Assistant Coaches, Lifeblood or Ship Sinker in Youth Football?


Assistant coaches are the lifeblood of youth football news today packages, they’ll make or break a head coach. I perceive how helpful they’re, so I am not bashful about recruiting them when the scenario presents itself.

Effectively this final month the scenario offered itself in an enormous approach proper on my doorstep:

A former College of Nebraska soccer participant moved again to the realm and into my little neighborhood. He, his spouse and two youngsters attend the identical church as we do and his spouse is in my spouse’s Titus group. His youngsters go to high school with my youngsters and low and behold he has a boy that’s of youth soccer taking part in age.

Former NFL Participant to Coach Youth Soccer

This former NU nice was an offensive lineman and performed within the NFL for six years. Once I e-mailed him, he shortly and readily replied and agreed to assist coach subsequent 12 months. He had “heard” of this system and a number of the success we had domestically. Evidently I used to be excited in regards to the prospect of getting somebody of that caliber teaching with us. It is going to be enjoyable studying from somebody with that type of expertise beneath their belts.

I might encourage all you youth soccer coaches to recruit good assistant coaches that will help you in your efforts, you’ll be able to’t do it by your self. You’ll be able to’t even do it very nicely with 2 guys, for a 22 participant staff, 5 is about the suitable quantity. You need to chase down guys that know soccer, however do not be shocked if a number of the males you coach with do not prove such as you thought. It isn’t what you understand that’s vital, it’s what your gamers know that counts.

It’t Not What You Know, It is What Your Gamers Know

There are Excessive Faculty coaches I do know of that may speak circles about 3 strategies, Cowl 3, Shotgun Zone learn and know each soccer time period and scheme ahead backward and sideways. However many of those guys have 90 play play books and are going 0-10 or 1-9 yearly. This amazes me, however you then return to the adage ‘It would not matter what I do know, it issues what my gamers know”. And with youth soccer groups it is vital for the children to not solely know what you understand, however in your information to be relevant to youth soccer.

When teaching youth soccer, you’ve to have the ability to break down and progressively train facets of the sport in a approach that the children can grasp, retain and truly do inside a restricted quantity of apply time. The youth sport just isn’t Excessive Faculty, School or Professional Soccer, there are such a lot of different concerns and constraints that these groups by no means must take care of. Whereas the youth sport is not about simply studying some primary performs, it additionally is not about studying easy methods to run the zone learn or the West Coast Offense both.

Former School Coach Fails in Youth Soccer

In my first years of teaching youth soccer, my former School Head Coach was teaching his grandson in our league. This former Division II Head Coach was very nicely revered, his groups had been very aggressive and he had even been an assistant coach on the Division I Degree within the outdated Massive 8. When the coaches in our league came upon he was going to be teaching in opposition to us, they instantly figured his groups would dominate the league. It turned out my former coaches staff was one of many worst within the league, solely profitable 2-3 video games and so they regarded fairly shabby doing it.


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