Soccer Stuff is a collection of youth soccer coaching essays written to help educate novice soccer coaches that are trying to learn more about the great game of soccer. No kicking the ball! I’m currently co-coaching the U-10 Girls travel team and over the winter we’ve been practicing at the South Hills Bible Chapel. During this session, I’ve implemented a new rule for our practices and our indoor games at the Iceoplex. The rule is “No Kicking the Ball”. Every player must do one of three things, dribble, shoot, or make a pass to a specific teammate. If someone breaks this rule at practice, they do a pushup. If they break the rule in a game, they get to be goalie. I’m not really sure that the goalie punishment idea is sending the right message, but for now, it seems to be working. (I’m still learning too)Even though I realize there are times when “blasting the ball” is effective tactically, I think that the kids end up missing an opportunity to improve their vision and passing skills. If I have a choice between improving and winning, I usually choose improving. By insisting that the kids make a pass, they learn to find someone to pass to. That means they develop the habit of keeping their heads up when they have the ball and they also find themselves thinking about whom they can pass to before they even get the ball. If you know that your teammate is definitely going to make a pass, you tend to work a little harder at being open and available for that pass. If your teammate usually just blasts the ball, you tend not to waste your effort getting open for a pass that will probably never come. I’m really excited with this new coaching development. It seems to really be working well and the girls are visibly better players after just a few weeks of our new rule. I’m sure there will be games when this rule comes back to bite us in the butt, but for now, I’m convinced that the benefits will far out weigh the costs. Remember, it’s much more important to develop your players than it is to win games. |