Any recommendations on what easily available (ie Home Depot) substrate I can use to help a field to dry?

I've been coaching for 5 seasons for my son. Started in U7 and am now up to U9. There's 1 team that dominates the league every season. I've seen a few of my top players from past seasons end up on that team, further stacking the cards.

How it works currently is that parents can request a specific team when they sign up. This coach in particular actively recruits players from other teams. I just found out that my goalkeeper (arguably best in the league for the last 2 seasons) is now on that team. My heart sank. That kid (and others who have been recruited) have told me how much they love being on my team because we have fun.

I guess I'm just tired of having any glimmer of hope stripped away season after season. I don't mind "losing" (we don't technically keep score since it's rec), but I have players who stay with me, and some of them take "losses" really hard. The silver lining is that they keep coming back, so I must be doing something right.

As the title says. I coach U14 travel soccer. I have 16 on the roster. I average 5 players per practice, but everyone shows up for games. The issue is that I am competing with other teams, other sports, other activities.

There are three levels of soccer in this community. Let's call them,

• Rec League (Lowest)
• Travel League (Mid) - This is where I coach
• Premier League (Highest)

Of my 16 players:

• Four play exclusively for Travel League with no other conflicts
• Two play Hockey
• One plays football
• Nine play for one of three different Premier Teams (different leagues, different organizations)

Four show up for every practice.

Hockey Players show up 1 night a week.

Football player is hit or miss

Of the nine, only one shows up for the first half of my practice before he runs to his premier league practice (I have him for 45 of 90 minutes). I am competing with three teams. Team A practices Wednesday/Friday, Team B practices Tuesday/Friday, Team C (with majority of my players) practices on Mon/Tues/Thur and goalies get two extra practices on Wed/Fri (note: both my goalies play for this team. neither attends any practice).

Tonight I had four players.

Question: What would you do?

TL;DR; - Frustrated soccer coach seeks advice on how (or if) to practice when only 4-5 players attend practice)?

Help! I've researched everywhere and still lost on the best goal to upgrade for our 11 year old that rocket kicks a thousand goals a day. It has to be able to hold up and so many reviews don't show that. We're thinking maybe a 12' wide at this point but are open to other sizes. Doesn't have to be super portable as it will always stay in the backyard, just needs to be moved to mow now and then. Thanks so much!

Coach U6 soccer for a rec league and it seems odd to me but the way everyone seems to do kick off is the following. I even see it in my 9 yo games.

Basically one team starts with the ball and the kid who is kicking off stands on the opponent’s side of the field and kicks it backwards (facing his teams goal) to a team mate.

It’s been 15 years since I was a referee and 8-10 year more than that since I played but this seems odd to me.

Here is what they have for their rule on start of play. Am I missing something.

8. Start of Play

• A player kicking the ball in a forward direction starts play from the center of the field. The kicker shall not play the ball a second time until it has been touched or played by another player. • Every player must be in his/her own half of the field and opponents shall be at least five (5) yards away from the ball until it has been kicked-off. • Any infringement of kick-off rules will result in a re-play of the kick-off and an explanation to the offending player.

Hey coaches!

I’m currently working with a group of young footballers (around 14 years old) and have been noticing that many of them show low energy and lack pace during training sessions and matches. They seem disengaged at times and are not giving their full effort. It’s affecting their performance, and I’m unsure how to motivate them or improve their energy levels.

What I’ve Tried So Far:

Mixed up the drills to make sessions more fun Encouraged competition through small-sided games Focused on fitness, but their intensity still seems low Implemented rest and recovery routines Despite these efforts, their overall pace and energy remain low.

What’s worked for you guys in similar situations?

How do you motivate young players who lack energy? Are there specific drills or strategies to build pace and stamina without burning them out? Could there be external factors like nutrition or sleep affecting them? I’d love to hear your tips and experiences! Thanks in advance!

I’m currently in my second season coaching JV soccer. How long should I stay before trying to branch out and take a higher level job, I’m currently working on my D License.

