F Level MA Youth Soccer Training

October 21st, 2012

             On Sunday, red shirts, blue shirts, and purple shirts all came together for an excellent training on how to coach youth soccer. Starting at 9am, coaches and staff were engrossed in a review of the G level training, and on their way to starting the F level. The training was free of cost for all of us, thanks to our great partnership with MA Youth Soccer. After learning about the way to plan a successful practice, the big ideas of coaching children, and the variables we should remember when planning practices, the whole group went over to the beautiful Smith soccer fields to learn through playing. We started off with activities on dribbling, and a great 1 vs. 1 dribble tag game. Within minutes we were all taking off our jackets and sweating. Before long, we were working on coaching dribbling techniques, headers, and more exciting small sided games. When lunch finally arrived, the group was so hungry! 

          The most exciting part of the training were all of the things we took away to improve our coaching. Some that really stuck with many of us were the importance of demonstrating everything you want your players to do in slow motion, giving players as many touches on the ball as possible, and what ethics means and how ethics relates to coaching. We had a great dialogue about making hard (but correct) decisions as a coach, making sure all players have fun, and the importance of games. We also learned some great coaching points relating to tactics and coaching defense. By the end of the eight hours, everyone in the group was pretty worn out, but as Loeb Rosario said we all learned a lot! Thanks to our instructor, Evan Holmes, and MA Youth Soccer for this great opportunity!