Youth Sport

[bradigor]

Does anyone, get involved with youth sport?

 

I have just started coaching my son's football team after the previous coach stepped down (his kid went to a better team in a higher division) and am finding it very rewarding so far. 

 

I never got into it with Ice Hockey as I cannot skate, so wouldn't be much help on the ice, but can help out here. 

 

I am dealing with an U12s team, so emotions are all over the place at times, even in the 3 short weeks I have been with them. 

 

I can't be the only one stupid enough to get involved at this level, so share your stories. 

[p b]

My son plays in the local youth team. I'd never ever coach them, but admire everyone who does. Our coaches do a great job, are motivated but don't really get anything but stick for whatever they do and. In general, most parents are total arseholes, unfortunately. 

 

 

[Adrock]

The above is exactly why I avoided football with my son. 6 or 7 years ago I refereed my nephew's home matches for a few months and had enough of parents or coaches giving me grief. I also witnessed it as a spectator watching another nephew regularly.

 

My son is a rugby player now, he is an under 9 so it's his first year of tackling. I've stepped in a few times to help when the coaches need and because rugby is slowly introduced I can just about get away with it. I have no idea how to follow a full game.

[bradigor]

Yeah, only reason I stepped up was it was me or potentially no team. I have always been of the opinion that as a parent you let the coaches, coach and the officials, officiate. 

 

So far the parents have been decent enough, but will be interested to see how that continues. We lost my first game 10-2, I hadn't had any time with them before the the game due to the Christmas break, but we won today against the third place team 3-2 (we are second bottom) and I had the kids passing, moving, pressing and they seemed really invested in listening to what I was telling them, 

 

I am sure it will all turn sour at some point, but so far it has been pretty enjoyable working with the kids. 

[christaylor]

3 hours ago, bradigor said:

Does anyone, get involved with youth sport?

 

I have just started coaching my son's football team after the previous coach stepped down (his kid went to a better team in a higher division) and am finding it very rewarding so far. 

 

I never got into it with Ice Hockey as I cannot skate, so wouldn't be much help on the ice, but can help out here. 

 

I am dealing with an U12s team, so emotions are all over the place at times, even in the 3 short weeks I have been with them. 

 

I can't be the only one stupid enough to get involved at this level, so share your stories. 

 

I've coached my son's age group (now U10s) for our local football club (Ilkley Town AFC) for the last 4-5 yrs, and also manage the team he plays in. We have almost 40 kids in the year group with a massive range of abilities so it can be challenging at times (mainly with my own child tbf) but I love doing it. We have 3 teams playing in competitive leagues where we stream by ability but when we're training we mix everyone in together.

 

Generally all of our parents are sound and as we've been doing it for a few years now I consider most of them as friends so we can speak freely to them but we don't tend to have any issues, but my son's team play in the top division in their league so we have come up against some very competitive sides. One in particular I ended up reporting to the league and the County FA due to the behaviour of the coach and parents, who were treating the game like an adult Sunday league affair. Luckily that's been an exception though.

 

Are you just looking after his team for their matches or are you getting involved with the overall training too? If you are I can highly recommend putting yourself through the FA's level 1 course, it'll give you a really useful framework to build your coaching around. If the club you're with is an FA charter standard club they should be willing to pay for you to do the course. 

 

Happy to answer any questions or offer any tips if you think I could help. 

[bradigor]

Appreciate that thanks. My son's team are in the bottom division of their league and the bottom team of the overall club (we have 5 teams at U12). So the pressure is off to a degree, however we also come up against other teams and parents who take it very seriously. 

 

Was nice to speak to the opposition coach after the game today and he praised the spirit we played the game in and that I was just full of encouragement for my team, but also that I stopped them laughing at his team for an own goal (it was a spectacular strike though to be fair). So that was nice to hear. 

 

Hardest thing so far is dealing with kids who don't quite get why they are being subbed and get upset. I kind of want to tell them to get a grip, but know at the same time, that would be pointless, especially at an age where the hormones are all over the place. 

 

This is the last season they play 9v9, next year being a full 11v11, so am trying to drill in to them, that results in the league* don't matter too much, I want them playing in the right way to prepare for next season. Start moving the ball with passes and using space, rather than kick and run and so far they are listening and trying, despite not executing properly. 

 

Out club manager will be putting me into the Level 1 course as soon as the next is available. So I am looking forward to that. 

 

Do you have any resources you use? Anything on YouTube worth following for notes on training drills?