U10 girls, competitive, second team at club. Most are new players though.

My first year coaching them. 11 girls total

My goals are used on dribbling , 1v1, 2v1 and 2v2 for the fall and have some fun.

3 games over the weekend - went 1-1-1. Super hot 90 plus degrees so proud of the girls for their effort.

Tied 1-1

Won 1-0

Lost 0-6

Lucky to tie the game went back and watched the video they outshot us 19-3, but we played tough defense and really held them out on their shots, probably should have been them winning 3-1. On the 0-6 loss the build out line was closer than we are used to and I’m pretty sure they had a girl who was 13 (kidding). We were missing 2 girls so only 2 subs in the heat. Down 4-0 at half time and frankly didn’t play well but the girls rallied in the 2nd half, we finally put some pressure on their defensive end and held them scoreless until the last 3 minutes of the half.

I’m glad the build out line was closer because I realized when we build out my opposite back isn’t sliding over and that’s how they got 5 of 6 goals.

Week 7 Session 1 - only one practice this week

10 players - had the girls dribbling in a 20x20 box just practice changing speed, direction, finding space, I’d go to them and have them do a 1v1 move against me. Split the girls into 2 teams. Yellow team would continue dribbling with the ball at their feet, Pink team would have to pass to each other with yellow dribbling and trying to block the passing lanes and pink trying to spread out and complete passes. 4 passes in a row = 1 point. Each team did 3 rounds x 2 minutes.

Then we did a zig zag passing, essentially had cones 8 yards apart, 45 degree angle and just pass and follow your ball, once at the end practice dribbling with speed back to the start. Only allowed inside foot passes, if someone didn’t do it everyone had to sit on their butt and get back up to get started again. Did 4 or 5 relay races after that.

Next passing pattern out of the back - this time incorporating the 6. We’ve only been going to the wing so now I wanted them to use the 6. I played defense and just alternated sides I would approach so they would pass to either the wing or the center mid. I also made sure the girls were checking down as I approached to keep an angle. Continued to work the back dribbling straight forward (they want to dribble to the sideline) and for the wings to stay wide (they want to come towards the ball / back)

Finished with a 6v4 “scrimmage” with all restarts from a goal kick. I played goalie for our team. 6 players had small goals slightly past midfield on both sides, 4 players could go towards the big goal. Reinforced the passing pattern while also telling the opposite back to slide over to cover the goal. Hoping by the end of the year this will lead to us attempting a switch of the field since the other back will be used to sliding over.

Before our last game, one of my players asked the ref about headers and slide tackling. He responded, “Yeah, of course both are allowed.” Total news to me; this was not the case in U10. No other team has ever slid or headed.

Anyways, I told my team that I highly encourage them not to head the ball since they could bang heads if not done properly. We haven’t practiced it and I’ve seen some nasty collisions over the years. Of course, that kid scored a goal after heading it to himself…and then had his glasses fly off with a full bodied defensive header later.

I also made it abundantly clear that we would not slide tackle. It’s dangerous at best if you are still learning to control your body. Yesterday at practice, the same kid absolutely leveled one of his teammates with a perfectly legal slide tackle. I kinda flew off the handle; definitely trying to make it 100% clear that this was not a joke since my non-header “encouragement” was disregarded. I said if anyone tried that in a game, they’d be benched for the remainder. Instant coach red card. The kid kinda smiled at me and I had to bury my inner Homer Simpson.

IDK, when should kids start slide tackling? Am I soft? No other team is sliding, so it’s never been addressed? Our league’s rule communication is shite.

U10 rec

On Saturday we won 10-0, with 5 different players scoring goals.

Today we played a much tougher team and knew they would be tougher. They have one kid who is probably the strongest kid in our league at this age.

He's really fast, solid technically, and plays in shape. In the third quarter he was playing a sort of defensive mid position and kept us in our half the entire game by winning the ball as soon as we tried to bring it out and sending it back in.

