Being a coach is an extremely important position in sports. There are many different styles and methods of coaching. While it is important to set a style and method that is comfortable for you, it is equally important to consider the comfort level of your team. This is imperative if you coach children.
Children must be encouraged to win, but there are many more important aspects of the soccer game that should be considered with this particular age group. This includes working together as a team, and having fun while participating in sporting events. Here, you will learn how to coach a fun soccer training session.
The first thing that you can do to coach a fun soccer training session is to ensure that you make it fun.
With children as your team, it is important to create games and activities that all the team members can participate in. Try to avoid engaging in drills and similar things that mean that the children must stand in line and wait their turn. This is a great time waster when it comes to the development of your players, and can make the soccer training session extremely boring for the children.
The second thing that you should do in order to coach a fun soccer training session is to be completely prepared.
Come up with a list of exciting games and drills that the children can participate in. Make sure that these activities develop the overall skill and technique of each player. It is important for the soccer training session to be interactive and challenging for the child. If you are prepared, and know exactly what you want to focus on, the team is sure to have a wonderful time and learn many new things.
The third thing that you should do in order to ensure that you are making your soccer training fun and exciting for your players is to arrive before everyone else and set up the training area.
This will allow you and your team to immediately start training once everyone has arrived. This avoids having to get the children to help set up activities and become bored before they even start. You may wish to encourage early arrival by explaining to members that the last two people to arrive will need to pick up the cones and the balls used during the training session. This makes prompt arrival a fun and challenging game, and will encourage those that arrive last to get there a little earlier next time. Furthermore, this will be a great help to you after an exhausting training session!
While many coaches may not consider “having fun” a key component of a soccer training session with children, it is important to understand that this IS the most important component. If you have a team full of happy players, their performance will be better. The team will be more successful as a whole if they are having fun and are not overwhelmed with negativity during soccer training sessions.