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New Soccer Coach, 5 Tips for your First Practice….


OK, so you volunteered to be the soccer coach of your kid’s team, only problem is, you’ve never coached a soccer team before…YIKES!

Not to worry, we are here to help.

I will be posting 5 Tips to help you get through your first practice…

Here is the first one:

TIP #1 Equipment

Cleats must be soccer cleats, no baseball cleats.

Make sure each player has the correct sized ball, mandatory that they all have their own ball.

It is important that each player has a ball because as you will discover in later tips, that the entire practice should be centered around the ball. By making each player have a ball that will give them something to focus on and it take one more responsibilty away from you, the coach.

Each player must have the correct type of shinguards and have them inside their socks and the socks must be soccer socks.

This may seem basic, but I cannot tell you how many times I have seen players practice with their shinguards on the outside of their socks. Have them wear them correctly, this is another step in the right direction.

There are lots of stores that carry a player pack which usually includes a ball, a pair of cleats and a pair of shinguards.

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Agree beforehand that you team will practice in matching colors. I have all of my teams wear a white t-shirt, black shorts and white soccer socks. Doesn’t matter the brand or the style, just white shirt, black shorts and white socks. They do not need to all match.

This immediately makes them look like a team and immediately makes them feel part of a team.

Have each player bring their own water bottle and have it clearly labeled with their name on it.

It is important that you regulate water breaks.
Make them often and use it as a way to give them a break and to buy you some time while you think about and prepare for the next part of the practice.

DO NOT LET THEM WANDER OF A DRINK FROM THE WATER BOTTLE WHENEVER THEY WANT. DO NOT LET PARENTS BECKON THEM OVER TO GIVE THEM A DRINK.

If you let them wander off by themselves when they want a drink, or if you let parents give them a drink, YOU WILL LOSE CONTROL OF THE PRACTICE.

When they are on a water break, STAY AWAY FROM THEM.

What I do not recommend is that you take your water break when they do and you hang out with them. Give them some space and let them socialise and complain and gossip etc, its their break time, not yours.

OK, so there are some basic tips that should help you set the tone of your practices and help you take control of the practice and the players.

TIP #2 will follow shortly.

Feel free to leave a comment or ask any questions.

Let’s Talk Soccer!

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 25th, 2010 at 9:57 pm and is filed under How To...., Kids Soccer, Soccer Player Management, Soccer Practice Tips, Youth Soccer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


20 Responses to “New Soccer Coach, 5 Tips for your First Practice….”

  1. Great advice for new coaches!

    I’ve retweeted and will look forward to reading the next tip.

    Pavl

  2. [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Pavl Williams, Paul Walmsley. Paul Walmsley said: 5 Tips for your first soccer practice at http://bit.ly/a9771Z [...]

  3. Thanks Pavl, please feel free to contribute your advice as well.

  4. Good informative text. I found your blog by accident, just thought I’d let you know that you have some really good info on here. :D

  5. Thanks! Hurry with the next tip, I start in one week!

  6. Wow this is a great resource.. I’m enjoying it.. good article

  7. Particularly agree with all the kids having a ball each – where possible – even in warm ups. The more touches young players get of the ball the better!
    I continue to be impressed with the speed at which soccer is gaining in popularity in the U.S. and this seems to go hand in hand with the number of dedicated and well informed coaches.

  8. As you will see from future posts, I encourage each player to have a ball in the warm up and stretch. Thanks for your comment, please visit regularly.

  9. OK, I will have Tip #2 posted later today!

  10. Tip#2 has been posted!

  11. [...] New Soccer Coach, 5 Tips for your First Practice…. [...]

  12. [...] New Soccer Coach, 5 Tips for your First Practice…. [...]

  13. I love this site. Great articles. Also, I get my soccer apparel at 40% off retail at http://www.SoccerThreads.com

  14. I thought this was good, down-to-earth advice for coaches and look forward to hearing the next tips, but just wanted to add that coaches should check their players’ boots on a regular basis, so they can pick up on any safety issues – poorly maintained studs or blades can constitute a danger – and also just to make sure you’re players aren’t hobbling around in ill-fitting boots. You can find more useful info on boot safety at http://www.bettersoccercoaching.com/Article-771–1–Tips-for-checking-soccer-boot-safety

  15. Thank you for the mention of checking the cleats/boots of the players. Hopefully people will click on your link and read your article.

  16. There are some really helpful tips here for youth coaches starting out. I just wanted to add, that if you need some age-specific drills and games, you should check out http://www.footy4kids.co.uk site because all the articles are tried and tested as well as being free to download.

  17. Hello,

    Thanks for the comment and welcome to the soccer coaching community we are building here at http://www.soccercoachingblog.com. I don’t mind you posting a link to your website regarding “age-specific drills and games.”

    However, what we are trying to do here is to not just come up with drills and games, there are millions to chose from.

    What we are trying to do is to learn how to coach using drills and games.

    So, please feel free to take one of your drills or games and break it down for us and list all the coaching points, so that we can look at it and learn exactly how to use it as a way of actually coaching as opposed to just running a drill or entertaining our players with a game.

    That’s what this blog is all about, helping our soccer coaches to actually coach as opposed to running drills.

    Thanks again for stopping by and leaving a comment and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

    Cheers.

  18. You have a awesome site here. Was well worth visiting for the great articles. Keep it up

  19. Thanks for the helpful tips. I helps me for my first session.

  20. I think it’s essential for other to do this. I’m sure it will guide them in doing the right thing.

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