[christaylor]

17 hours ago, bradigor said:

Appreciate that thanks. My son's team are in the bottom division of their league and the bottom team of the overall club (we have 5 teams at U12). So the pressure is off to a degree, however we also come up against other teams and parents who take it very seriously. 

 

Was nice to speak to the opposition coach after the game today and he praised the spirit we played the game in and that I was just full of encouragement for my team, but also that I stopped them laughing at his team for an own goal (it was a spectacular strike though to be fair). So that was nice to hear. 

 

Hardest thing so far is dealing with kids who don't quite get why they are being subbed and get upset. I kind of want to tell them to get a grip, but know at the same time, that would be pointless, especially at an age where the hormones are all over the place. 

 

This is the last season they play 9v9, next year being a full 11v11, so am trying to drill in to them, that results in the league* don't matter too much, I want them playing in the right way to prepare for next season. Start moving the ball with passes and using space, rather than kick and run and so far they are listening and trying, despite not executing properly. 

 

Out club manager will be putting me into the Level 1 course as soon as the next is available. So I am looking forward to that. 

 

Do you have any resources you use? Anything on YouTube worth following for notes on training drills?

 

Sounds like you're doing a lot of the right things already. Kids can be right little sh1ts so teaching them about respect and humility early on can go a long way. Building a rapport with the opposition coaches usually helps too as you'll probably find you're playing the same teams a few times each season, so if you can get on with them it'll help, especially if there's a bit of a mismatch in ability on the pitch.

 

For your match subs, we set up rotations to ensure that everybody gets the same amount of game time (or as close as possible to), although this only really works if you're dealing with kids that are all similar ability. If you're able to do that and explain it to them (showing our lot the spreadsheet I'd drawn up helped with this!), and they can see it happening over the course of a few games they should accept it.

 

For resources, the stuff you get with the FA level1 course is useful, although it tends to focus on individual drills and activities rather than teaching through matches. In our coaching group we tend to come up with a lot of stuff ourselves, and make sure we're picking up ideas from the age groups above us (and passing stuff onto those below us).

 

We had a mentor from the County FA with us for 6 months last season, which was great. He was saying their focus now is more on development through small-sided matches and thinking of ways to focus on particular aspects within a small-sided game, rather than isolated drills where you might just practise shooting or passing (which is what you get taught in the level 1!).

 

The general idea is to vary rules within a match setting, using something called the STEP principle, where you look to vary one or more of the Space, Task, Equipment or Players you're using to challenge them within the game.

 

So for example if you wanted to work on positional discipline split the pitch into three zones (defence/midfield/attack) and have players assigned to zones that they have to stay in (switching the players between different zones every 5mins). A good variation on this is to only enforce one team to stay in the zones and allow players on the other team to go where they like. They'll probably find the free roaming team all end up in the attacking zone and if the other team are able to get the ball they'll have players spread across the pitch they can press with. This can create overload situations in all areas of the pitch too, which is good for possession play.

 

For quick passing and play use either a 3-touch or 3 seconds with the ball rule and make the pitch smaller so there's less space.

 

If you wanted to focus on attacking support set the pitch into three zones again and have a rule where if a player dribbles the ball into the final third they cannot shoot, they have to pass first, which will get them thinking about passing the ball forward into the attacking zone instead and having the players without the ball making sure they come up the pitch to support the one with the ball.
 

For a possession game, set out uneven sides and make the team with more players have to complete 5-6 passes before they are allowed to shoot.

 

Doing it this way means you don't get the kids moaning because they're not playing a match too!

 

I can sit there all day and come up with stuff like the above, but the most important thing is to prepare what you're going to do *before* the session, so you're not having to think on your feet.

 

For more ideas we just tend to google for inspiration and then tweak depending on what we think our age group can cope with. There's a good resource here for example that you can get a lot of inspiration from: http://www.thefa.com/-/media/cfa/huntsfa/files/coaching/documents/fa-level-1-and-level-2-arrival-activities-and-game-related-practices.ashx (PDF download)

 

With our coaching setup we tend to run three different activities, split the kids into three groups of 8-10 and rotate them between each activity for 20min at a time so they don't get bored. This also makes it easier from a coach's point of view as you only need to come up with one activity and repeat it 3 times.

[bradigor]

Thanks @christaylor, just showing my appreciation before I digest all of that. 

[christaylor]

No probs.

[bradigor]

It's hilarious and frustrating coaching kids I must say. 

 

Last night I worked on just quick passing and moving with them, teaching them how to make the ball do all the work. 3/4 of the session they are doing really well, performing the drills well, even doing better when I increase the difficulty. 