The unfortunate part is that we have a few kids who are very close athletically to him and if they had played as a team we could have won.

But their dads had them so stressed out about winning against their old team/teammate that they weren't playing as a team, forcing, fighting over the ball, trying to play hero ball, etc.

They started listening to their Dads. I coach possession and we don't just boot it and try to chase it, especially on kickoffs. We play 9v9 at u10 and it's a big transition for kids to learn they can't dominate solo anymore. Well, Dad thought he knew better and eventually his kid just booted a kickoff. That was my final straw.

We pulled two of the kids in the third (already planned) and I tried to talk them about playing as a team, that they didn't need to win the game by themselves, etc, and I wanted them to go back in in the fourth and show me they knew how to play team soccer. They were in tears. I told them their Dads and I would be proud of them no matter what the outcome, so long as we played hard and worked as a team. The fourth was better and it felt like they played a little freer.

I really think we could have won this game, or been a lot more competitive, if we had played team soccer. I feel sabotaged by the parents and sad for the kids that they can't just enjoy being a kid and having fun playing soccer and that their parents are actually holding them back from their full potential.

Hey Everyone,

I’m coaching a u10 team for the first time and I’m really struggling with it. I’m coaching in a rec league with my kid on the team, I was upfront with the league and my team parents that I didn’t have coaching experience and would need some support and was assured that there were resources available from the league to help me out. That hasn’t happened. We are about a month in, I started the season emphasizing to the kids and parents that we are having fun and learning and not focusing on winning. I have a few kids on my team that clearly have some behavioral stuff going on at school and it carries over into practice.

My biggest struggle is effective practices. I have 2 players that just don’t want to participate unless it’s on their terms. I try sitting them out and they don’t care. I try making them run laps and they say it’s fun and mouth off in front of the other kids. The results are showing that our practices aren’t working, we’ve lost all 3 of our games. I know this isn’t the most important thing but I’ve tried questioning the kids on how the losses make them feel and emphasized that we would be more competitive if we could really focus on practice. I’ve taken the USSoccer Grassroots and 7v7 classes but I really feel like I’m missing something. A usual practice looks like:

Starting the kids scrimmaging as they show up A drill, usually focusing on passing A game like Sharks and Minnows or Clean Your Backyard A full length scrimmage.

On Monday I finally lost my temper. The kids were totally out of control and I told them that we needed to focus on staying on task because doing otherwise was a waste of my time, their time, and their parents time to bring them to practice. This didn’t really seem to stick with them so I had the whole team dribble laps before trying to start another drill. This didn’t work either. I will own up to the next part that I was out of line, but I finally ended our practice about ten minutes early and told the kids if they didn’t want to come to focus on playing and practice then to stay home. At this point one player started telling other players he was going to quit and I told him he needed to talk to his parents. I’m not sure what to do here. I don’t want to let the kids down but I also don’t want to be the coach that makes these kids never want to play again. I feel like I owe the kids an apology but I’m not sure if that will make the situation better or worse. I guess I’m ultimately looking for some advice from more experienced coaches.

What works for this age group to motivate them to focus and what is an acceptable course of action for kids who are disrespectful or refuse to participate?

I was out of town last week which caused some adjustments to practice times—only getting time now to share these.

New themes, Defense - Speed - then Intensity attached.

If you find this useful and want to use it. Feel free to buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/varmill :)

https://preview.redd.it/0quvm3m3j0rd1.png?width=1152&format=png&auto=webp&s=f920641a587ee4a20470bb1ace5bcdc9f3cf3fff

https://preview.redd.it/s8lyqx74j0rd1.png?width=1152&format=png&auto=webp&s=4733b9e1e569b491a822042a95fb3bb2365807cd

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First time coaching my son’s team. It’s 4v4 in a small town U8 league. Four kids are 6 yrs old, and three are 7. I rotate all players evenly. We have 3 games remaining, and I’m expecting to see similar talent discrepancies in those games. Should I feel bad about beating teams like this? So far we have been the more athletic team, but also we do more “game-like” drills at practices than the other teams. We are also far more aggressive, again, partly due to how I structure practices.

