I have been coaching soccer for 25 years and my son is now 18 and would like to become a youth soccer trainer, we would like to start a new club, but do not know how to start. (Orange County CA)

Best Answer From A Brazilian Reader

It depends whether you want to coach because you enjoy coaching, or for money?

There are alot of reasons why you might want to go back into coaching but if you really have a passion for mentoring and building better soccer players I would highly recommend that you work with the urban inner city kids.

I play soccer for a club in my country and the best team in the city is an inner city team (most of the players are from really poor neighbohoods) but they are really good.

Our coach went looking for players in the poorer parts of the city who always play soccer but couldn’t afford to pay for club fees and he recruited them and found ways to pay for the fees and now we are the best team in the region.

You could possibly go to the inner city high schools, where alot of immigrant children go, Latinos, Africans, Europeans, Asians, are all into soccer, and you will defiantly find some good players, (post signs, posters, in neighborhoods, parks, rec centers, schools, e.t.c) and most of them probably wont be able to afford the club fees especially since American clubs probably charge more, you could think of creative ways of raising money, maybe fund raisers, selling stuff, government funding, community support, organizations e.t.c

This would be good for most inner city kids because they would probably otherwise be doing things other things that are not good to make up for the lack of extracurricular activities. You will also be surprised what you learn from them.

Comment From Spain-Football

I really like this answer. Football is a fantastic way of bringing people together. It doesn’t matter where we come from if we all share the same passion.

Technorati Tags: coach youth soccer, coaching youth football, starting a soccer club

Written by soccer great and championship Stanford coach Bobby Clark, COACHING YOUTH SOCCER: THE BAFFLED PARENTS GUIDE shows how an uninitiated coach can mold a group of kids into a team.

Being part of a team will be one of the most rewarding experiences of their youth. 

But in the end, it will be you who reaps the biggest reward, as you watch your players learn and grow.

• Coaching Youth Soccer helps organize your practices and provides ideas for drills that will keep your team interested throughout the entire season. 

• You’ll soon be getting compliments from parents because their kids enjoy the variety of “games”  they play in practice so much.

• Coaching Youth Soccer gets you reflecting on the sense of responsility and achievement that building a team brings.

Coaching Youth Soccer is a must for starting out coaches and an inspiration for experienced ones.

Click Here To Order Your Copy Now!

Click Here For Coaching Youth Soccer on Kindle

 

 

Technorati Tags: coach youth soccer, coaching youth football, how to coach soccer, soccer coaching books, youth soccer drills, youth soccer skills

Association football is a complex game and consequently, there are a number of elements that you have to bear in mind when designing and applying soccer exercises and training programmes.

A further complication is that different methods and approaches are required at different ages – if you coach kids or teenagers, you will be well aware that your players are developing both psychologically and physically, and a technique that is effective for a senior can sometimes be damaging if applied to a youngster. 

The key to successful performance in any sport is fitness, and in the case of soccer, exercises can be divided into three broad categories:

• Endurance
• Strength
• Flexibility.

Football is a Ninety-Minute Game

Aerobic exercises that strengthen the cardiovascular system increase the heart rate, speed up breathing and raise body temperature. For this reason, jogging is an excellent choice as a warm-up activity in any soccer training programme.

However, players should also be encouraged to do other stamina-increasing sports, such as swimming, horseriding or even yoga.

Another characteristic of soccer is that it involves anaerobic activity, which is when energy is expended in short bursts.

The fast acceleration and sprinting speed required of a soccer player, and can be practiced through short sprint activities or by simply incorporating sprint-trot sections into a team jog.

May The Force Be With You

Anaerobic aspects can also be worked on in the gym or in circuit training.

Working out with weights and step exercises are not only good for improving stamina but are also essential for developing strength.

Soccer is an inevitably physical sport and the stronger your players are, the less likely they are to get hurt – it’s important to work on upper body strength along with specific exercises that focus on the leg strength needed to kick a ball effectively.

Bend It, Shake It

Soccer players need to be as supple as gymnasts at times, not only to beat the opponent but also because one of the best ways to avoid injury is to get out of the way before any damage is done.

Soccer exercises that involve stretching, moving to music or are inspired by yoga should also be part of any integrated training schedule.

Healthy Body, Healthy Mind

Without forgetting the technical importance of ball skills and tactics or the psychology of attitude and motivation, the fact remains that a fit player is likely to be both highly motivated and capable of playing above his or her skill level.

Technorati Tags: how to coach soccer, soccer exercises, soccer fitness, soccer training programmes

for some kind of warm up and streching exercise i was gonna find out their favorite songs and make them a warm up cd to listen to before games… from there i just know some basic passing and running drills… i don’t want anything too complex because only 1/4 of my team has played before so if you know anything fun and action packed pleas let me know. what are some good ways to break the ice for the first practice and get these kids excited?

