Sorry for no posts for a while. I’ll try to keep up better.
I found a great article today about parents coaching from the sideline. This comes from one of my favorite blogs out there.
Leave the coaching to the coaches. Some are very quiet while others, like me, tend to be a bit louder (though I am usually only talking to my players away from the action). But parents really should just cheer. Now we’ve all had kids on teams that don’t do well. So cheering may seem like it would limit your ability to ‘engage’ Not true. A good pass, a shot on goal, a nice steal, etc. can all be good occasions to cheer. When a player gets the ball and starts a run, cheer them on – but don’t direct them. Try to keep the enthusiasm up, even if the match is a lost cause. Kids are smart enough to know when the sideline is quieter than normal and why. Cheer until the very end. But leave the coaching to the coaches.
There is another great article that may explain to parents why I don’t mind some behavior from ourplayers that others might look at as being a “ball hog”.
I certainly think too many coaches are like teachers ‘teaching the test’. They concentrate on passing too much at an early age to the detriment of other skills because passing wins soccer matches at the younger ages. But that doesn’t mean it’s in the best interests of the kid’s development. Face it, the earlier kids can start trying out soccer moves and fancy stuff, the more refined those skills will be over time. Passing is not trivial, but it doesn’t require the refinement some other moves do. So it seems like coaches should structure their practices to allow for more experimentation. The problem with that is when a team that does this faces a team that’s drilled passing, passing, and more passing – the fancy footwork team is likely going to lose. Only when the kids get older will the team with the mad skillz and good passing start to beat the team that only knows how to pass like robots, but can’t get out of a 2v1.