A local coach of an older team said he’s told his players before that they have to pass after they score 5 goals. Personally, I don’t think a bunch of 6-7 year olds will understand that logic, nor will they enjoy it. I just can’t justify telling my players that they can’t score anymore after ‘X’ number of goals. I can’t justify sitting my top 3 players for most of the game either. The nearest competitive league is 1.5 hours away. Do you all have any suggestions, or am I overthinking this?

Myself and 2 other guys have been coaching an 11U Girls Rec Team for a few years now. Most players we've had for at least one season, some for as many as 5 or 6 seasons.

One of the coaches has stated a lot in the last couple of weeks that the girls lack intensity on the field. He's not wrong, as they do tend to lolly-gag a bit and not necessarily hustle during games. There seems to be a bit of a lack of urgency a lot of the time with many of them.

This feels like a tough thing to coach, especially in rec when soccer is one of a few sports they're playing throughout the year. What are some wisdom nuggets you could lend me to aid in helping a dozen girls who aren't particular intense, turn that fire up?

Hey all, coach U13 boys travel. We are very much a blue collar, diverse mixed and less skilled team then a lot of our peers. We finished U12 Fall 3/6 in the Spring and finished 2nd in the Spring in the lower travel division. We are now U13 premier, Classic 2. We are struggling against the newer teams and are currently 1-2 and the win was a comeback from 4 down to win 6-4.

We play our rivals this week which has had our number. They have one player, the coaches daughter (co-ed) who I kid you not, will play college for sure. In the past I've tried having a dedicated player only focused on following her similar to Angelino vs. Messi years ago. We play a 4-2-3-1, want to also teach 3-4-3 where I use a LM and RM instead of wingers and the front 3 play more loose. I am typically more tactically orientated and would love to play some Pep style unique formations such as the double pivot with Stones in midfield and as CB or full backs moving into the DM spot. What do you recommend for our rivalry game and just against more skilled teams in general?

TL:DR: multi sport team, less skilled but physical, young coach who enjoys advanced tactics. How do we play consistent and play up to more skilled teams. Best tactics needed?

Coaching a rec U10 girls team this season, completely as a volunteer. My daughter (and the group she came up with) has moved on to competitive.

I've done all of the USSF grassroots stuff, just finished my D license and I've coached girls development for the last five years. Every indication (and the feedback from many, many parents) is that I'm pretty good to really good at this age group, and I enjoy it.

(I should probably be coaching competitive or competitive development - there was some talk about it for this season, but it didn't materialize. I'd need a different post for that one.)

I did not have an assistant for this season, so I solicited from the parents. I have one that sort of volunteered. He has STRONG opinions, particularly about teaching defensive tactics at this age group.

These kids are wildly technically deficient (though 3-4 of them are talented), and I'm pretty confident (and proven) in my ability to grow them as players first technically, then tactically. Only one of them has played for me before.

He's not entirely wrong - kids DO need to learn defense, but at 8 and 9, certainly not at the depth that he thinks they do.

I definitely get the vibe that this guy doesn't think I know what I'm doing, and has his own great ideas about what the kids need to learn. I'm confident from my assessment of this group and my experience about what the kids need. My sessions are well organized, structured around specific game moments and build from activity to activity, week to week.

What do I do here?

I see two routes: A. Tell him that I have a plan and I need him to align to it and help me or B. Get out of his way and hand the team over to him. (I firmly believe that option B is not the best outcome for the kids.) I also don't feel like arguing or justifying what I'm trying to accomplish in the middle of activities, or after practice.

PS - I'm old, IDGAF about having a challenging conversation with someone - but, he has a kid on the team and I don't. I'm spending my daughter's practice time on the field with another team instead of just hanging out and waiting for her to finish.