There are some great websites around here are some…. just search for "soccer training Drills"

http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/index.html

has a heap stuff

* Shooting, both from distance and close range. If you don’t shoot you don’t score.
* Apart from making forward runs strikers must sometimes play with their back to goal to link play, making themselves available to receive and turn or lay off under pressure.
* Working together as a unit. Forward players must play close to each other to be able to work together, if the midfield do not make advanced runs forwards are often isolated. If this does occur then dribbling for penetration and possession is always an option.
* Heading – attacking.

* Tackling. The forwards are the 1st line of defence. If your team losing possession in the attacking 3rd then it is initially up to the forward to put pressure on the ball to win possession but also to allow the team to get their shape back.
* Forwards need to have great composure in front of goal and have the ability to make good decisions quickly.
* Confidence. Forwards must approach every game thinking they are going to score.
* Awareness & Vision. Forwards must be aware at all times of the goalkeepers position to identify which areas of the goal is more vulnerable.
* Forwards often run wide in to the channels so the ability to cross the ball from varying angles and positions is essential.
* A quality 1st touch (to feet, knee, chest or head) and short accurate passing are vital techniques.
* Body over the ball to keep shots down. Make the goalkeeper work.

Soccer player – Forwards – when defending from the front:

* Track back to split defenders and get behind the ball.
* When pressing the ball high up the pitch, show the defender the outside where there is limited opportunities to keep possession, the majority of support will be inside.
* Pressing the opposition midfielders from behind helps your own midfield.
* If a midfielder is in an advanced position when possession is lost forwards can offer cover and balance.
* Delay the attack to allow team mates to recover and regroup.

Soccer player – Forwards – when attacking:

* Making positive forward runs through the channels in advance of the ball.
* When in isolated or advanced positions dribble the ball to penetrate the defence to create a goal scoring opportunity.
* Make intelligent runs off the ball to disrupt opponents defence and formation. Take players away.
* Link play with other forward and midfielders using one two’s, quick high tempo short passes
* Always aim for the far post when shooting at an angle. This increases the chance of a secondary opportunity.
* Intelligent runs to beat the off-side trap.
* Take you marker away to create space in behind or through a channel.

Attacking wide players:

* When 2 forwards play central full backs normally tuck in so the ball to wide areas is always an option if the forward anticipates the pass before the defender.
* Dribbling / 1 v 1 skills are an essential technique for an attacking wide player before crossing the ball or cutting in to shoot.
* When the ball is on the opposite side of the pitch wide players should tuck in and get in the box as an extra forward.
* Intelligent runs off the ball to disrupt opposition back line.
* Many goals are scored from the side of the goals, because the middle is usually well defended; therefore, it is more beneficial to teach players to shoot at an angle.

be specific like monday …. tuesday…. we

LOL..you are asking a lot for mere 10 points on this board. What you are asking for cannot be done properly with regular fitness instructors..you’ll need a real sports fitness professional..someone with CSCS or something lol..

I’d love to help but, what you just asked for costs $100’s worth of consultation if not $1000’s and cannot be done with one post either. Find a good fitness guru. Really…internet is wonderful and all..but you won’t be able to get that kind of specific information, especially a taior made workout program for free anywhere…but good try lol..

good luck with your work out…am i going to see you on the world up in 2010??

Thanks

the ever reliable dummies series:

Soccer for Dummies

http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-647,subcat-GAMES.html

A good weight lifting program will be designed to help you get stronger in the muscle building rep ranges. In order to gain muscle, concentrate on gaining 1-2 pounds of body weight per week. Weigh yourself first thing in the morning once per week. Count calories that you eat each and every day, and adjust them each week based on the amount of weight you gained or lost. If you did not gain weight, raise the calories for the coming week. Gaining weight is simple. If you are playing soccer and lifting weights, you’ll need to eat a ton of food to gain weight.

As far as protein supplements, I suggest a good whey protein concentrate to get extra protein and extra calories that are easy to get down. Like I said, you’ll probably need tons of calories. Start with 15 times your body weight and adjust them to gain weight. Here is what I suggest for your protein supplement: http://www.weight-lifting-complete.com/whey-protein.html

My recommendation is towards the end of the page. If you need anything further, join me on WLC Space (link on navigation bar) and I’ll be glad to provide you with personalized help. Good luck.

Duration : 0:1:12

Technorati Tags: Coaching, diagrams, drills, field, formations, how, kids, layout, play, positions, soccer, strategies, strategy, to, youth

Duration : 0:1:56

Technorati Tags: drills, girls, soccer, striking, Training, youth