 

So we head to the final scrimmage game, where I set the rules....

 

No actual tackling, you can put pressure on, but you are trying to force a bad pass and an interception.

No running with the ball, it must be quick passing and moving. 

 

Got that?

 

Got it coach!

 

Start scrimmage and within 5 seconds player runs with the ball and another tackles him  

 

That being said, seeing them improve at the actual drills is really encouraging and personally very rewarding. 

 

________________

 

I think next week I am going to try a variant of a drill I've seen in my son's Ice Hockey training.

 

Start with a 6 v 2 scenario. The player with the ball cannot move, they can only pass. Everyone else must be moving at all time. Each time the ball is turned over, the attacking team player moves to the defending team. Until we are left 1 vs 7

[Ork1927]

Wrong thread

[bradigor]

I bet Guardiola and Klopp never have this issue. 

 

I have a squad of 15 for my 9-a-side team and due to various reasons I am now down to 8 players for our cup match tomorrow.  

 

I already knew I had lost Lucas as he has an ice hockey game at the same time, which always takes priority, but then everyone else just seemed to drop like flies with various ailments and prior engagements. 

 

 

[bradigor]

1-0 with 8 players and through to a final....

[bradigor]

We had our cup final today, against the best team in the league (they will win the league at a canter and we will finish 3rd from bottom - was bottom when I took over). Was a fantastic game overall and the outcome....

 

 

Spoiler

 

[Adrock]

I can't really tell but is that you @bradigor? I imagine it is, so well done.

 

My son's rugby season ends next weekend with a a tour. A whole bank holiday weekend spent with people I don't really know, should be great 

 

[bradigor]

Just now, Adrock said:

I can't really tell but is that you @bradigor? I imagine it is, so well done.

 

My son's rugby season ends next weekend with a a tour. A whole bank holiday weekend spent with people I don't really know, should be great 

 

 

Yeah the random tramp they let stand with the kids is me  

 

2-1 win with the winner coming in the last coupe of minutes. Felt amazing. 

[Adrock]

You look a bit different to your profile pic, I didn't want to be rude 

 

[bradigor]

1 minute ago, Adrock said:

You look a bit different to your profile pic, I didn't want to be rude 

 

 

Ha, yeah One of the rare occasions I shaved. 

[bradigor]

Our season starts this weekend (well pre-season anyway). 

 

We step up to 11-a-side so hoping the preparation work I did with them last season comes good early. Lost a lot of players over the summer and some new faces in, but kept the core of my team which is really helpful. Not sure how well it will go, but looking forward to the adventure with the kids. 

[bradigor]

Edith starts with the Wildcats (youth girls football) this Saturday. She had her new boots today courtesy of grandma 

[FiveFootNinja]

Thought I'd jump in on this thread as I've just done my first ever coaching session at my son's Under 5s club training night. (I survived by the way )

 

Overall I really enjoyed it (and they broke me in easy to be fair by letting me shadow one of the other coaches) but I can already see several challenges I need to get my head around to be more effective going forwards. I'm up for the challenge though even though the whole thing is a fair way out of my comfort zone. 

 

The setup at our club is pretty good. We've got 57 kids on the books for the Under 5s and don't play league competition yet, but across the various age groups there are about 30 competitive teams or something so it's a pretty big organisation and there are various levels of coaching experience to try and learn from.

 

They have just opened their brand new training grounds last week after a covid delay which are fantastic (a big floodlit 3G pitch and additional grass pitches) as part of a 15 year exclusive use tie in with the local high school which is going for sports academy status. I just so happened to meet the overall club Chairman tonight who was there and he was really passionate and explained they have further plans for proper club house, changing rooms, coffee/snack facilities, equipment storage, etc... all pretty cool to be honest and way way better than anything I had growing up.

 

He also said the club will cover my FA Coaching Level 1 course costs if I want to do it in June (I did the FA Playmaker over the weekend) which I'm very tempted by. It feels like they are very happy to try and support however they can.

 

Anyway, thought I'd pop a post up. I'd be very interested in sharing experiences, tips and resources to help along the way. Cheers.

 

 

[bradigor]

Brilliant. I am also going back to U5 and also Girls as Edith starts her jouney. It is a differenmt experience at thjat age, there is so much fun beingf had and it is great seeing them all just enjoy the game at its purest form. 

 

Keep us up to date with you experiences @FiveFootNinja

[milko]

Dunno if you've seen it already but this article about coaching kids' teams is pretty damn good. Warning, it might get a little dusty at times while you read it.

