understand how to adjust the game when they are numbers down? Games with uneven numbers can be modified, goals or rules, to help maintain a competitive balance.

Neutral Players

By using a neutral player, (they play for both teams giving each a numerical advantage when in possession, in the example above the yellow number 8 the players can get a basic grasp of ideas against less resistance. The coach can play this role so long as they are better than the players and don’t create a problem themselves. Since neutral players don’t have any defensive responsibilities they shouldn’t be overused.

Here’s a short YouTube video that looks at how adding and subtracting players at this level dramatically changes the game.