Any advice is appreciated. This is the first time in my years of coaching that I've had a parent question, well, anything about how I run or teach a team.

Like an AMA, but if mods would like, they can keep this up and I will answer anything as it's posted.

A little about myself; I played in the Fiorentina academy from 4/5-18 (1976-1990). Tore my ACL and that essentially halted my career. Took a job with the academy after that. In the 30 years after, I have bounced around all age groups and the main team. I have also been asked to coach for different age groups within the national team and a few times for Prandelli during his time as the head NT coach.

A few honours I've been a part of would notably be the 2023 u19 WC where my academy graduate Michael Kayode scored the winning goal against Portugal. Along with winning the Coppa Italia 4 times in a row and 3 Supercoppa;s, two of those back to back.

I hold a UEFA Pro, Elite Youth A, Goalkeeper A, AND USSF Pro license.

If you have any questions for me, I will gladly answer them.

They are pretty good when attacking, don't let opponents take the ball or fight back for control if the ball is taken from them, etc. but whenever the other team is starting with control of the ball and is just dribbling down the field towards our goal, they all kinda back up and let the opponents get super close without any challenges or attempts to stop/take the ball back. Additionally, sometimes the other team will stop dribbling and just stand there for a few seconds, instead of taking advantage of that opportunity my guys also hesitate and just let the opponent hang out with the ball doing nothing.

I've tried to explain to them to stop hesitating and be more aggressive/active on defense to try to take back control of the ball and stop the opponent getting so close unchallenged but they don't seem to really get it.

I've done one drill where I put a ball in the middle of the field and then have two players fight to bring it back to their respective sides but it usually just ends with the faster player winning easily and getting ahead. I'm not sure what else might be good for this? Any ideas?

Hey all

I feel like I'm doing well not joysticking on the ball. I generally never talk to the ball carrier but I've noticed I do have a problem off the ball just blabbing too much. It's hard because it's U8 so the boys do need reminders on their position, correction on what went wrong, reminders to stay calm and not just boot it away etc... but I think recently I've been doing too much. My own kid was very distracted last game by a friend on the other team so I also was probably too harsh on him getting him to focus but he knows better, I probably should've taken him out but meh.

The shouts are always positive by the way, a lot of it is praise, maybe too much of that too I don't know.

Anyway, any tips on how to shut up, or do you at that age off the ball?

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The title may look weird, but it is a weird situation. My son on my u11 team calls me coach. I have been coaching his rec sports teams (baseball, basketball, and soccer) for 6 years. Since the middle of first year, he has always called me coach at practice or games, and dad at home. It has helped both of us develop a lack of favouritism. That said, my assistant coach has his son playing and calls him “dada”, like a toddler. This is where the dilemma comes in. I don’t care what kids call their parents. but a parent came to me and said they find I disturbing that kids calls him “dada”. But where I have the problem, and it could be just me, is why is he even calling him dad. I feel a kid should treat them the same way as all the other kids, and in turn, the coach/dad should treat the child the same as all other players. Has anyone encountered anything remotely close to this? Any feedback on how to address this to the other coach?

A training focus right now (travel, competitive) is communicating more. The boys are doing it in targeted drills, less so in training SSGs, and barely at all in actual matches.

Anyone find particular approaches effective?

Right now i’m doing a full blitzkrieg including: -waving off points/goals if no communication in training -calling phrases at every leg of our passing pattern exercises -isolating communication as our only team goal for games

It feels like only consistency and time will bring desired results, but i want to ensure as coaches we are doing everything in our power. They are beginning to respond positively to questions re: whether communication helps, but it feels like 1% improvements max week over week.

Thanks all!

In Marcus Rashford's You Are a Champion, he talks about a book of skills that were provided to him by the Manchester United Academy. It had different pictures of skills that the kids needed to learn and then they would check it off with stars to show how well they learned the skill. Does anyone know if the book of skills could be found online or bought in stores? It would be a great book to bring into my club to help my young players develop skills. I have seen apps that do similar, but this would be better for parents that can't afford the yearly fee of those apps.

