National Alliance for Youth Sports

Coaching soccer should be safe and fun for you and your players, so start by getting familiar with the layout of the soccer field. As a soccer coach your players will look to you for guidance so use some helpful tips to teach and motivate them. Create a pregame routine to check the field and prepare your soccer players for the game and deliver a strong pregame speech to inspire your team.

Get your day of coaching soccer off to a good start by establishing a pregame routine. Go through the following tips so your players have a safe and fun-filled time on and off the soccer field. Inspect the field for loose rocks, broken glass, raised sprinkler heads, or anything else that could injure a child. Verify that all the kids brought the proper equipment.

A child's experience in organized soccer can be a defining moment in her young life. Years from now, she isn't going to remember her team's record or how many goals she scored during the season, but she'll easily recall whether the time the team spent with you was a positive or negative experience. This article provides some methods you can use to ensure that your players have a memorable season that brings a smile to their faces for years to come and has them begging to play for you again next season.

Youth soccer leagues around the country are as different as the millions of kids who strap on shin guards to play in them. You can find outdoor and indoor leagues. Numbers go from 4-on-4 to 11-on-11 leagues. Ages fluctuate from 5-and-under leagues to 17-and-under leagues. You even have the option of same-sex leagues or coed leagues.

Being a parent is a difficult job, but here's a surprise: Coaching your son or daughter's soccer team is equally tricky. After you step inside the white lines, and your child straps on the shin guards, you're likely to encounter an assortment of issues. Most of them should be minor, but some may be problems that you never even dreamed of dealing with before.

Creating a coaching philosophy is fairly simple. Living up to it all season long is the tricky part. What's a coaching philosophy? Basically, it reflects the standards you set for yourself and your team, and it's the foundation of your coaching values and beliefs. Entering the season without a coaching philosophy is like driving across the country without a road map.

Although the size of a soccer field can vary, sometimes even from community to community, the markings remain pretty much the same. Get to know these playing field features:

As a soccer coach, your players count on you during the season for guidance and support. The following are some ways to help your kids through the soccer season: Be specific with your praise Stop practices to point out when a player does something well rather than when they make a mistake While providin

What you say and how you say it when delivering the pre-game speech is a big motivator for your soccer players. Try these coaching tips when talking to the kids before the soccer game to prepare them for competition: Speak in a calm and relaxed manner. Be brief. Conduct the talk away from any distractions.