Let me start by saying that I don't think that bad coaches are bad people. I think they are good people who care about kids and want to help and believe in themselves. They just haven't been taught properly how to coach kids in our beautiful game.
That said...I watch other coaches out there, hoping to learn something and I am sadly now no longer surprised when I see really bad practices.
I watched a U8 practice last week where the coach showed up 5 minutes late and then proceeded to set up a very complicated steel goal. The kids where standing around doing "stretching" led by a militant 10 year old boy who was helping out. After about 15 minutes the coach "taught" (read lectured) the kids about push passes. He explained in detail about push passes and then finally had the kids pass the ball back and forth with the inside of the foot. Finally they get to touch a ball, after at least 20 minutes of practice.
After this, the coach did a really weird and complicated drill with the kids in line running a lot and touching the ball very little. None of the kids got the drill and since only two kids went at a time, there were 8 kids waiting. The last drill was all 10 kids lined up, dribble toward the fancy, complicated goal, and shoot at the coach who blocked most, if not every shot that the boys took on goal. On top of all of this, when the kids screwed up they were made to do push ups.
I was ready for him to finally turn the boys loose for some 5 v 5 when he then had them do sprints, then ended practice and sent them home.
I wish I had made this up as a perfect example of how not to coach, but it was real.
People argue different reasons why the US with all of its organized soccer cannot dominate on the world stage. The most common reason I get is that there are soooo many choices and that we get our best athletes playing baseball and football.
I think it is more simple than that. We have good people with poor coaching skills killing any love for the game out of our kids.
Baseball and football can work with this type of coaching. They are a series of stops and starts and rely largely on skill. with play calling and a fairly straight forward set of goals. You can run baseball practices all season and only have kids play an actual game on game day and it works.
Yes there are amazing and magical baseball players and in no way do I mean to diminish the skill required to play these sports, but soccer is just different. It may seem like it works to train kids "our way" and we may get lucky and get a few good kids with talent who learn the skills and become good players, but how many truly great players have we produced...?
Cue the cricket sounds...
Soccer is like a language. You can spend years and years in classes and "learn" a language, but to really be a fluent speaker, with no accent, you have to go and speak and listen and immerse yourself in the language and the culture.
Soccer is even more like that.
Soccer more than most sports, is constantly moving and the game is played in hundreds or thousands of small battles in every direction, across every part of the pitch. No line up drill or sprint or shooting on a goal all day will produce an intelligent, creative player who can do magical things on the field.
Even more so, a player who is bored to death from a horrible practice session will almost never be inspired to go on and love the game, play all the time and become great at it.
One problem is that most coaches don't understand the game and how players develop. Sadder yet is that many of these coaches played their whole life and some still play. They just don't get it. Most of them learned the game the same way they are teaching it. They didn't play 4 v 4 when they were a kid. This goes to the whole lack of street soccer in our country. That is a whole other post.
I read at least one article each day about youth soccer development and the overwhelming majority of experts throughout the world say the same thing...
The game itself is the best teacher. Just let the kids play.
Coaches - even if you feel compelled to line them up, run them, do your complicated drills and lecture them for 10 minutes about how to do a push pass, at least at the end of the practice let them play. They aren't out there to learn how to do a push pass or sprint really fast across the field. They are there to play soccer. The sport gives them joy.
If you believe in what you just taught them then give them a chance to show you. You may enjoy watching them for a few minutes and their parents might too.
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