Trouble Kids

Last year when I coached younger kids, most kids were very polite. They listened well and had lots of respect for the coach.

This year, coaching a bit older kids, I had about 5 kids who were "trouble kids". These are 11 year olds who didn't know how to behave. Spoiled, if you will. In one instance I tried teaching this kid how to shoot correctly. I spent 15 minutes of my time just showing him how to shoot. He kept giving me blank looks and would reluctantly do what I asked him. After I was done, he went right back to shooting with his toes.

There was another kid who was sitting outside during a game. I asked him to get ready to go in. He replied: "it's too hot coach!".

Then there are kids who cannot stop talking to each other. They can be very disruptive to the practices and even during games.

I also had a couple of occassions where two kids got into a pushing match with each other.

A few weeks ago a lady came over during practice and asked if her son could practice with us. "fine" I said. He was a big kid, a bit out of shape.
I put the kid in defense. Five minutes later he came to me and said: "can I play forward?". I said that's fine. I switched his position with another player. Again, five minutes later: "can I play goalkeeper?". "Allright" go ahead and play goalkeeper. A few minutes later he came to me and said: "why are those cones over there?" That's where people cross the ball from, I said. "But that's not the object of the practice" He replied with all his wisdom.

It doesn't matter how you respond to these kids. Many of them are forced by their parents to play and don't really want to be there. Maybe they are thinking: "this is too hard...I should have played baseball this season".

There are several ways to deal with situations like this. For one thing, making kids run laps for misconduct might be an option. But more importantly they need to understand that their behavior is disruptive. Some kids just shape up when they understand the situation. Others, keep on doing what they are doing.

Write an email to the parents and explain the situation. It usually resolves the problem. A bigger problem arises if the parent takes the side of the kid. I had one parent do that to me last season: "my son is a top student at school...he is a great kid..."
Fine. At the end of season, he found himself in a lower division team.

Identify Your Shooters

There comes a time in a game when a penalty kick or a free kick is called in your favor. All the players turn to you as a coach and say: "coach can I take it?". You need to be prepared.
At practice, have each player take 5 penalty shots. Identify 2 or 3 kids who on the average do better than others. Some of them might not be present on that faithful day when the game depends on that last penalty kick. Always have backups.
Try the same with free kicks. Place the ball outside the penalty box. Ask other team members to make a big wall. Ask the players to stand behind the ball and shoot over the wall and into the goal. Again, identify which players looks more promising. You are going to find players whose shots don't even reach the wall. So don't be discouraged.
Now try the same thing with goal kicks. I have found out that goal kicks are crucial in games. If your team is unable to kick the ball out of danger area and into the opponent's half of the field, you are going to be in for a long day. You need to find out which one of your defenders can shoot the ball harder. Sometimes goalkeepers shoot pretty well too. But if you cannot find anyone, resort to your midfield line and identify players who can shoot. Ask them to always take goal kicks.

Organizing the Team for Matches

In general I have divided soccer practices into three main pieces:

1. Mechanics
2. Dynamics
3. Creativity

Mechanics: This is what I call holding positions and knowing blindly where and where to pass the ball. Last season I started coaching 11 year old kids and I did not emphasize this aspect of the game enough. That was a mistake. If players don't know the mechanics, no matter how much you teach them about the dynamics and creativity, it's useless on game day. They will all bunch up and start kicking the ball. They need to fully understand and hold their positions or the team will look very unorganized and unless the opposing team is just as terrible, there is no way to win. Here are some tips on how to practice the mechanics:

During practices tell the players that no player should ever get closer than 10 feet to his teammates. If they do, blow your whistle and stop the game. First start organizing the defensive line. If you are planning to play with a sweeper and a stopper and two side defenders, put your starting defensive line in one team and tell the players to get into their positions. Walk to each player and tell her/him what is expected of them. The stopper should always mark the center foward of the opposing team. The sweeper can move from side to side but not too far as to leave his spot open. The two side defenders should be able to move up and down and side ways but in limited distances. It's hard for 11 year olds to get back in time if they stray too far.
The main job of the defenders should be to get the ball upfield and the whole line should move up quickly to about the half-way line but relative posititions should be kept at all times.
I like to play with a 3 half-back line. I keep saying half-backs and the kids keep asking me: "what's a half-back"? Okay midfield, sorry. It's very important to let the center half-back know that as soon as he gets the ball, he is going to pass it to the wings, left or right. This should be an automatic thing and needs to be practiced. Same with the other midfielders. Pass the ball to the wings right after they get it.
Ask your center forward to always stay close to the last man in the other team's defense. Center forward should not stray too far back or to the sides. He needs to keep his position and shoot when he gets a chance. This will give the other team a big headache. If you see the center forward moving back or to the sides too far, you need to remind him to get back to his position.
The wings also should be very close to the side-lines. If they stray in too far, when the ball gets to the sides, they won't be there. So they need to keep their positions too.
Ofcourse all of these mechanical aspects need to be practiced throughout the season. On the last practice before match day, put the starting 11 in one team and the subs in the opposing team. If there too few subs, join in and play as a keeper in the subs team. Start kicking the ball to the main team and have them hold their positions while passing the ball to each other and attacking. Let them know that each player only has 2 seconds to get rid of the ball.
It's important to make sure that players don't bunch up. They need to keep their distances and their positions. Again, if you see them bunching up, stop the game and ask them why they are bunching up and who has lost his position. Gradually they will learn to stay in their positions and to pass the ball quickly.

Dynamics are what I call movements of players with respect to one another. Moving into space, passing the ball into space and supporting each other. This is not too easy to teach 11 year olds. So I emphasize it less at this age but nevertheless it needs to be practiced. The best practice game for this is what I call "keep-away".
Divide the kids up into two equal strength teams and give them two different color jersies. Use one-half of the field. First start with using hands only and passing the ball to each other. The other team has to intercept the ball. Start counting how many consecutive passes they make. Make sure the kids start making the right decisions when passing. They should never throw the ball into traffic. Also everyone should be running into empty spaces and asking for the ball. Nobody should be walking. After 15 minutes of this game the kids are dead tired. Give them a water break and then repeat the same practice using feet this time. Count each team's passes aloud. Kids love this exercise.

Creativity: something that is hard to teach, especially at this level. If you find a kid that's creative, don't discourage him as long as he abides by the mechanics and holds his position. If a kid tries to be too creative and destroys the rhythm of the game, put a stop to it but otherwise, there is nothing wrong with a bit of creativity even at this level. Usually forwards and strikers have greater freedom of creativity than defenders but that doesn't mean that they can just get cute. Make sure creativity is useful for the team otherwise if you see too much dribbling, etc. give a fair warning.
The best practices for creativity come before and after practice sessions. Do not discount kids running around before practice starts and kicking the ball every which way. In fact encourage them to be creative and let them do whatever they want. It's the best time to create without you telling them what to do. Sometimes this turns into horse-play but as long nobody does anything dangerous, they are fine. Let them play and have fun.
Overall, an organized team plays much better and when players leave the field they are not exhausted. The speed of getting the ball from defense to midfield to offense is crucial and needs to be practiced.