Starting Youth Soccer

Well I am looking at the registration receipt for Kendall to start youth soccer this fall!!! I can't believe my little girl will be five soon. Looking forward to seeing her running around on the pitch and having fun.

 

From one father to another enjoy every moment. They are far to fleeting not to.

 

That's great Jim! I hope she has a blast.

 

Having gone through this with 4 boys, with every outcome imaginable, It's gonna seem like forever while you're doing it.. but passes far too fast in the lookback.
Have fun and don't let the helicopter parents get you down. Also dont be one.
Anecdote that bears repeating.
2nd son was sorta apathetic and didnt take coaching well as a u11 club player. Next year they couldnt raise a team for couple reasons so we put him in startup pee wee football. He was big so he played on line. About the second game he got called for offsides 3 downs in row. The coach.. former HS, smacked him upside the helmet hard with his clipboard as he came off. Other parents gasped and looked at us to see what we'd do. We - the wife and I.. more or less just shrugged..
Next year he began to excel on his club team and played varsity as a soph. And yeah.. he immediately got the timing right, got mucho tackles after that.

And DON't criticize the coach to your kid or in front of him. Try to understand why coach does what he does and explain his side. They'll learn to bitch about coach soon enough on their own. By then, as in our case, they'll learn how to handle it and still play well.
As in our HS coach was a strategic dumbass but the team still went to the State Finals.

 

All I really care is that she has fun with it. Right now she takes group tennis lessons. Best part about it is the looks on their faces and how much fun they have at it. For most of the 30 min lesson they never touch a racket, maybe the last 10-15 min. The instructors are great and I think all off the parents "get it" and let the instructors do their thing. The instructors don't yell at the kids and only raise their voices to get there attention if need be because they kids are getting loud etc. It runs the gamut of some kids being able to hit it over the net and some never even connect with the ball. But in the end, like I said before, they all have fun with it. In the end that's what I want her to get out of it for now.

 

Yeah at five years old the only thing that matters is that they have a good time and get some exercise. My kids did tennis and soccer when they were little ones. They 're pretty complimentary sports imo

Hope Kendall is still playing soccer when she grows into that Fulham jersey

 

I love watching my daughter (5) run around the pitch and (thankfully) bomb down the left side with her left foot...now I just have to teach her how to cross! Unfortunately, I've taught her to love Fulham...hopefully by the time she actually remembers they'll be in the Premier league again! Here's to hoping! COYW!!

 

Good posts all around and it should be for fun at these young ages - I have to share a story as my son started club soccer this summer in 4-6 years old because he wanted to do it. The club doesn't allow parents near the practice grounds, but you can watch from 100 yds away - good idea to fend off the crazies. So, in his first match he scores a goal and proceeds to run to the corner flag and rip off his shirt - just like he sees on TV. Problem is, other than the celebration tactic that I won't condone, he can't seem to put it back on and the coach has to help him out with his shirt. He didn't do it ever again, but damn if Ms. Nevzter and I didn't laugh our asses off at home, and out of his presence.

 

Not too shabby to have Messi, Aguero and DiMaria in your side!

 

And here I thought that soccer on TV was one of the decent things to expose my 2 year old to.

 

Yep, Kendall starts on the 6th and it runs every Sat until around Thanksgiving. Big week for her, starts Kindergarten on Fri and soccer on Sat.

 

Absolutely! Actually, Hadley pretty much plays year round for a club team (Minnesota Thunder Academy... @Clevelandmo might have heard of them being the youth soccer aficionado) in their wee ones skills development program...think less games/parents coaching and more soccer coaches and fundamentals. They have a couple month long breaks here and there. It used to be once per week for an hour, but now she moved up a level and they have her up to twice per week at 1.5 hours each session. She absolutely loves it!

And she starts kindergarten within the week (on Tuesday) as well! So good luck to Kendall as she begins her kindergarten journey @jimsig!

@dcheather , this may be the first time I root against the USA...COY Lucas and Argentina!

@nevzter , that is a fantastic story!!

 

On Saturday (during the Fulham game) my 5 year old has his 1st game. Any advice for coaching a kindergarten soccer team???

 

• Get good snacks.
• Don't coach your own children. (hmmm, maybe too late for that one - hopefully your experience will be different from mine )
• During practice, avoid drills with a lot of standing in line, try to keep everyone active - at that age by mostly playing games that happen to also help with some kind of skill.
• Try to avoid clumping, but it may be a lost cause. If you can get just one kid not to clump (and the one sitting on the grass looking for a four-leaf clover doesn't count), consider it a win.
• Get good snacks.

 

Dig the fact this thread hasn’t been replied on in 7 years and you found it Brad! @stlouisbrad Enjoy spending time w/the kids, I coached my daughter’s teams for years and we have a lot of great memories. Coaching 5 & 6 year olds is like trying to herd cats so keep it simple (look on YouTube for ideas and modify). Did anyone mention get good snacks??

 

Snacks you say.....

Thanks for the advice. I learned a lot from coaching T-ball as for what not to do as far as drills go. You are 100% right that if the kids are standing in a line then their attention will be elsewhere in about a minute. One kid on the team likes to wander so we have to have a parent near the gate to stop him from going to the parking lot.

Week one will see my son's school face off against the school where my wife teaches. So that should be interesting.

I'm a bit nervous. I'm not the most patient person. So if I see kids messing around on the field then I need to remember that I'm the adult and not lose my cool.

 

1. Become the most patient person in the world, especially regarding your child. KEEP IT FUN!

2. Snacks! Get a variety. I used to pick a single drill at the end of practice that everyone could do at the same time and as long as the kids participated the got to pick their own snack to end practice. I had more participation in that drill than the rest of practice.