I coach soccer…and baseball… and basketball (in descending order of effectiveness.) I have been doing this on and off for about 25 years. (Scot Brown and I helped Gary Willis coach Shane’s Arlington Optimist baseball team when we were in college.) This weekend marked the start on Cole’s 2nd season of U6 soccer at the Y. At the coaches meeting I found out that they reduced the # of players on the field from 8 to 5 and also reduced the field size. When we showed up for the game I was a little upset, the field was about 20 yards long. My kids could score from the opposite goal. I started thinking, “They’ll play bunch ball.” “They won’t keep their spacing and positioning.” “They will forget how to pass.” The field was so small they weren’t even going to call offsides, for crying out loud! How are these kids supposed to learn how to play the game correctly!?! We work hard at practice to help these little guys and girls learn the right way to play. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not a win-at-all-costs type of coach. I truly believe and practice the mantra that the #1 rule of youth sports is to have fun. If they are having fun, learning the game and listening to their coaches, everything else will take care of itself.
But I also feel that learning the game is important. They need to be able to pass with either foot, stay in position and do a throw-in with both feet on the ground. I actually had a couple parents saying it was a waste of time playing on a field this small. Then I saw one of my players who hardly moved in the first quarter go hard after the ball in the fourth, I saw everybody raise their hand to be goalie just so they could wear the cool colored jersey, I saw Cole pull his shirt over his head and do the “airplane” after he scored, I saw our team line up and slap hands and say good game to the other team and I saw them more excited about the Gatorade and Cheez-Its than they were for the game.
If they can only pass with one foot and they jump in the air every time they throw it in, but they want to stay on the field for 30 minutes after practice is over and they help their teammates up after a hard play and they want to keep playing together because they’re having fun, I guess I can live with a small field.
2 comments:
I HATE it! Like I told you, Coach Mike, I would rather play 8 and under and LOSE than play like this. Those of you who know our Cole....imagine him playing with five others on a field sized for Reed!!!!!!!!!!! So so stupid. Ooooo, I said the "s" word!
Sucks for Mike that is #1 complainer parent is his wife! But then...he's used to that!
i SO feel your pain and was very encouraged by your post. parker has played "up" a division since he started when he was 4 and this year we decided to keep him in U6 with his correct age group...unfortunately, his new coaches have never seen a soccer ball or set foot on a field...yes, i am the annoying mother coaching from the other side of the field (only because our coach is chasing his 2 year old daughter around instead of coaching!)...and yes, on a kick off he kicks it in the goal...i feel your pain...i only wish we had a real coach...remember misty, he's only six...i have to keep telling myself that...it's ok, for ONE season! :)
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