 

‘I hope you know this was never about football’: coaching my daughter’s team

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/may/08/football-with-my-daughter-fredrik-backman

[GamesGamesGames]

55 minutes ago, milko said:

Dunno if you've seen it already but this article about coaching kids' teams is pretty damn good. Warning, it might get a little dusty at times while you read it.

 

‘I hope you know this was never about football’: coaching my daughter’s team

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/may/08/football-with-my-daughter-fredrik-backman

 

Cracking piece.

[bradigor]

4 hours ago, milko said:

Dunno if you've seen it already but this article about coaching kids' teams is pretty damn good. Warning, it might get a little dusty at times while you read it.

 

‘I hope you know this was never about football’: coaching my daughter’s team

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/may/08/football-with-my-daughter-fredrik-backman

 

Great article.

 

For me the football is secondary to everything else I try to offer them. 

[bradigor]

Edith started football in April. Her season has now finished.

 

She starts in her proper age group in September as she is only four at the moment and shouldn't be playing.

 

She got her first medals though which was lovely to see.

 

 

[GamesGamesGames]

25 minutes ago, bradigor said:

Edith started football in April. Her season has now finished.

 

She starts in her proper age group in September as she is only four at the moment and shouldn't be playing.

 

She got her first medals though which was lovely to see.

 

 

 

That's lovely.

 

There was a time I was headed in this direction professionally (got my UEFA B and was looking at a placement to go for my A, then Pro and who knows?), but family illness shifted perspective and career path some.

 

If retirement is ever a thing then coaching kids would be great, but I'm now in the arts so I guess that work is never done.

 

 

[FiveFootNinja]

Bit of an update from me... I've posted on the Euros thread about my son coming into me this morning with his football saying he was going to practice extra hard to help England win next time. This tournament has definitely got him more "into football" which is great.

 

He also got his first trophy at the end of season presentation day which he was chuffed with. Truth be told he still isn't very good at it compared to a lot of the others but he's having fun which is all that matters. He, and all the others I have trained with, have come on noticeably over the last few months which is great to see though.

 

At my club we are backing off the training a bit over summer to be a bit more casual due to lots of kids/coaches being unavailable, however I have agreed with the head coach that I will take one of the boys teams on to manage as we split the 57 reception kids into 3 boys teams and girls team to start weekend U6 friendlies against other clubs from September. I've no idea how that will go but we'll see.

 

I'm also booked on to start my FA Level 1 badge online on August 6th so that should all be in place for the start of the season. Fingers crossed.

[christaylor]

2 hours ago, FiveFootNinja said:

Bit of an update from me... I've posted on the Euros thread about my son coming into me this morning with his football saying he was going to practice extra hard to help England win next time. This tournament has definitely got him more "into football" which is great.

 

He also got his first trophy at the end of season presentation day which he was chuffed with. Truth be told he still isn't very good at it compared to a lot of the others but he's having fun which is all that matters. He, and all the others I have trained with, have come on noticeably over the last few months which is great to see though.

 

At my club we are backing off the training a bit over summer to be a bit more casual due to lots of kids/coaches being unavailable, however I have agreed with the head coach that I will take one of the boys teams on to manage as we split the 57 reception kids into 3 boys teams and girls team to start weekend U6 friendlies against other clubs from September. I've no idea how that will go but we'll see.

 

I'm also booked on to start my FA Level 1 badge online on August 6th so that should all be in place for the start of the season. Fingers crossed.

"backing off" the training?! You need a proper break over the summer or you'll burn out halfway through next season! 

 

Good luck with the FA1, it'll be quite a strange experience if the whole thing is online. 

[FiveFootNinja]

26 minutes ago, christaylor said:

"backing off" the training?! You need a proper break over the summer or you'll burn out halfway through next season! 

 

I'll find out more tomorrow as I'm meeting up with the head coach for lunch and a chat but I think it'll be fine. As far as I know we're basically going to pool all the same aged kids (and coaches) together rather than our usual separate sub-groups and run a hour of football themed fun and games each week just as a way to keep them active, socialising and interested in the game rather than lots of formal drills or pressure to attend each week. I personally will be off for at least half the summer anyway.

 

33 minutes ago, christaylor said:

Good luck with the FA1, it'll be quite a strange experience if the whole thing is online. 

 

Thanks. The girls coach did the final intake of the face-to-face one just before lockdown and I'm the first to do the online one so we said we'd compare notes. I've basically got 3 hour long webinars over a three week period which then unlock a range of online learning resources for each topic, and then some follow on bits on first aid and safeguarding so the FA recommend doing it over a month. We'll see how it goes.