I believe there are 5 key factors that contribute to both having fun and being successful when it comes to practicing and playing soccer.

make it fun for kids

The first and most important factor is to make it fun for the children. If you can make it fun, they will come to practice with enthusiasm and a desire to learn. That sets the stage for teaching the basic fundamentals of soccer.

Basic fundamentals

The basic fundamentals of soccer are the second most important thing. This should be done at an early age. By teaching children the basic fundamentals at an early age, they take that foundation with them for future learning. Like anything else, building a house, putting together a project plan for information technology systems projects, or learning the game of soccer. A solid foundation is the key to success.

Plan your practice sessions

The third factor is to be prepared and have a plan for each practice session. Each practice session should focus on a particular topic. Maybe today we will learn to dribble the ball with the inside of each foot, controlling the ball and keeping it close to our feet and not letting it get too far away from us. Ball control is a key factor in learning soccer. You can make this teaching exercise fun by having players dribble around objects, each other, make it a race with control, etc. However, the focus should be on keeping the ball close, using both feet, and having fun while doing these drills. Each practice session should have a theme or an expected outcome of what you are looking to accomplish in that session. Other elements to work on are passing, shooting, catching, etc. Also, at a very young age, like 6-8 years old, you need to keep practices short. Young players do not have the ability to stay focused for a long time.

Organization of your team, support from parents

The fourth factor is having the support and understanding of the parents. You should deliver at the beginning of each season what your expectations of parents are and discuss them with them. Parents need to understand that you, and only you, will teach the players how to play the game. There will not be an emphasis on winning. The emphasis will be on learning the fundamentals of the game. If the players do that, the win falls instead.

Parents should also know that only the coach should provide positive feedback to the players during practice and on game day. Parents should show positive support for their child and the other children on the team, but at no time should parents yell instructions at their child during practice or on game day. Players can only follow one teacher, and that is the coach. I can remember like it was yesterday, a girl from one of my Under 8 teams walked off the field crying at half time and didn’t know what was wrong. I didn’t see that she got hurt or was injured. So I asked her why she was crying. She said, my mom and dad are yelling at me to do one thing, and you’re telling me to do something else. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to disobey my parents. Well, you can bet that when the game ended we had a parent meeting to prevent this from happening again. Additionally, at no time should any parent be negative toward players on our team, an opposing team, or adult game officials.

experience counts

I have been coaching youth soccer for 12 years. During that time I have seen many different styles of training. I have also met many people with knowledge of football. Coaching youth soccer is not rocket science. Many of my teams have gone undefeated winning numerous age group league championships, both indoors and outdoors. They have won soccer tournaments both locally and traveling to other states, such as the prestigious Soccer Hall of Fame Summer Tournament in Oneonta, New York. I have also had 3 teams crowned EPYSA State Champions, 1 outdoors and 2 indoors.

With that said, you always wonder if you’ve done the right thing when it comes to teaching kids to play. I recently had the opportunity to attend a Super League game at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC between DC United and Atlante, Mexico. Watching both teams warm up before the game, I was surprised to see both teams using warm ups that I used with my teams 4 years ago. Those kinds of things help confirm the fact that you did the right thing in teaching your kids to play the game.