beflo
Jr. Academy
Posts: 15
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Post by beflo on Aug 18, 2022 11:35:10 GMT -5
With the rec season beginning in the next couple of weeks, I was looking for any ideas that you guys might have for an inexperienced parent-coach for a U10 girls team to help them learn spacing and passing.
Thanks for any help!
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Post by collegesoccer on Aug 18, 2022 11:57:59 GMT -5
There’s a ton of information and videos on the web, so that is a great place to start. Your club Director should also have access to quite a bit of information. I would ask him/her as well. Trust this is helpful.
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Post by randomparent on Aug 19, 2022 4:34:31 GMT -5
My two cents.
First, understand that youth coaches from the big clubs get frustrated with their U10 players for spacing. Those kids can still run around in "clumps" that fail to use the field once the games get going. You will have maybe 1-2 practices a week with a group of kids that this is not their primary focus. I would work on communicating positions and spend the rest of practice having fun doing games that build technical skills and small-sided scrimmages. As the poster above mentioned, plenty of great ideas on YouTube.
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Post by bogan on Aug 19, 2022 5:40:02 GMT -5
My two cents. First, understand that youth coaches from the big clubs get frustrated with their U10 players for spacing. Those kids can still run around in "clumps" that fail to use the field once the games get going. You will have maybe 1-2 practices a week with a group of kids that this is not their primary focus. I would work on communicating positions and spend the rest of practice having fun doing games that build technical skills and small-sided scrimmages. As the poster above mentioned, plenty of great ideas on YouTube. I agree-my advice is to make sure they are moving…no lines waiting…make it fun…make sure they get lots and lots of touches and get comfortable with the ball at their feet. I coached that age group and it was near the end of the season before passing and spacing was emphasized. |
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Post by rifle on Aug 19, 2022 6:51:04 GMT -5
Google “Rondos” - this activity teaches passing and spacing while improving foot skills. Be sure to emphasize 1) nobody stands in a fixed spot and 2) keep your head up and watching the defenders - with a goal of connecting passes to an open player. It also affords opportunity to teach defending “together” if you have more than one defender.
Recommend set up a couple groups of 5v2 if you have that many players. Tell them you want to hear them chattering to each other and to count their strings of successful passes.
Also at that age it’s beneficial to work on using the different surfaces of the foot. Many kids can’t strike a ball well and it’s time to show them how to put the foot through the ball.
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Post by rifle on Aug 19, 2022 6:57:19 GMT -5
Also - Thanks for coaching. Most parents just choose to criticize everything they see.
I volunteered to coach my son’s U6 rec team about 15 years ago after playing soccer my whole life. In the week leading up to my first practice I panicked a bit because I didn’t have a clue what I would do. I adjusted my goal to simply keep it fun and to see every player I coached want to play again the following season. It was fun but it also helped me decide to steer my kid toward academy and more qualified coaches.
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beflo
Jr. Academy
Posts: 15
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Post by beflo on Aug 19, 2022 7:27:48 GMT -5
Thanks for all the support. I have done this for a couple of seasons now and I do love coaching the girls. I feel like the core group we have really understand the basics and am hoping to give them a little more this fall as I think they deserve the best they can get from a parent-coach that never played soccer himself. My focus is to make sure they want to continue playing soccer as Rifle said above. I really appreciate reading through the forums and hearing soccer from the perspective of competitive families. Thanks again!
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