Coaching Articles

Very young children (four and five year olds) are learning to coordinate and control their body movements and dynamic balance, and are generally not very nimble or agile. Practice activities that develop these basic motor skills, with and without the soccer ball will be beneficial and fun for all young children.

Some textbooks suggest that the main reason that children want to play soccer is to learn so-called 'socialisation skills' - how to work together in a group, achieve group goals, (e.g. to win as a soccer team), learn sportsmanship and how to deal with success and failure.

Excessive input from the coach while the players are playing in such a way that the coach’s input becomes debilitating to the player’s ability to perform to the best of their ability and stifles their development. In short, the coach is playing instead of the player, making all of their decisions for them.

There are a number of problems which may occur over the course of a season due to the behaviour of parents or players. These include attendance problems; disruptions/misconduct during practice or games; "overly-helpful" parents; and parents who are chronic gripers.