Hints for the Novice Soccer Parent

Readiness is an important issue for both the beginning soccer player and parent.  It is vital that a child have an interest is being part of a social environment that relies on interaction and cooperation.  It is just as vital that a parent realizes that their child’s play is exactly that, child’s play.  It is not a reflection of the parent.  It is not a valid prediction of future ability.  The true value of playing any organized sport is to have fun.  A good experience will help to promote all of those other issues that are frequently stated such as self-confidence, teamwork, physical development and a healthy lifestyle.  A bad experience can turn off a child and as a result cause the child to miss out on the opportunity to participate in a sport and enjoy its benefits.  It is natural for anyone to want to continue to participate in a given activity when they are having fun.  Here are seven hints that can help the beginning player have a positive experience.

1.       The win-loss record of a team is not an accurate assessment of the coach.  All that a win-loss record indicates is the comparative ability of groups of players on given dates.  A better way to assess a coach is by how many players want to continue to play the next season.

2.       Being a great player does not ensure that someone will be a great coach.  The younger a player is, the more important it is for a coach to understand children.  Playing experience is always helpful, but knowledge of developmental stages is the best way to select activities that are appropriate to the age of the players.

3.       The outcome of a game is not the best way to evaluate the quality of your child’s experience.  For a lot of young players, practices are more fun than games.  This is especially true when the coach is utilizing activities that are age appropriate.  Practices provide greater opportunities to use age appropriate activities than games.

4.       An outstanding novice player does not have the inside track on becoming a great player in the future.  The statistics indicate that less than one out of four outstanding novice players maintain that distinction ten years later.  This means that the lesser player locked into that designation either.  There is no true way to know what type of player a child will become.

5.       Yelling directions to your child during a game does not really help.  The truth is that is causes more confusion than anything else.  When processing information, it is harder to make good decisions when there are a lot of people giving directions.  The younger a child is the more confusion it causes.

6.       Your child does not need to be psyched-up on the way to the game.  Anticipation is strong enough in young children, adding to it can cause too high a level of arousal and result in making it more difficult to play well.

7.       Your child does not need a game analysis on the way home from the game.  Any conversation about the game should initiated by your child.  Keep in mind that anything you say will most likely be repeated.  Be careful not to make strong negative comments about your child’s teammates.  Negative comments can drive a wedge between teammates.  The same thing is true about the coach.  If it is really important, talk to the coach directly.  Don’t put your child in the middle.

The best advice is to enjoy watching your child and the other children playing.  Cheer for good things that happen.  Have a good chuckle at the mistakes that occur (and they will occur).  This can make for a great experience for both you and your child. 

Practice Plan U-10

Objectives: Cooperation, Competition, Playing options

Organizing/Warm-up Activities

*Math Dribble – every player with a ball dribbling in a confined space, the coach calls out a number and the players have 5 seconds to organize themselves in that number.  Variations can include using visual signals to indicate a specific number or presenting simple math problems so that the answer is the number that players must organize.

*Ball Retrieval in 3’s or 4's – the coach plays a ball out, for a group three or four players to bring back together.  Conditions can be placed, such as the number of passes or type of passes.  The last stage can involve a defender, creating a 3 V 1 or 4 V 1.

Main Activities

*Defrost Tag – players are organized into two teams, one team with soccer balls and the other team without in a confined space.  Players on the team with soccer ball try to freeze their opponents by striking their ball and hitting an opponent below the knees.  If struck, a player assumes a frozen position.  Teammates of frozen players may defrost them by a variety of methods, such as tagging them or crawling on the ground between a frozen teammate’s feet. It is important to supervise this activity to ensure safety.

*Team Knockout – players organized into two teams in a confined space.  Every player starts out with a soccer ball.  Players try to keep possession of their ball, while trying to knock an opponent’s ball out of bounds.  A ball knocked out of bounds, stays out of play for the duration of the game.  As balls are cleared out of the area, teammates may maintain possession by passing to each other.  The last team to retain possession of a ball wins.

*4 V 4 to Four Small Goals – played in a rectangular space, with two small goals on each goal line near the corners.  Each team has two options of scoring on it’s attacking goal line.  It can be played in rotation with teams of four coming on and off.  The number of players on a team can be adjusted as needed.

*4 V 4 to Two Full Size Goals with Keepers – as above, except the small goals are removed and full size goals are used with goalkeepers.

Cool Down Activity

*Soccer Marbles – played in pairs, every players has a soccer ball.  A player strikes his ball into a space and the other player tries to hit that ball with his ball.  They  alternate the order and keep score of the number of hits.