By Tim Bradbury, Director of Coaching Instruction, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
Hopefully by the time you read this the snow will be gone, the grass will be green and thousands of players will be out playing the beautiful game.
As we move into the start of another Spring Season, I wanted to present something of a TO DO list for all the groups involved in the youth game. All of these groups have great importance but I decided to start with the players as they are the center of all our efforts.
TO DO LISTS FOR:
PLAYERS
• Put your best efforts in at every practice.
• Always be prepared––your team and coach deserve this respect.
• Do your best to make practice a positive learning environment.
• Find a way each practice to help a teammate.
• Compete and have fun
• At the end of each practice, thank your coach, your teammates and your parents.
• At the end of each game thank the referee.
PARENTS
• Rehearse practice and use only the sentence, “I enjoyed watching you play today” at the end of every game.
• Remember that you want your child to develop the skills of the game and relegate the desire to win at all costs attitude to the basement.
• Support the coach in his/her attempts to just have one guiding voice on the sideline.
• Never say anything negative about any player from any team
• Do your best to learn a little about child development and the game
• On the drive home crank up the radio, enjoy the sun and NO POSTMORTEM EVER!
COACHES
• Remember you coach to help them get better
• Play a style: Possession-based where kids touch the ball and therefore improve
• Book one coaching course now that you will do in the next six months.
• Plan your sessions ahead of time and make sure they are developmentally appropriate.
• On game day, learn to coach with questions that get players thinking, NOT GIVE ORDERS.
• Treat all players, opposing coaches and referees in a manner that you wish to be treated.
• Always play to win BUT ENSURE THAT PLAYER DEVELOPMENT IS YOUR NUMBER 1 PRIORTY unless your team is age 17 or older.
• Read at least one article a month on player development
• Get involved in making your club a better place for players to learn the game
• Thank the referee at the end of every game.
CLUB BOARD AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS
• Book one coaching course now that you will do in the next six months
• Try to watch one age group each week so you know what is happening in your Club
• Identify three areas from within your Club that you can help improve.
• Read at least one article a month on player development
• Have a growth mindset to change
• Celebrate people asking honest questions about why things are done a certain way
• Find a trusted soccer expert that can help evaluate your Club
• Reach out to Eastern New York for your FREE club clinic if you have not had one in the last 12 months
REFEREES
• Treat all players, coaches and parents with respect, even when it’s your fifth game of the day
• Remember why you wanted to ref (it was not the money)
• Do not allow kids to be verbally butchered by parents on the sideline – it is part of player safety
• Before you lose your temper, learn to laugh at yourself and be the calm example
If all the groups mentioned have a real try to complete all the things listed this season, perhaps it will be the type of one that we can all enjoy
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