Children’s soccer coaching, whether as part of the school curriculum or as an extracurricular activity is a great way for children to improve their skills and to enjoy themselves at the same time. If you’re already a soccer coach or aspire to teach a small group of children, continually developing your abilities is just as important as children developing theirs.
There are several things you can do as coach to make your life easier and to make your lessons more productive so read on and we’ll share a few tips.
What is the Aim of Coaching Youth Soccer?
The first thing that springs to mind is to assist your students in becoming better players, and we wouldn’t disagree. What is also just as important and maybe even more so is improving a child’s overall level of development as a person.
For this reason, your ability to interact with your students on the right level and for them to be able to relate to you is very important. You’re essentially a role model, not just someone imparting soccer based wisdom.
The Required Skills
As well as being able to play soccer, you will need to possess a number of other skills and abilities to make you a good coach. These include;
- An abundance of enthusiasm. If you’re not enthusiastic then why would your students be about attending your lessons?
- The ability to empathise. Children aren’t always as resilient as we are so you need to be able to sympathise and empathise.
- Patience. Lots and lots of patience. Be prepared to have to say the same thing over and over again.
Praise Not Criticism
It has been shown that very few people respond well to criticism, even when they’re in the wrong and know it. Instead, your feedback will need to be constructive as well as productive. The key is to let your students know how they can improve by focusing on what they do well, not tearing them down for every slight misdemeanour.
Remember That You’re Training Individuals
Each child will have their own innate level of ability which may see them much slower to catch on than other children. This is fine because they of course are all Individuals. Your approach to teaching and the methods you employ should take all of this into account.
Improve Your Knowledge
If you’re just starting out as a coach and need a few pointers, there are plenty of avenues you can reach out to for assistance. Soccer training in Melbourne is carried out at a number of different schools and academies throughout the city. We would suggest approaching one of these academies for some 1 on 1 tuition yourself, just to see how the other coaches go about teaching and motivating their students.
If you eventually decide that soccer coaching isn’t for you, these academies will also be able to take on your roster of students or teach your own children on a group or individual basis. Whichever way you go about it, your children will grow as people and become better soccer players at the same time.
