Typically, coaches of soccer teams consisting of five-year-old children are new to the coaching scene and find the notion of coaching the game to their young players to be daunting. I experienced those same emotions, but after years of experience, I found success through trials and tribulations.
How to coach soccer to 5 year olds: A successful youth soccer coach provides players with a solid combination of both fun and lessons that improve the skills. While the development of each individual player will vary, assuring that the game of soccer is viewed positively will help greatly with the athletes attitude towards working on improving their skill sets.
If coaching five-year-old players sounds as though it is something that you would be interested in or have just started to do, below is a how-to guide of coaching young players that will help ensure your success as a coach.
Know Your Players
For a coach to place themselves in the best possible position to succeed, they must first become familiar with the personalities and skill levels of the players on their teams.
Each child will be motivated by different factors and will need specific driving forces to be implemented in an effort to get them excited to a level that drives them to hone in on their skill sets.
It’s also imperative for the coach to analyze the interactions between teammates to help determine who they like working with and who plays well together.
Related: Building Confidence in Female Athletes: Keys To Coaching Girls
Shorter Drills Equal Better Focus
Patience will be critical when coaching children of this age group, as their attention spans are limited and they will likely need extra coaching to keep their attention on the game of soccer.
It will be important to make sure that the drills children are participating in are short and the time players are standing waiting to participate is extremely short. Otherwise, the coach will lose the attention of the players and the benefit of the drill being taught will be limited.
Encouragement Reigns Supreme
Ensuring that your players feel they are performing positively will help them enjoy the game of soccer and will lead to greater success.
Knowing how to provide constructive criticism when addressing inadequacies in the player’s game will prevent feelings from being hurt and will encourage them to work harder to rectify any deficiencies in their game.
In addition, the coach’s demeanor will set the tone for whether the players view the game as enjoyable or something that they are being forced to endure.
A positive coach will find greater success from his or her players than a rigid disciplinarian.
Related: Why Do Coaches Yell? Does It Really Help Motivate Athletes?
Be Sure To Be Equitable
These are the most formidable years for children to learn to play sports.
Often times children determine whether or not they want to continue to play based solely on their interactions with their coach. Assuring that all players play reasonable amounts of time and are able to attempt all positions on the field will allow them to fully experience the game of soccer.
Coaches need to be aware that the likelihood of any of their players playing professionally is extremely slim. However, the chances that they will form memories of their playing time, whether it be positive or negative, is extremely high.
Making the player’s experience one that they deem fair and positive, will go a long way in forging positive memories of their time playing for you.
Keep The Drills Simple
It is easy to forget that five-year-old players are just learning the game.
Many new coaches seek out drills that are far too complex for the age levels of their players.
Remembering to keep the drills simple will alleviate a great deal of stress that the coach will encounter by making things too complex for their young students of the game.
Partnering players with similar skill levels will help, as it prevents the players from getting discouraged by playing with someone who is not of the same caliber. In addition, it allows the coach to challenge players who are more skilled, while allowing time to work with less skilled players in a group setting, making them less likely to feel singled out.
Start With The Basics
The first drills should be the most basic of drills.
Coaches need to remember that this is often corrective skill levels that they are dealing with, so they should not assume that they can skip beyond the basics of the game.
Beginning with simple dribbling and kicking drills will be extremely beneficial, as these skills parlay into the more complex parts of the game of soccer.
It doesn’t matter if the children understand the proper positioning on a corner kick if they can’t perform the most basic task of dribbling the ball down the field.
Using the basics as a means to build the confidence of players will be critical to the success of teaching more complex tasks later on. It also allows the coach to become reputable in the eyes of the players, since they were able to instruct them on how to perform the basic skills of the game.
Remember, It Is Just A Game
It is admirable to want to teach children to strive to be the best. Competition can be extremely healthy. However, it is imperative that the coach remembers it is just a game and that it should be treated as such.
Screaming and yelling at players, coaches, parents, or officials will likely serve as a deterrent for children wanting to return to the sport for additional seasons. Conversely, laughter, joy, camaraderie and companionship will serve as motivating factors for young players to want to continue to play soccer.
Related: Is Youth Sports Too Intense? A Message For Our Coaches
Put Yourself In The Player’s Cleats
When attempting to determine what may prove to be successful coaching and what may not, don’t be afraid to put yourself in the role of a five-year-old player.
Ask yourself if you would enjoy specific drills or coaching techniques if you were their age and the coach you were playing for employed them.
Doing so, allows you to take yourself out of coaching mode for a moment and allows you to have a unique perspective on the situation.
Find Good Assistants
It isn’t easy maintaining the attention of a large group of five-year-old players. Therefore, we suggest the head coach find some helpful assistants.
Having a like-minded assistant coach who can instruct players and keep them focused on the task at hand is a valuable asset to any good coach. It prevents the head coach from being overwhelmed when attempting to teach the game to the team.
In addition, having a team parent who can help circulate game schedules, snack schedules and any other additional information will alleviate some of the administrative tasks of the coach, freeing them up to focus on the main task of coaching the players.
Having a good support group goes a long way towards having a successful season.
Related: Why Coaches Should Encourage Parents to Attend Sports Practice
Have FUN!
To reiterate, soccer is a game. It is designed to be a joyous occasion for the players. That doesn’t mean that it cannot be enjoyable for the coach as well. Take pride in knowing that you are sacrificing your time and energy in an effort to make a positive impact on the lives of young children.
While coaching children this young can certainly challenge the patience of a coach, focusing on the positive impact that you are having on their lives can alleviate some of the stress from the rigors of being responsible for a large group of young players.
If a coach is having fun coaching the players, the chances that the players are having fun playing the game increases too. Therefore, the most important task of any coach of five-year-old soccer players is to assure that they too have fun in the process.
Summary: How to coach soccer to 5-year-olds
Coaching youth soccer is extremely rewarding. Anyone who has played sports at some point in their life can recall the excellent coaches that made a positive impact on them.
When children benefit from having a positive influence as a coach at a very young age, it can be the determining factor as to whether or not they continue playing the sport moving forward or not.
Therefore, anyone considering being a youth coach must go in with the goal of being a positive impact on the lives of their players. If they are able to accomplish that goal, the result will be lasting and rewarding.
Cheers,
Daniel