This is probably dumb but I have this terrific player (6u) who is very aggressive and is excellent at stealing the ball. Unfortunately, their go to move once they have the ball is to kick it out of bounds. I’m trying to work with them to get them to kick it literally anywhere else in the field, or to try to get a team mate close to them to maybe kick it to. They have an excellent leg so could really be fire if I could redirect them. Maybe work on turns or something?

Fresh on the heels of my last post is this more generalized one. I'm coaching u10 rec boys. New and very inexperienced team where 3/4 lack basic fundamentals. Not where I want to be at this age, as many other teams in our league have been together for 4+ years with solid coaching.

I'm having a REALLY hard time getting some of these boys motivated, and it's more than just making sure I have enough fun games or water breaks. I've got boys who are CODDLED and have *no* drive. Half the parents just sit in their cars, and I've got one who will just let her little angel come over and sit in her lap bc he's not interested in what the team is doing. I try hard to limit any standing. Any drills that may have a line, I will split to make sure there isn't more than 15 seconds of waiting if possible. 

What I started doing last week is if a player is showing disinterest or not paying attention, after multiple warnings, I will simply send them to go sit with their parent. I'm sacrificing at least 3 hours a week between prep and practices, and I have no reason to waste any of that time on players who won't participate. It's rec and practice is completely optional, however for those that attend, I expect full Cooperation and Participation and even more importantly- support from the parents.

I truly don't care if we lose every game, if I can get growth out of the team I am happy. It's just really crazy how much better my girls' U8/9 team was than these U10 boys, who can barely dribble or pass or kick, and how I see a direct correlation in how either team's parents participated.

After a couple year break I'm back and coaching a u10 boys rec team. Previously I coached u6 boys (nightmare tbh) and U9/10/11 girls after my girls' rec team went Select and my daughter didn't get an invite (tbh she didn't even care, she wasn't dedicated to the game)

What I struggled with before, and what is surprisingly an issue with boys this age is the "Croquet swing" kick more than a couple are doing when trying to make a simple pass. I've tried to work 1 on 1, go through each motion, clearly show how their body should be facing the target and I still have multiple boys swinging across their body like a croquet hammer.

TL;DR How do I fix the Croquet Swing kick?

Our next match is against a team that have a shocking defence but if they regain control in their own box, half their team can be attacking the oppositions box within a few seconds. Each time we face them it is a very high scoring match.

I need help to base my next session around preventing these main issues. We play a flat 4-4-1-1 and switch to a 4-1-2-3 in the last 20 to help the 2 midfielders with tired legs as they are the only players that won't get subbed out. U17 team

Took over a team last season (dad coach). Local grassroots club has two teams for this age group. The previous coach and also 2nd team coach taught to defend corners with a defender on front post and back post. This always leads to a player or two unguarded unless I pull my attacker in to defend.

We play U10 with the wider goals. So it kinda makes sense, but I just can’t wrap my head around guarding the posts when there is one or two players open in the box.

Should I pull the back player off the post, perhaps both?

Essentially, swap from zone to man. How do you all teach this?

Have a kid who's disruptive, talks back to me, minimal effort, gives some other weaker kids a hard time, talks about scoring goals and nothing else. No interest in participating in any instructions or drills, and will openly claim he doesn't need the drills and can score in his own. He's tough to deal with... Spoke to the mom, it's a single parent situation, she has no idea how to handle him and kept talking about an older sibling that's even worse. If this was club I'd try to work with the kid, benching him as necessary as a first resort. It being AYSO, he has to play. I have no idea where to go with this situation. Worst part is, he's scores most our goals. I'd have no problem if he left the team or sidelining should I be permitted, I'm more concerned with developing the kids that want it learn than winning... But if he leaves the rest of the team will suffer as he does have some leverage with the other kids being that he's a big part of us winning. Any advice would be appreciated.